One thing I've found as I've progressed on this hand embroidered lettering sampler is that, while there are lots and lots of hand embroidery stitches out there, not all of them are wholly suited to lettering. Since lettering demands clarity (after all, you want your reader to be able to read it!), it's important to select stitches that will produce clear text.

In this tutorial, I'm combining herringbone stitch (for the thick part of the initial letter) with split stitch for the rest of the lettering. For thread, I'm using Stef Francis silk, which is a first for me. I've got quite a few skeins of Stef Francis silk, but to tell you the truth, I've never used it until now. I wanted a rich purply color, and I wanted a thread with a bit more texture, so this thread suited my needs.



The thread is variegated, and, although it's silk, it has a bit of fuzziness to it, kind of like a soft wool. I like it a lot!



Between the two parallel lines that form the backbone of the L on "Lazy" I'm working a closed herringbone stitch. Basically, this is just herringbone stitch worked close together, so there isn't any space (or at least, not much!) between the stitches. So, first you go down in your fabric - a bit away from your last stitch in order to give you room to come up right next to your last stitch.



When you come up, you come up right next to your last stitch, to close the gap you left when you took your needle down into the fabric. To understand this clearly, it helps to know the movement of the herringbone stitch - if you're unfamiliar with it, check out my herringbone stitch video tutorial, which may be somewhat helpful.



When you cross over to the other side of your stitching area (to the opposite parallel line), you'll take your needle down into the fabric a little bit away from your last stitch. You can see the gap in the photo above. Then you come up inside that gap and cross back over to the other side, working in this manner down between the parallel lines.



As you get to the base of the spine of the L, where things narrow up a bit, just move your lines closer and closer, filling in as best as you can, keeping your stitch movement the same. It'll fill right in to a narrow point.



You can see pretty clearly where the variegation kicks in on this thread. After I stitched it, this block of color change was rather disappointing, but I've gotten used to it now and I don't mind it too much. I'm not really keen on variegation, when it happens in such segmented blocks of color. But, still... I liked stitching with this thread!



After finishing the spine of the L, I jumped down to embroider the base line of the L, using split stitch. Since I've already covered split stitch in a previous lettering tutorial, I won't bore you with the details - I'll just show you how the letters progressed from this point!



Here's the base line of the L. A hint on this thread: After stitching a bit with the same strand, it gets fuzzy just like wool does, so it's helpful to start a fresh piece, if you want a really nice looking split stitch. I am not quite satisfied with this base line. (But no, I didn't pick it out!)



I liked the curl on the top of the L much better. It was stitched with a fresh strand of thread.



Here are the rest of the letters, all worked in split stitch, too.



And here's the sampler so far! It's growing on me, the more I work on it. I like the variety of colors and stitches, and I think it would be fun to do a much more meaningful phrase (or saying, poem, proverb, etc.) in the same mixed-up manner - it'd make a great little gift for someone, to stitch up something like this, but with something a bit more profound, personal, or pertinent.

If you're just joining in on these lessons on embroidered writing, I've posted all the previous lessons in under the Hand Embroidered Lettering Index. You're welcome to check them out!

Next up in this series is a really bright and crazy word - with combined stitches and a few added touches to liven the word up a bit.

If you have any suggestions, comments, questions, and the like, don't hesitate to leave a comment below!

Enjoy the weekend!

Labels: beginner embroidery, embroidery tips and tricks, hand embroidered lettering, Hand embroidery stitches, needlework pictures, needlework tutorials, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, November 20, 2009
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Well, after my post the other day about my "mad" purchase of a rather pricey needlebook kit, I felt pretty good after reading all your comments! Nothing like getting a group of people together with the same interests in order to justify the occasional splurge, I say! Thanks for the shot in the arm! I'm pretty excited about the little needlebook, now that the project is underway. Don't expect to be amazed - I've only made a tiny bit of progress - but I thought I'd share it with you and make a few comments about the experience so far.

Before beginning any embroidery kit, it's helpful - I'd almost say "essential" - to read through the directions before jumping in. So that's the first thing I did. It wouldn't do to start stitching along, only to run into a problem that could have been avoided by reading ahead.

