Nuts about Needlepoint » beginners

Exploring the Painted Stitch Canvas

Janet Perry — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:08:54 +0000

I was so excited when I found the vintage canvas on eBay awhile ago. I like it because the stitches are already painted on, much as the wonderful designs of Barbara Bergsten are.

This type of needlepoint has the pattern of the stitch already there on the canvas, you pick your threads and follow along.

In the bottom left corner, you can see a patch I’ve already stitched, in Jacquard. The green line was painted on the canvas, I stitched that first and then filled in the cream.

The patch above will be Framed Scotch, I’m stitching the Scotch Stitches now and the white lines that frame the squares will be in Continental.

For some of the patches here, the stitch to use is quite clear, for others I’ll need to make some choices.

But if you are a beginner, or just want to expand your repertoire of stitches, look at Barbara’s great designs. She’s endlessly inventive and her painted stitches are just perfect and a joy to stitch.

With Painted Stitch canvases and a good stitch dictionary, you’ll learn tons of new stitches quickly.

P.S. In future posts, you’ll see this piece again because I’m using it to test three new threads.

Threads & Shading Class Starts February 15

Janet Perry — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:11:34 +0000

Isn’t this Amaryllis by Piet Mondrian striking?

It’s so simple, so modern, but in such bright colors.

And it’s the canvas for my next class for Art Needlepoint, starting February 15, 2012. Suitable for beginners, it has a taste of many different techniques including:

padding
textured stitches
outlining
pattern darning
shadow stitching

YOu’ll learn these techniques and more and use three different types of thread with your purchase of the complete kit. My classes for Art Needlepoint are free with the purchase of the kit.

Best of all, those purchasing the kit for purposes of this class get a special discount.

Learning one or two techniques in a class is unusual, and here you’ll learn several in an email class so you can stitch in your comfy chair, in your PJs, and at your own pace.

Remember the class starts February 15, 2012, so order your kit today.

Needlepoint Ebooks Premiere!

Janet Perry — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:32:29 +0000

Originally posted 2009-07-03 06:09:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

That’s on the cover of Celebrate! The ebook version of the Come Stitch with Me needlepoint sampler from 2008. It has been expanded with additional ideas for using the stitches and information on how to develop a color scheme

This cover is from 50 Patchwork Blocks Charted for Needlepoint or Cross Stitch, my other new ebook. You’ll be amazed and delighted by the originality shown by the stitchers in interpreting these classic quilt designs. More books in this series are on the way.

You can purchase these book now using the PayPal shopping cart on this page. I’m so excited about them both because they represent an affordable way to buy needlepoint projects as well as great ways to use material you already have on hand.

A PayPal shopping cart makes it all easy to purchase.

And don’t forget the custom stitch guide service and the new quick stitch help service for when you want help with just an area.

New ( and Inexpensive) Design from Orna Willis

Janet Perry — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:43:25 +0000

Originally posted 2011-01-16 07:22:01. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

“Lovely” this small Bargello needlepoint heart is designed in four colorways.

Orna’s models are on brightly colored canvas and are perfect for cheering up a gray day. The design is small and simple, featuring Bargello in a heart.

Best of all the design is available as a PDF for only $1.

You can buy it in Orna’s Etsy shop.

You can also get it as a kit or in a set of all four designs. When you get the kit you also get the hoop for a quick finishing job.

What a great Valentine!

Book of Hours Color Twinchy – Sneak Peek at New Color & Thread Club

Janet Perry — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:20:12 +0000

Going from the earth and mineral colors that predominated the palettes of Ancient Egypt and Greece, the High Middle Ages seem to burst in a world of color and light.

I have adored the bright, rich blues of medieval prayer books, or Books of Hours, since I first saw one in a reproduction in High School. A picture from Jean de Berry Book of Hours, it’s the monthly scene for June, is below.

illustration from medieval book of hours

Those colors are the inspiration for this Twinchy. It captures the bright colors with the blue and red, the lightness of the palette with the blue-violet, the slightly yellow white of vellum and parchment, and the gold that is so much a part of illuminated manuscripts.

It’s just one of the twelve color palettes I’ll be exploring in Color through the Ages my exciting new color and thread club beginning March 1, 2012.

Each month you’ll get the charted Twinchy (2″ square needlepoints) and lots of information on the palettes, color, and three threads in a PDF.

There are two subscription option, basic and deluxe. The basic subscription gets the monthly PDF only. The deluxe gets the PDF, canvas for the Twinchy, and samples of three threads.

Basic Package includes the PDFs of each month’s program. It is $7.50 per month. Use the PayPal button below to register.

Deluxe Package includes the PDFs of each month’s program as well as canvas and three thread samples of about 2 yards per month. It is $12.50 per month. Use the PayPal button below to register.

In addition if you make a single payment for either option (using the buttons below or pay via check (contact me for the address) you will receive a10% discount..

Please note that the Deluxe Package prices are for shipment to US addresses only. If you want this option and live outside the US, please contact me. All sales to California are subject to sales tax. If you are in California and choose the subscription, you will be invoiced for the sales tax separately.

Stitch Direction & Needlepoint – Part 2

Janet Perry — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:10:00 +0000

Originally posted 2010-02-25 12:53:09. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Tied Oblong Cross Stitch is an oblique stitch.

While straight and diagonal stitches cover most needlepoint stitches, there are three other stitch and pattern directions that are quite powerful because they don’t have a strong direction. I often turn to these types of stitches when I need something that is unusual but doesn’t have strong lines. In fact, most of my go to stitches fall into these categories.

This version of Bath has an oblique horizontal direction.

Diagon Victorian Step is made of diagonal stitches, but has an oblique pattern direction.

Diagonal Cashmere has an oblique pattern direction because of its rectangular shape.

Oblique Stitches are those stitches with a slant off the true diagonal. Many of them, like Oblong Cross, top of article, are rectangular. Some patterns can also create oblique lines. Some of my favorite of these are pictured above. Bath, top, is an offset version of Milanese. Victorian Step, middle, creates oblique lines of longer stitches. Diagonal Cashmere, bottom, is oblique because of the rectangular Cashmere units.

Use Oblique Stitches when you want to create a difference in horizontal and vertical lines, but not have it too obvious. Combining vertical and horizontal versions of oblique stitch patterns reinforces the direction of both without making the change too abrupt.

Encroached Gobelin creates a textured stitch with no direction.

Encroached Stitches are those where the stitches in one row intrude upon, or encroach, stitches in another row. The most familiar of these is Encroached Gobelin, above, where one row of stitches starts before the other row of stitches ends. But stitch patterns can also encroach. These patterns do not have strong lines in themselves and have stitches which but up against other stitches, making the lines mesh together. Triple Diagonal Parisian, below, is one such stitch.

Triple Diagonal Parisian is a textured stitch with no direction.

Encroached Stitches are a great choice when you want no stitch direction but want more texture than Tent Stitch.

Double Linen is a straight stitch with a criss-cross direction.

Criss-cross Stitches are those stitches where each individual unit changes direction and overlaps other units. While there are straight stitches with this pattern like Double Linen, above, most of the time “criss-cross” is used for diagonal stitches.

Criss-cross Stitches form highly textured but non-directional patterns. Often they have a woven appearance. They are nice to use when an object is round, a ring (broken or unbroken) or when two sections need to reflect each other. I’m currently using Sertendipity, below, for the horseshoe on my Charley Harper canvas, where the shape defeated all my other ideas.

Setrendipity is a small criss-cross stitch which works for many areas.

If you can’t figure out what kind of stitch direction you need in an area, try a criss-cross stitch, they often work perfectly.

My apologies for the lateness of the post, I got home late last night and had errands this morning.

How Do I Find a Neutral Gray Thread?

Janet Perry — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:09:58 +0000

Grays can be a real problem in threads. You think you have found the perfect one, you get it home and UGH, it looks horrible with your other threads.

This is because there are three types of grays, warm, cool, and neutral. Warm grays have gray plus a bit of a warm color. Cool grays have gray with a bit of a cool color. Neutral grays are just mixtures of black and white.

If you pick a grey for an all-cool color piece and it’s a warm grey, you get that UGH feeling. A neutral, or even better, a cool gray will look great.

But often it’s hard to tell.

Here’s what to do at a shop or when shopping your stash.

Take a skein of red thread and with a skein of blue thread. Put one next to a possible gray thread. Then do the same wit the other thread. If it is a neutral gray, it will look warm next to the blue thread and cool next to the red thread.

If it doesn’t do both, it isn’t a neutral gray.

I get home from Phoenix late tonight or early tomorrow, so my TNNA reports will start on Wednesday.

Barbara Bergsten Designs Sneak Peek

Janet Perry — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:32:02 +0000

Barbara’s colorful stitch painted canvases are so pouplar with stitchers and it’s easy to see why. Being carefully stitch-painted, some with the stitch patterns actually painted on, even a brand-new stitcher can make something great. Her bright Lily Pulitzer-inspired colors are so fresh and fun. Finally her designs are whimsical but work well with traditional items, so they play beautifully with others. On her site you can get a peek at what’s new for January. It includes more of her delightful “kisses,” news belts and brick covers, two summery beach houses, the lovely summer sampler, and a whole ton of design in pink, green, and magenta (some Christmas-themed, most not), that have a wonderful fresh look. I’m excited to see them next weekend. Related posts: Sneak Peek — Melissa Shirley Designs for Summer Stitch Guides from Barbara Bergsten Free Stitch Guide from Barbara Bergsten Rainbow Clown – sneak peek Silk & Metal Purse – Sneak Peek Related posts:

What’s your Needlepoint Question? – Book Sneak Peek

Janet Perry — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:12:20 +0000

How do I replace a missing needlepoint chairseat?

Can I use a embroidery hoop to stitch needlepoint?

What is the American equivalent of 7 HPI canvas?

These are just three of the questions I’ve been asked recently, mostly through this site’s contact form.

I’m collecting these (and many, many others) into a Needlepoint Question & Answer Book that will come out later this year.

It will certainly be an ebook, PDF, and app ebook, and it may be available as a printed book and on CD as well.

You can help me as well by sending me your best needlepoint question. It can be something you’ve often wondered about, something you don’t know how to do, something you want to find, or anything else related to needlepoint.

Use the contact form, add a comment, or just email me. Be sure to let me know it’s for the book.

If your question is selected as one of the 200 in the book, you will get a free electronic copy (PDF).

IN the case of two or more people sending in the same question, the earliest one wins.

Deciphering Thread Tags

Janet Perry — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:27:03 +0000

Originally posted 2005-07-15 08:34:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Don’t throw out those thread tags!

You may not think so but there is lots of information there.
And if you run out of thread, or want do use it again, you’ll be glad
you have that information.

The information which may, or may not be included on the tag is:

Thread type name/size
Color number
Fiber content
Dye Lot
Dyer

Each of these is important and can help improve your stitching. Depending on your habits, the habits of your shop, or the habits of the designer, the thread color might be referred to by the name or number or both. Some thread manufacturers give names to their
colors, some don’t. Because of this variety it’s good to have access to both the number and the name whenever possible. Then follow the habits of your store and your stitching friends when you talk about thread.

Thread type name/size: Most threads have names and some also have sizes. For example Pearl cottons come in several sizes: 3 (the largest), 5, 8, and 12. Many experienced stitchers can tell the size of a thread by looking, but I can’t. It helps me to know the size of the thread.

Also most threads have names for the particular thread. The Thread Gatherer may make the same color in Silk n’ Colors, Flax n’ Colors, Sheep’s Silk, Shepherd’s Silk, and a few sizes of Silk Ribbon. Each is identified by the type on the tag. while people who use lots of different threads can usually tell the thread by looking, knowing the type helps when looking for another color of your favorite thread.

Color number: In general, companies will put the color number someplace on the thread tag, most often this number appears right before the color name. For example brown paper packages has a color Caviar. The tag for this says “40-caviar” — giving you the color number.

Actually most do have numbers but sometimes it is hidden. Caron used to “hide” the color numbers (they no longer do this) and here is an example of how to decode the numbers which appear.

Take a random skein of Watercolours. The one I picked up was
Periwinkle (162).

On the line below the color number it says “dyelot: MA162131″

MA is the initials of the dyer. This is good to know because the different dyers have different “hands” and two skeins from different dyelots but the same dyer might look more alike than two from different dyers.
162 is the color number
131 is the dyelot

Another place to find these often is on the order slips or on the companies’ web pages. Although you might not think of the color number, and shop owners don’t put threads this way, it’s good information to know.

Fiber content: Knowing the fiber(s) used in a thread can help you make decisions about other threads. If you are allergic to wool, then a thread with a content of “100% wool” is not for you. If you really liked that “50% merino wool/50% China silk” thread, then you might want to look for another thread from a different manufacturer with this content.

Dye Lot: Sometimes, as in the Caron Collection threads, this information is hidden in the number. Sometimes it is listed separately. But it’s very important when choosing threads to match dyelots.

A teacher once told me “Dyeing was an art. It’s only when you need to make the exact same color again that it becomes a science.” This is very true. The results of the dye can vary because of: the color of the base thread, the water, the weather, the amount of dye in the dyebath, the person dyeing it, the time left in, and probably the amount of cosmic rays at just that moment.

In other words — it is not exact, ever.

So knowing that this skein of thread and that skein of thread were dyed in the same pot (bath) at the same time, makes it easier for you to get a match. One pot with one chunk of thread in it constitutes a dye lot.

Whenever possible you should buy all your packages of a particular color of thread from the same dye lot for the same project. Some companies are pretty consistent from dye lot to dye lot, but always compare. Other companies are not. I have even had the experience where two packages of thread, from the same dye lot, were different colors and couldn’t be mixed. That was lots of ripping out.

Checking dye lots when available can same lots of trouble in stitching.

Dyer: Some companies, like Caron, identify they dyer of the threads. This can be helpful to know, especially in hand-dyed threads, because different people will dye their threads differently. Getting batches from different dye lots, but the same dyer might match better than different dye lots by different dyers.

For many manufacturers this information is not included in the tag.

Now I bet you are thinking “I never knew there was so much information on a tag!” I didn’t either until I learned how to decipher them. Now I never throw out a tag or I transfer the information to a hang tag for storage of the thread. it’s made me a more careful stitcher.