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Whitework Completed for Linen Pouch

2008-08-08T05:20:00.001-07:00

I finished the embroidery on this white-on-white linen pouch I'm making - actually, I finished the embroidery a while ago! This weekend, I have to finish the thing. White on white is always kind of difficult to photograph - if anyone has any hints, I'd be thrilled to hear some photo tips on taking pictures of whitework. But - for what they're worth - here's a couple shots, anyway.

As mentioned earlier, the cross is outlined in Palestrina stitch. I decided to fill it with seed stitching. Thanks for all the suggestions, by the way! A couple of them were really appealing, but I had already moved into the seed stitching, and there's NOTHING worse to pick out, in my opinion! So I stuck with the seeding.

In this photo above, you can barely see the blue of the outline of a crown that I was going to embroidery there, but I decided against it for a number of reasons. I've washed the linen already, but there's still a faint blue line at the base of that, which is making me rather nervous. I'm going to have to work on getting it out somehow...!

This photo came out pretty well. My favorite part of the design is the satin stitched sword handles. My least favorite part is the hand guard above the handle, with the seed stitching in it. I wish I had worked that differently - perhaps in a stem stitch filling, following the curves. Too late now!!

Yep. I like the tiny handles.

The handles are worked in #25 coton a broder. The outline of the cross and the shaft of the swords are worked in #16. The seeding etc., is done in #20.

I need still to arrange a way of closing the pouch. I want to do a tassle and button kind of thing, where the tassle strings are wrapped around "something" to hold it loosely closed. But I can't figure out the "something." I made a few Dorset buttons the other night, to try that concept, and I may have to go with that.

I still have to braid the cording for the tassles, make the tassles, and sew up the pouch. I suppose that's what Friday nights and Saturdays are for!!! Whatever it takes, I'll be finished with this before Monday!

And the Winners Are.... Quilt Book Give-away

2008-08-07T05:40:00.000-07:00

This morning, I drew two winners for the quilt book give-away that I posted last weekend.

I've been thinking I need to do some "random number generator" thing, because typing out the names and cutting them up and drawing them from the box - well, it takes time. Surely I can "efficient-ize" this somehow!!

ANYWAY - I'm sure you're not reading this to hear me whinge, so, who won the quilt books?

The first name I drew was Kathy in the Ozarks, and the second name was Appleseed.

Please do contact me with your mailing address so I can get those out to you!

Thanks, everyone, for participating! This coming weekend, I'm going to give away another book - one on Wool Felting. So, if you like give-aways, and you like wool felting, you're in luck! And so am I, because I need to clear out these books. This is rather slow way of doing it, though, isn't it??!!

All the Embellishing Fun of Crazy Quilting... without the quilting!

2008-08-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

If you like the idea behind crazy quilting - the whole notion of embellishing seams with embroidery stitches, and adding unique touches with beads and so forth - and if you like the look of "primitive design" in embroidery, but you're not a quilter and you don't draw your own designs... well, what can you do?

Carol of Chickadee Hollow Designs combines the fun of "crazy quilt" embroidery, the variety and quirkiness of the Primitive embroidery look, and the personalization of color choice and embellishment in her array of projects available on her website. When I saw them, I thought - "That's funny. It's all the fun of crazy quilting embellishment... without having to do any piecing and quilting!"

Now, keep in mind these aren't properly crazy quilt design, as they aren't made out of pieced fabric. When Carol designs a piece, she sketches it out, draws in the embroidery stitches and "seam" treatments, colors the piece in with watercolors and colored pencils, and then, through a scanning and printing process, transfers the colored design to fabric. What you receive from her when you order one of her designs is the printed fabric, ready to embellish. You can personalize your project by varying your stitches, adding beads, and selecting the colors of your threads. Each project comes with stitch instructions and thread color recommendations, to keep it easy on the stitcher --- but... if you want to be a bit more creative, you can play around with color and thread choice and so forth.

I think Carol's projects would be a great way for someone to get into embroidery. The Christmas ornaments she features, for example, would be an excellent project for teaching embroidery to a youngster. It's always fun to work on something colorful, that requires a variety of stitches!

Her Christmas stockings, too, are cute - and I love the little scenes within the bigger piece. It's not the kind of embroidery project you'd get bored with!

And, outside the realm of Christmas, she also features some pillows and other objects for home decorations.

I think the concept is interesting - I'm not a crazy quilter (I keep thinking I'm going to go back and try to redeem myself from my first crazy quilting blungle!), but I do like this idea of working up the "look" of crazy quilting in another form. Jeannine's hearts kind of remind me of this idea - they're a great way to sample all kinds of stitching. The other place I've seen the concept at work - where you get the pleasure of crazy quilt embellishing, but where you aren't actually quilting - is Judy's work on Possibilities, Etc., where she "crazy quilts" on needlepoint. She makes really pretty pieces this way!

If this type of stitching looks fun to you - or if you have a youngster in the family who's ripe for learning embroidery stitches - you should stop by Chickadee Hollow to see if Carol's got just the project for you. You never know - it could be a whole new type of stitching addiction....

Video Tutorial: Trellis Stitch

2008-08-05T04:30:00.000-07:00

The trellis stitch is a filling stitch used in hand embroidery. It's detatched from the fabric, like the detached buttonhole, but it makes a fuller filling than the buttonhole. It can be worked closely packed, with a firmer tension on your stitches, or you can pull the stitches out a little bit to give your embroidery the trellis look, with larger open holes between the stitches.

The trellis stitch is used in stumpwork quite a bit. It's a good stitch for adding dimension, especially when stitched in a circle. An excellent example of trellis stitch worked in a circle (spiral trellis stitch) can be found on Just String, where Jeanne worked up a gorgeous photo tutorial, using an amazing sampler she's working on, to show you how to do the spiral trellis. She even shows you how to make your circle stand up from your fabric, or lay flatter. It's really a terrific tutorial and her stitching, as always, is minutely perfect, so do check that out when you get a chance.

Another great source of information on the trellis stitch can be found at The Embroiderers' Story, the blog associated with the recreation of a 17th-century embroidered jacket at Plimoth Plantaion. There, you'll find several posts about the trellis stitch, and if you take time to stroll through the website, you'll probably find even more, as there are lots of photos of motifs worked with trellis stitch. You'll also find, in PDF form, some photo instructions for trellis stitch, worked out by Tricia Wilson Nguyen. The stitch method is slightly different from the method I'm showing you below, although it is the same stitch. If you check out Tricia's directions and look at her up-close photos, you'll see a difference in the way the threads set up - the loop on mine stays more or less vertical, while hers cross into each other a little more. They look more distinctly like a trellis. But you'll notice on the lower right hand section of her finished trellis stitch photo (in the PDF) that the stitches look vertical there. I think it has to do with the wrapping and pulling of the thread. I lay my thread on the fabric and pull the stitch down. In the Plimoth Plantation directions, the needle points upwards, and the working thread is wrapped around the needle for each stitch.

I learned the trellis stitch through Erica Wilson's Embroidery Book, which is no longer in print, but can be found used through Amazon and other used book sources. Although the book is mostly in black and white (including the illustrations), it is an excellent resource for learning stitches, especially if you are interested in historical embroidery. The stitches are shown through drawn diagrams, but they are very clear, and have lots of good explanations along with them. I think this is one of my favorite older stitch dictionaries. BUT - be warned - it doesn't have the same kind of "eye candy" as the new books today have.

Here are some photos for you - they're super-up-close...

This is the little rectangle worked in the video. The stitches are kept pretty close together, and you can see the vertical direction on the loop.

These stitches are pulled a little apart, so you can see more of the ground fabric, as the holes between the stitches are bigger.

Here, I started building a circle. The "wall" goes pretty much straight up at this point, because I hadn't begun to decrease, by leaving out a stitch. If you vary where you begin your decreasing, you can get different dimensional effects.

Before you watch the video, a few notes:

1. Let it buffer a bit before playing. The video is almost 10 minutes long (sorry)! And ... yes ... I do manage to prattle most of the time (sorry!). Oh, and do ignore the end - "That's pretty good!" What was I thinking?? But having just managed to record almost 10 minutes of audio instructions off the cuff (well, ok - it was about the fifth time through it, after making all kinds of silly blunders and starting over!), I just couldn't re-do it, just because I sound like a dork at the end.

2. Try to ignore my ever twisting thread. The disadvantage of filming, especially long sequences, is that I can't drop my thread to let it untwist!

3. I'm using perle cotton #5. Trellis stitch works well with all kinds of threads, though, and the results can be a lot finer and "airy" looking if you use a lighter thread - it just depends on the look you want.

4. It's not a hard stitch, and it works along pretty quickly once you get the rhythm going. Don't be intimidated by it!

5. Have fun with it!

Here's the video:

For more video tutorials of hand embroidery stitches, please feel free to visit my Video Library of Stitches, where you'll find about 54 stitches listed now!

Enjoy!

My Needlework Photos - Not All, but Many...

2008-08-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

For a while, I've been thinking it would be nice to have one "hub" of photos where all my needlework or website photos could all be viewed in an organized album. It would be nice to have a photo album right here on Needle 'n Thread, and eventually... I might!

But, in the meantime, since someone else has already done the technical work, I thought I'd take advantage of Flickr and add some of my needlework pictures there. I haven't added "all" my photos - just some highlights. For example, I didn't add a lot of step-by-step photos - usually, just the finished products.

So, if you want to go photo-squizzing (I don't know if "squizzing" is really a word, but it sounds about right!), you can check out Needlenthread on Flickr.

If you have any good advice about how to set things up there or organize them better, or if you have any particular photos you've seen on Needle'nThread that you think should be over there, let me know, and I'll see what I can do!

Replay on the Coral Stitch: Testing a New Video Host...

2008-08-03T08:23:00.000-07:00

Here I go again - you can help me out by giving me some input on your preferences for my embroidery tutorials, or you can just ignore this article as one of those "technical" posts that are really boring...

This is the thing: My coral stitch video that I uploaded a little while ago is not playing.... and it's not the only one - the split stitch video refuses to play, too. I need to re-upload them to Google to see if they will "take." Both videos played fine when they were first uploaded, but now...? Who knows.

Anyway, I'm still searching to see if I can find a better way to host the videos.

Today, I'm testing vemeo. So here's the coral stitch on vemeo - the problem right now is that you can't watch a comparison on the other one, because, as far as I can tell, it isn't playing. I'm going to try to fix that, though, in the next few minutes!

If you mouse over the video, the controls show up so you can adjust volume or pause.

If you have any feedback on preferences, don't hesitate to leave a comment! Thanks!

Reader's Embroidery: Free-Style Hearts

2008-08-03T04:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice selection of free-style embroidery stitches, worked in individual heart motifs. Jeannine was practicing different stitches, so she decided to work some redwork hearts for a quilt, using a variety of stitches to try them out. Good idea - and the results are really nice!