The next step is generally set-up work. It took me a couple days to get the set-up done, due to numerous interruptions and a general lack of embroidery time.



Remember that the kit is designed for counted techniques, so it makes sense to grid things off so that the placement is correct. You may also remember my determination to go Surface Embroidery on this kit... and I am sticking with that plan! Still, the lines are necessary to mark off the edge, and to mark off the various areas for adornment on the needlebook. These are just basting lines, and they will be pulled out while I stitch.



This is the monogram I'm stitching. It's from an old Sajou pamphlet (I think?). I had scanned it into my computer and cleaned it up a while ago, with plans. So I shrunk it to fit the needlebook, and altered the flowers (which were daisies) to round circles, which will be bullion roses.

It's kind of hard to see. I traced the monogram on using a .005 (super-duper fine) micron pen and a very light touch. I used a light box to make the tracing possible, and even then, on this fabric (which is slightly darker than a flax or natural colored linen), it was still difficult to trace. Still, it's on there, and that's all that matters.



When the fabric's held at a slant, it's easier to see the marking.



I intend to do the decorative bands that run down the sides of the needlebook covers in hand, without a hoop, but since I'm stitching the monogram in satin stitch, I definitely wanted to use a hoop. I find I get better results with satin stitch when the fabric is taut.



And here's the first bout of stitching. I was surprised at the color. I decided to keep the color scheme for the original design, but I didn't realize just how grey this is. It's really grey!

It's a difficult color to stitch on this color of fabric, when working tiny split stitches around the outline of the monogram. I had a difficult time seeing where I was going!



The color at first did not seem too attractive, and I was worried that I would not be very happy with it. But I decided to stick with it, anyway, and I found it grew on me. It really does match the reproduction fabric that lines the needlebook perfectly, so it's a good choice of color.

This is the padding for the satin stitched monogram. I worked a small, single-thread split stitch around the area, and then filled in with longer stitches.



Starting in the middle of the area to set my stitch direction, I stitched to the top part of this area in satin stitch, over the padding and the outline.

Now, this isn't as easy as it could be, and that's because this fabric, which is well-suited to counted work, is not so well-suited to surface embroidery. There's too much space between the weave, and it requires splitting the weave quite often, in order to get the stitches to lie comfortably next to each other.



This is the finished section, satin stitched. I've managed to pad the top section and I've started outlining the middle area of the letter, but this is as far as I've gotten.

I think I'll be pleased with the result, but we'll have to see. The whole monogram - due to the outlining and padding under the satin stitches - is going to be a bit thicker than I first imagined, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. We'll see how it works out!

I'll definitely keep you posted!

And once again, thanks heaps for your input on the kit purchase. I knew you'd make me feel better about it!

Labels: embroidery kits, Embroidery Projects, Hand embroidery stitches, monograms, needlework pictures, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, November 19, 2009
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Here's another monogram for hand embroidery, the C in the latest series of free hand embroidery patterns here on Needle 'n Thread...

If you're looking for stitching suggestions for this series of monograms, please check out the Letter A, where I've mentioned a few ideas for stitches. Also, if you have any ideas or input for stitching these letters, feel free to leave a comment!

Here's the small C:



And here's the large C:



And, if you'd like to save a PDF version of the small and large C, here 'tis:

Monogram for Hand Embroidery: Fan Flowers C (PDF)

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, November 18, 2009
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Split stitch is a perfect stitch for hand embroidering lettering and text. In this tutorial, we'll talk a little bit about threads and take a look at using the split stitch to embroider words. We'll also look at stitching an isolated French knot.

If you're just joining in on these hand embroidery tutorials for writing with your needle and thread, you might want to take a look at the index of lessons so far in this series. In previous lessons, I've covered subjects such as starting and ending threads, traveling threads on the back of your work so that they are invisible from the front, and combining stitches.

Before venturing into this tutorial, you also might want to check out my split stitch video tutorial, especially if you're not quite sure of how to do the split stitch.



In this tutorial, I'm embroidering the word "jumped" using the split stitch. I'm using cotton floche in a coral color. (I love this color, by the way!)

Floche is a four-ply cotton thread with a very nice shine. It is relatively softly twisted, and it is one single strand - it is not normally strandable. That is, you don't normally separate floche into smaller strands to stitch with.

