I know I’m guilty of primarily working in cross stitch and the standard needlepoint stitches, the tent or half-cross stitch.  I may bring out the lazy daisy or back stitch if I’m not working on gridded canvas or Aida cloth…

But there is a world of stitches out there!

Have you ever heard of the “Droit stitch” or the “Stepped Sheaf stitch”?  How about the exotic-sounding “Turkey”, “Egyptian” or “Romanian” stitches?

If you’d like to expand your stitching repertoire, the Stitchopedia website is the place to start your search.  They’ve got listings for all kinds of amazing-sounding hand-embroidery stitches.  Each stitch has a diagram as well as a text description of how to form the stitch.   They also have printable diagrams so you can print and save the stitch how-to.  Perfect if you don’t embroider in front of the computer!

image: Stock.xchg

Post from: Blisstree

All Those Embroidery Stitches…

Of course, if it was for a gift, I’d be tearing through it, but I enjoy the contemplative nature of hand embroidery.  I’m enjoying the process as much as I’ll enjoy the finished project… hopefully

I’m still working away on the borders right now:

One thing that I’ve noticed about my stitching habits, is that I tend to like to get the “structure” of the piece done before I get to the more decorative stitching.

Is it because I want to get the less interesting stuff out of the way first?

I’m not quite sure, but it’s something that I’ve done since I was a child, just learning to embroider.

So how do you like to structure your embroidery?  Do you like to get into the pattern right away, or do you like to get the borders and less interesting stuff out of the way first?

image: C Findlay-Harder

Post from: Blisstree

So What Do You Work On First?

Since I do both machine and hand-embroidery, but covered sewing yesterday – I’m just going to share my 5 favorite hand-embroidery supplies in this post.

In no particular order…

1. A good embroidery hoop – I have very particular likes and dislikes when it comes to embroidery hoops.  I plastic hoops that are between 4″ and 6″ across (I find that larger hoops strain my wrists), that adjusts with a screw (I don’t like spring hoops) and one that has a “lip” on the inner edge.  Yes, I am particular, but I’m so much happier with a hoop that holds the correct tension and doesn’t strain my arms.
2. Good light source – don’t strain your eyes by embroidering in bad light.  It’s just not worth the headaches and eyestrain.
3. Sharp scissors – it’s so frustrating to try and snip the floss or thread off at the surface of the fabric, and end up shredding it.
4. The right needle – different types of embroidery need different kinds of needles.  You don’t need to spend a mint on them, but the proper kind of needle will make your embroidery so much more enjoyable.
5. Good quality floss, thread or wool – cheap fibers can shred, lose color, bleed in the wash and break more easily.  You don’t need to buy the most expensive stuff out there, but I’ve rarely had good luck with dollar store floss.

image: Stock.xchg

Post from: Blisstree

My 5 Favorite Embroidery Supplies

The benefit of buying a kit, is that if you only need a foot of a particular color, you don’t need to buy a whole hank of floss.

Of course, the downside is trying to separate 25 different colors of embroidery floss that have been knotted together…

I like to organize my floss in bright, natural light.  I find I get the best color separation in natural light – there is just no point for me to try and do it at night under a lamp!

I write the name and color code of each color of floss onto a strip of paper and then tuck it and the floss inside a mini baggie.  I buy boxes of 200 baggies at my local craft store, normally quite inexpensively too.

image: C Findlay-Harder

That way I can easily tell which color is whice, even when I’m embroidering at night.  You can reuse the baggies over again, which is why I don’t like to write on the bags themselves.

Now just remember to keep all the baggies together…

Post from: Blisstree

Tips & Tricks – Organizing Embroidery Floss

Did I find some lovely free cross stitch patterns?

Oh yes!

• Carrie’s Creations has lots of mini motifs, perfect for charting together to make a sampler, or just using by themselves as accents.
• Cross Stitch at About.com has mini samplers for each month of the year.
• LMc Designs has several back-stitch alphabets and numbers, perfect for creating your own saying or phrase on your sampler.
• Dunmani Designs has some lovely motifs, alphabets and borders, perfect for putting your own sampler together.
• Better Cross Stitch Patterns has free printable graph paper from 9 count to 14 count.

image: Stock.xchg

Post from: Blisstree

Free Cross Stitch Sampler Motifs

But I have to admit, I don’t like charting cross stitch (or needlepoint) letters and numbers.

I was just tickled pink when I found this great free online site for creating your own cross stitch alphabet!

StitchPoint has six different alphabets that you can choose from.  Just enter your text, print out your pattern and start stitching.

The interface takes a little bit of time to get comfortable (I kept on trying to erase a single letter, and ended up erasing my entire project).  But it’s definitely a great tool to add to your embroidery tool kit.

image: StitchPoint

Post from: Blisstree

Online Cross Stitch Text Patterns

Are you making crafts for Valentine’s Day?

Did you know that there are lots of free patterns and tutorials for Valentine’s Day crafts, sewing projects and even cross stitch charts in the Tangled Thread archives?  I decided to make things easier for you and have got a bunch of the patterns for you here:

♥ Three patterns for hearts & roses cross stitch.

♥ Try sewing your own lingerie for Valentine’s Day.

♥ Here are two of my easy hand-embroidered felt “Heart Felt” cards.

♥ This is another Heart Felt card - this time it’s accented with French knots.

♥ I made these cute little embroidered felt “Sweethearts” last year for Valentine’s Day, here’s part one, part two and part three of the tutorial.

♥ Here’s a pattern for a free heart cross stitch bookmark.

♥ This project is for my machine sewing friends – Heart Softies!  Here’s part one and part two.

Happy crafting!

image: Stock.xchg

Post from: Blisstree

free patterns for Valentine’s Day crafts

I’ve found some fun, free patterns for Christmas cross-stitch and needlepoint.   These projects would make great gifts, labels for special presents or even hung on your tree.  You could use plastic canvas or cross-stitch paper to make stiff ornaments, or use Aida cloth to make Christmas cards.

Just click on the image to view the free pattern:

image: Free Patterns Online

image: Cross-stitch.About.com

image: Needlepoint.About.com

image: The Chart Shop

Post from: Blisstree

Christmas cross-stitch free patterns for marvelous minis

 Halloween is just around the corner, so I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite free patterns for Halloween crafts with you all!

Take a scary stroll through the Tangled Thread archives with me…

• Venetian-style mask
•  Mini painted pumpkin bag
• Kids Halloween crafts
• Inspiration for plus-size costumes
• Free Halloween cross-stitch charts
• Cute costumes for your child & your dog!
• Even more embroidery patterns for cross-stitch

image: Stock.xchg

Post from: Blisstree

favorite Halloween crafts – free patterns, tutorials & how tos

Just use a water-proof ink (I’ve had really good results with Staz-On) and stamp your design directly onto your aida cloth. Use the same color ink as your embroidery floss to make sure you don’t have weird shadows underneath the stitches You can even stamp words or letters, or just draw them on with a permanent pen.

Post from: Blisstree

cross-stitch patterns from rubber stamps