If you've been hand embroidering for a long time, or even if you're just now getting into needlework as a "newbie," you've probably already discovered there are hundreds of embroidery stitches! In fact, this is one of the great things about surface embroidery - you can really work with a variety of stitches, and create a whole, almost limitless range of looks, just by altering your stitch choice. With all the stitches out there to try, I swear, embroidery is just one of those hobbies you could never get bored with!

Jeannine is relatively knew to embroidery - but I think she does a terrific job on her work, and I love the idea of these "sampler" hearts that employ a whole bunch of different stitches. It's a great idea to try out stitches, and using the squares for a quilt is a great way to make use of the sampler, without just stashing it away.

So, here they are - a whole series of sampler hearts:

Nice, aren't they?? I'm quite taken with that bunny in the last one! He's hilarious! I like the "primitive" look to the blocks. But most of all, I like the variety in the stitches!

Great job, Jeannine! It looks like you're having a BLAST with your needle 'n thread!

Blue Ribbon Quilts - I'm Giving Away Two Books!

2008-08-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

In an effort to save my bookshelves from bowing under the weight of the books that I've accumulated over the years, I'm going to start giving away needlework and craft books that I don't use. Many of these books relate to hobbies or needlework crafts different from the ones I normally focus on - and a lot of the books were given to me, so ... I figure I'll just pass them on to someone who wants them! So here's the first of what will certainly be many give-aways, if people like the idea!

The book featured this week is called Blue Ribbon Quilts by Linda Causee and Rita Weiss. If you like quilting, methinks you might like the book! They're both brand-spanking new.

As you can see, I have two copies! So, I'm giving both away, to two winners.

The book features full-sized quilts and wall hangings. The projects include a photo of the finished piece, patterns for cutting, and information on assembly techniques.

There are some really neat projects in the book. I kind of like the oceanic one. This might have something to do with the fact that it's 102 degrees here and I haven't seen a large body of water in over a year!

So - the details -

Leave a comment below, on this post, answering the question "Why do you want this book?" To leave a comment, you need to be on the Needle 'n Thread website (not in the feedreader or daily newsletter). Click on the link below this post, where it says "Click to Comment."

The give-away ends Thursday morning at 4:00 am US Central Time. If you haven't commented by then, I won't be able to draw your name!

I'll announce the winners on Thursday, at which point the winners must contact me with a mailing address. If I don't hear from the winners within two days, I'll pick other names.

The books will be mailed the least-expensive rate. For overseas readers, I will mail them air mail, if possible - it depends on the weight of the book. In most cases, they should go airmail, but if not, I'll notify you.

I plan to run these give-away posts as secondary articles on Needle 'n Thread, until I've dispersed all the books I don't want. The give-aways won't replace regular content, I hope! It'll be a bit challenging to keep up the pace, but - who doesn't like a challenge now and then? If I fold under the pressure, I suppose you'll know right away!

Have a great weekend!

Hand Embroidered Baby Pillowcase - A Kid Did This!

2008-08-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

One of the kids from this summer's embroidery classes showed me her finished final project, and ... golly! I was really impressed. I took some pictures, and I thought I'd show them to you...

This is a baby pillow case hand embroidered by a 13-year-old. I have to admit, I think she did a really nice job.

The last project for the 12-14 year old class was a "pick your own," and among the blanks I had (some of which were meant more for the adult class!) were some very nice linen baby pillowcases, which I got from All About Blanks. They have a little drawnthread (hem stitched) edge.

So, this student picked her own blank (the pillowcase, for a new baby sister), her own design (which she transferred by tracing it with a light box, using a pencil), and her own colors of thread. When she was finished, she wanted an "A" in the middle of the design and asked me to draw it in for her. That's the only thing I did on this whole piece - everything else was left up to the student!

Here's the pillowcase:

And here's a bit of detail:

The stitches she used are French knots, daisy stitch, satin stitch, bullion knots, and stem stitch.

I think she did a good job on everything, but I was particularly impressed with the bullions (and there are lots of them!) - bullion knots don't generally fall in the "easy" category.

There's the center motif with the initial. Her satin stitching looks good, too - she worked some French knots on top of the satin stitch on the side flourishes (blue satin stitch, yellow French knots).

The whole design was embroidered with two strands of DMC stranded cotton.

Nice job, Anna!

Goldwork Article - Interesting Bit on the History of Goldwork...

2008-08-01T05:22:00.000-07:00

Goldwork is probably one of the most awe-inspiring embroidery techniques, and I'm happy to see that its popularity is gaining ground again worldwide.

I have never failed to get ooooooos and aaaaaaahs and wows and all kinds of exclamations when I've shown off even the little scraps of practice goldwork. And I admit, that's always my reaction, too. When I see goldwork, I'm like the crow or whatever it was in that movie I saw when I was a kid - he was always completely mesmerized by "sparklies." (I think I just dated myself, and demonstrated that I have a pretty foggy memory when it comes to movies from childhood!)

I rank goldwork among my favorite needlework techniques, but the silly thing is, I really haven't done that much of it! I can count eight goldwork projects I've done. That's it. Eight. That's not much!

Anyway, one of the reasons goldwork appeals to me, I think, is its rich history. If you've never read anything about the history of this opulent form of needlework, but you'd like to, you're in luck - Country Bumpkin has published a nice, concise article on the History of Goldwork.

When Margaret sent me the link, she commented that the article was probably a result of the recently published A-Z of Goldwork book, and I suppose she's right. The book hasn't been distributed in the US yet, but we're waiting anxiously. I pre-ordered mine through Wooly Thread, and was disappointed to find out that it seems we won't get them until the end of August (!!). I suppose that's what I get for saving on shipping and not pre-ordering through Country Bumpkin!