I chose floche because it's a beautiful thread for split stitch. I prefer working split stitch in a single-strand thread, rather than working it with two strands of cotton or silk. Why is that? Because I think you achieve a better looking split stitch with a single strand of thread. Using two strands of floss, the split falls between the two strands and separates them so much that you don't get the close "hugging" of the fibers around the working thread. This close "hugging" makes a solid-looking split stitch.

If you don't have floche, try a perle cotton #8, or, if that's not available, a #5 will also do, but it will be slightly thicker.



When working the split stitch, the key to getting a nice looking stitch is to split the thread in the middle. With floche, the thread is thick enough that it's pretty easy to see. It is more difficult to find the middle of a single strand of DMC cotton floss, because it is much finer than floche. Because of this, it's hard to split the thread right in the middle. With floche, the middle split is not so difficult.

To split the thread easily, make sure that your straight stitches (before splitting them) are pulled firmly so that they hug against the fabric. If they are loose and bulging up from the fabric, it's harder to split them in the middle.



So in the photos above, you can see that I began at the top of the J using the same method of starting my thread discussed in earlier tutorials. Then I just worked the split stitch straight down the letter. As the tail curved, I didn't really have to turn my work, because the split stitch doesn't depend on stitch direction. But if it's easier for you to turn you work, then by all means, turn it!



To end the thread, turn the work over and whip the backstitches that were formed on the back of the fabric, anchoring the thread under these stitches.



I'm going to use a French knot to dot the J. To dot the J (it's lower case), begin in the same manner as discussed in the article on dotting I's. Stitch three anchoring threads very close together, over only one thread of fabric, stitching each stitch into the stitch before. This will require you to stitch perpendicular stitches. I didn't do that in the photo above - but it will work better if you do it that way!



Now all you have to do is work your French knot over your anchoring stitches, making sure that the knot is fat enough to cover the anchoring stitches. I used three wraps on my needle for this knot.

Turn your fabric over and hitch your working thread under the stitches behind the knot. Then cut your thread.



The U is split stitched just like the J.



In working the M, when you come to the point where the direction changes, end your split stitch line and then begin the next split stitch line.



Instead of taking a straight stitch forward, notice that I brought my needle up a stitch length away from where I wanted my line to start, and took a stitch length backwards. Then continue split stitching as normal.



Keep your stitches relatively small when working around tight curves. This is the M, finished.



Here you have the P and the E finished. Pick a starting point on each letter that makes sense, so that you can follow the flow of the letter easily. With the P, I started at the base and worked up. With the E, I started in the middle of the letter, worked around the loop and down the tail.



With the D, I started at the top of the tail and worked down around the loop.



And here's the sampler so far! I still need to add an "S" or two to the text! This word is supposed to be "jumps" rather than "jumped." That's what I get for relying on my foggy memories of junior high typing class!

If you're practicing on text yourself and have a blog, feel free to leave a link so we can check out your progress. You're also welcome to post photos in my Needle 'n Thread group on Flickr, if you like. If you do post any, drop back by and let me know, so I can check them out!

Enjoy the tutorial! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below!

Labels: beginner embroidery, embroidery lessons, embroidery tips and tricks, hand embroidered lettering, needlework pictures, needlework tutorials, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, November 17, 2009
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There are some hand embroidery kits available on the market today that I like because I like the project itself - and then there are some kits I like because I like the materials. And there are some kits I like because I like the project and the materials - and this is one of the latter. The project enticed me because it is a needlebook. The materials enticed me because of the threads...

I've made several embroidered needlebooks in my life, but I've never been satisfied with my less-than-professional finish. This particular kit, I surmised, would be worth the investment, because I was certain I would learn to make a nice, finished needlebook. That was the first thing that caught my eye about the kit - the look of the needlebook. Once I read the description of the kit, I knew it would be almost a perfect match for me: the threads are Au Ver a Soie's Soie d'Alger, a thread a really love working with!



The name of the kit is "Nicole," and it is a limited edition needlebook kit distributed by Access Commodities. I bought the kit through The Mad Samplar, justifying it for all the reasons above, plus the fact that I could make the needlebook up as a nice gift for Christmas.



