Since it’s still early in January, and since we’re heading into the weekend when you can take some time to do some browsing, today strikes me as an Excellent Day to introduce you to a very special set of needlework businesses.
Truly, taken as a whole, this group of embroidery-related businesses can supply your every needlework need, wish, want, desire!
Each business listed here offers something unique to the embroidery and needlework enthusiast. If you visit Needle ‘n Thread regularly, you’re bound to see their ads. These are my advertisers and they are, in a sense, hand selected. I only advertise for needlework businesses that are a good fit for Needle ‘n Thread, and whose goods and services I have experienced myself.
I know that they are quality businesses, and I hope that you will get to know them and find them as wonderful as I do!
So, without further ado, here’s my line-up of needlework advertisers on Needle ‘n Thread for 2014!
Nordic Needle
First up – new this year – is Nordic Needle. Located in Fargo, North Dakota, Nordic Needle has been around for a Long Time. It is the go-to resource in the United States (and even for customers world-wide) for Hardanger needlework supplies, books, patterns, and kits – but they carry oh-so-much-more!
I visited Nordic Needle once, and you know, I could have moved in. A cot in the corner, and I’d have been happy for years!
The shop has so much to offer for needlework enthusiasts – from fabric and threads, to books, DVDs, kits, tools, accessories…
For us out in cyberland, two things: 1. Sign up for their email newsletters! They come out once a week or so, and they’re always of interest. They either share stitching stories, or they look closely at specific needlework techniques, tools, and the like, and they keep you abreast of the latest sales and specials.
2. Sign up to receive their print catalog! It comes out this time of year, so it will be hitting mailboxes soon. There are very few needlework shops that still send out thorough print catalogs. Nordic Needle is one of them, and their catalog is nice to have on hand. It’s also great for stitching friends who are not internet inclined. I love browsing their catalog and circling items. There’s just something about circling items in catalogs…
Something of interest, if you’re thinking of learning new techniques this year – you might check out Nordic Needle’s stitching clubs.
Above is a needlepoint panel by Laura Perin that’s a Stitching Club feature this year. It’s called the Nordic Panel stitching club. Love the design! Love the colors! Over the course of the year, you complete the panel using the instructions that come each month. By the end of the year, you’ve covered all the stitches and you have a beautiful, colorful panel at the end.
They also have a club devoted to Huck Embroidery, for those who want to get into Swedish Weaving. Fun!
Australian Needle Arts
Australian Needle Arts, located in Australia, is the shop run by the folks behind Koala Conventions, grand needlework workshops (more like extended parties or vacations!) that take place in Australia and New Zealand every year. (Their Brisbane event takes place in at the end of June this year.)
Australian Needle Arts carries a huge variety of embroidery kits from Australian and world-wide designers, many of whom participate in their workshops.
If you’re looking for specific kits designed by Australian needle artists (like “Going to Seed” above, designed by Catherine Howell), you’ll find them here.
You’ll find kits in all kinds of needlework categories. If you’ve ever browsed the Koala Conventions classes and wished you could go, but couldn’t, you’ll even find kits from previous classes available here.
They also carry kits from world-wide designers. You’ll find Trish Burr and Hazel Blomkamp kits available here, too, for example.
In addition to kits, Australian Needle Arts carries quality tools and accessories. If you’re looking for sit-on embroidery stands for hoops, for example, they carry them, and right now, they’re on sale!
The French Needle
The French Needle, located in the US, is the embroidery shop for the Francophile!
The French Needle specializes in a variety of embroidery and cross stitch books, kits, and materials imported from Europe. The photo above illustrates a whole collection of surface embroidery kits from Canevas Folies, one of which I’m working on right now, and I’ll be showing you up close next week.
If you’re keen to work some reproduction panels from the Bayeux Tapestry, The French Needle is the only shop in the US that carries these approved reproduction kits.
If you’re an avid scissor collector, you’ll find an incredible collection of hand-crafted French scissors here, too. They’re for the true collector – and they are gorgeous!
Thistle Threads
Thistle Threads, located in Massachusetts, is a new advertiser on Needle ‘n Thread this year.
Thistle Threads is the online home of Tricia Nguyen and her Cabinet of Curiosities online class, which is open for registration right now, for the class beginning this spring.
The Cabinet of Curiosities class is for serious needleworkers who dream of creating their own personal version of the 17th century embroidered casket.
Exploring the history of embroidered caskets, and using the best materials on the market – many of which are authentic re-creations of 17th century materials – the students create a unique, personal, contemporary version of these delightful cabinets that have captured the imagination of embroiderers for centuries.
