plaids Archive

You might think that needlepoint belts are the ultimate preppy accessory, but they can be so much more. Before we get into looking at how to make a needlepoint belt, let’s think about ways you can use them: turn them into a purse, camera or guitar strap cut them up and use them to make a purse or sandals let them decorate the top of a purse finish them to be trim on a basket make them the edge of a tray There’s lots of things you can do with these long skinny canvases. Needlepoint belts are usually about 1.25 inches wide or 21 threads on 18-mesh canvas. That’s the finished length. When stitching you need to add a row of binding stitch, or overlapping cross, on each side. Don’t be tempted to just make Tent Stitch. The overlapping layers of biding stitch help because the edges get the most

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Personal Plaids, often called birthday plaids, use a name for the stripe sequence in one direction and a date for the sequence in the other direction. Why not use this technique to create a birthday plaid for the United States? To create a great design that could be a lovely boxtop, I added initials and put the whole thing into an outline of the US. Add a simple gold T Stitch background and you have a delightful project. To create this design you will need: 18-mesh mono white needlepoint canvas 9″ x 11″ 1 skein each your choice of thread in red, white and blue (I used Silk & Ivory) 1 spool Tapestry (#12) gold metallic thread 1 spool Fine (#8) gold metallic thread Pigma Micron (extra Fine tip) marker to trace outline gold marker suitable for fabric to trace letters Step-by-step Instructions Trace the outline (click to see full

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UPDATE: I realized this morning that I forgot the stitched picture of the shadow stitching technique on yesterday’s blog. Check the post after 11 AM Pacific 12/7/12 for the picture. My apologies. Who doesn’t like a plaid? This year delight the folks on your list by making them a quick and easy needlepoint tartan gift (they can be done in cross stitch as well). With my assortment of charted tartans you can. You may have thought you needed to be Scottish to use a tartan, but that isn’t true. As these pictures show. Your needlepoint tartan can be a last name, a country (great for different heritages), or a state. It can even just be colors or a pattern you like. They are charted in full color with separate charts for horizontal and vertical stripes as well as a completed plaid chart, seen here, as a reference. Complete stitching instructions

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Originally posted 2008-11-28 06:54:25. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Plaids are one of the easiest types of fabric to adapt to needlepoint. Especially symmetrical plaids, such as tartans, make wonderful needlepoint. First we’ll talk about plaids and how they are constructed, then we’ll cover how to turn that into needlepoint. Plaids are woven patterns of different colored stripes. Because of the way the stripes interact in the weave, we get the type of pattern we call plaid. Plaids can be classified into two types. Most plaids you see are symmetrical, with both the horizontal and vertical stripes the same. The plaids pictured above are symmetrical plaids. A less common type of plaid is an asymmetrical plaid where one set of stripes is different from the other. Personal plaids, like my Birthday Plaid Mini-sock, are asymmetrical. Tartans are a particular type of symmetrical plaid and must be registered to be an

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I bet you didn’t know that plaids have their own day for celebration. They do and it’s today. According to the Plaidurday website today is the day to celebrate plaids of all kinds: lumberjeck, madras, tartans, any plaid at all. Since plaid sare so much fun to stitch in needlepoint, let’s all celebrate by stitching a needlepoint plaid. You can learn how to make one in this tutorial on my All about Needlepoint site. Using this method you can analyze any plaid and stitch it. If you’d like to have the plaid charted for you I offer several options. already printed tartans (buy & see list here) custom charted tartans (order here) personal plaid using any combination of names and dates (order here) Custom charts are $20, while already charted tartans are $15. Complete stitching instructions are included. In addition, I have both a project pack and a NeedlePoint Independent

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Originally posted 2010-06-12 07:43:50. Republished by Blog Post Promoter One of the biggest challenges in needlepoint is the question of what do do with the finished stitching. While the stitching is the joy, sometimes it’s discouraging to look at the huge pile of needlepoint left stitched but waiting to be turned into something and loved. Maybe we should call it “The Island of Unloved Needlepoint.” Birthday plaids and tartans are so much fun, it’s a shame not to make one just because you don’t know what to do with it. Some of my recent commissions give an idea of some of the wonderful things you can do with a stitched plaid. The boxtop above uses a birthday plaid as the background for a simple monogram. The colors chosen match the room where it will live. Birthday plaids can be done in any colors and are great for this purpose. You

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Originally posted 2009-11-15 07:01:58. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Plaids, whether they are tartans or personal plaids are so fun to stitch. It’s wonderful to make one as a gift for someone. But why not get a custom plaid for cross stitch or needlepoint for your favorite stitcher? It’s an unusual gift and one that will give them lots of stitching pleasure. My custom plaid charting service will create a full color chart for you in your choice of needlepoint or cross stitch. Customization includes specification of your choice of threads (in some cases colors too). Full color charts and complete stitching instructions are included. Above you can see one of the completed plaid cross stitch chart for the Duncan tartan. Charts are sent to you as PDFs or printed (slight extra charge) within 10 days

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Originally posted 2007-09-25 09:21:28. Republished by Blog Post Promoter I just love designing and stitching needlepoint plaids. It’s so easy to make one based on a person’s name, initials, birthdate, or another special date. Generate the plaid based on the letters or numbers and pick your color scheme. Then stitch the design using Continental Stitch and stitch in stripes, skipping every other stitch. Fill in with the stripes going in the other direction. It’s fast, it’s fun, and the result, as you can see by the pictures above, is fantastic. And now I can save you the work of creating the plaid yourself. I offer charting services for either custom plaids (above left) or any registered tartan (above right). In the package you get color charts for the horizontal stripes, vertical stripes, and complete plaid, along with a template to trace (your choice of ten), and tested, complete instructions for

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There is talk going around the internet yet again, that it is illegal to chart Scottish tartans except for personal use. I have done extensive research and corresponded with the Official Tartan Registry in the UK about this. Quite simply, this assertion in untrue except in limited cases. Many tartans pre-date copyright restrictions and still others are old enough to have passed out of copyright into the public domain. This means, quite simply, that they can be used freely by anyone at any time for any purpose. You might be asking yourself, what technically does this mean. Copyright was created as a way for authors to protect their work from unauthorized printing. It also has a definite lifetime. If something is older than that lifetime, for example a Jane Austen novel, it no longer is protected by copyright and anyone can print it. That’s when something goes into the public

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Recently I was accused of illegally charting and selling tartans illegally. I want to publicly say that this accusation is completely and totally false. I did extensive research and even went and asked the folks at the tartan registry about it. Here’s the full story. When you make a tartan you can take the plaid you have created and have it registered by the Tartan Registry. This is kind of like recording a copyright for a book. The folks at the Registry require information like the sett (weaving pattern), name, and restrictions on use. If it’s sufficiently different from other tartan, it will be registered. In addition to new tartans, there are hundreds of older tartans that are registered but are old enough to be in the Public Domain, which means anyone can use them freely. There are also hundreds of modern tartans that are registered but not restricted, so

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I’m am, to use a cliche, mad for plaid. In particular, I’m mad for needlepoint plaids of all kinds. I have gathered up my information and handy order forms as well as some new plaid products, and put them all together on my new site, Needlepoint Plaids. There you can find articles about different types of plaids, basic instructions on stitching a plaid, and a shop for buying my needlepoint plaid products. You can also find a free plaid pattern. Joining the custom tartan and personal plaid orders are a list of inexpensive already charted tartans and, for the first time publicly available, my Birthday Plaid Mini-sock project pack, pictured above. For guild chapters and other groups, there is also information about doing a personal plaid cyberclass in needlepoint, cross stitch, or both. Visit us today!

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I have been busy the last couple of weeks, adding and updating pages on All about Needlepoint. Here’s a rundown of what’s new: Pearl Cotton Needlepoint Pattern Free Directories Pins Adaptation – Making a Needlepoint Plaid Adaptation – Change Ringing Adaptation – Clumping – formerly this was part of a $5 technique sheet Adaptation – Stained Glass Thread Stash Building How to Miter a Corner Ornament to Stand-up Conversion with Button Back – includes information on how to do this with already finished ornaments Ornament Finishing – Box Finish The Ornament Collection – my story Last Minute Needlepoint Gift Ideas Ornament Finishing – Covered Buttons Ornament Finishing – Folded Diamond Christmas Decorating Ideas Using Needlepoint I’m planning this week to add the ornament section of the free patterns, more Christmas articles, and a couple more adaptation articles

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