The cover of the box doesn't quite display the finished needlebook to its advantage - you can see the finished needlebook on The Mad Samplar website, in their new needlework shop. The description on the website reads:

"This is the second in a series of French Needle Maid Needle Books. The design was inspired by the 18th Century French Reproduction fabric procured for the lining of the needlebook. In 'reverse' fashion, the line and embroidery color choices were based on the fabric..."



I liked the fact that, when I opened the box, everything was wrapped in matching tissue paper. Right off, I figured this was a rather classy kit. And you might be thinking that, for the price tag, it should be classy! I agree... but wait. Look what's in the kit, and then let's talk price again.



So far, so good - instructions abound! There are two sets of instruction for the needlebook: one is a general little booklet that covers the question of constructing the book once it is embroidered; the other focuses on this particular needlebook, and contains specific counts and patterns for the book.



Everything is printed nicely - and this little booklet will be a gem to keep for any future needlebook projects.



The instructions are accompanied by diagrams and are very clear. After reading through both sets of instructions, I did not have any questions about what to do to create the needlebook.



For fabric, the kit contains a piece of 34 ct Wren Wing linen, a piece of cotton lining (the French Reproduction fabric mentioned above), and two pre-cut squares of heavy interfacing.



Included are seven full 5-meter skeins of Soie d'Alger. There's no way the embroidery will require this much thread - it's a generous amount, and a real sell point for me.



There's a full spool of Londonberry Linen thread in black, and a full spool of Soie 100/3 from Au Ver a Soie, in black as well. Also included are two lengths of silk ribbon (pink and black) for finish work, buttons, needle felt, and three needles.



Now, let's get back to the price tag. I surfed around online to get some prices, and added up the retail cost of just these threads. Depending on where you buy them, the threads alone will cost a minimum of $31.45. That's more than half the cost of the kit right there. I'd estimate that the supplies in the kit, retail, would cost me a minimum of $40. Between the designer, the middle-people (the store that sells it and the distributor) there's a balance of $18.50 to be split.

I think that's a pretty good deal, then, for the kit, even if the first look at the price tag made me gasp a bit.

This isn't the type of purchase I would make every day (hahahah - or every month... or probably more than even once a year!) But given my excuses above (yes, yes, I suppose they are excuses!), I'm glad I bought the kit, and I'm looking forward to working it.

One thing I wasn't aware of was that the monogram alphabet does not come with the kit. It is an old Sajou alphabet, and it can be found in a number of places online, I think. I haven't looked for it yet, but it looks familiar. I may even have it in a book somewhere, myself. But, this didn't really both me much, 'cuz guess what??

Oh, I forgot to mention... I'm not stitching this design! ???? What??? I paid that much for a kit, and I'm not even stitching the design that goes with it???!!! That's right - I'm going Surface on this one instead of counted, using my own monogram. I'm going to keep the general look of it, with the stripes down the side, and the little bunch of flowers on the back - but I'm going to work everything in surface stitches. I think the roses are begging for bullions, as are the little buds in the fancy stripes. And the monogram? Well, I haven't decided on stitches for it yet. I'll let you know when I get there! Of course, I'm keeping the color scheme. The colors all work together so well - I would be daft to change them!

So here's another little work in progress. I've started setting up the fabric and basting in the areas for stitching... I'll show you as I go along!

Ok - tell me something! Was it silly of me to pay the price for this kit? What do YOU look for in a kit? Am I NUTS?! (Ok, maybe you shouldn't answer that one!)

Enjoy your Monday!

Labels: counted thread embroidery techniques, embroidery kits, embroidery resources, historical needlework, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, November 16, 2009
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Here's the B monogram for hand embroidery, in my newest series of monograms...

You can find stitching suggestions for this particular monogram on the first post in the series, featuring the A. Make sure you read the comments - some readers have made suggestions that are worthwhile!

You can save and print the images, and if you need to enlarge or reduce them, this can be done on a photocopier or in an editing program on your computer.

