Harvest Hues Materials Kit – Coming Monday!

Oh my goodness! I’m so excited! Finally, finally! We got our last lovely shipment of long-awaited thread, and the kits for Harvest Hues are almost ready for you.

This means that, come Monday, we’ll be releasing the materials kits for our next Stitch Snippet Stitch-Along. Wooohoo!

If you want to join with this stitch-along and work from the materials kit, the kits will be available this coming Monday, September 16th, starting at 10:00 AM Central Time (11:00 AM Eastern, 8:00 AM Pacific), here in the shop.

For those who aren’t familiar with the Stitch Snippets here on Needle ‘n Thread, I’ll explain below so that you know what to expect.

I’ll also show you what our Harvest Hues project is – and we’ll talk about different ways to use the resulting decorative leaves.

Harvest Hues is a stitch-along that I’m hosting here on Needle ‘n Thread. The project focuses on embroidering decorative autumn leaves that can be used in myriad ways for seasonal decor.

What’s a Stitch-Along?

A stitch-along is a project that unfolds in sequenced lessons online. As it develops, you stitch along with the lessons.

Each week (and sometimes more frequently), I’ll publish a lesson (for free, as always) here on the website. The lessons take you step-by-step through the project from start to finish, including set-up, stitching, and finishing.

Work at Your Own Pace

Perhaps the best aspect of a stitch along is that you work at your own pace. You can come back to the website and find the lessons conveniently located in a project index which will be posted as the project develops. Bookmark the index, and that’s where you’ll find all the lessons listed in chronological order, so that you can get to them as your time allows.

Downloadable & Printable Lessons

One of the perks of being a member of the Needle ‘n Thread Community on Patreon is that you receive each lesson in a handy downloadable PDF that’s formatted for easy printing and that you can save to your computer for future use.

The Materials Kit

I offer a materials kit for each stitch-along. The kit comes with everything you need to create the project, aside from a few standard tools – like a hoop, scissors, and similar. The kit does not include the instructions, because we work through those together here on the website.

For Harvest Hues, the the kit includes fine linen embroidery fabric, interfacing, three different colors of wool-blend felt for finishing, eight full skeins of thread, a full tube of seed beads, wrapped wire for stems and construction, and the appropriate needles. Each kit includes enough materials to make at least three of the decorative leaves we’re creating in Harvest Hues.

You’ll need a couple tools: an embroidery hoop or frame; embroidery scissors; fabric scissors; and (optional but recommended), a wire cutter / needle nose plier.

The materials kits, of course, are option, but there’s a huge advantage to having one: you don’t have to source individual materials from all different suppliers. We’ve done all that work for you, saving you multiple shipping fees and time.

Harvest Hues

So what is Harvest Hues?

It’s a different kind of project for Needle ‘n Thread. Normally, the projects we create stand alone as their useful or decorative selves, in a finished needlework accessory or as displayable art.

This is a little different. We’re making decorations that you can style and use in different ways. We’ll explore some of those ways as the project develops, but undoubtedly, you will come up with all kinds of unique ideas on your own, too!

While the resulting leaves in Harvest Hues are obviously autumn-specific, you’ll learn how to make colorful embroidered leaves, but once you know the concepts, you can expand the idea into other decorative leaves and shapes for other seasons, too. Harvest Hues will provide you with a wide scope for future projects!

As we work through Harvest Hues together, we’ll be embroidering that quintessential autumn element, the leaf.

I’ve styled these leaves a couple different ways, but there are myriad other ways you can use them, too. Think of them as individual ornaments – and then style them where and how you’d like!

Our first idea was to use the leaves as an autumn pennant banner. We took three of the basic embroidered leaves and threaded them on ready-made bias tape, to create a cute hanging pennant banner for fall. First, we added some basic felt cut-out leaves to fill out a small pennant banner.

We’ve strung our banner on the cubby bookshelves in the studio, since we no longer have a window or door. It’s a great little touch of autumn in the workspace, reminding us of what’s happening outside.

Eventually, we would style something like this in our front display window or on the studio door.

Once you have the concept of the simple embroidered leaf down, you can create all kinds of different leaves in different shapes and fill out a whole line of lovely leaves. So that’s what we did next!

But Wait! There’s More!

Perhaps an autumn pennant banner isn’t your Thing, though? That’s ok! There are other ways to use the individual leaves.

Leaves tucked into wreaths. Scattered on table tops or among a centerpiece. On long stems in a vase? Why not?

What Level is Harvest Hues?

The stitching level for Harvest Hues is Beginner, but experienced stitchers will have plenty of scope to enhance their leaves with more advanced techniques. We’ll talk about that as we go along, and I’ll offer suggestions along the way.

This is not a difficult project! If you know the basics of embroidery – how to thread a needle, start and end threads, and follow stitch instructions – you’re good to go!

Power Up!

If you want to embroider multiple leaf shapes beyond the basic, you can! You can develop your own leaves using the embroidered elements on the basic leaf shape. We’ll talk about that as the stitch-along develops.

Members on Patreon will have access to a couple different designs for the leaves, beyond the basic leaf. But there are soooo many types of leaves out there that you can easily adapt for your collection. You’re not limited to any one shape, once you learn the concepts of planning and stitching the basic shape!

It’s a Springboard!

As always, a stitch-along is a springboard. Jump in, and by the end, you’ll be able to confidently expand your new knowledge into your own unique embroidered pieces.

Materials Kit – Launching Monday!

If you want to grab a materials kit for Harvest Hues, they will be available this coming Monday, September 16, at 10:00 AM central time here in my shop.

The kits will ship out next week. The stitch-along will start the following week!

See you Monday!