Although I'm anxious to see the book and to compare it with other excellent goldwork books I have - like the Beginner's Guide to Goldwork by Ruth Chamberline - the truth of the matter is, it's probably better not to get distracted with a book that's going to make me want to start Yet One More Project!

Since this post comes without photos, I'll reference you to this post of a magnificent piece of goldwork...

Enjoy the article!

July Embroidery Stash Winner!

2008-07-31T06:10:00.001-07:00

It's always hard to do the drawing for these embroidery stash give-aways, because after I've drawn, it's over, just like that! Each month, I think it would be nice to be able to give every entry a little 'something,' but alas, my post office budget alone could never stand the strain! So I went through the normal motions this morning, like this...

The first thing I do when the embroidery stash giveaway is over is type a list of entry names - for the "anonymous" commentors, I put "annon" plus a key word from their post (it's much easier if you leave a name!) - and then I print and cut the names into small scraps and stick them in a box or bag. This morning, it was a box.

I shake them up...

And I pick one piece of paper from the box...

And the name I picked this morning was....

Chrissy, who likes French knots. Chrissy, please contact me with your shipping information, and that package will go in the mail tomorrow!

Thanks, all, for participating! I think I'll have to calculate the total number of French knot and chain stitch fans - they seemed to be the dominant favorites!

In August, I hope to do something special for a stash give-away - well, something "special-er" in a Specialty type way. I'm waiting for some information from a couple retailers that I keep in touch with, about a product that I believe is no longer available. But I have extra... so I might it give it to you! We shall see.

I'm still plugging away on my current project, and will post some pictures when I finish the final bits of the part I'm working on now. I've also got another whitework project set up that I have to make fast progress on this week. (Looks like I'll be a slave to the needle for many hours this weekend. Gee. Isn't that tough?) AND - my mind is jumping ahead about two weeks, when these two projects will be done and delivered, and I can start something COLORFUL and ... well, with goldwork on it. At least a sampler of sorts, because....

JoWynn very kindly sent me some Sadi threads to try, and I am going to try them! I'll show you those a bit later, lined up next to the typical "English" metal threads (2% gold from Benton and Johnson), in a goldwork supplies comparison, with some information on different suppliers around the traps - all in anticipation of receiving my copy of the new A-Z of Goldwork, which I hope to review for you soon (whenever it shows up).

Oh, gosh. And I'll also finish the monogram alphabet - only a Z left - and start cleaning up the next round of patterns and monograms.

Lots to do over the next couple weeks! Anybody have any particular embroider subject or question you'd like to see discussed as well? Leave a comment and let me know!

Needlework Stash Give-away for July - Last Chance!

2008-07-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to remind you that this evening is your last chance to participate in July's needlework stash give-away here on Needle 'n Thread. All you have to do is leave a comment on the original post, explaining what your favorite embroidery stitch is and why... and you can even feel free to leave in any tips about working the stitch, that you've picked up along the way!

I'll draw the name first thing in the morning, so leave your comment tonight!

Monogram for Hand Embroidery: Letter Y

2008-07-30T05:10:00.001-07:00

It's been about a week since I've posted a free monogram pattern for hand embroidery - I'm slowly dragging to the end of this alphabet - not to draw it out, but just because life has been hectic! Here's the "Y"!

All that's left to give you to complete this whole monogram alphabet is the "Z." I'll be updating the first half of this alphabet with the cleaner patterns made from vector drawings (thanks to Margaret, who traced the first half of the alphabet for me!)

And then, I've got some letter combinations and a smaller alphabet I was thinking about cleaning up next...

Here's the Y:

For the rest of this alphabet, please visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery.

Enjoy!

Make your own Bayeux Tapestry!

2008-07-29T04:00:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a hankering to make your own Bayeux Tapestry? Yes, this is rather a light post - it fits well with the animated Bayeux Tapestry post of last year, although you might have a little more creative fun with this one!

Here's your chance to take your place in needlework history by making your own Bayeux Tapestry!

The Historic Tale Construction Cit is a drag-and-drop, make-your-own virtual tapestry website. It's hilarious, and really clever!

You can choose from a variety of folc, brave (people, horses), beasts, buildings, and miscellaneous items, drop them on your tapestry, re-arrange them, and add text as you go, until you have a whole historical tapestry account of whatever Important Event you want to record!

The characters and images are diverse - from a kid with a sheep, to the fallen and slain, to the cook, the dogs, the donkey, birds, kings, buildings, ships, and trees - and you can add scenes as you go (because of course you've got to use every possible image on your tapestry!)

Your masterpiece can be as clever as you want it to be, or as mindless...

When you're finished with your masterpiece (it won't take nearly as long as the original took, I'm pretty sure!) you can save it to the gallery or e-mail to a friend.

If you're a fan of historic needlework (with a sense of humor), check out the Historic Tale Construction Cit!

And have fun with it!

Thanks, Margaret, for the fun link! (...where I've whiled away how much time now??!)

Trial Run on Diamond Stitch Video - You Decide!

2008-07-28T05:46:00.000-07:00

Here's your opportunity to help me with a project! I'm testing new video hosting for my hand embroidery videos. I thought I'd try Blogger's video upload feature for my Knotted Diamond Stitch video that I posted this morning, to see if it works out better than Google video. My embroidery stitch videos are "ok," but I've always been a little disappointed with the compression, so I want to try different ways of posting them. So - if you want to leave me some feedback, I'd love to hear your opinion!

