Nuts about Needlepoint » web site review

Shakespeare’s Peddler – Web Site Review

Janet Perry — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:26:43 +0000

Originally posted 2002-02-20 17:51:24. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Theresa Venette has one of my favorite sites, Shakespeare’s Peddler . Not only does she have an on-line needlework shop, but here site is a treasure trove of information for stitchers of all kinds.

In her shop she has, fabrics on special, features a lovely kit each month and includes a free chart with every purchase. She has a frequent buyer program and monthly specials. Right now, in March, she has a spring cleaning sale on several counts and colors of
fabrics. If you are a cross stitcher looking for the latest charts, check out Theresa’s Basket — new charts stay there for two months. Older charts are listed under “Charts and Designers.” She carries just about the best selection of hand-dyed evenweave fabrics I’ve seen and a wide variety of threads, especially hand-dyes. She also has wonderful scissors and accessories.

But what I love best about her site is the wonderful store of articles and information you’ll find here. There is a section on needlework groups which includes information about rounds robins, teaching kids to stitch and starting a needlework group among others.

A section on stitching and framing includes the best articles on the Web about issues concerning framing needlework. In this section you will also find articles on silk gauze, a wonderful system for dealing with UFO’s (UnFinished Objects) and a very comprehensive listing of sampler motifs and their meanings.

Just for Fun is the last section and it has articles such as New Year’s Resolutions for Stitchers, email abbreviations (do you know what a WIP is?) as well as stitcher’s humor.

This site is a wonderful and fun resource for stitchers.

Dyed and Gone to Heaven – Caron Collection Web Site Review

Janet Perry — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:48:31 +0000

Originally posted 2009-05-26 06:40:05. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Have you been to the Caron Collection site, Dyed and Gone to Heaven lately?

No?

Then go visit this superb, redesigned site. I am so completely impressed with its style I can’t recommend it enough.

The Caron Collection really embraced the possibilities of the Internet when they first did their site more than 10 years ago. It has tons of information, galleries, profiles, and free patterns of the finest quality.

But it wasn’t easy to navigate and often I found myself wondering where certain information could be found.

The new site showcases the information and products in a newspaper-like format. There are stories, with links, pointing you to new, larger, and greatly improved on-line color cards. The latest designer profile is summarized with a column and free projects as well as new products are showcased.

Across the top are buttons to the various parts of the site. These include information about products, each of the major divisions of information and two types of retail outlets. One is a shop locator for brick and mortar shops. The other is a list of mail order and on-line sources for those who do not have a convenient shop close by.

The free patterns have new larger pictures as well, so it’s very easy to find the project you want. There is a gallery of work by many talented people. And clicking on archives gets you to a nicely organizes text list of what it available.

You may only think of The Caron Collection when you think of threads, but the other areas of their line are now easy to find. Click on hand painted canvases to get a gallery page of the pieces, each listed with a thumbnail, name, and dimensions. Click on designs to learn about booklets. (There are several there I’ve been seeking.)

And if you can’t find what you are looking for, there is a search box, which uses Google to search this site (or the Web) to find what you need. The results come back in the familiar Google format so they are easy to use.

I’m so impressed and so happy, this is going to be a favorite stop.

Cut Rate Crafts — Web Site Review

Janet Perry — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:50:13 +0000

Originally posted 2010-10-21 06:57:54. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

A new web site, Cut Rate Crafts, has discounted supplies for needlework and other crafts. Their home page promises discounts of 15-30% on their products. They also have free shipping on orders over $100.

While it’s not fantastic for needlepoint, it does have some good products. Their best selection is in stretcher bars where they have both mini and regular bars in sizes from 5 to 18 inches. I can’t tell the brand from the picture, but at least some of them are from brands I’ve seen in shops. Another great resource is the many types of scroll frames and scroll bars available. It can be hard to find these parts in shops, so this is a great resource. They also have a small but nice selection of lap frames.

There selection of organizing products is also good, with the biggest assortment of floss away bags I’ve ever seen. They also have small unmarked zipper bags in three sizes at fantastic prices (about half what I last paid in a craft store) and other organizing supplies.

As far as other supplies and materials for needlepoint go, the selection really falls away. They have a few colors of Kreinik Tapestry Braid (more of #8 and blending filament), floss mostly on cones, perle cotton and DMC wool as well as some threads assortments from Prism (find it in craft stores) and Valdani. There are no needles between ones for large mesh plastic canvas and #24 tapestry needles and their selection of canvas is either Interlock or waste canvas.

In addition they have a small, but nice selection of scissors and a far wider range of popularly-priced kits than you’ll find in any shop.

Their interface could use some work, most of the images on the upper level pages are missing and the initial Needle Arts screen is too long to be easy to use (they should add some anchor text to minimize scrolling). They could make their navigation easier to use.

I liked that they should the retail price along with their discounted price, so that comparison shopping is easy. But I didn’t like that manufacturers information was not available for many products. for “brand names” like Kreinik, DMC, or Charles Craft the name is either in the category or in the item description, but I am unsure who makes many of the sizes of stretcher bars. On the item pages there is a tab for an overview so this information could easily be added. For items in other areas, they seemed to use a generic company “elevator speech” for the overview. Perhaps as they grow, they will provide more helpful and item-specific information.

I haven’t bought anything there yet, so I can’t speak for their service, but it looks like a good resource.

Don’t expect to find things here you might not find in a chain craft store, but for convenience and price, they are a great resource.

Redesigned & Updated Bargello Site

Janet Perry — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 15:42:29 +0000

Originally posted 2010-06-28 07:23:15. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

pattern from 2010 Bargello Challenge

Bargello Needlepoint has just undergone a major redesign to make it easier to find patterns and to learn about both Bargello & needlepoint. It’s a great site and you should spend plenty of time there.

This year Althea, the site’s owner, has been trying to stitch a new Bargello pattern everyday in the 2010 Bargello Challenge. With half the year gone, she has an impressive array of patterns stitched. These she has classified in useful pages, like the Bargello Diamond Designs that give a brief descrption of this type of design and then show all of the designs in this category in clickable thumbnails. Click on one and you’ll find a page with a bigger picture, information about the source and some other information about the design.

Besides this amazing resource and record of her project, there is also a store with her ebook of ornaments, links to buy printed books, fun merchandise, and several free downloads.

Two other areas of reference information classified by subject provide a comprehensive index to her blog material. They are Bargello Boot Camp and Needlepoint How-to. Both are great places for exploration.

This is one of the cleanest designed and useful needlepoint sites I’ve seen in a very long time.

Kreinik – Website Review

Janet Perry — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:02:41 +0000

Originally posted 2003-02-20 07:56:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

I love Kreinik threads — both the silks and the metallic threads. As time has gone on, it has made me more and more happy that the color range available in them has become greater so it is so much easier to use them for many purposes.

To mach their outstanding threads and their wealth of knowledge about them, Kreinik has put together and outstanding website — http://www.kreinik.com. It is an outstanding and inspirational place to visit.

If metallic threads are new to you, then the site can help introduce them to you easily. The metallic section of the site describes the main types of metallic threads clearly (so you can understand the difference between high lustre, vintage, cord and basic), what you can do with metallic thread, and the history of metallic threads. There are also links where you can find each of the threads described in more detail. There are tips on using the different threads as well as information on their use in specific kinds of embroidery, fly tying and other crafts. And there is a great on-line color chart.

Kreinik also makes lovely silk threads. The home page for the silks
has outstanding information about the history of silk as well as some essential tips on stitching with silk. It even includes something I’ve never seen anywhere else — instructions to dry cleaners on how to clean pieces made with these threads! The pages on the individual threads have information and stitching tips. You can also view a color family listing of silk threads or request their color chart.

Kreinik has done an outstanding job of getting a wide variety of free patterns for many kinds of handwork from designers on their site. You can find outstanding projects for needlepoint, cross stitch, plastic canvas, hardanger, crochet, stumpwork, machine embroidery, and lots more. All are listed by technique under “freebies” Every pattern can be printed out using Adobe Acrobat.

Just looking at the needlepoint projects gives you an idea of the wide variety of material here. There are stitch guides for painted canvases, needlepoint pins, a frame, Christmas ornaments, geometrics, silk gauze and lots more. There is a real effort here to cover all the myriad of techniques where metal and silk threads can be used.

There are also sections devoted to fly tying (with free patterns) and to scrapbooking as well as information about their many stitching accessories, silk gauze and books.

I love the way this site is so clearly laid out and easy to read. The style of the pages is open and friendly. The pages load quickly and it’s always easy to find what I need to know.

I highly recommend this site if you haven’t seen it already.

DMC’s New Website – Website Review

Janet Perry — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:39:00 +0000

DMC recently redesigned their website and I recently had a chance to explore it. For a company that has been in the needlework business for so long and who has many threads that are popular with needlepointers, this site is a huge disappointment.

There are several areas where you might look for needlepoint, and most of them are very disappointing. Let’s begin with “threads.” Go there and click on “needlepoint threads.”

What’s is listed there” Tapestry Wool and no other threads.

People stopped using only wool in needlepoint in the mid-70′s. Where are the many other threads that have been standards for needlepoint for decades, let alone DMC’s innovative new products?

Not under needlepoint, you’ll find them under embroidery threads. Couldn’t DMC have listed them under needlepoint as well, it isn’t hard to do.

A second section is education and this is the only good part of the site for needlepoint. It has a small stitch dictionary (that could use some kind of index) and a nice introduction to needlepoint. It could have been better if they had incorporated more of their recent blog series on needlepoint.

I was unhappy enough with the product area, but when I got to inspiration, I got very unhappy indeed. First there are two “projects” listed under needlepoint. One of those is the memory thread brochure, a product they couldn’t even be bothered to list as a needlepoint thread.

But look at “half cross stitch” which is essentially needlepoint done on fabric — there are 15 projects. Why aren’t they cross listed? If it has to do with materials, add the line or two to tell about canvas size and number of strands.

And there are more needlepoint gems, no doubt under other headings such as whole stitch cross stitch charts. And even free projects they have designed and promoted on their blog for needlepoint, such as their lovely bag, are not here.

I’m not happy, we deserve more, we deserve a site that is, as their blog said “a comprehensive resource for all artists, crafters and stitchers.” Instead of comprehensive except for needlepoint.

We shouldn’t be the poor stepsister of the embroidery world.

Great Website – Material Obsession

Janet Perry — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:54:23 +0000

Originally posted 2009-03-27 07:27:33. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

I found out about this wonderful quilting blog earlier this week, and I just love it.

Material Obsession is written by two Australian quilters who own a shop with the same name. They have also just published a book by the same name as well (on its way to me right now).

Every pot has tons of picture, mostly of quilts, but sometimes of blocks and sections of quilts, sometimes of people. What astounds me is how bright and creative they all are. I feel as if these ladies have taken all the vibrancy of Kaffe Fassett colorful quilts and needlepoint, internalized it and then gone on a taught others.

I’m in love with the vibrancy and the patterns. One recent quilt, a star block based on equilateral triangles has inspired me to make an ornament in Trianglepoint based on it. I’m still working on it, but I’ll show you and give you a chart when it’s done. And looking through, I found about a dozen more I want to adapt.

Even if you don’t love quilts, the vibrancy and color will brighten your day.

One final note, this site does not have an RSS feed, so if you use something like Google Reader, you’ll have to go to the site directly.

New Site for Weeks Dye Works

Janet Perry — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 14:15:40 +0000

Image from Thread Express (http://www.threadexpress.com).

Weeks Dye Works has updated and redesigned their website.

The site features drop down menus for their products. For each type of product there are great clear pictures and a listing of links to their different color, laundry care, and order forms, all in PDF format.

There is also information about their history, a FAQ, and a listing of retail shops. I love their designer section of the site. There you can find a list (with thumbnail pictures) of free patterns from different designers featuring Weeks products. There is also a listing of designers using their products, information about their designer program and more.

For retailers there is a link to a credit application and a password-protected area for customers.

All in all, this would be close to a perfect thread site if they would make on-line color cards and switch from white-on-black to the more traditional black-on-white.

All Those Lovely Canvases!

Janet Perry — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 14:50:49 +0000

Originally posted 2008-01-29 07:05:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

I’m not generally a one to have fits and fits about wanting tons of canvases. So much needlepoint has passed through my hands (I’ve been stitching since 1970 after all), that I almost never go nuts wanting more and more needlepoint.

But last week I visited the long page Melissa Shirley Designs has of their new canvases which debuted at TNNA earlier this month. There was so much great stuff I hardly know where to begin. You can see the whole page here, but I’ll have links to individual canvases throughout the article.

And I really want to share it with you.

They are simple but I really loved the two sets of a dozen needlepoint “lollipops,” two for Halloween (here and here) and two for Christmas (here and here. If you’re a beginning stitcher, try a few of the geometrical designs, more experienced stitchers might want to go crazy with threads and embellishments on the pictoral ones.

I also loved the two canvases with black cats (here’s one of them) which looked like vintage Halloween decorations.

There are also two series of small canvases with a wonderful, but very stitchable Victorian look about them. There is a series of eight charming little girlswith either Jack o’Lanterns or pumpkins. There are also more than 30 new small Santas in a similar style, for everything from a stitching Santa (love his “handknit sweater”) to a traditional bishop to an unusual Asian Santa.

Melissa has become known for her needlepoint bracelets and headbands. This Winter many of her new designs have versions which include these. There is a lovely series with butterflies and a floral ornament. Another just has butterflies by themselves. There is also one with jewel-like beetles and several with shells. There are lots more, in all kinds of styles. All are available as bracelets or headbands.

Many of these coordinate with her larger, realistic canvases. So many of these are so glorious, it’s hard to single them out but here are some of my favorites. My youngest loves mushrooms and she would go nuts over these two canvases. There are also a set of magnificent whales which have the charming qualities of vintage folk art from New England which is so compelling. I also loved the three cat canvases, also in a vintage style. Licensed from Mary LakeThompson is a charming chickadee canvas which really captures the spirit of these little birds.

Melissa also has dress canvases, four in all. They come in two sizes and several styles. There are fantastic nutcrackers (also from Mary Lake-Thompson), new Christmas stockings in many styles, two glorious tree skirts (two choices for background color), and several wonderful folk art cats.

I could go on and on, but go take a look for yourself, I guarantee you’ll find something you want to stitch.

Daphne Goodyear – An Amazing Stitcher

Janet Perry — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 17:18:59 +0000

Originally posted 2008-07-17 08:04:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

I just learned about and looked at Daphne Goodyear’s wonderful needlepoint in her Guest Gallery at Stitch Amaze, one of my absolute favorite needlepoint sites.

I’m blown away by her stitching.

Go through the gallery and be delighted by the wit of her Wild Women in History (link is to detail of Mata Hari, the piece as a whole is in the gallery).

I love her needlepoint chair back, which has a Melissa Shirley design inserted into the back of a comfy chair.

Typically I make mini-socks to try out new stitches and new Bargello patterns, but I love her patchwork throw and wall hanging (link is to a detail, the pieces as a whole are in the gallery) so much, I’m going to start to make squares. Just below that is another great idea for using needlepoint stash, a ZigZag Footstool. This one has lots of different stitches and patterns in a cheery unplanned color palette. Check out the gallery itself to see the creative way she finished this.

I’m in awe and also in love. I want my house to be so full of such wonderful needlepoint!