I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more
Contact Mary
I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more
Contact Mary
May 8, 2020
I’ve had some inquiries lately about variegated floss that can be used for embroidered items that will be regularly laundered.
DMC has a line of variegated threads that I like, called Variations. They meld with the DMC standard floss colors, and they are fairly easy to come by.
But other thread companies also have their variegated lines, and today, we’ll chat a bit about Cosmo’s Seasons.
May 6, 2020
I’m reading a book!
This is a big deal!
I’ve always been an avid reader, but lately, all my “reading” has been in audio format while I’m working. But the book I’m going to show you today is not available as an audio book (which is a good thing!), so it’s off the bookshelf and in my hands when I’ve got reading time.
Tudor Textiles is just what the title promises: a book about textiles during the Tudor period (1485 – 1603 in England). If you’re a history lover, an enthusiast for historical textiles, if you are curious about the Tudor period and the royalty and palaces from that era, if you’re into art history – you’ll love this book!
For the 17th century reproduction embroiderer, the book will give you insight into the whole foundation of the styles, materials, and so forth from the era.
May 4, 2020
Personally, I don’t enjoy stitching two similar embroidery projects simultaneously. Sometimes I do this, so that I can troubleshoot or so I can try different materials with the same design.
There are, in fact, two versions of my current Jacobean piece underway.
On the very delightful-for-me side, I’m not embroidering the second one. Anna (my niece) is.
I suspect Anna will show me up. She has a doggéd determination to work through problems and to get things “just right,” and I’ve admittedly lost that kind of obsessive tenacity for meticulous detail with my embroidery over the years.
Part of it has to do with the fact that she’s a newbie and she hasn’t developed the confidence that normally goes with years of experience in any kind of craft.
This is her first embroidery project of this type. She’s done a lot of what I’d call “casual” embroidery. Flour sack towels. Some of my snowflake Christmas ornaments. She’s also done a bit of cross stitch and she sews clothes and such. So she’s familiar with a needle, but she’s never done a more complex surface embroidery piece for display, from start to finish, making her own decisions as she goes along.
May 1, 2020
I’m pretty excited to get back to stitching this morning! I love developing an embroidery project and seeing how my ideas are going to pan out.
Believe it or not, I’m always unsure of every new project I start. I don’t know, until it’s finished, if I’m going to like it at all. I don’t know if it’s going to live up to whatever is percolating in my head. I can’t tell you how many times I say, “Well, that didn’t work!”
But I love the exploration! I love the trial and error! And when I fall asleep at night, my head is normally whirring with The Next Step.
I wake up super-charged to get to it. And it makes a great carrot! A developing embroidery project is always a marvelous enticement to get those Needful Things finished every day, so I can concentrate on stitching for a few hours in the afternoon.
Here’s a little bit of progress on the Jacobean design I’m playing with, with some starts and stops and explanations of my thought process – what went right, what went wrong, what I decided to change and why…
April 29, 2020
You can iron your embroidery.
I do it all the time!
But I hear from a lot of people who say, “I know I’m not supposed to iron my embroidery, but I have this tablecloth…” or “…I have this pillowcase…” or “I finished a flour sack towel and I want to give it as a gift…”
Everyday, usable embroidery is bound to need ironing, especially for a nice presentation. If it’s being displayed in your home or it’s being given as a gift, you want it to look crisp and nice and fresh and smooth and pretty!
I’m going to use one of these scroll towels that I finished last week as an example of how I iron everyday, usable, embroidered household linens.
And you’ll find information at the end of the article about the ready-to-stitch towel sets available for this design group.
April 27, 2020
Oh golly. I really wanted to show off some serious stitching today. But in fact, I ran into one of those road blocks this weekend, and I couldn’t muster the courage to plow through it or leap over it. I came to a halt.
Brain muddle.
Let’s take a look…
April 25, 2020
Goodness gracious, Happy Saturday! I don’t normally pop in on a weekend, except when I want to share a few links and online explorations that have to do with needlework.
So that’s what we’re going to do today – take a short little stroll out into the ether of the interwebs and explore just a few needlework-related links.
So grab a cuppa (tea for me!) and let’s kick back for a little meander!