This morning, I posted the Knotted Diamond Stitch video tutorial, going about it the same way I have for all my hand embroidery videos. The reason I use Google is simple: You Tube has little "ads" for more videos at the bottom of each video, and, since I don't think I can control those, I am wary of using them! But I found out (yes, I'm slow) I could post video through blogger, thanks to my brother, who pointed that out to me. Since I haven't used blogger before for this, I want to do a test run, and, if you see a big difference on your side of the screen, I'd love some feedback! So the purpose here is a kind of comparison, between this video below, and the knotted diamond stitch I posted this morning.

You can check out the original post, where you'll find tips and tricks on working this stitch, as well as a photo of what it looks like when completed.

I really value your opinions, so don't be shy! Let me know what you think! If it's clearer, and it looks like blogger might be a better option, I may convert.

Video Tutorial: Knotted Diamond Stitch

2008-07-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

Knotted Diamond Stitch is the latest addition to my video library of hand embroidery stitches! It's a decorative band stitch that's easy and quick to work, and looks great!

The knotted diamond stitch makes a decorative band of diamond shapes between two parallel lines. It can be worked horizontally or vertically. It would make a great seam treatment in crazy quilting, it could be used as an edge treatment on a towel, or for lines in band samplers. I was thinking it would make a neat edge border around the outside of a card, for paper embroidery, but I haven't had a chance to try that yet!

You can build on the stitch, too, by adding other elements to it - like French knots or colonial knots in the centers of the diamonds, or daisy stitch petals coming off the points of, or placed in the "V" between, the diamonds.

Some hints which I touch on briefly in the video:

I find the stitch faster to work if you lay your thread on the fabric in the correct arrangement, rather than wrapping the thread around the needle for each knot.

When you work from the right to left (forming two knots, one on each side - you'll see it in the video), lay your thread down in the shape of a "C" (equivalent to wrapping your thread over and around the needle counter-clockwise).

When you work the center knot coming back (from left to right), lay your thread down in the shape of a "G" (again, you'll see this in the video) - this is equivalent to wrapping your thread over the top of the needle, and back around, clockwise.

It also helps at first to mark off even spacing for the "X" that's formed by the stitch, until you can judge it by eye.

I'm using perle cotton #5 in the video (and in the photo above). It's a nice thread for this stitch, although it works well with other threads, too.

Here's the video:

You can find more videos (51 of them!) in my Video Library of Stitches, as well as a link for solving playback issues, if you have trouble viewing the videos on your computer.

Hand Embroidered Linen Pouch: Earwig

2008-07-27T04:00:00.000-07:00

This is a dumb joke, but here it is, nonetheless: "Knock, knock." "Who's there?" "Earwig." "Earwig, who?" "Earwigo again..." (Sorry.) This is the re-beginning of an embroidery project that I began when I set up my slate frame. I subsequently messed it up, and had to start over - remember the photo from my embroidery mistakes and needlework frustrations? It's underway once more - so, here we go again...

I'm making a linens pouch. This is an ecclesiastical piece of embroidery - the pouch itself will hold small altar linens. I wouldn't normally make a linens pouch out of linen, but that's what was requested, so I wanted to conform the project to the tastes of the receiver of the gift! I posted photos of a similar embroidered pouch for linens before - you can take a look at that to get an idea of what the finished piece will look like, construction-wise.

On this one, I have a cross, swords, and crown design on the front. When I initially drew the design on the initial fabric (set up on the slate frame), I used a pencil and was not pleased with the fact that the thread seemed to picking up some grey from the pencil. Rather than stitch the whole thing and risk the grey not coming out, I started over!

So this is the front so far:

Notice that the design (you can barely see it) is in blue now. I used dressmaker's carbon to transfer it. Here and there, I did have to barely touch up a line with the lightest touch of a pencil. I haven't gotten very far on it, have I?

This is the cross a little closer. Oh, golly. While I would prefer doing this piece in colored silks and real gold threads, I felt obliged, again, to try to match the recipient's tastes. So I'm working in coton a broder. Since the linen is a good, solid medium-weight linen (Alba Maxima by Legacy), I'm using a heavier sized thread. This is #16 coton a broder.

But despite the fact that I'd might like to be working with other materials, I will admit that I do LOVE working with the coton a broder on the Alba Maxima linen. And - I LOVE Palestrina Stitch. This is a great stitch, and I think it looks really pretty in this thread on white. The stitch is fun to work - once you have the steps down, it moves at a nice rhythm. I really do love it. (Did I mention I like Palestrina Stitch?)

I want to fill the middle of the cross, I think. Since it's the central focus of the design, I'd like to have it a little heavier than the rest of the piece. I could achieve focus on it two ways - by making all other elements filled, and leaving this "voided," which would make it stand out. But instead, I'd rather fill the cross, so the "heavier" looking part is also the central focus.

The problem is, I don't know what stitch to fill it with. Normallly, I suppose you'd do the filling first (if it's something beyond seed stitch, anyway), but I wanted to get it outlined to see if I'd like it filled or empty.

Any brilliant ideas for a filling? Of course, satin stitch would be beautiful - it is a gorgeous stitch, when worked right - but the wider parts of the cross are just bordering on "too" wide for the satin stitch. I don't want loose threads. I also don't want to pad it, as I don't want a padded look to the piece.

Nope. Still no clue as to what to fill it with. I keep thinking something brilliant will pop into my mind, but ... nothing yet!

That's a bit closer on the Palestrina stitch there - and you can see where I did some touching up with pencil. Rrgh.

And a little closer on the Palestrina stitch there. Gosh, I love that linen. Gosh, I love that stitch! Yet...

