Monthly Archives: December 2010

Brazilian embroidery

Posted on December 12, 2010 by Hannah

This is fun stuff – shiny (rayon) threads and 3D flowers. I’ve linked all the pictures to the kits available online. Here’s an example I stitched (it’s about 4 inches total): It’s a tiny kit from a site (JDR Brazilian … Continue reading →

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Pillowcase edging

Posted on December 11, 2010 by Hannah

Here is a pillowcase edging from a stamped kit I received as a Christmas present last year: This doesn’t correspond exactly to the kit  – it sprouted while I was working on it. I’ve labeled the additional flora in the … Continue reading →

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Stitch dictionaries!

Posted on December 9, 2010 by Hannah

I’m pretty excited – I discovered an amazing treasure: the Henry Art Gallery Stitch Identification Guide at http://dig.henryart.org/embroidery-stitches/first_level_pages/contents.htm. This resource is maintained by the Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington in Seattle, and was created through analyzing “the … Continue reading →

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Candlewicking difficulties

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Hannah

So, I’ve been working on a sculptured stitchery and candlewicking kit Majestic Balloons designed by Roger W. Reinardy, and available from Janlynn. It’s called sculptured stitchery because the design is backstitched over cotton batting to create a 3D effect around … Continue reading →

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Cross stitch

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Hannah

I won’t be discussing cross-stitch often, since I rapidly lose interest in making billions of identical little x’s. But, if you’d like some exotic cross-stitch designs, take a look at PINN Cross Stitch (it’s a Thai company). It’s still affordable … Continue reading →

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A treatise on embroidery

Posted on December 6, 2010 by Hannah

I’d like to recommend an amazing book on needlepainting. It is completely free because it was published in 1907 and is therefore public domain: A treatise on embroidery; with twenty color illustrations from original models by Hemingway & Sons Silk … Continue reading →

Posted in Book reviews, books, Free resources online, Historical, Needlepainting | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

the etymology of embroidery

Posted on December 4, 2010 by Hannah

(an update to the About page!) embroider: late 14th century, from the Anglo-French word enbrouder, from the prefix en- meaning “in” (see en- (1)) plus broisder “embroider,” from Frankish  *brozdon, from Proto-Germanic  word *bruzdajanan. Influenced by Old English brogden, past participle … Continue reading →

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Bird Brocade

Posted on December 3, 2010 by Hannah

I recently started working on the Bird Brocade kit (crewel embroidery) by Elsa Williams from Janlynn. I like the design, but this kit has a whole lot of satin and long+short stitch, and I prefer a lot of different stitches. … Continue reading →

Posted in Crewel, My work | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments