Category Archives: Free resources online

Drawn thread embroidery

Today I found you a (free!) beautiful 19 page tutorial on drawn thread work from the Heritage Shoppe. This shows you, in detail with many photos,  how to do the work in this picture. It’s a type of embroidery where … Continue reading

Posted in Design sites, Drawn thread, Free resources online, Hardanger, tutorials | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Portfolio of Designs for Embroidery

The Antique Pattern Library strikes again: This is a free 1929 pamphlet by Joan Drew, which consists of a 1 page introduction and 16 pages of nothing but design outlines. The contents are mostly flowering plants and birds, in a … Continue reading

Posted in Free resources online, Historical, patterns and designs | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Hardanger

This is a type of Norwegian embroidery, popular also in the northern midwest USA. It’s very geometric with lots of square eyelets and lacy fillings. Nordic Needle’s specialty is hardanger, and they provide an extensive overview of the topic, lots … Continue reading

Posted in Design sites, Free resources online, Hardanger, tutorials | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Les Patrons-Modèles “Echo”, Les – Album No. 3 – Travaux de Dames

This is a free book from Paris, 1925. It’s another find in the Antique Pattern Library, and its focus is cutwork. Not that you have to do the designs in cutwork. I haven’t tried cutwork yet, but one of these … Continue reading

Posted in Cutwork, Free resources online, Historical, patterns and designs | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Enciclopedia de las Señoras

I found a little something in Google Books: “Enciclopedia de las Señoras, que Contiene las Artes y Labores de Utilidad y de Recreo” (Encyclopedia of the Ladies, that contains recreational and useful arts and works) translated from French to Spanish … Continue reading

Posted in Book reviews, books, Free resources online, Historical | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Revised Needle and Hook

Here’s another free book, the full title of which is Revised Needle and Hook: Instructions in Silk Embroidery, Knitting and Crocheting, Illustrated with cuts, half tones and color plates. It’s available online from the Antique Pattern Library, and originally published … Continue reading

Posted in Book reviews, books, Free resources online, Historical, Needlepainting | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Stitch dictionaries!

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

Posted in Design sites, Free resources online, tutorials | Tagged | Leave a comment

A treatise on embroidery

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

Review: Encyclopedia of Needlework, Therese de Dillmont

This book is old school. It’s an excellent and fascinating overview of needlework, first published in 1884. I originally found it in a Half Price Books store, but it’s also available  free on the internet (copyright expired) from the Gutenberg … Continue reading

Posted in Book reviews, books, Free resources online, Historical | Tagged , , | 2 Comments