Stitchers often have cats as stitching buddies. This seems to be a given. If the stitcher is also a dancer, this provides even more opportunity for hilarity – and cat-astrophe, as bellydance costumes (and practice clothes) have a multitude of dangly bits. Until recently, I have been very lucky with my cats. Rhys, big, black,… Continue Reading
Although this Victorian variant looks just like chain stitch, in some contexts it can be much easier to work. Instead of starting at the base of the chain, start at the top with the small straight stitch. Then bring the thread up at the start of the next stitch, slide it under the first straight… Continue Reading
Last year, around Halloween, I finally transferred this drawing to canvas and started stitching it. The basis is obviously “Halloweeny” – with the boot and the spiderweb. Of course, it could be adapted to steampunk by replacing the spider with cogs and gears, or just leaving it out entirely. In fact, now that I’ve had… Continue Reading
Chain stitch is one of the looped stitches. It’s actually much easier than the written description makes it sound. But that is often the case with embroidery stitches – the are often much easier to show than to explain! YouTube is a fantastic development for this! Chain stitch can be used in all manner of… Continue Reading
Like dancers, as embroiderers we have a huge amount of steps we can layer into our work. And like choreography, the design process asks questions like – how do I keep from overwhelming the viewer? And it comes with the desire to put everything we have learned into one piece – one choreography, if you… Continue Reading