Happy Friday! Most people call it the weekend – I’m calling it the workend. Lots to do this weekend with needle and thread (and scissors and glue and pins and batting and…), because I’m finishing up some ornaments. Yay!
Over the past week, I’ve built up a dandy little list of online bits related to needlework. There’s a little bit of instruction, a little bit of inspirations, some news – a whole conglomeration of things that popped up in front of me off and on all week and I thought worth sharing with you.
They’re in absolutely no particular order.
So grab a cuppa and let’s go for a meander, shall we?
Thread Sale!
Let’s start with a thread sale, because we all love thread.
Color Complements is clearing stock with an autumn thread sale. I’m always excited when Lorraine has a sale and clears out stock, because that means new stock and new colors are coming soon!
(A little inside scoop: I hear she’s dyeing some gorgeous floche! Yay!)
You can check out the sale items at Colour Complements here. Some fantastic autumn colors (among others)!
Linen Video
Here’s a nice little video on linen and how it is made.
It’s always good to know how the goods we use come about!
Needle Reference Chart
The folks at John James have put out a new needle reference chart – types, sizes, what they’re used for. It’s a fabulous graphic in PDF format to download to your computer for reference, or to print to have on hand when you’re searching for specific types of needles for specific jobs.
The nice thing is, all the needles are shown at actual size. How this works out on your printer might be another question, but I was able to print “actual size” and get a good size guide. Look for “actual size” in your printer dialogue box.
You’ll find it here: John James Needle Guide
A Different Wreath
If you have a lover of sewing, needlework, and the like in your family or among your close friends – or hey! maybe it’s you! – you might enjoy making this new take on a decorative wreath, as a gift or for your own home (or shop? or studio?) decor.
Adorned with sewing notions and various bits and bobs, it’s really cute! I could see turning the concept into a holiday wreath, too, if you have a walk in shop or studio where people come to learn over the holidays. It would be fun to add greenery and a touch of Christmas (lights, maybe?) to a wreath adorned as this one.
The instructions for the Sewing Notions Wreath is available here at A Making Life. There’s a link in that little blurb to the PDF that you can save to your computer and print.
It would make a fabulous gift!
Remember those Crazy Quilt Templates?
Remember those Crazy Quilt templates I wrote about here? From Kathy Shaw’s book that I reviewed here?
Well, those sold out pretty quickly. But there’s a new set available now at Creative Impressions, for those looking for them. The Creative Impressions website isn’t the easiest to navigate – your best bet is to go to “Shop” then “All Products” and then use the search bar and search “Templates.” Both sets will come up – the new set is called “Embroidery Shapes Templates.”
Plymouth Tapestry Experience
Have you heard of the Plymouth Tapestry that’s being stitched as we speak? It hasn’t had a lot of press, but it’s going into full(er) swing now, as far as getting the word out about it and getting together participants to stitch on it.
They have a growing Facebook page here, if you want to take a look and follow along.
And they’ve put together a Plymouth Tapestry Experience that you can sign up for, to become one of the stitchers on the tapestry. There are only three sessions available in 2020, with 6 stitchers per session, so if you want to leave your mark on the tapestry, register quickly! You can read all about it here.
Passementerie Inspiration
If you, like me, like passementerie (that rhymes incredibly well), then you may very well enjoy this article about the most beautiful tassels in the world.
They’re French, of course.
Online Book with Designs
And, speaking of French, I recently came across a book on Internet Archive that you might like – it’s called L’Art dans la lingerie: dessins de broderie, and it has some beautiful monogram designs in it, among other things. You can download the PDF or read it online!
Go Stuff an Acorn
Have you ever wanted to make little stuffed wool acorns, with real caps on them? Of course you have! You can find a fun tutorial for simply wooly acorns here on Count it All Joy.
They would make really cute little pincushions or needle minders of a sort!
Snowflakes Galore!
If you want to see all my snowflakes that have been developing into a regular blizzard here in my studio, I’ve been posting photos on Instagram lately, because I can’t really bog you down every day with yet another version of yet another snowflake.
If you’re on Instagram and you want to keep up with my flakiness, you’ll find me here.
For my patrons on Patreon, I added another snowflake design for you (in three variations) on my Patreon page this past week, to say Thanks!. Don’t forget to pick it up!
A Stitcher’s Christmas – Coming Up!
Each year in the time leading up to Christmas, I run a series on Needle ‘n Thread called A Stitcher’s Christmas. It’s a series of give-aways from small needlework businesses around the globe.
This year, I’ll be running the series between Thanksgiving (November 28) and Christmas. There are some fantastic prizes for the give-aways, and there’s nothing complicated about signing up for them! Keep in eye out for more information and an exciting line-up starting at the end of this month!
If you have not signed up for my email newsletter yet, it’s a great way to stay abreast of what’s going on, especially when it comes to these give-aways. You’ll find the sign up information for my newsletter (which comes out three times a week) here.
Enjoy Your Weekend!
Hope you have a grand weekend! You’ll find me in my studio this weekend if you needle me….
