Nuts about Needlepoint » purse

Needlepoint Purses Old & New

Janet Perry — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:38:07 +0000

Originally posted 2010-07-11 07:18:43. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Fendi needlepoint bag

Needlepoint tote inset by Janet Perry

purse from Needlepoint, Inc

You 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 out, I’m sending cool thoughts your way.

Timeless Totes Self-finishing Clutch – Product Review

Janet Perry — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:34:37 +0000

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 have with other products.

The adhesive is really strong, so place your needlework carefully on the exposed film. Then lift the sides and tuck in the edges.

With other self-finishing projects, I felt I could always remove the needlework easily and replace it with another piece, but this needlework isn’t going anywhere.

The Timeless Totes clutch is a wonderful product.

New Self-finishing from Lee Needle Arts

Janet Perry — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:55:14 +0000

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 to me. Related posts: Lee Needle Arts – Hand Painted Canvas Needlepoint & Accessories Lee’s Needle Arts Finishing Up at TNNA Self-finishing Needlebooks Self-finishing eBook Reader Cover from Lee -Product Review Related posts:

What Should I Do?

Janet Perry — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:05:59 +0000

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?

No related posts.

Silk & Metal Evening Purse – Sneak Peek

Janet Perry — Tue, 03 May 2011 14:23:48 +0000

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.

Needlepoint New Products – March 2010

Janet Perry — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:13:16 +0000

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, a dragonfly and one with geckos and ferns. Painted Pony has a delightful Grand Canyon Angel. The canyon takes up most of the skirt and would be a lovely place to show off some great threads.

Melissa Prince Designs has a collection of elegant special occasion bags, with both the front and back as painted canvas. They also include the hardware and a chain strap in silver and antique silver. Carol Gantz of Associated Talents has collaborated with DMC on a series of Store Front Bakery canvases that feature Memory Thread. A free stitch guide that include instructions on using this thread is available.

Dream House has a great watermelon canvas that has big and little watermelon slices in bright colors. I think it has a very Charley Harper feel and would be a great summer project.

Kelly Clark has several new canvases including a new spring topiary (a pair in a decorative border), and Jack Skuleton, a small skeleton all dressed up for a night on the town. It’s just too cute! She also has a series of small bats that are only 6″ inches wide and very cute.

Voila has a clever new idea — key fob kits. Called, Fab Fobs, the kits are self-finishing. In the bag you’ll find a hand-ainted canvas, coordinating grosgrain ribbon for the back, key fob hardware and instructions. Everything is packed in an adorable organza bag so they make a perfect gift.

Cross Stitch designer Anna Lee Waite is now offering hand-painted needlepoint. I saw a charming patchwork heart that was delightful.

Threads, Finishing, & More

Weeks Dye Works introduced four new colors of floss last month: River Rock (grayed-brown), Capri (lovely blue-green), Daylily (yellow-orange), and Charlotte’s Pink (wonderful but somewhat soft pink).

EdMar has introduced a new bright white to their line of rayon threads. It’s shades whiter than their previous white and, according to the company, virtually colorless compared to standard white.

Divine Threads, a maker of overdyed rayon threads has added four new colors to their line that include two pinks: sea shell and old rose, a blue, delphinium, and a green, pine.

Gloriana has also added new colors to their Florimell (Au Ver a Soie): a series of fantastic browns: Fawn, Hazelnut, Antique Black, and Havana Brown.

Crescent Colours has new colors in both floss and silk. The new floss colors are Blue Corn (a bright blue), Hazelnut (greenish-gold) and Chopped Chives (slightly blued green). The new silk colors are Berry Cobbler (think of blueberry juice from a cobbler), Biscotti (dark ecru), and Pecan Pie (brownish gold).

Gentle Art has four lovely soft colors available in both Simply Shaker Cotton Floss and Simply Wool. They are Baked Clay, Trade Wind, Faded Rose, and Honeydew. All four a pale and soft almost Shabby Chic colors that have a feminine vintage feel. They also have two new limited edition colors: crocus (blue) and Bermuda Grass (green).

Lee has come out with some great new bags, including a nylon laptop bag (available in olive and black) and a lightweight nylon tite with two zippered outer pockets. They also have leather biker bags in two sizes complete with chain straps and studs around the area for the needlepoint.

Finally our prayers go out to the folks at Kreinik and to the Kreinik family. Patriarch and company co-founder Jerry Kreinik died earlier this week. Although I never met him, our needlepoint world is far richer for the pioneering things he did.

Stitch, Slip & Go – 12 Days of Needlepoint Gifts

Janet Perry — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 14:21:02 +0000

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. Related posts: Princely Collection Bookmark – 12 Days of Needlepoint Gifts Needlepoint Tote Bag from Finished Pieces in your Stash – 12 Days of Needlepoint Gifts AMH Keychain – 12 Days of Needlepoint Gifts & Projects Give the Gift of Stitching – 12 Days of Needlepoint Gifts Getting Ready to Give Needlepoint Gifts Related posts:

Fleur de Lis Tote – Free Pattern from Ziva Needlepoint

Janet Perry — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 14:10:44 +0000

Free tote pattern from Ziva Needlepoint

Isn’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).

New Needlepoint Products – August 2010

Janet Perry — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:05:32 +0000

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 being discontinued. It’s a great opportunity to buy these. I should know, I’ve gotten a bunch.

CBK Needlepoint Collections has added the charming artwork of Shari Beaubien to their line. These whimsical pieces (often of elephants on bright backgrounds) are on 13 mesh canvas. Canvas Candy has added a sub sandwich to their line, it comes with a blown glass sandwich, both including the pickle on top. They also have an adorable taco as well as many other items, all with ornaments.

Ashley Bradley has a wonderful New York City skyline sized to fit into a Lee’s Needle Arts bag. MAP Designs has a new line of frame weights, long and lean, the two I saw were and adorable striped cat and a cute dog with flowers. These could also be great stash busting projects. There are eight in all, including colorful hearts and funky flowers

Susan Roberts Designs had added a new shape to their 3-D ornaments — bells. There are 10 available and they join the domes and balls.

Threads, Finishing & Accessories

Fern Ridge Collections has a pre-finished purse flap that is inspired by puzzle pieces. It comes in a kit with Sullivan’s floss, specialty beads, and instructions. All you need to do is stitch. The finished purse fits Kindles, Nooks, or iPads.

Colonial Needle has added several new pieces to the Lee’s Needle Arts leather goods. There is a leather ebook reader, a gorgeous leather business tote (if I had that kind of life, I’d buy it in a second), a wonderful leather pillows.

Nordic Needle has mesh bags with mesh big enough for stitching. The mesh is white and is available in three sizes. You also have your choice of trim colors.

What Can I Do with a Belt Canvas?

Janet Perry — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:53:00 +0000

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.

ribbon belt from Old Navy

If you choose to finish the belt yourself, you will need to finish it like a ribbon belt (picture above). The raw ends of the needlepoint will need to be turned under and the belt should be stiffened with interfacing and lined with ribbon. Although the needlepoint is thicker than ribbon, the procedure for finishing is the same.

martha's vineyard needlepoint hat band

But what if you don’t want a belt? There are plenty of other things you can make from this long skinny canvas. To wear you could make a bracelet, headband, hat band, sandals, key fob, or a purse (Voila! has many creative ideas for this). You can turn it into a camera strap or a purse strap. For your home, why not do my favorite, making a band to decorate the top of a basket.

So what if it ends up being a “breakup belt?” You can still make it a stylish part of your life.