Nuts about Needlepoint » product reviews

Evertite Bars

Janet Perry — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:39:00 +0000

Originally posted 2009-11-04 07:12:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Jane of Chilly Hollow has posted an outstanding review and how to on Evertite stretcher bars on her blog.

It’s outstanding and you should go read it.

First off, she shows you how to assemble them. If you’ve looked at them in the store or if you have some and can’t figure out how to put them together, Jane has the perfect tutorial. I couldn’t do it the first time I tried them. Even now, when I use them I have to remind myself how to do it.

Then she has a great review, which I loved. I would only add a few things to think about before you buy them for a project.

First, check the unworked margins of your canvas. Evertites are thicker than regular stretcher bars (1″ or so instead of 1/2″), so they don’t work for canvases with narrow margins.

Second, if you use a stand, check it to see if it will open wide enough to hold Evertites. Some don’t and may need to have the screws replaced with longer ones, an easy fix.

Finally, if you have problems with your hands, you may find the thicker size and heavier weight of Evertites a problem.

If any of these things describe you I would borrow some or try them out at the shop before I invested.

As for me, I want some more!

No related posts.

Lee Tote with Removable inserts – Product Review

Janet Perry — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:13:59 +0000

This HUGE tote from Lee Needle Arts came out over the summer and I had to have it. There are several features that make it a great bag, especially if you carry lots of stuff (in fact, it’s with me on this trip).

There are many features that make this bag great, even without any needlepoint.

heavy-duty nylon fabric in several colors
almost 18″ wide and 9″ deep, so if you are using it as a project tote, it will hold larger stretcher bars
three compartments, with the center compartment opening to almost flat
three interior pockets, one zipped, in the center, and one interior zippered pocket in a aside compartment
sturdy nylon web handles (I had tabs added for a shoulder strap)

The lack of a shoulder strap is the only fault I found in this bag. If I saw it at a store I’d buy it in a sec.

Even better than all of this it has an opening for your needlepoint. But it’s not permanent, it’s removable. Instead of the two-sided adhesive being on the bag itself, it’s on a piece of letter,with a dot that makes it easy for the paper cover to be removed.

To finish, you just cut your needlepoint to the size of the leather, remove the paper, center the needlepoint and press down.

The bag comes with two of these.

To add the finished needlepoint to the bag, just insert it into the opening. The margins are generous and the bag is flexible, so this is easy to do.

I have made lots of LNA self-finished items and this is by far the easiest I have done. I’m excited about the possibility that removable inserts will be made available for some of their other products.

I love this bag, go get one for yourself.

P. S. The needelpoint is the finished Adler-inspired Bargello I posted a few weeks ago.

Stardust – Thread Review

Janet Perry — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:57:16 +0000

Originally posted 2010-08-03 07:23:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Stardust is a new thread from brown paper packages. It combines their silk/wool thread with metallic. Currently it is available in four colors: white with iridescent, Really Red with iridescent, Pewter with iridescent, and Toast with gold. Future colors planned are Emerald (seen above), dark blue, and light blue, all with iridescent. The intention is to keep the line small with holiday colors, along with some for water and sky.

The iridescent picks up the color of the base thread, but it also picks up and reflects the color of the surrounding stitching making for a nice effect.

The base threads is Silk & Ivory, spun with a strand of metallic. I found it smoother and thinner than Silk & Ivory and it stitched beautifully on 18 mesh canvas. It will also work on 14 mesh.

I used it as the darkest green in this small piece from MJ’s Threadworks. I found that the sparks of metallic were less frequent than for similar threads such as Silk Lame from Rainbow Gallery or Shimmer from Vineyard Silks. In practice this means that the metallic effect will be somewhat more subtle.

Comparing it to another piece I did recently using Vineyard Silks Shimmer, the metallic was obvious in about half the stitches in Vineyard Silks, giving the area a tweeded look. With Stardust the metallic only showed up in about 25% of the stitches, making it much more of an accent. I liked that it added sparkle, but not so much that it detracted form the more matte threads around it.