Here's the small B:



Here's the large B:



For more monograms in this alphabet and others, please visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, November 14, 2009
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Colbert embroidery is an embroidery technique that combines surface embroidery stitches and counted work in one piece of needlework. It apparently developed in the 19th century, to mimic the embroidered laces (such as Dresden lace) of the century before. It is not so fine as Dresden lace, though - in fact, Colbert embroidery tends to look rather bold and coarse next to the delicate whitework of Dresden lace. And, to boot, Colbert embroidery is usually worked in color.

Colbert embroidery reminds me a lot of the free-form blackwork of the 17th century. Like blackwork from this early era (and unlike most blackwork today), Colbert embroidery is typified by bold lines that make up the predominant design of the piece, while the backgrounds are filled with geometric filling patterns.

Colbert embroidery is not too well-known today - look it up online, and you'll find only a few resources available, some of which have simplified the look of the technique quite a bit. In fact, in its heyday, the technique was quite elaborate and intricate, as can be seen from the samples that are featured in Therese Dillmont's Complete Encyclopedia of Needlework.



The photos in Dillmont's book are black and white, of course, but you can see clearly that Colbert embroidery was a rather "busy" technique. The flowing lines and shapes of flowers, leaves, and so forth were formed by surface stitches or couched braid. Then, within the shapes and over the background fabric, various counted fillings were worked. The technique was used to decorate pillows, mats, and so forth.



The structured, counted filling patterns contrast quite vividly with the flowing lines and curves of the designs. According to Dillmont, Colbert embroidery involves "large designs worked on coarse, transparent material with various filling stitches and braid outlines... The foundation is soft (washed) congress canvas..." and the threads used were actually quite a variety, from cording to stranded and pearl cotton to silk.

Today, Colbert embroidery still exists, and there are even books about the technique, though they aren't very common. Through The Mad Samplar, I picked up one book on the technique at the online needlework retail show that ran last week.



You can see from the cover of the book that the technique has been somewhat simplified. It's quite bold and grand, isn't it?



However, though somewhat simplified compared to the samples in Dillmont, it still reflects the combination of surface stitches in bold designs and geometric background fillings. In the book above, Broderies Colbert, the actual design area is left voided, which makes it somewhat similar to Assisi work.



The voiding of the bold designs is effective, I think. It creates such a stark contrast with the background.

While the book does not go into stitch directions (at all), it does give close up images of different background techniques, which would be a cinch to imitate. The text is in French, dedicated pretty much just to materials lists for the various projects featured in the book - so knowledge of the language isn't entirely necessary, as most of the supplies are pretty straightforward.



In the back of the book are small line patterns that are suitable for enlargement.

When I saw this technique and started reading a bit about it, I made an immediate connection between it and the book Wessex Stitchery, which I've already reviewed.

Wessex Stitchery focuses on a variety of filling techniques - some, admittedly, are probably too busy for Colbert embroidery. But others would serve the technique well, I think.



The photo above is from Wessex Stitchery - and the filling pattern featured there would work for Colbert embroidery, too, I think. The idea of combining Colbert embroidery with Wessex stitchery presents some interesting possibilities.

Colbert embroidery is worked today on Congress cloth, Jobelan or Etamin fabrics - all of which are cotton or blends and resemble canvas more than they resemble fabric. And this means that, in the areas that aren't stitched, you can see through to whatever is behind the fabric.

I am wondering how the technique would work on linen; perhaps the weave would have to be looser to accommodate some of the thicker background motifs. I'm also wondering how the technique would work for, say, a monogram, if the monogram were voided (that is, empty of stitching), but outlined with a surface stitch, and then the background were filled with some of the intricate fillings in the Wessex Stitchery book. A good pillow for a gift? A Christmas stocking? Oh, the possibilities...

And isn't this just the Greatest Thing about embroidery? When it comes to designing or to combining techniques, we really are only limited by our imaginations!

Have you ever tried Colbert embroidery? Do you know of any additional, thorough resources on the technique that you'd like to share with the rest of us? Does this technique appeal to you at all - or do you see any possibilities for combinations or for projects? What are YOUR thoughts?

Thanks for putting up with my ramblings! Have a terrific weekend!

Labels: book review, counted thread embroidery techniques, embroidery books, historical needlework, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, November 13, 2009
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