Do you tend to stick to a few tried and tested favorite hand embroidery stitches?
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.  …read more

I’ve been slowly working away on a piece of cross stitch for the past couple of weeks.  I tend to do an hour or so at a time, and don’t usually rush through projects like this.
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 …read more

I’ve created an all-new free tutorial for you – with lots of sparkle and glitz for Christmas!
 
Sequins are a great way to add some extra sparkle to your hand-sewn Christmas ornaments – and they’re really easy to sew on too.
I’ve created a step-by-step guide for hand-sewing sequins for you – but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see how I’m using them in my finished project
image: © C Findlay-Harder

 I’ve been going through my archives to find my favorite Christmas craft patterns from last year for my lovely readers
As always, these are my own original patterns & designs and are not to be copied or reposted elsewhere without my permission.
Here are two more fun embroidered patterns – the first is a machine-embroidered gift card holder.  It’s a great way to play around with different stitches on your sewing machine, and make a cute Christmas gift for someone special!

 This one is for my hand-embroidery fans!  It’s a crazy quilt Christmas card that I created using little pieces of …read more

Oh my goodness, I love these needlepoint shoes!  I don’t think it would be that hard to cover an existing pair of sandals this way… too much inspiration – not enough time!

A Joyful Abode has an easy to follow tutorial on how to embroider shisha mirrors.  What are shisha mirrors you ask?   They are little mirrors that are used to embellish clothing, textiles and home accessories – most commonly found in east Indian textiles.  Go check it out!
image source

Take a few minutes to browse through contemporary embroidery artist, James Hunting’s website & gallery.
His work is spectacular & detailed… and definitely breathes some fresh air into embroidery

Sorry for the delay in getting this published   Here’s how I made sweethearts out of felt – not candy!
I asked you to get some candy-colored felt, along with a heart-shaped cookie cutter (or other heart-shaped template) in my last post.

Use the cookie cutter as a template and trace around it – using a water-soluble fabric marker.

Cut out more hearts (you don’t have to – but they look so charming as a grouping)

Using a water-soluble fabric marker (non permanent) write out different Valentine’s day sayings.  It’s going to be easier to embroider if you go with something short.

Place the …read more

The talented crew at Sublime Stitching have just added another product to their catalog:

Clean, unfussy hoop frames.
They’re perfect for displaying embroidery without extra loops or hangers showing at the top.  I think they’d even work for displaying pieces of your favorite fabrics as well.
If you haven’t had a chance to read the Sublime Stitching blog – it’s definitely worth browsing through

I’m a very lucky person – I just got to bring her home    The tapestry was hand-embroidered by my very talented mom and I finally got to bring it to my house!  Lady Godiva is approximately a yard square and densely hand-embroidered, a full year’s worth of handwork.  No machine stitching, but lots of patience, devotion and love.