White Threads » The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion

Right-handed dictionary review

yvette — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 19:37:41 +0000

Yesterday the review we’ve all been waiting for went up on Needle’nThread: Mary Corbet’s review of “The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion”!

Thank you Mary, for such a lovely review!

Both The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion and The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion would make excellent Christmas presents to yourself, that friend who enjoys embroidery, or that young person who you’d like to encourage in embroidery.

But don’t take my word for it, take Mary’s!

multiple wrap French knots

yvette — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 20:29:26 +0000

When I am teaching French knots, it in variably comes up – either by me or a student – that some people maintain that French knots should only ever have one wrap. The idea is that if you need a bigger knot, you use a thicker thread. I don’t subscribe to this point of view, because the traditional Mountmellick embroidery that has been passed down to me includes French knots with up to eight wraps. (Yes, you read that right!)

If teachers want to insist that French knots should only have one wrap, that is fine with me. That may be the traditionally correct way of doing it – who am I to say it is not?

However, when some of them start saying things like, “a French knot should only ever have one wrap; any more and it is a bullion knot”, that’s where I MUST take exception. This is so patently untrue!

Let’s think about the construction of these stitches.

Top-bottom: French knot (3 wraps), bullion knot (about 10 wraps), bullion loop (about 10 wraps)

French knots: If you work one, and then look at the back, you will see that the thread leads up to the knot, goes through to the front, creates the knot and then comes back through to the back at the completion of the knot. NONE of the workings for the knot are visible from the back of the fabric.

Bullion knots: If you work one, and then look at the back, you will see the thread leading up to the knot. It goes through to the front, does some magic and then comes BACK to the back of the fabric. But we’re not done yet. That thread appears as a straight stitch on the back of the fabric, then returns to the front at the beginning end of the stitch. On the front, it works its magic with the other part of the thread which is already on the front of the fabric, and then returns to the back AGAIN.

The difference? There is a small stitch on the back of a bullion knot, and there is not on a French knot.

Showing the back of the picture above. Top-bottom: French knot, bullion knot, bullion loop.

If you don’t believe me, get yourself a good stitch dictionary (I’d suggest either The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion or The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion!) to make sure you are doing both knots correctly, and do some of each.

If you want to make your point even more blatantly, work bullion loops instead of bullion knots. (Bullion loops are worked as an overwrapped bullion which has a short stitch length and many more wraps than are necessary for that distance, causing the knot to “explode” out as a long loop.) Bullion loops cover less distance across the fabric, making them notionally closer in style to a French knot.

However, if you turn them over to the back, you will still see that French knots have no stitch on the back, and bullion knots do.

THEY ARE DIFFERENT.

Can we put to bed the idea that a French knot with multiple wraps is a bullion knot now please? And of course, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

back to work

yvette — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:27:29 +0000

I arrived home from Hobart late on Friday night, very pleased to be home with my family again. On Saturday we had a day together as a family, and it was so very nice to be with them. Yesterday I made a dress for my elder daughter for her end of school year farewell. I was pleased that it only took a day, and she loves the dress.

Yesterday was a public holiday here, giving me a long weekend. Today is back to normal. I’ll be spending the day catching up on retail and wholesale orders, and ordering a new print run on The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion, which is selling amazingly well.

Last week I heard from a shop owner that it (and The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion) outsells the A-Z books, and customers love that my books are so very clear in their step-by-step instructions. How very lovely!

BATB: stitchers village fair

yvette — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 20:45:50 +0000

As you’ve read through my class details for Beating Around the Bush over the last few days, if you were paying close attention to the dates, you may have noticed I will not be teaching on Wednesday 18th April. This is because there will be a Stitchers Village Fair on that day.

I will have a stall at the fair selling my books, and will of course be available to autograph copies of them. I will also have examples of embroideries from my books on display for you to see in person.

At the last BATB, it was a fun day, where I met many lovely stitchers, and was reacquainted with some after meeting them at classes from earlier times. There was an Inspirations magazine launch that day, and I spoke about an article that I had written for the magazine.

Apparently this time there will be book launches and exhibitions as well as needlework vendors like me being there to sell our wares.

The day is free for conference registrants, and there will be a nominal cover charge for the general public.

I look forward to meeting you there!

BATB: Beyond the basics – mastering challenging and unusual stitches

yvette — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 22:47:41 +0000

Today I continue with my explanations of the classes I will be teaching for Country Bumpkin’s Beating Around the Bush conference next year in April.

Class 51: Beyond the basics – mastering challenging and unusual stitches
Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th April 2012
Expand your stitch vocabulary! We will work a colourful sampler to master twelve challenging and unusual stitches, starting from the top left:

Cable plait stitch
Crested chain stitch
Hungarian braided chain stitch
Breton stitch
Spanish knotted feather stitch
Spiral trellis stitch
Cretan catch stitch
Plaited braid stitch
Diamond stitch
Interlaced chain stitch
Half chevron stitch
Sorbello stitch

This class is an advanced class, for experienced embroiderers. Part of the kit provided is a copy of either The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion or The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion, which will be our text book. If you already have a copy, bring it with you, and that part of the kit cost will be deducted.

This class will be lots of fun – playing with stitches and seeing how far we can push them. If you want a new embroidery challenge, this is the class for you!

Make me smile

yvette — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 21:14:33 +0000

I heard from the wonderful Barb Suess yesterday that she’d recently been teaching at an EGA seminar and my stitch dictionaries The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion and The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion were disappearing very quickly from Ruth Kern Books. (I don’t think she meant that they were being shoplifted, either…)

This is music to my ears.