... despite loving the linen and loving the stitch, I will admit that overall, I'm not that pleased with the project itself. I spent 2 hours yesterday stitching on it (beyond what you see here), and almost as long removing all the stitches I had just put in. The piece simply isn't coming together as I want it to.

Here's a little teaching moment for you - this is the back. See the long strings carrying over to the sides? I started with "away waste knots." That is, I started with a knot in the end of my thread, and took my needle and thread down into the fabric far away from where I was going to start stitching. Then, when I had finished the length of the thread, I snipped the knot off, re-threaded the needle, and ran the long tail underneath the stitches to secure the beginning of the thread. This is an easy way to start a line of stitching when there aren't any other stitches close by to secure your thread under.

Oh, yeah. I do love the Palestrina stitch!

Any ideas on filling it?

July Embroidery Stash Give-Away - Simple, but Fun

2008-07-26T16:39:00.000-07:00

Rummaging through stash stuff this afternoon, I tried to figure out what would make a good, coherent collection for a little stash-giveaway. For those of you new to the concept, each month, I give away a little package from my collection of needlework goods, in an effort to reduce my stash (ha!) and just ... well, for the fun of it, to give readers the opportunity to play around with new threads, stitches, techniques, fabrics, or whathaveyou. I decided to stick with something simple, but fun.

The contents of the package this month include a white kitchen towel awaiting your embellishment, four colors of perle cotton #5, an English needle (crewel size 1), and a book - the old Anchor freestyle embroidery book.

For advanced embroiderers, this might seem a mundane package, but you know what? I like the simple, fun embroidery that comes with these types of threads, a blank towel, and some new stitches and patterns from a good book. This brings embroidery to the level of ultimate relaxation for me, and the product is always something that is thoughtful, colorful, and fun as a gift.

It's true that the least exciting thing in the package is probably the needle, but by including it, you're saved a trip out, if you want to start a project right away and you don't have the right sized needle on hand!

I stuck with some brightly colored, pretty perle cottons - three are DMC, the purple is Anchor. This will give you the opportunity to feel the difference between the DMC thread and the Anchor - there is one, you know! The Anchor perle feels "dry" to me, compared to the DMC. It seems a little less soft, too. But it stitches really well! They both do.

The towel is a 100% cotton white kitchen towel. It has a tag across one corner for hanging.

The best part is the book, of course. I like this Anchor book better than the new one. This is the "old" version, which has since been republished by Anchor. In the book, you'll find stitch diagrams for a variety of stitches, and next to each new stitch, you'll find a picture of a stitched piece utilizing the stitch featured in the diagram. This is always a great feature - it's nice to see the finished stitch in a real embroidered work. The photos of the pieces featuring the stitch are also echoed in the patterns provided in the back of the book - and there are a lot of nice little, clear patterns that can be traced onto the towel (or anything else you want to embellish!).

The patterns provided are in bold lines, easy for tracing, and they're mostly what I'd call "fun" patterns, that you can mix your stitches on.

And, conveniently, this is a little book - it's not a full-sized book, which means it will fit in my shipping envelopes!

So that's the give-away for July... and this is what YOU have to do!

Leave a comment below, answering the following question:

What's your favorite embroidery stitch and WHY? You can also include any tricks you have for working the stitch, that make it easier or give it a better finish. That way, everyone can learn something from your comments!

On Wednesday, July 30th, the contest ends. I'll draw a name Thursday morning and post the winner, at which time the winner can contact me with a shipping address. Overseas readers are welcome to join - if you win, I'll mail the parcel the least expensive air mail option!

So - answer away!

And even if you're not so keen on perle cotton or kitchen towels or needles or small books - think of it as an opportunity to get a postcard from me! Chuckle, chuckle....

Before Today is Over...

2008-07-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

For some reason, today is off to a slower start than normal. Must be the looming housework.... BUT - Before today is over, I'll have this month's embroidery stash contest posted! A little late, but better late than never. Last month's contest was the "anniversary" give-away, and the recipients liked their packages very much, methinks! I may not quite top that one, but I'll certainly have something good up for you. I'm debating between threads (floche? silk? gold threads?) or a book.... or a combination.... hmmmm.....so make sure you check back in today or later in the weekend!

Gilt Sylke Twist Strawberry Box - Yep, I did it!

2008-07-25T04:00:00.000-07:00

After musing over whether or not I'd apply my Gilt Sylke Strawberry sample piece to the lid of a box, and after reading all the comments and advice on it, I figured what the heck. I took the plunge. Here it is!

One of my concerns about putting this piece on the unprotected cover of a box was the question of "dirt." I was thinking that a piece of good linen and these relatively expensive threads would not fare so well exposed to everyday use. I answered my hesitation on this point with the reality that dirt exists, and things may get dirty, but if you take extra care of your Good Stuff, then it really shouldn't be that big of a deal, right? Besides, at least for me, my hands are never cleaner than when I'm doing needlework. I always wash them well before approaching my needlework supplies. The box itself is kept inside a basket when not in use. How badly could it really get soiled?!

So I positioned the piece of linen on the box lid, put the "window" piece over it, and marked out the outline of the outside of the lid. I cut the fabric away, and pulled off the paper covering the glue strips on the lid. These strips don't really hold the fabric or the "window" piece well enough, so I applied a light coating of glue. I stretched the fabric gently on the glue, and then pressed the window piece over the fabric piece. After wiping off any excess glue, I stuck a stack of heavy books on top of the box and left it to dry.

Here's my new supply box:

I like it, you know, I do!!

Right now, I've got threads in the box. In fact, I think I will use it as a thread box, exclusively, for threads of whatever current project I'm working on.

I've since emptied the box, picked out all the whitework threads I'm using on my current project, bagged up the spare skeins, and filled up the box very tidily. I keep all my good thread rings and keeps in the bottom of the box, too.

The only disadvantage to the box itself (which comes with a Bucilla silk ribbon embroidery kit for the lid) is the magnet. The box is magnetized so it shuts securely (I like that feature), but the magnet is so strong that I find I have to get my fingernails in there to pry the thing open! My scissors come out magnetized, which is great when it comes to picking up needles - but rather annoying when you don't want to pick up needles!

But I'm not complaining, really, because once the thing was assembled, I was Really Happy with it. And I still am! So - I suppose I'll go use it!

Thread Comparison: Cotton Embroidery Threads - Floche, Perle, & Stranded

2008-07-24T04:15:00.000-07:00

After writing some time back about floche, a 5-ply non-divisible cotton embroidery thread, I received a lot of inquiries about it: What is it? What's it used for? How's it different from other embroidery thread? and so forth. So, using a few photos, I thought I'd draw some comparisons between some commonly known cotton embroidery threads and floche.

For the sake of comparison, I selected two relatively common cotton embroidery threads - DMC stranded cotton and DMC Perle Cotton #5. The floche in the photos is also DMC (imported, I believe, from France).

First of all, the terminology: a "ply" is part of a "strand" - the plies twist together to make the strand. So when you look at your regular DMC stranded cotton that you buy locally (the green floss above), you will have 6 "strands" that you separate to use. Each one of those strands is relatively small, and it is made up of two "plies" that are twisted together to form the thread that you embroider with. "Non-divisible" means that you normally don't separate the thread into strands to use it, so perle cotton, for example, comes straight off the skien as it is, you cut the length you want, and start stitching with it.

Looking at the familiar DMC stranded cotton first, you'll notice the 6 strands there, and, if you look closely, you can see the distinct twist of the two plies that make up the strand. That's important - the two plies are very visible, and, small as they are when you're looking at one strand of cotton, they make a difference in what your thread looks like on your embroidery projects. There's texture there - more so than in the floche, discussed below. Notice, too, that the twist on the plies is not as tight as it is on the perle cotton in the photo below.
The texture from the plies twisting together make a difference in the way your project looks - not just because of the "texture" (as we think of it - rough or smooth, etc.) but also because of the way the light plays off the thread.

Here's #5 perle cotton. You can distinctly see the two plies twisting tightly together. They look more like a cord than the twisted plies in the stranded cotton above. Like the stranded cotton, there's a texture in the overall thread - the bumps formed by the twist of the plies. You don't normally think of it, but it is one of the features that distinguishes this thread from, for example, floche. The light reflects off those bumps, and you see them pretty clearly.

Here's the floche close up. The plies are a little harder to see, aren't they? The twist is a little looser than the perle cotton, certainly, and the long twist and the number of plies (5) make the thread a lot smoother looking. You don't see as clearly the individual "bumps" from the plies. Now, on a close-up photo like this, it looks like floche is a really fuzzy, hairy kind of thread. It's actually a very smooth thread.

Size-wise, floche is larger than a single strand of DMC, but not nearly as large as the #5 perle cotton - it's somewhere in the middle between the two. Floche is a mercerized cotton (just like the stranded cotton and the perle, which means it's been chemically treated to give it a shine), but it doesn't look as shiny as the perle cotton, and in a finished project, it tends to give a kind of subtle "gleam" - more so than the stranded cotton.

Now, what can you use floche for? Well, what can't you use it for? If you can embroider something with two or three strands of stranded cotton, you can probably embroider it with floche! One strand of floche is equivalent to about 2 strands of DMC stranded cotton. Floche, I think, gives better coverage and a smoother finish. It isn't always desireable to use, though. For example, I wouldn't use it in something like my needlepainted bird or iris - the detail would not be the same at all. But I would use it on monograms, and I'd use it on embroidered baby clothing or for smocking. I would use it in whitework (though I prefer the coton a broder - which is kind of like 4-ply floche - for whitework), and I'd definitely use it in projects that call for satin stitching (floche works up wonderfully in satin stitch) in cotton. And I'd use it for long-and-short stitch work in bolder designs, for the fun of it. I think it would be wonderful in crazy quilting - it works up very nicely in all kinds of stitches. So the possibilities, really, are only limited to your stitching imagination!

Where can you find floche? I order mine through Hedgehog Handworks. You won't find it at your local chain craft store. I like the options on the floche at Hedgehog. A large hank of floche (168 yards) costs $5.25 right now, but you can buy smaller "sample" skeins that are 32 yards total, made up of 21 strands that are 55" each, and these smaller twists are $1.25, which I think is a reasonable cost for trying out the threads. And the colors - oh, the colors are beautiful!

So there's a little bit about floche, compared to some more familiar cotton threads. I hope it helps you know what it is, and maybe encourages you to give a new thread a try, if you haven't used it before!

If you use floche, what do YOU use it for? And where do you buy it? It's always nice to have options on prices and ordering - so if you know of a source, don't hesitate to share it with us!

Needlework, Embroidery, and Craft News Resource...

2008-07-23T06:19:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting link for those of you looking for the "buzz" in the craft and needlework world - It's a neat idea that spans a lot of crafting topics and compiles links and info in one spot.

Craftgossip.com is a site dedicated to craft news, and it includes a lot of needlework and embroidery topics - and links - and information - and links to projects - and links - (get the point?). It's one of those sites that you could browse around for quite a while.