Stardust is clearly a thread to keep in mind when you want an accent thread, but not one which will overwhelm the other threads in a piece.

Pocket Stitch Books from Needlepoint, Inc and Threadworx – Product Review

Janet Perry — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:48:30 +0000

Recently I got two little stitch books that cover basic stitches and that are just the right size to pop into your project bag or purse. Needlepoint Inc’s book is called Simply Stitches and Thread Candy Studio’s book is called Simple Stitches. Both books are small and cover a variety of stitches, suitable for beginning stitchers.

Thread Candy Studio’s Simple Stitches has volume 1 on the cover. It begins with a section on thread use information that is organized by mesh size for 18 and 14 mesh canvas, 28 or 32 count linen over 2, and 7 + 10 count canvas. There is also a little box that has some general guidelines for choosing threads. While most of this information is correct, some of it, especially the suggestions for linen are only appropriate for cross stitch but this is never noted. The next page has an explanation of different types and sizes of needles. This is followed by a few pages of stitching tips, including specific tips for left-handers.

The stitches in this book are in alphabetical order by name with large numbered diagrams. Many stitches have two versions, one for right- and one for left-handers. By careful if you are learning a stitch to use the correct diagram. Each stitch has the stitch family listed, stitch tips, and, for many stitches suggestions for effects or threads.

All the stitches are listed in the index.

Needlepoint Inc’s Simply Stitches is designed to be a quick reference book of frequently used needlepoint stitches. It has no text, just one stitch per page with large clear diagrams. They are also in alphabetical order but a Table of Stitches at the front of the book allows you go directly to the stitch you want.

The stitches cover many beginning stitches as well as some unusual and more advanced stitches.

I prefer Needlepoint Inc’s approach to this kind of book, it has the information I need but in a compact format that will continue to be useful whether I am just learning to stitch or need an easy reference to carry with me.

But both are great little tools for any stitcher.

Stitch Journal from Thread Candy Studio – Product Review

Janet Perry — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:26:41 +0000

Thread Candy Studio debuted a purse-sized stitch journal last month. Each page is about 5×4 making it small enough to carry around. That’s its strength, but also one of its weaknesses. For those with large handwriting many of the pages and lines are too small to record information.

The book attempts to be a place to hold lots of useful information for stitchers of all kinds. The first section is project notes with a lined page and a table page for about 12 projects. The table has columns for stitch, effect thread, and thread size. A dozen stitches can be recorded. This is plenty for most small to medium projects.

After this there is a wish list section with pages divided into need and wish list. Having this in the same place as other inventories and plans makes it easy to keep track of what’s needed. At the end of this section there are sever pages without labels that can be ised for additional notes or lists.

Following this is a thread section where you can inventory your threads. The first several pages have marked columns for thread name, color, size, need/have. The vast majority of pages have unmarked columns. While this is very useful, I can’t really see anyone but those with the smallest stashes using this for inventory, there just aren’t enough pages.

The next section, design, has pages printed with grids, so stitches can be recorded. These are big enough to sketch a stitch but not enough for a pattern of any size.

The final section is for your project diary with two pages for each project, including a blank lined page and an open area marked “notes” which looks like a good space for a picture.

While there is lots packed into this little book, my main complaint is that the size limits its usefulness. While some people will find the small pages difficult to write on, but the desire to include everything and the small size mean that it can only hold a limited amount of stuff.

But at under $8, you can probably afford multiples. The book comes with three choices of cover color and can be ordered directly from Thread Candy Studio.

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.

Sweet from Orna Willis – Product Review

Janet Perry — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:36:51 +0000

The second in Orna’s delightful series of Gatherings (group kits for needlepoint parties) is Sweet, a kit that allows six people to create delightful needlepoint stitch books.

I can’t think of a better way to introduce a small group of girls to needlepoint than with this colorful project. It’s easy, fairly quick to stitch, and easily made into a custom book for each participant.

