about threads Archive

Originally posted 2009-06-12 06:06:17. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Over at Needlework Tips & Techniques, there is a wonderful page of information about embroidery floss. It is designed for Cross Stitchers, but there’s lots of advice that works for needlepointers too. There is a video on how to separate plies. This works for any stranded thread. There is information about several ways to start your thread, including a loop method, which is worth trying for needlepoint. Do not, however, use the table of number of plies; they are not correct for needlepoint. Instead, use these amounts: Congress Cloth: 2 strands 18 mesh: 4 strands 14 mesh: 6 strands 13 mesh: 6 strands 12 mesh: 8 strands Also remember that these techniques and amounts. work for any stranded thread, such as stranded silks, where the individual strands are about the same size as floss. Thanks and a tip of the hat

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Originally posted 2003-02-20 22:27:39. Republished by Blog Post PromoterLinen is one of my favorite fibers. Although its use in embroidery isn’t very common, it has a strength and sheen which is unique. People who like linen really like linen and can’t get enough of it. I came across two new linen an linen-blend threads recently I want to share with you. Green Mountain Linen is a 20/2 linen, which is a perfect size for 18 mesh canvas. It comes in 20 yard packages. Like most linen threads, it’s a bit stiff and somewhat hairy — it’s the solid brown example in the photo. Oriental Linen is from The Thread Gatherer and is a blend of linen an silk. It is made up of two, two-ply strands, which can be divided into two strands for stitching. The thread I used in the sample has one ply of rust and one of

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Originally posted 2007-12-10 07:28:17. Republished by Blog Post Promoter I have a new favorite thread, it’s the red in this new Flames Bargello project. The color is Cardinal and it’s a shade of Watercolours from the Caron Collection. I think it just glows and is the best red thread ever. I like it so much I’m going to use the rest of the skein for some Christmas ornaments (not that I have time to work on them. As I did with Tahiti Watercolours (my previous favorite) I may start stockpiling it. * * * But I also want to thank those of you who commented on the original Flames Bargello post asking about my idea for a Scrap Bag Needlepoint version. Here it is (in process). While my original plan was to do all the diamonds in different colors, the red was so striking (which I didn’t expect), that I’m

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Originally posted 2009-05-28 11:53:29. Republished by Blog Post PromoterPlanet Earth Fibers is a maker of silk knitting yarns who is now packaging two of their yarns for needlepoint. Both of these threads are lovely for stitching and I enjoyed using them both. The silk is a fat single strand silk thread, similar to Vineyard Silk or Silk & Ivory in thickness, which works on 13 to 18 mesh. It is a fairly lofty thread and is available in 152 colors. There are many softly shaded colors in the range with some color families having four shades in them. The six strand silk can be plied and recombined to work on all mesh sizes. It comes in 125 colors, with six semi-solid overdyes. The remainder is dyed to match the colors of the silk. This too was a lovely thread, a smooth silk that was easy to stitch with. One thing

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Today we have a guest post from Brenda at Needlepoint for Fun that has tips on selecting thread for needlepoint. ****** Is the fiber colorfast? Most standard cotton and wool fibers are colorfast, but some of the boutique threads may not be. If even one fiber in a stitched design is not colorfast then you cannot wet-block it. To determine colorfastness, dampen a small piece of the yarn or thread and blot over the damp area with a paper towel. If the towel picks up any color then you know the answer! What is the project going to be used for? Items that will be exposed to daily wear and tear, such as footstools and chair pillows, are best stitched in a heavier duty fiber like wool or cotton. Some fibers such as velvet and metallics do not wear very well when they are repeatedly pulled through the canvas during

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Originally posted 2007-01-28 07:31:42. Republished by Blog Post PromoterYou’ve probably heard, as have I that the same thread in different colors can be different thicknesses. I knew it to be true but hard never, until this morning, had the experience where it actually made a difference. The story goes that the darker the thread the thicker it will be because to get dark colors it has to absorb more dye. I was working on a Maggie Co geometric this morning and using a kingfisher blue Tapestry wool from DMC. This is not the first time I’ve used this thread, nor was it the first color of this thread used on this piece. But I hadn’t had any problem, but this stuff was the pits. It distorted the canvas, was hard to pull through, and mad my hands hurt with all the work. Why? It was just enough thicker than the

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Originally posted 2010-09-02 07:03:00. Republished by Blog Post PromoterI finally got around to counting up the votes for this (I’m a charter member of the procrastinator’s club) and the winner for a club theme for next year is stitches and quilt blocks. I’m excited because quilts always inspire me and this is such a wonderful way to learn new stitches. Best of all, with mostly square sides or true diagonals, compensation is really easy. It will also give us a wonderful way to explore colors through the projects. I’m going off to do some hard-core designing. And I also need to know your opinion for how you would like to see these packaged. There are three options, which I’ll list from most to least expensive. painted canvas – you will get a painted canvas in a specific color scheme. The lesson will tell you exactly the threads/colors to buy line-drawn

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Originally posted 2009-07-23 07:06:13. Republished by Blog Post PromoterA reader asked me a question about threads and stitches to use for stitching sand. Sand can be tough because it has an uneven texture and most of our threads are smooth. It has texture but one which is non-directional and most of our stitches have obvious directions. Here are some strategies I like to use. For threads there are two I recommend. You want something which has an uneven or nubby texture but which is soft not rough. Cotton Plus from Ty-Di Threads has a lovely nubby texture that works well for sand, but it has a limited range of colors. Rainbow Linen or Thread Gather’s Flax n’Colors would be the linen threads I’d try, with my preference being Rainbow Linen. Other linen threads, like DMC, are only available in sets of colors (although this thread would work) or are too

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Originally posted 2009-01-01 18:14:54. Republished by Blog Post PromoterBELLALUSSO This new 100% Merino wool is distributed by Fleur de Paris and is a wonderful replacement for Medici. I think it’s made in Italy and is a lovely soft, crewel weight wool. I stitched in both Basketweave and Double Cross on 18 mesh canvas using two strands. The process made me remember why I love to use wool. It slides through the canvas so easily, the stitches are so rich and thick, and the end result is so smooth. In short, I loved this thread. Currently it is available in 46 colors in either a 45 yard skein or 350 yard hanks. While there aren’t lots of colors, the range is good, with most families having three shades in them. I really like using wool for fur and hair and Bellalusso has seven shades of brown and tan, which is very

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Does this thread always end up in a tangled heap when you try to open it? Me too. Much as I love this thread, I tend to avoid it because I hate that heap. I just don’t have the patience to find ends. If I do my usual routine of cutting at the bottom of the twist, the strands are too small. I even tried unwinding it once. THAT made even more of a mess. But happily the manufacturer has put up an instructional video to show us exactly how to unwind one of these skeins. I see more of this great thread in my future,

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Last week we had Plaidurday and, I’m told, today has been proclaimed “I Love Yarn Day” by the folks at the Craft Yarn Council. Although primarily aimed at knitters and crocheters, why don’t you shake up their world by showing them just how creative needlepoint can be? Knitting yarn can be a wonderful source of inexpensive backgrounds, interesting textures, and different colors. I’ve used it in my needlepoint for years. Let me know about how you have stitched with knitting yarns, show off a piece you’ve done using them on your Facebook page on a Pinterest board, or in an on-line photo album, then let us know about it here. P.S. – From the commenters, I’ll pick one winner who will get an assortment of knitting yarns in 10-yard mini-skeins, suitable for needlepoint

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Originally posted 2006-10-12 07:58:56. Republished by Blog Post PromoterI got a question today asking about why a silk/wool blend covered the canvas better than a rayon. The answer to this question brings up an aspect of threads which we, as stitchers, don’t think about much — loftiness, or loft. Loft, quite simply, is the amount of air spun into a thread as it is made. Knitters think about loft, because the more air spun into a yarn, the warmer it will be (the trapped air stays warmer than the surrounding air. Threads which have lots of loft have a wonderful characteristic in needlework, they expand along the length of the stitches. You can see this for yourself very easily. Make a line of stitches four threads or so long using a wool or silk/wool blend. Now make another row of stitches the same length using pearl cotton. The wool stitches

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Originally posted 2009-05-31 05:24:37. Republished by Blog Post PromoterOne of my favorite parts of the TNNA show is the “Great Wall of Thread” which previews knitting yarns for the upcoming season. Why? Stitching with knitting yarns is one of my favorite things. The variety of knitting yarns is incredible and many of our popular needlepoint yarns use knitting yarns as their base. While knitting yarns have an incredible variety of fibers and textures, it’s vital to remember that they are for fashion, not for heirlooms, so there aren’t as many colors, nor does the color range for a yarn remain stable. If gray is a big color this year in fashion, expect lots of gray. When it isn’t fashionable, the selection in this color will be far less. So buy as much as you need initially. Second, knitting yarn varies greatly in width, often inside the same skein. You can’t

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In many fields, the use of foreign terms indicates sophistication and an in-crowd of people who know the correct language. Often you will find that people lord it over folks who use the more plebeian term (i.e. the word in English) instead of the foreign word. Often, I fear, this is a kind of false sophistication and it bugs me. Unhappily this kind of snobbishness seems to take hold of people in the needlework world. They discover that “pearl cotton” can also be called “perle cotton” and suddenly think that anyone who use the former term is wrong, ignorant, and uninformed. But this is wrong and a false snobbishness. Actually either is correct and thread manufacturers use both. “Perle” and “pearl” both mean the same thing — pearl, the jewel that comes from an oyster. Perle is the French word, pearl is the English word. The term comes from the

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Originally posted 2009-06-23 16:32:53. Republished by Blog Post PromoterI’ve been posting on and off about the new products introduced at TNNA earlier this month, but I wanted to add just one more new post. Look for these great items at your local shop. Besides the Swedish Dynasty ornaments I wrote about last week, Leigh has two other lines, Guadalajara, which has a Mexican fiesta theme and Sirens. Leigh is also distributing what looks like a wonderful line of project bags. I’m planning a post about them soon. Betsy B has two new lines a 12 Days of Christmas ornament series and sorority wreaths. Both would make delightful Christmas gifts. Kelly Clark has just updated her site with the new canvases from the show. These include some great new groups and single topiaries, a wonderful under the sea series with shells and a whimsical mermaid on one of the canvases, two

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