I especially like the section on Needlework News, which Denise Felton edits. (Yes, she links to my tutorials ....!) But that's not the only reason I like it. She finds other great tutorials and idea sites online, which makes for great browsing when you've got time just to browse!

I like the idea of a place to find "needlework news." A while ago, for example, I received an e-mail from a reader, who asked if I had heard that DMC was no longer going to be producing floche. Now, I would have liked to have had a "news hub" to go to, to search to see if there was an article or news release that mentioned this. But no luck. (There is the "Independent Needlework News" network that focuses on some of these types of issues...) Instead, though, I went to my floche source (Hedgehog Handworks) and asked Joady, who said no, it wasn't true to her knowledge, as she was still being supplied and hadn't heard that.

Anyway, I like to keep an eye on what's going on in the needlework world, for a number of reasons. First, it's a good industry to watch develop (and sometimes contract), since it gives you an insight, I think, into what people's thoughts and habits are turning to; second, it's good to know where to find information in order to be able to find supplies and increase one's own knowledge of the trade and of the art; and third, deep down I think I have some kind of "retirement dream" germinating - a little needlework business of sorts - not necessarily a retail shop (in fact, not likely), but something - and it's good to know what people are interested in, and where the trends are going in the art, craft, and needlework world...

In case you'd find the link interesting, then, I thought I'd point you to the needlework section of Craft Gossip.

I think it'd be interesting to know if other people like to keep up with information in the needlework trade world. Do you like to know what's going on behind the scenes of the needlework trade, or would you rather remain happily oblivious, as long as you can still get your supplies?

What say you?

Tips on Stem Stitch & Another Embroidered Towel...

2008-07-22T04:44:00.000-07:00

Slowly but surely, some completed summer embroidery class projects are still rolling in - this one is the kitchen towel with the flowers along the edge. In preparing a photo or two of the embroidery on the towel, I realized it presented a good opportunity to point out some tips on using the stem stitch.

I want to make it Really Clear that I'm not "picking on" the embroidery on this towel. Who could deny that, whether for a semi-beginner (this is done by one of the girls who has taken embroidery class before) or one who's been stitching a lot longer, this towel is really well done? The stitching is very nice, the color choices are great, and I like the way she alternated the colors on the flowers in pairs.

I should have taken a photo of the back of this towel, because it was really impressive - very neat, no straggling threads, very tight lines that kept the threads from showing from the front.

I think she did a great job on the towel! Still, in looking at it, I found a "teaching point" to demonstrate something about the stem stitch. If you ask the embroiderer what stitch she used to embellish the towel, she would tell you "stem stitch." But between you and me... she didn't! She used a combination of the stem stitch and the outline stitch!

And here's the teaching point: stem stitch and outline stitch are not the same stitch - but they're easy to get confused, especially when you're working around curves, or changing directions on your lines.

Take a look at the embroidery a little closer - I wish I had a better shot, but this'll do to make the point!

The red arrows point to the stem stitched lines in this piece. Notice how they retain the visibility of the separate threads, while creating that rope-like overlap of the stitches? That's the signature of stem stitch. Just about all the other lines and curves you see in the towel in that photo are outline stitch. The individual "S's" are not clear - the line is a bit more "solid" looking as far as the thread goes.

So, how do you achieve the "signature" stem stitch - what is required to produce that look? Here are some tips:

Assuming you're working with S-twisted thread (that's just about any standard cotton floss, and most twisted silks)...

1. If you are moving from left to right along your path, always keep your working thread below your needle.

2. If you are moving from right to left along your path, always keep your working thread above your needle.

3. Turn your hoop as you stitch, to keep the direction consistent, so you don't get confused on the whole left-to-right, right-to-left thing. If you turn your work, you can pretty much always work from left to right (for right-handers) and right to left (for left handers).

4. When you take curves, it doesn't matter so much if the working thread is on the inside of the curve or the outside - what matters is the direction in which you're stitching and where your working thread is, in relation to where your needle comes up. So make sure you're applying the rules above - and, if you're worried about the stitch moving into the curve because you don't have the working thread to hold it back (because you're coming up above your stitch), take smaller stitches, and you'll be able to take the curve fine.

So othere are a few quick pointers on stem stitch. The stitcher who worked the towel above just confused the "above the working thread" or "below the working thread" thing as she changed directions stitching. It's funny how such a small difference in placement can change the finished look of a stitch, isn't it? ... well, that all goes back to thread twists (S-twist vs. Z-twist).... but we'll save that for another day!

To see the stem stitch worked out, check out the Stem Stitch Video Tutorial in my Video Library of Stitches, where you'll now find a whopping 50 stitches to learn!

Video Tutorial: Coral Stitch

2008-07-21T04:03:00.000-07:00

The coral stitch used in surface embroidery is a line stitch, with little knots worked along the line. Here's a video tutorial to show you how it's done.

The coral stitch is worked from right to left. It's a kind of "self-couching" technique, because you are "couching" or tying the working thread down with the working thread by forming knots over the thread.

You can work the coral stitch on straight or curved lines, and you can space the knots close together or farther apart. The stitch looks best, I think, when the knots are evenly spaced.

Strangely enough, you can also use the stitch as a filling, by working rows of coral stitch close together within the area to be filled. To do this, you stagger the position of the knots, so that they fit between the knots on the line before.

Here's the video:

For more video tutorials for hand embroidery stitches, visit my Video Library of Hand Embroidery Stitches, where you'll now find 50 video tutorials for 50 different embroidery stitches or techniques! Enjoy!