Ok, having some confusion here… Can anyone tell me the difference between ceylon stitch and ladder stitch? I’ve been doing both and the ONLY difference I can see is the beginning – the set up.
IS there any other difference that I have been missing?
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One of the reasons I love teaching Mountmellick embroidery is because it is so much fun showing students how they can play with stitches. Often we learn the basic stitches but don’t learn variations. Its the variations that I find so much fun. When we go through feather stitch in my classes, it gets rather amusing when I have to keep saying “but there’s another variation also…” Sort of like those dreadful TV ads where they say “But wait, there’s more!” So I am loving the suggestions that people are giving me for my left handed stitch dictionary. Its forcing me to try some of the much lesser known stitches, and learn new ones. BUT there’s a problem with all this… Where am I going to use them?! If you want to give yourself a challenge, find an embroidery stitch that you’ve never tried before and give it a go. And then see what you can do with it. It can be so much fun! Oh, and everyone else has probably commented on this well before me, but if you haven’t been over to The Embroiderer’s Story to see the jacket that they are recreating at Plimoth Plantation, make sure you do! Its a fascinating read, and they’re using some really interesting stitches. If you need some inspiration for new stitches to try, you’ll certainly find it there. 🙂 Over the past few days, in response to a personal challenge from Mary Corbet of Needle’nThread.com I have been trying out plaited braid stitch. It is notorious for being a Very Difficult Stitch. I’m wondering why… I didn’t find it all that hard. I had some basic instructions in Mary Thomas’s Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches. They’re not great instructions, and looking at antique examples, I also suspect they are not quite right. So I adapted them, following others’ advice, and got a very pleasing result. Then I found that I have a copy of Leon Conrad’s specially devised way of working Plaited Braid Stitch in an old edition of FineLines Magazine, so I got to work using them also. It is extremely interesting to note that while Leon’s instructions produce the same result, they are worked from the other end of the stitching. ie what Mary Thomas would consider to be the end, Leon makes his beginning. Really interesting! Leon must have spent a LOT of time studying historical examples in museums and playing with a needle and thread to devise his method. I am all in awe. I guess this is akin to what I did when I was at the Ukrainian Museum in New York, trying to work out how the merezhka I was looking at had been done. I understand the amount of work that goes into this sort of sleuthing! However, I feel that some of the photography in Leon’s instructions could have been a little better. Sometimes I’m not quite clear on what I am looking at. Never mind – I worked it out! I found Leon’s instructions easier to learn from and that they gave a better result.
I will be including left-handed instructions for plaited braid stitch for my left-handed stitch dictionary. I’m currently working on a left-handed stitch dictionary. I’d like to make it as useful as possible for as many people as possible. I’m therefore asking for requests – what stitches do you as a left-hander, particularly want instructions for? If you are a needlework teacher, what stitches would you really like left-handed instructions for for your left-handed students? So far I’ve had requests for the following embroidery stitches: french knots, colonial knots, ladder stitch and plaited braid stitch. I’d love to add your request to my list! The dictionary will have simple stitches, right through to much more difficult stitches, all diagrammed step-by-step, with accompanying written instructions and photographs. Just leave a comment for me with your stitch request. I’m perhaps a little behind the eight ball, but I just found out that Sharon B has moved again! Her new blog, to replace her hoary old chestnut “In a Minute Ago” is named “Pintangle”. It can be found at www.pintangle.com. Because I wanted to know about the new name, I’m providing the link to the explanation of it. Many people find it difficult to produce evenly spaced, regular, feather stitch. I have had the privilege of teaching feather stitch to many people in my classes, and I always love it when they say, “I never could do this before. This is wonderful – now I can!” Last night I decided to try something new. In a book I had seen the idea of working feather stitch on a 45 degree angle. It seemed a little weird, but I decided to give it a go. I figured that it would add ease of inserting the needle, rather than having to stick it in in all sorts of weird angles as is often the case for feather stitch. Well, to say it went well would be an understatement. I think it may have just revolutionised how I will teach feather stitch in the future! When I turned the fabric 45 degrees and started to stitch, it materialised into a series of little stacked boxes, and all I needed to do was insert and bring out my needle in the corner of those imaginary boxes. I guess its like a tower of kids’ building blocks, defying gravity! Because I was so pleased and excited, I decided to write it up as a tutorial for you all. I found that this method was a wonderfully easy way of obtaining beautifully shaped, regular feather stitches. I’d love to hear your feedback. BUT, first I want you to try it with a needle and thread! Feather Stitch Tutorial
The other day I received a copy of a book review of “Mountmellick Embroidery: Inspired by Nature” that was recently featured in Maggie Grey’s Workshop on the Web. It was a very complimentary review, written by Samantha Packer. I cannot reproduce the whole thing here, due to copyright, but have included a small extract:
Thanks Samantha! Because people do find our stitch instructions so clear (a respected embroidery teacher once said to me that ours was the best embroidery book she had ever seen) I have wondered many times over the years whether I should compile a stitch dictionary one day. Being left handed, I would want to include good instructions for left handers also. But maybe that’s another book? What do you think? Why bother braving the malls and shopping centers, searching for that perfect needlework gift, when you can find it all at Vetty Creations, shopping in the comfort of your own home?! We have embroidery gift ideas for all budgets. Top 5 gift ideas under $50:
Top 5 gift ideas under $30:
Top 5 gift ideas under $10 (stocking filler ideas):
The best Christmas gift is free! God loved the world so much that he sent his only Son. Whoever believes in him shall not die, but will have eternal life. And I think that’s the best gift of all. I have just uploaded a new stockists list section to the needlework resource links page on the Vetty Creations website. If you are a shop that keeps Vetty Creations’ books in stock, and have added a link to the Vetty Creations site on your own webpage, we would love to add you to our stockists list. Please just email me, and I will add you to the list when I next do an upload.
The photos on the right shows the difference between types of globes. The top photo shows fabric and embroidery lit by a daylight globe, with its natural colouring. The bottom photo shows fabric and embroidery lit by a regular incandescent globe, with a yellow cast. Many people believe that you need a special lamp for this, but you don’t! All you need are daylight globes – and they can be put in your existing lamp. This morning I have added daylight globes to the Vetty Creations website. Because of the postage, it works out more economical to purchase two rather than one, so we have them available as single globes, or in a twin pack. Of course, they’ll be carefully packaged so that they don’t break on their way to you! Our daylight globes are compact fluorescents (CFLs) which means that not only will you be getting great lighting, but they are also much cheaper to run than incandescent bulbs. For more information and to purchase your very own daylight globes, go to the Vetty Creations online shop. |
White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations' quality needlework books and embroidery products.
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