Originally posted 2010-11-06 06:28:19. Republished by Blog Post PromoterMarlene asked : In my stash, I have a Susan Portra Christmas bell pull that shows the faces of the three Wise Men. The canvas is 30″ long by 12″ wide. Because many of the stitches will be padded or embellished, a roller frame might crush the stitches. Using stretcher bars, I might possibly have a piece that is not easily transported short of putting roller skates under the end of it and dragging it down the street… lol It also might involve stitching from the side instead of having the piece straight up. A round embroidery frame or those plastic PVC snap on frames might distort the canvas. I have never stitched without a frame and am concerned that I would not smoothly stitch in the yarn’s plies if I worked it rolled up in my hands. How would you handle
Monthly Archive:: November 2012
Originally posted 2010-02-02 07:57:48. Republished by Blog Post Promoter The multi-colored leaves in this mini kimono from Lee Needle Arts are just perfect to show needle-blending and the wonderful effect it has on needlepoint. On the unstitched canvas pictured here, there are four different colorings of leaves. The orange leaves are solid. The green leaves have an obvious line between the two shades. The orange leaf has a less obvious distinction between the shades, and the remaining leaves blend the two colors. In this one little piece you will see two types of shading in contrast with non-shaded leaves. The solid orange and two-tone green leaves are stitched with no blending. I picked a textured stitch for the orange leaf and it looks great. But notice the green leaves. by stitching in only two colors, a hard line if created. There is no transition. This can look OK if the
As long as you have a square or two of stitching the same size, you can make delightful biscornus. These eight-sided pincushions became popular in the Cross Stitch world, but now have been adopted by needlepointers. They are also pretty easy to finish yourself. Here are some tutorials that show the process. Ada from Eye Candy Needleart show you how to get started by using her Spring Biscornu that’s in the current issue of Needlepoint Now (Nov/Dec 2012). This detailed tutorial is for Cross Stitch, but if you fold under the canvas instead of backstitching around the design, it will work for needlepoint. This biscornu tutorial, also for Cross Stitch, shows you how to finish with or without a button. I also was thinking that, as needlepointers we don’t use pincushions that much. But I love this finish so I was thinking they could be finished with a loop to
Originally posted 2010-06-30 07:47:27. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Yesterday’s post with the basic eight-point star pattern reminded me how much fun these patterns can be. So today I wanted to share with you some of the variations I have made. Connecticut Star has narrower points with a fun checked border. It’s a classic in red, white-and blue, but this could be fun in all kinds of combos. Why not use paint chip suggestions as a start? National Star is another eight-point star variation. In this the points are checked but and the border is solid. I’m thinking about doing one inspired by the Maryland Flag, making both points and border checked.. Baby Star is a tiny version of the star, encased in a straight stitch border. Since it’s less than 30 stitches square this would be dainty even on larger mesh canvas. Star of LeMoyne was the first eight-pointed
I have a little needlepoint problem. My current project, a vintage Mary Engelbreit package, will have sequins and Wonder Ribbon on it, two things I haven’t used before. With my general dislike of beading needles because they are long and sharp, I’ve been waiting for a good project to test the sequins. Working on this has been an exercise in frustration. Although the holes in the 2mm sequins from The Collection are large and easy to see, my needles were mismarked. Instead of having the large eyes of tapestry needles, they had the tiny eyes of hand-sewing needles. Let me tell you, this makes a HUGE difference. I can’t see the eye. Worse than that even a thin wire threader would not work with my thread. I was about to give up. Yesterday I went to my LNS, Needle in a Haystack, and threw myself on their mercy. They discovered
Originally posted 2010-03-19 07:20:52. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Your little one is fascinated by your needlepoint and wants to learn how to stitch. She’s too little to handle even a beginners canvas. Those cards you stitch won’t give her a chance to do “real” needlepoint, so you have a dilemma. As you can see from the picture Sippy Cup Central came up with a wonderful idea — use fruit and vegetable bags as the basis for needlepoint. She shows you how to do it step-by-step and even shows her daughter enjoying it. I love this idea for so many reasons. First off the holes in the bags are big, much bigger even than the largest holes in plastic canvas, so even very young stitchers can try it. It’s thrifty, so you don’t need to worry if it doesn’t work out or if the child doesn’t like it. Finally, you
Tacking needlework onto stretcher bars is a fact of our stitching lives. Until recently my hands were strong enough to do the job. Now I need a tacking tool for needlework. It has come in the form of the EZ Tack-it Tool. Designed to be used in any application where tacks are used, it magnifies your strength to make it easier to insert and remove tacks. There are three components in the package, a box of brass tacks, a tack inserter and a tack remover. I tested all three. Tack Inserter For me, this was the biggest reason to buy the tool. I used it on both new and old stretcher bars and with several different kinds of tacks. It works like a champ. The rounded plastic head makes it easy to hold and comfortable to use. The head is large and heavy enough to press the tacks down with
Originally posted 2008-12-05 05:37:22. Republished by Blog Post PromoterTerry Dryden posted a picture of her beginning Bargello project on her blog earlier this week. She’s working on the directions and hopes to have it available soon. There is a picture of it on the blog. It’s going to be so easy to personalize with your choice of colors and with a great button in the center. Wonderful stuff!
Books are tools, not just static storage for information. Those great needlepoint stitches aren’t worth much if you can’t use them. All too often you can’t because the books aren’t useful for you. Yesterday we talked about some needlepoint stitch variations that work for very tiny spaces. Today we’ll talk about what defines a tiny stitch and I’ll give you some tips on hacking your books to make them more useful for finding small needlepoint stitches. What’s a Small Needlepoint Stitch? For a stitch to fit into a space, there needs to be three repeats of the stitch unit. That is enough to allow your eye to see a pattern. By seeing a pattern your brain “fills in” the missing stitches so that it looks as if the pattern continues behind other objects. Without this level of repetition, your brain doesn’t see pattern, it sees visual noise. Looking at needlepoint
Originally posted 2006-11-10 07:13:55. Republished by Blog Post PromoterThis fantastic tip comes from Caela Conn Tyler and was posted by Gini Armstrong on the ANG list. The ANG list is a fantastic resource for discussion and information about needlepoint and is hosted by the American Needlepoint Guild (http://www.needlepoint.org). It’s a must read! Gini told us that “At a pilot class early this year, Caela Conn Tyler mentioned a great way to get through a long project. She suggested doing 2 stitching lengths each day. That also sounds like a great way to work off UFOs. Two lengths is a manageable amount and by breaking the project into those manageable bites, it doesn’t seem so overwhelming. Caela used that example to share how she’d spent less than a year to stitch a large Christmas stocking that had been in her “collection” for some years.†Caela added that doing this is part
How often do you get stumped for needlepoint stitches for small spaces? You might be like one of my readers who wrote to complain that the recommended stitch just looked too big. Or you might be like me, avoiding stitching a lovely canvas because it has too many small areas. My frustration with this problem has led me to develop lots of variations based on Tent Stitch. Here’s some great ones. Tiny Knitting is columns of alternating Tent and Reverse Tent. In one color, it really does look like knitting. In two, it creates an interesting stripe in small spaces. Tent-Cross Check is the smallest of checks. It alternates Tent and Cross Stitch over one intersection to create a textured pattern. It’s easy to keep track if you remember that the Tent Stitches will all be on either horizontal or vertical intersections. Fuji Tent is a subtle Tent and Reverse
Originally posted 2010-05-17 07:31:58. Republished by Blog Post Promoter The marvelously talented Liz Morrow has released three new designs in her on-line shop. Needless to say, I’ve already bought the Bargello and am using it to try out some new threads. And think of the possibilities for stitching the cat and the horse; you’d could even make it to match and animal you know
From Jane Brocket’s The Gentle Art of Stitching: Gentle stitching is not fraught, demanding or nerve-jangling. Instead it is simple, straightforward — something that can be done when relaxing, talking, sitting in the sunshine or on holiday. It doesn’t require great amounts of skill, confidence or planning. . . .Gentle stitching is easy-going and anxiety-free and focuses on the very essence of stitching . May your stitching today be gentle
Originally posted 2009-10-15 07:21:40. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Sometimes the background really is the focal point of the needlepoint as it was in this vintage canvas from Beau Geste I made several years ago. But how do you make it really special? This technique is adapted from a knitting technique from Philosopher’s Wool in Canada. Being by picking out the color you want to use, dark blue in this case. Find six different threads in this color. You can pick more than six but group them into six piles. At least one should be an overdye. Make a list of them and number them. find your self a die. Star the background and roll the die. The number that comes up is the number of the thread you use. If you’ve made piles of thread, roll the die again and this is the thread within that pile. Roll the
It’s a huge holiday shopping weekend in the US, although apparently most shopper shop for themselves this weekend. I mostly avoid the whole thing and sit at home and stitch. With so many people buying and selling things on-line, I want to take a minute to remind people about how important courtesy is when buying and selling. Purchases wouldn’t be made unless two things happen: The seller has something the buyer wants and The buyer wants ti pay the seller’s price That means courtesy is called for on both sides. Buyers should pay for their items promptly and should not say you’ll buy something unless you plan on buying it. All too often I hear complaints from sellers who can’t sell an in-demand item because a potential customer requested it but hasn’t paid. In turn sellers should send out items promptly. I have had plenty of experience in waiting for