Monthly Archives: September 2011

Book review: The Art of the Needle

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Hannah

This is a review of The Art of the Needle: Designing in Fabric and Thread by Jan Beaney. Pantheon Books, New York, 1988. ISBN 0-394-57303-X. The book is an introduction to design for embroidery. It’s written in a friendly and … Continue reading →

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Embroidery of Kashmir I

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Hannah

Today I introduce another style of Indian embroidery, from Kashmir! This piece is also from Dr. Shirazi’s personal collection. Here is a closer view of one of the corners. The designs are amazingly intricate but use very simple stitches. An … Continue reading →

Posted in Indian embroidery, Shirazi | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Flower petals in Japanese darning stitch

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Hannah

I settled on Japanese darning stitch for the light blue airy petals of these flowers. I’d never tried this stitch before, but I love the effect. It’s easy and quick. I have no idea if it’s actually Japanese or not … Continue reading →

Posted in Crewel, My work | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Punto Antico vs Hardanger

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Hannah

Erica asked if I was sure the piece shown in Hardanger Inspiration was hardanger and not Punto Antico. I thought I’d reply in a post since my answer was getting a little long and perhaps others would be interested too. … Continue reading →

Posted in Drawn thread, Free resources online, Hardanger, patterns and designs, tutorials | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Hardanger Inspiration

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Hannah

I ran across a blog, Coffeebean’s Dailies, with some amazingly beautiful hardanger photos and I wanted to share with y’all (yes, I asked for permission). Here is the photo of the entire piece: Isn’t it incredible? I think I should … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardanger | 18 Comments

Chikankari of Uttar Pradesh

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Hannah

Chikan work, or chikankari, is an Indian form of shadow work. This example from Dr. Shirazi’s collection is worked in white thread on pale pink fabric. It’s incredibly detailed for such a large piece – it covers the table in … Continue reading →

Posted in Embroidery around the world, Indian embroidery, Shirazi | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments

Long and short stitch explanation

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Hannah

This post provides a rather long answer to my lovely reader Wendy’s question from the last post. Here is the photo of the petal from a distance. Here is the petal next to a ruler. The ruler is in inches, … Continue reading →

Posted in My work, tutorials | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Continuing the Jacobean bellpull

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Hannah

There’s only a little bit of progress to report on the Plas Teg bellpull from the Mary Jane Collection (see project page for previous posts). The purple is double running stitch – I was inspired by my Turkish embroidery book … Continue reading →

Posted in Crewel, My work | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Kantha Hair Barrette

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Hannah

This weekend I thought I’d try decorating myself with embroidery. Here is my kantha embroidery hair barrette: It’s metallic gold thread on black cotton sateen so it’s actually fairly shiny, though that’s hard to photograph. Even harder is photographing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Finishing techniques, Indian embroidery, My work | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Cypress tree in Iranian embroidery

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Hannah

This embroidery (from Dr. Shirazi’s collection) is Iranian. Note the vibrant colors. (Update: this is called “pateh” embroidery). I believe this depicts a cypress tree, which is a very important motif in Iranian culture. The word for cypress is “sarv” … Continue reading →

Posted in Embroidery around the world, Shirazi | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments