purse Archive

Originally posted 2010-06-16 07:35:01. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Finishing Items I am just crazy about this chic self-finishing clutch from Timeless Totes. This is their first self-finished item. It comes in four colors (red, burgundy, blue and black). Lee’s Needle Arts has added leather Kindle covers to their self-finishing line. There are also new photo boxes and albums. I’m excited about the albums, because, although sometimes you can find albums that have openings deep enough to hold needlepoint, most of the time the albums you find won’t work Threads Crescent Colors has added new shades to both their perle cottons and silks. Valdani has added pure silk perle to their line-up of threads. This is great because silk perle is a wonderful thread to use. Rainbow Gallery has new colors in Very Velvet, Silk Lamé, Fuzzy Stuff, and Wispers, along with new colors in some other threads. They have

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Originally posted 2008-12-17 18:37:25. Republished by Blog Post PromoterLess than 10 days until Christmas and you still need to make some gifts. You don’t want to give an unfinished canvas, you want something you can stitch and finish quickly. All about Stitching has a series of delightful projects you can stitch and finish in plenty of time. They’re called Stitch, Slip & Go. They consist of a hand-painted canvas, done on 12 mesh canvas, so it’s quick to stitch and a tote bag. Stitch the needlepoint, slip it into the pocket in the bag and sew the pocket shut. And, instantly, you have a wonderful project. Besides these canvases, you can make something even more quickly by using one of their 7 mesh canvases for the bag insert. These come packaged in kits with their own project bag. Great stuff, great gift

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Are you one of those people who wish you had a lovely needlepoint clutch? Maybe you have a long piece of stitched needlepoint around that would look great finished this way. Maybe you found a lovely bit of vintage needlepoint that would make a great clutch. Clutches, even very large ones, are big fashion statements this year, as is needlepoint. It’s a perfect time to make a clutch for yourself or as a gift. How often can we show off our love of stitching and be au courant at the same time? If you have some basic sewing skills, you can finish this yourself. This delightful illustrated tutorial shows, step-by-step how to do it. The author used a table runner, but the instructions can easily have a some of pre-work steps added to make them work for needlepoint. The needlepoint needs to be blocked so it’s square. Measure the size

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Needlepoint, especially vintage looking designs, has attracted the attention of the high fashion world. Several designers, including Dolce & Gabbana and Valentino, had pieces in their fall collections that were, or were inspired by needlepoint. Doc Marten’s has a pair of needlepoint-covered boots. I now see needlepoint pop up often in fashion magazines as something on editors’ radars. If it’s in high-end fashion now, there is a real possibility that it will trickle down to the masses within a couple of years. In the meantime we can be in the forefront of fashion. Do you have some vintage needlepoint? Do you have needlepoint waiting to be finished? Here are some ideas of what can be done. Take two rectangular or square pieces the same size, sew them together, line them and add fringe and a heavy chain strap. You’ve got a fashionable bag. Turn a belt canvas into trim at

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Originally posted 2010-09-18 07:10:44. Republished by Blog Post PromoterIsn’t this tote bag cool? This free pattern from Ziva Needlepoint is stitched in wool using Cross Stitch, this tote is available in two sizes a 7″ and a 12″ square. The 12″ square has additional borders to make it bigger. “Fleur de Lis” means lily in French and traditionally it was the symbol of the French King. It’s bold style is timeless. Have a ton stitching this great project and check out Ziva’s other free designs (they post a new one every quarter)

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Originally posted 2010-07-11 07:18:43. Republished by Blog Post PromoterYou may be under the impression that needlepoint bags look like the very expensive Fendi bag pictured top. Or that they are leather or canvas bags with a needlepoint insert such as my Haida Feather bag, center. Or even that they are made entirely from needlepoint, similar to this bag from Needlepoint, Inc., bottom. One thing they all have in common is that they are modern bags incorporating needlepoint. But needlepoint as a front for bags has been around a long time. Lovers of vintage fashion can often find needlepoint bags such as the one above because quite often they were kept for special occasions. If you want to learn more about needlepoint purses, or buy one of your own, start with About.com page about needlepoint purses, written by Cheryl Fall, Needlepoint Guide. Thanks to Jane from Chilly Hollow for pointing this

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Originally posted 2010-09-22 07:18:47. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Timeless Totes has come out with their first self-finishing product and it’s a real winner. The clutch is made of high-quality leather or suede in several colors. It has a magnet clasp for the flap and a lovely double-ended brass zipper. Open the asymmetrical flap and inside there is an open pocket. The purse is lined in high-quality satin. It’s just about the best made leather good for self-finishing I’ve seen. And it is also the best for self-finishing as well. The area for needlework is sewn around with stitching about 1/4″ beyond the open area. This creates a firm border for the needlework and makes it easy to know if you have trimmed your needlework enough. The adhesive film is covered with paper, thoughtfully cut into three pieces. This makes it easy to remove without tearing, a problem I often

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Colonial Needle has released four new products in their line of Lee Needle Arts self-finishing items. They include an iPad Cover in black or red. It has a large area for needlework and uses the same elastic corners their ebook reader uses (my reviews of this product is tomorrow). It comes in black and red. Next is the same additional insert for their bags. It looks as if it’s the one used for Leigh’s popular Fash-Inserts. There is a great alligator belt in white, red and black that uses the popular 3″ round/ Possibly my favorite is the two-insert nylon tote. It’s navy, a great color, and not only does it have places for two pieces of needlepoint, it opens wider than their other totes. It comes with two inserts so that you can change the look. It comes in black, brown, red & navy. One is on it’s way

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I have one of those lovely canvas bags from Needlepoint of Back Bay. I decided several years ago to finish it and make it my regular tote. So I looked for something the right size and settled on one of my sapphire hearts (available as an ebook here). Great idea! It fit perfectly. But now a problem has occurred. Because I used metallic canvas, dirt and dust got through onto the adhesive. You can see how the heart is still mostly sticky but the background is gray with dust. The result is that the edges of the needlepoint came untucked and the whole thing fell off last week. When I get back from vacation next week I want to fix this. What do you think I should do

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Originally posted 2007-07-30 05:54:25. Republished by Blog Post Promoter On Friday I finished this Silk & Metal Purse, my newest stitch guide for Whimsy & grace. It’s a celebration of textures stitches in two different silk threads (Splendor and Silk Serica), three metallics (Kreinik ribbon and braid and Rainbow Gallery Treasure Braid Petite), and pearl cotton. The small triangle at the top center is beaded and serves as an easy place to hold the bag. The monochrome color scheme really brings out the texture of the threads and stitches. If teal is not your favorite color, the purse is also available in two other color schemes, brown with copper and green with gold. Look for it at a needlework shop near you

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I just found out about lots of great new needlepoint products I wanted to share with you. Charted Needlepoint DeBee’s Design has more charts available in the Glitz & Glamour and Diamond Delights series. Harlequin Opal is done on black canvas and features a rainbow of brights. Diamond Delights 8 features the colors of the Southwest in large motifs in defined area against a colored and shadesd background. Brenda E. Kocher has a delightful small project to learn Or Nue, a technique of shaded gold well-suited to canvas. The project features a tiny egg done in this technique on a decorative background. Cleopatra’s Eyes is designed by Kurdy Biggs and is based on kaleidescope images. It combines several innovative stitches and thread. You can also enhance the design with beads and crystals. It’s a very complex piece. Canvases CBK Needlepoint Collection has two new brick covers from Designs by Karen,

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Although August is a month when most of us are consumed with vacations, staving off the heat, and getting the kids back to school or off to college, there are plenty of new needlepoint products out there. Painted & Charted Canvas DebBee’s Designs has added Turquiose and Kunzite (pale pink) to her Glitz & Glamor series. These projects are monochromatic in glorious shades inspired by gems. The charted projects use a variety of threads and stitches. If you have ever wanted to try Or Nue (patterned couching over metallic), Brenda Kocher has a small beginner’s project available. The Or Nue butterfly is a perfect way to learn this technique with a small, stash-busting charted project. dede Ogden has added a wonderful tropical blossom to her flowers series dede also has some great new bags available. And (stash alert) Canvases Be Gone has a huge selection of dede’s designs that are

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So you’ve decided to stitch a belt. Now you have to make some decisions about finishing it. If you decide to finish it as a needlepoint belt, you have a couple of options, somewhat dependent on the waist size of the person wearing it. Most belt canvases are about 38″ long. If the belt needs to be longer than this, your only option is to make a traditional belt with leather ends. Several companies have information about how to prepare your belt canvas for this, including eHow, Needlepoint Belts, and others. This is a specialized finishing service so you will need to have the leather end belts professionally done. Some companies who do this include Pinnell Custom Leather, Elizabeth Turner Collection, and Voila!. Voila offers many styles of belts beyond the leather tips and buckle. Go to your local shop to work with these companies. If you choose to finish

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Back during last month’s TNNA Round-ups, I told you about a great new product from Julie Pischke, Pischke Pockets. These are lovely striped totes with leather handles that have needlepoint pockets. Everything is complete in the kit and you can finish them yourself. The coral above, Caribbean Spice, is just one of nine designs in the line. I’m excited to let you know that there is a site devoted to the line. At Pischke Pockets you can learn more about the idea, find news and information and order the kits. There is even a page with instructions and a video on how to finish the bag once you’ve stitched the needlepoint. This has just whetted my appetite to know more about them

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Originally posted 2008-12-18 06:58:58. Republished by Blog Post Promoter I know, you aren’t like me, you don’t have boxes of stitched but unfinished needlepoint sitting around your house. You’re good, and every piece you stitch immediately gets finished into something. Yeah. Right. And I bet you never thought that one piece which languishes this way could never become the start of a gift so lovely, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do this before. Just about any needlepoint which is blocked so it’s square can quickly be made into an adorable tote bag with nothing more than a glue gun. So now instead of stitching and finishing something, you can buy a ready-made tote bag at a local shop, invest in a glue gun (if you don’t have one) and make a gift. Here’s what you need: stitched and blocked square or rectangular needlepoint with 1″ canvas margins low-temp glue gun

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