In addition to the Cabinet class, Tricia offers a variety of other online courses as well. Her Tudor Rose class, which has a few spaces left, concentrates on 17th century goldwork stitches that pass through fabric. The metal threads are further embellished with silk. The class includes a CD of animated stitch instructions, too – perfect for learning those complex stitches!
In addition to offering classes, Thistle Threads has a shop that carries unique and various embroidery sundries! Here, you’ll find hard-to-find needlework items, like fruit forms for stumpwork.
You’ll also find the silk gimp! Remember the green family of silk gimp I reviewed a while back? You’ll find the whole green collection on sale at Thistle Threads right now!
The Crewel Work Company
The Crewel Work Company, located in the UK, is the home of needlework designer and historian, Phillipa Turnbull.
Known in particular for crewel work, The Crewel Work company offers a wide variety of crewel embroidery kits.
Phillipa’s crewel kits come complete with linen twill, wool threads, and thorough instructions – for the beginner through the advanced embroiderer.
In addition to crewel embroidery, Phillipa also offers historically accurate needlepoint kits that are authentic reproductions of tapestry slips found in historical homes in Britain.
The Crewel Work Company also hosts Lady Anne’s Needlework Retreat, which explores different types of needlework while visiting castles and great homes in the UK. There are only a couple spaces left for this year’s needlework retreat, so if you’re seeking that once-in-a-lifetime needlework experience, check it out before all the spots are gone! You can read a little more about Lady Anne’s Needlework Retreat in my write-up on the retreat from a couple months ago.
Country Bumpkin
Country Bumpkin, located in Australia, is a needlework shop, a needlework publisher, and a coordinator of needlework workshops.
Country Bumpkin is probably best known as the publisher of Inspirations, which is truly the world’s most beautiful needlework magazine.
The magazine has been going strong for 20 years now. Each issue of Inspirations is more like a needlework project book than a magazine, because easy issue is comprised of a collection of embroidery and needlework projects with full patterns, instructions, and materials lists. Additionally, the magazine sports human interest articles focusing on needlework, and reviews of products and so forth. If you only subscribe to one needlework magazine, let this be it! Every issue is a delight!
If you prefer digital to print, you can subscribe to the digital version of Inspirations. It’s significantly less expensive than the print version, the content is the same, and the pattern pages download from the digital version as printable PDFs. You can read my review of the digital version of Inspirations here.
In addition to the magazine, Country Bumpkin also offers a wide selection of embroidery kits for sale, including kits for the various projects featured in Inspirations.
Finally, Country Bumpkin publishes an amazing array of some of the best instructional embroidery books and project books on the market. Their A-Z series of books is not to be missed, if you’re looking for needlework instruction!
Hedgehog Handworks
Last, but in no way least, is Hedgehog Handworks, located in Southern California.
What can I say about Hedgehog Handworks – which I affectionately refer to as the ‘hog?
For pretty much everything that I do with embroidery, I can find what I need to do it at Hedgehog Handworks.
From fine linens for surface embroidery, to the best threads of all sorts (silk, goldwork, wool, cotton, linen), to tools like good wooden hoops, scissors, tambour needles – Hedgehog is a comprehensive shop for the embroidery enthusiast.
This coming year, I’ll be working a project on Needle ‘n Thread that will make use of coton a broder #25 and floche, both of which are available at Hedgehog Handworks.
I’ll also be doing some whitework embroidery. Where will I get the whitework threads? At Hedgehog!
Hedgehog carries the linen ground fabrics I use for most of my projects.
Hedgehog carries all the silk embroidery threads and goldwork threads I’m using on the Mission Rose project, and that I use repeatedly on silk and goldwork projects in general.
Hedgehog also carries the tambour hook and needles that I’ll be using this year off and on, when we explore more tambour work.
And they carry the range of available Fine d’Aubusson wool that I’m using on a current wool embroidery project. (Rumor has it there are some new colors of Fine d’Aubusson to be released early this year, too! I’m excited about that!)
In general, Hedgehog Handworks is a great go-to resource for fine hand embroidery supplies in the US.
Thank You!
I know it’s a long list, but I hope it provides you with some good browsing this weekend!
People often ask me how they can “contribute” to Needle ‘n Thread, since so much embroidery information is given away here for free. Pretty much, this is my response:
There are two ways to support my work on Needle ‘n Thread: 1. if they interest you, you’re most welcome to buy my e-books; 2. but above that, please, please support my advertisers! They are quality needlework businesses that offer quality products through reliable good service.
Thanks so much for supporting my advertisers!