If you like my books, the nicest thing you can do to encourage me is let other people know how much you like them and why. Putting a review on Amazon, the Nordic Needle website, or submitting one to your favourite needlework shop’s website is something that would make me forever grateful. Putting one on your blog would make me smile all day. If you’re a member of a guild, submitting a review for your newsletter would make me very happy too.

See how easy it is to make me happy? Thanks in anticipation!

New book reviews

yvette — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 21:06:29 +0000

Time for a round up of new reviews of my books today. From Amazon US, we have…
Review by Claire Nardone on The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion:

I’ve been doing needlework of all types for more than 40 years and this is the best all around handbook I’ve ever seen. Details are wonderful and it even has a diagram for a lefty.

Review by M. LeMay, on The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion:

Great book to have in a how to library–I’ve had to adapt right handed embroidery instructions over the years to left handed, or embroider right handed–finally a book that shows me. awesome!

From Amazon UK…
Review by Dekka, on The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion:

A gift for my left-handed wife – a 60ish grandmother. She loves it – has been taught (sometimes unsuccessfully) by right-handed people to embroider and knit…..strongly recommended for all ages.

Extract from a review by Brigitte Picart, on Ukrainian Drawn Thread Embroidery:

I was fascinated by drawn thread embroidery and the geometry in Ukrainian style. This book provides a step by step tutorial with both a clear drawing AND a clear photo of every step in the process so you can’t fail.

From Nordic Needle…
Extract from a review by Joy Lodge on Elegant Hardanger Embroidery:

An excellent book for everyone wanting to learn Hardanger. Also has tips to help the more expert …the projects are lovely, filling half of the 62 page book. I’m preparing to start two of them which is an indication of value of owning the book. There are some helpful sections when you have made mistakes with cutting and information about caring for your finished work, often not included with the instructions for the stitching.

Couldn’t find any new reviews of Mountmellick Embroidery: Inspired by Nature, so if you want to write one somewhere public, I’ll be happy to feature it here! In fact I’d be happy to feature reviews of any of my books here! Why not tell us why you love them?

drawn thread work

yvette — Tue, 24 May 2011 20:34:39 +0000

Yesterday I spent the day trying to finish stitching the drawn thread work base for my Portuguese whitework tablecloth for the book. I really hoped I’d get that part done, but time got away. Maybe I’ll get it done today.

And while that will feel like an achievement of sorts, then I have to embark on the process of working the surface embroidery of mostly bullion stitch. I feel like I have a looong way to go on this tablecloth yet!

Yesterday I also received a lovely message from Paula, a Brazilian teacher of embroidery, which she gave permission for me to share with you:

Now that I use the The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion I am also loved by the lefties even being a right handed teacher! To avoid problems I keep both books in the classroom – really great books!

The books that Paula is talking about are my left and right-handed stitch dictionaries, The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion, and The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion.

I wholeheartedly support the idea of teachers having a copy of each of these books in their classrooms when teaching. As a teacher myself, I find that they are invaluable for those moments when I can’t be everywhere at once (no, I still haven’t mastered that…!) as it means that students can get started or sort our their difficulties because the instructions are so clear. I often make my way round a classroom and find that I’m not really needed there, because students are so happily working from the instructions in my books!

Of course, I do understand that some need additional help, perhaps manipulating a needle or getting started, and some just need to be shown. And that’s why I teach classes – because sometimes a real in-the-flesh teacher is what people need.

But for those times when a real in-the-flesh teacher is not available (perhaps even during a class) then The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion, and The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion are great to have on hand. If you’re a teacher, just like Paula, your students will love you for it.

playing with stitches

yvette — Wed, 18 May 2011 20:42:16 +0000

When you try out a new stitch, what do you do? When I try out a new stitch, I try to play with it as much as possible. In my playing with unusual stitches class in Maitland last week, my aim for the students was to get them to try some new stitches, and then to play around with them to see the different effects they could get with them. And they did well!

When you try out a new stitch you can (not all of these will apply, depending on your stitch!):

change the spacing between stitches
change the width of stitches
change the length of stitches
change the angle of the stitches
work it from narrow to wide, and back again
change the type of thread you’re using, e.g. fluffy, smooth, highly twisted, loosely twisted
change the thickness of thread you’re using
work it in a circle or ring
if the stitch, such as buttonhole, has distinctly different sides, try alternating it, so that it swings from one side to another e.g. with buttonhole, if you do this, you’ll get feather stitch
work it in a zigzag
combine it with another stitch e.g. one chain stitch then one buttonhole

Grab yourself some fabric, and a variety of threads, a copy of either The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion or The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion and have a play. My guess is that you could happily spend a few hours being creative in this way, and you might even discover a new favourite stitch! If you want some suggestions of stitches to try, how about Palestrina stitch, cretan catch stitch or sorbello stitch?

For some inspiration, here’s an embroidery I did last year that’s all about playing with stitches.

Stitches in class sample

yvette — Mon, 09 May 2011 20:27:59 +0000

Well, you’re not a very adventurous group, are you? I only had one response to asking if anyone could guess the five stitches in my Playing with Unusual Stitches class that I’ll be teaching tonight!

Rachel suggested “Spiral Trellis and Palestrina stitch, maybe Herringbone? And Braid stitch”. Not bad, Rachel.

The five stitches are:

Cable plait stitch (also known as Braid Stitch)
Spiral Trellis
Cretan catch stitch (a cross between herringbone and cretan stitch)
Sorbello stitch (a variation of Palestrina stitch)
Raised chain band

How did you go with identifying them?

Step-by-step instructions for all of these stitches can be found in The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion and The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion. Why not audition a new stitch and see if it will work in your latest project?