The kit has two instruction pamphlets, one covering the stitch samples, the other the book assembly, six pieces of canvas, four skeins of multi-colored perle cotton, a needle, stretcher bars, and even scissors to cut the thread. In addition to this stitchy goodness are all the materials you need to create an accordion book of the samples and charts.

Everything comes packed beautifully in one box.

It only took me about an hour to stitch the samples and another hour to make the book.

I only have a couple of complaints. The first is that the regular size stretcher bars seemed cumbersome for such small pieces of canvas, I’d switch to minis myself. The second is that I would spend a little more time on prepping the canvas in the first pamphlet. But if the group leader knows even a little bit about needlepoint; this is easy to add.

The resulting book is a charming little piece. And it can open a wonderful world of needlepoint to ant teen or tween.

Black and White Canvas – Product Review

Janet Perry — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:22:26 +0000

Originally posted 2010-03-10 07:39:28. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

black & white canvas in action

As I stitched this little quilt block on Zweigart’s black and white canvas one word kept coming to mind — hard.

This canvas is tweeded. One direction has black threads, the other white. While the individual threads are the same as mono canvas, the woven effect is not and therein lies the problem. As you an see from the picture the white threads are more prominent.

While that is not a bad thing for the finished effect it makes stitching and counting extremely difficult. I felt as if the holes in the canvas “melted” into the white threads. And, although I counted threads and the stitches are correct, much of the time I felt as if my stitches were not true.

Add to this the problem that you can’t put a dark cloth or a light cloth under it to see and you have a canvas not for the faint of heart.

Even so, the finished effect is wonderful, so I would seek out painted canvases thaat use it as the background.

Tiny Treasures – Product Review

Janet Perry — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:57:30 +0000

Originally posted 2010-07-13 07:53:56. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

You want to be more spontaneous in your needlepoint. You’d like to feel comfortable picking color schemes, mixing threads, and trying new ideas. But when it comes down to it, you seem always to pick the same colors and the same threads.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a way to venture out in exploring colors and threads that didn’t involve using an expensive hand painted canvas needlepoint from your stash?

Ideally it would be something easy and small to stitch. Something charted to save on costs, something that has lots of options, and something with more than one design.

I think I found it ins The Caron Collection’s chart pack, Tiny Treasures.

I bought it to stitch something to try out Sundberry’s mini box, and I was delighted to find that it is so much more. The chart pack has eight little designs, all geometrics, ranging in difficulty from something that could be a first project to ones with five different stitches. Even these could be done by a beginner.

The projects are small, under 2″ square, and use from 2 to 6 threads. None of them use much thread, so they are perfect for scrap bag or stash projects. Are you thinking about a color scheme for a larger project and wondering if it will work?

Try one of these projects. You can test it out by making something that only takes a few hours to stitch. And you’ll know if it works.

The instructions are clear, most only taking a page. The diagrams are large. There’s plenty of options for doing your own variations. I like it that the threads for all the projects are summarized on one page, but that such a variety of threads is used that I can feel good about making my own color and thread choices.

This is a great project pack, one that should be in your stash.

Stitch Notebook – Product Review

Janet Perry — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:18:36 +0000

Originally posted 2009-07-28 07:00:36. Republished by Blog Post PromoterLittle Shoppe Canvas Company has come up with a charming notebook to keep track of your project ideas. Unlike many other stitch diaries, this isn’t for the finished piece, but gives you a place to record your ideas for a work in progress or to be stitched. Two pages are given to each project. The left page has lines for the project name and date, a listing of threads, and some notes. The right page has four areas of grid in two sizes for diagramming stitches. This is a feature not often seen in stitch notebooks and a useful tool. One thing I like to do with new stitches is draw them the way I would stitch them. This feature lets me do that easily. Great product, available at your local shop. Related posts: Stitch Journal from Thread Candy Studio – Product Review Pocket Stitch Books from Needlepoint, Inc and Threadworx – Product Review Tiny Treasures – Product Review Making a Stitch Notebook Thread Candy Studio – Product Review Related posts: