How To Embroider

2007-11-13T22:49:00.001+09:00

Hi, I'm back again.

I have not left the planet.

I am quite definitely still here.

I have been somewhat busy though. So much seems to crowd into my life to take my attention away from the things I would rather be doing. Never mind, "C'est la Vie", as they say.

The last stitch that I used in my picture is the simplest of them all. It is called Straight Stitch; and is just what that - a straight stitch. Just start at one point and move to another to make a straight line. These stitches can be arranged any way you like.

They are a good way to make a simple flower if arranged in a circle; one that looks like a simple representation of a flower such as a Shasta Daisy.

I placed one such flower between my two other larger flowers, and used a Colonial Knot in yellow to make the centre of the flower. I then used Straight Stitches to make simple leaves around the flower.

Leaves

2007-10-31T18:18:00.000+09:00

Hello again. Happy Halloween to all.

The next step in my flower arrangement was to add some leaves. I did this using Satin Stitch. Firstly, I drew some leaves in various places to add balance to the composition. Unfortunately the pencil marks are so faint that you can't really see them. Then I chose a dark green thread and worked the leaves using Satin Stitch, angling the needle to work around the curve of the leaf. On one leaf it was necessary to change direction altogether to work a turn in the leaf.

Once the leaves were completed I finished off the composition with a scattering of lazy daisy flowers and knots. More on that later.

Stems and Flowers

2007-10-08T11:03:00.000+08:00

Welcome to a brand new week. Today I continue the story of how to embroider my flower picture. Once I had finished the lily with its long and short stitch and bullion anthers, a picture was beginning to develop. So I decided to continue by adding some stems (using stem stitch) above the two flowers already completed.

What I did next demonstrates another use of Lazy Daisy stitch. I worked lazy daisy stitches alternating from side to side along the stems, rather than working in the normal circle. However, you could just as easily go up one side of the stem and down the other if you prefer. In this way I made leaves and flowers along the stems.

It is only the colours that I chose that determine whether what you see are flowers or leaves. Are the pale blue-grey stitches leaves or flowers? I had originally intended that they should be blue salvia, but I did not have the right shade of blue, so now they look more the the grey-green leaves that we see on some gum trees in Australia. I made the centre stem a sage green colour and added mauve flowers angling the lazy daisy stitches downwards to suggest heather.

Other flowers that could be suggested by the use of these stitches are bluebells, red salvia, or even snowdrops. I am sure you can think of many more. It all depends on what colour thread you choose to use.

Bullion Anthers

2007-10-04T14:49:00.000+08:00

Hello again. Just where does the time go? I have been away for a few days, so that does not help.

The next step in the growth of my design was to add some stamens and anthers to my lily. To make the stamens, I just stitched three lines of stem stitch, using yellow thread, straight across the back petal of the flower, extending beyond it by a few millimetres. Then with a tan brown thread I made bullion stitches to form the pollen bearing anthers of the flower.

The instructions on how to embroider the bullions are shown in pictorial form above. I have included instructions for both the right and left hands.

I am not on friendly terms with the pollen bearing anthers on lilies. Not only does the pollen stain anything it touches, but it makes me sneeze. So, they represent guaranteed hayfever to me. However, the cloth variety are quite safe and add a nice finish to the flower.

Long and Short Stitch

2007-09-26T16:22:00.000+08:00

Today I will show you the second step I took in my floral picture. I wanted to demonstrate the use of long and short stitches. These stitches are a variation of Satin Stitch and are used to good effect in creating shades of colour to give depth and volume to flowers. So I drew a lilly next to my generic apricot coloured flower and began to fill it in with long and short stitches, in several different colours.

Both Satin Stitch and Long and Short Stitches can be wasteful of thread as you pass the needle all the way under the area being filled to come up on the far side. There is another way that does not use as much thread; that is to bring the needle up again as close to where you have taken the needle down without going back through the same hole, take it back over and across the area to be filled and repeat the procedure on the far side.

That is how I filled in the back petal of the lilly. I have shown you the wrong side of the work in the centre picture on the bottom row, so that you can see the difference. On the right side it just looks the same as the other petals, as you can see in the final picture.

2007-09-24T15:35:00.000+08:00

Hi again. Did you try to do the pattern using only Colonial Knots? It is quite a pretty pattern and with the right choice of colours looks quite effective. Even working with self coloured thread as they do in Candlewicking is very nice to look at. How about doing white knots on a blue background? Or white on pink or red, or whatever colour takes your fancy. Combine pastel colours and see what effects you can create with those. The possibilities are endless.

Anyway, today, I am going to begin to take you through the process that I went through in making that completed work of mine. When I began it, I simply drew a flower shape using a fine pencil (actually a Pacer propelling pencil) directly unto the fabric. That is one way to create a pattern or design on fabric.

Another way to transfer a pattern or design unto fabric is to trace it onto paper, go over the lines with a felt tip pen, place the fabric over it and trace it onto the fabric with a pencil. You may need a lightbox for that; or do what I sometimes do and hold it against a window so that the light shines through. Your arms get a bit tired doing that. You could hold it in place with masking tape while you draw it.

In creating that design, I did not even think about the placement of the first flower. All I wanted to do was demonstrate how to do Satin Stitch. Once I had done that I then decided to add another flower next to it to demonstrate Long and Short Stitch. That is the stitch I will show you next.

So you already have the beginning of the process in my lesson on how to embroider Satin Stitch; and today I am giving you the rest of the pattern to follow along. So, Step 1 is to go back to the lesson on Satin Stitch and start with the large flower on the right hand side as I have demonstrated in that lesson.

Candlewick Pattern

2007-09-18T14:00:00.000+08:00

The last time we spoke I showed you how to make Colonial Knots. I also mentioned that Colonial Knots are used extensively in Candlewicking. So today I have a pattern for you that uses only Colonial Knots. So you can see how beautiful even simple knots can be.

Colonial Knots for both Left and Right Hands

2007-09-14T14:23:00.000+08:00

Today's lesson in How to Embroider is Colonial Knots. I have included images that illustrate how to make these tricky knots with both the right and left hands. Although I had evey intention of illustrating how to make Colonial Knots left-handed, it turned out to my benefit too. My right hand was in pain for a few days, so I used my left hand to finish off my project. It is quite useful being ambidextrous.

I think the illustrations speak for themselves. I hope you can see the second picture for the left hand all right. It is tricky trying to hold the needle with one hand and the camera with the other. Fortunately, it is a nice small camera. The following are step by step instructions in words.

The needle is looped under the thread from left to right for the right hand; and from right to left for the left hand. The thread is then brought up over and across the needle, then down and under the needle again to form almost a complete figure of eight. At this point the thread should be curving out under the needle to the left for right handed people and curving under the needle to the right for left handed people.

Taking the loose end of the thread draw the thread close around the needle to form the knot, but do not hold on too tightly. It will be harder to pass the eye of the needle through the loops if you hold on too tightly. Then pass the needle back down through the fabric using the same hole to complete the knot.

If that is the only knot you will be making, then fasten off the thread on the wrong side. However, Colonial Knots are frequently used in a series along a line - especially when doing Candlewicking, simply bring the needle up where the next knot is to be situated and repeat the process until you have completed all the knots you wish to make.

Candlewicking is a different form of embroidery that originated from pioneer women making use of what materials they had to hand. Therefore it is usually done on unbleached cotton calico (once old flour sacks) with unbleached cotton thread (or candle wicks). The creamy colour of both the thread and fabric together is quite attractive; and is somewhat similar to White Work in that respect.

A Finished Item

2007-09-12T10:29:00.000+08:00

Welcome back. Well, here it is. When I drew the outline for the apricot coloured flower on the right, I was simply drawing an outline on a spare scrap of fabric in order to illustrate how to do Satin Stitch. I gave no thought to where I placed the flower because I had no intention of creating a finished piece; but here it is. This is what that apricot coloured flower grew into. It just shows that you do not need to start out with a predetermined pattern or design. A little imagination is all that is needed.

During the course of the next few posts, I will take you step by step through the processes to illustrate how that happened.

Coming soon

2007-09-10T17:44:00.000+08:00

Greetings. That little satin stitch flower has led on to bigger and better things. Come back tomorrow and see what it grew into.

Welcome

2007-09-04T12:57:00.000+08:00

Welcome to all of you who visit my site; and especially those of you who have come back again. Today I have 3 new posts for you; and here is my flower, finished.

Are any of you left handed? Do you find it difficult to find instructions on how to embroider that you can understand?

Many years ago at a camp we were learning how to candlewick. A friend of mine could not understand the instructions showing her how to make a colonial knot. She was left handed. I said "Oh, here. This is how you do it," and simply changed hands and did it left handed for her. I am somewhat ambidextrous and had no trouble reversing the instructions, but she was very left handed and could not do the same thing.

If that is your problem, please leave a comment below this and let me know. I am going to try to reverse all my instructions so that left-handed people will be able to learn how to embroider too.

And, "Please", keep coming back to visit me. I have a lot more for you. In time I will have a better website and will develop a range of kits for your instruction and enjoyment, and an e-book of instructions too for both righties and lefties. So if you are enthusiastic about learning how to embroider, this is the place to come.

Satin Stitch

2007-09-04T11:28:00.000+08:00

Satin stitch is the stitch most often used to fill in outlines. It forms a lovely satiny cover over an area and is good for leaves, petals or any other open area that needs to be filled in. It has its limitations though. It is best suited for smaller areas. When an area to be filled becomes too large it is harder to keep the stitches evenly parallel to each other and gaps begin to appear, or as the fabric bends gaps will appear. If you look closely at the centre picture bottom row, you may be able to see what I mean, and that happened in a small area. Other stitches, such as chain stitch are better for filling in larger areas.

Satin Stitch is formed by placing the needle through the fabric on the edge of an outline. Then bring it up again on the other side of the outline right next to where the thread come up. Repeat this again and again until the whole outline is filled being careful to keep the stitches as even and parallel as possible.

The orientation of satin stitches varies according to what you are embroidering. In my flower I have chosen to change the direction of the stitches slightly for each petal to create contrast and increase the interest of the flower. Continue working in that manner until the flower is complete.

Back Stitch

2007-09-04T11:14:00.000+08:00

Back Stitch.

Back stitch is a hand sewing stitch most usually used to sew the seams of garments together, but can be used to good effect in embroidery.

Back Stitch is also very good for creating outlines.

It is formed by bringing the needle up through the fabric and down again a millimetre or two back from the thread along the line you wish to follow
bring it up again through the fabric a millimetre or two in front of the thread
draw the thread through to form a stitch
then bring the needle down through the same hole as the end of the previous stitch.
Once that is done bring the needle up a millimetre or two in front of the thread and bring the needle back and down through the same hole as the end of the previous stitch.
Continue is that manner until you have completed the line.

Stem Stitch

2007-09-04T11:05:00.001+08:00

Stem Stitch.

This stitch is used, as the name implies, for stems; and also for anywhere else that requires an outline. It forms a smooth straight, or gracefully curving line. It becomes difficult if you try to use it in too tight a curve. That is, it is not very good for small circles. I find Back Stitch better for tight curves.

Stem stitch is created by bringing the threaded needle up through the fabric, then down again a couple of millimetres further along the line what you wish to follow. The needle is then brought up through the fabric again back a little from the point where it went down and close beside the line just formed. The needle is again pushed down through the fabric a couple of millimetres further along the line bringing it back up again close to the line and back a bit from the point where the needle went down again. Continue in this manner until the line is completed. Return the needle to the wrong side of the fabric and fasten if off neatly with a small knot.

Lazy Daisy Stitch

2007-08-29T13:48:00.001+08:00

Lazy Daisy stitch is simply chain stitch worked around in a circle from a central pivot spot to make a flower. Each petal is secured with a small stitch at its outer edge. This is the easiest and simplest way to embroider a flower, however, in the right place it can look very effective.

2007-08-27T22:08:00.001+08:00

Chain Stitch

One of the most versatile stitches you can use is Chain Stitch. It can be used to trace the outline of a pattern, or anywhere that a line is needed; or it can be worked around and around in a circular or oval coil to fill in a shape.

I have seen whole scenes embroidered of men and horses and other animals in a forest where the bodies of the men and animals have been worked in tightly spaced chain stitch. It gives the bodies solidity.

Here are a series of pictures illustrating how to make chain stitches.
Firstly, the thread is drawn up through the fabric and then reinserted into the same hole to make a loop.

The needle is then brought up a mm or so further on inside the loop to catch it, as in picture No. 3.
In pictures 4 and 5 I have given you a choice. Some people work the chains by placing the needle outside the loop, but I prefer to place it inside as in picture No. 5.
If you chose my preferred option, the needle is then reinserted into the same hole to make another loop.
Picture Nol 6 illustrates the thread being drawn up to catch that loop.
By continuing in this manner you will soon have a chain of loops.
Finally the last loop is secured with a small stitch, as in the last picture. If you do not do this then the whole chain could be easily unravelled by pulling on the thread.

That is the only downside of chain stitch. When it wears as the garment or article gets older, the thread can sometimes break in the middle and from that point on a whole line of stitches can be unravelled easily.

How to Embroider

2007-08-26T19:58:00.000+08:00

Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric with designs using strands of variously coloured threads or yarn using a needle and a variety of different stitches. Did you know that there are over 400 different embroidery stitches? However, beautiful results can be achieved by using only one or two different stitches.

For centuries embroidery has been undertaken by hand; however, nowadays professional machine embroidery is big business in itself. It is the hand-craft that I will be discussing here. Here you see me wearing a hand embroidered traditional Breton costume.

Like every craft, there are some tools of the trade.

What you will need.

Embroidery is an inexpensive craft to learn.. The only things you need are material to stitch, a hoop, a needle, a pair of scissors, and embroidery thread (also called embroidery silk, or floss).

Needle: Embroidery needles are often called “Crewel” needles. Crewel needles have an elongated hole (or eye) through which to pass the thread. This kind of needle is easier to “thread” than ones that have a small round eye.

Hoop: This can be a cheap wooden hoop, or a heavier plastic. It is actually two hoops: the outer one is adjustable, the inner one is not. Loosen the outer adjustable hoop and separate the hoops. Place your fabric across the smaller inner hoop and push the outer adjustable hoop over it. Then tighten the outer hoop and gently pull the fabric around the edges much like the head of a drum. Continue around the edge pulling the fabric taut so it creates a smooth, even work space.

NB: You don’t have to use a hoop, but it will keep your work from puckering up.

Scissors: Any scissors that you already have should be fine. However having a small pair of scissors with a fine point will be of more use than a large pair with a blunt end.

Embroidery Thread: The thread used for embroidery is may also be called embroidery silk or embroidery floss. There are several different kinds of embroidery threads. Perhaps the easiest to start with are the unstranded twisted cotton threads. Most other embroidery threads are composed of six strands. It is rare that you would use all six together. What is usual is that only two strands are used at any one time. That means you have to split the six strands into three. The unstranded thread does not need to be split, and that is why I recommend it for beginners. It is just that much easier and less likely to tangle. You can buy this at any craft store. You can also find it in almost any color, giving you another reason to love embroidering.

Material: Fabrics made of natural fibres, such as 100% cotton, that does not have a tight weave, are definitely the easiest to work on (i.e. linen, calico, tea towels, pique, and muslin). However, you can embroider on just about any kind of fabric.

Pattern or Design: It is best to learn how to make all the stitches first before you embark on any set design. However, I am sure that you are also anxious to get started on a project. Some craft stores may have iron-on transfer embroidery patterns and designs. However, if you cannot find any of those, you copy designs from books or online with the use of Water-soluble or vanishing ink pens: You’ll find these in the quilting department of any craft store. They can be your best friend when you can’t find a pattern you like. You can draw on the fabric and depending on which you get, you just remove the ink with a wet washcloth, or wait 24-36 hours for the ink to disappear. These pens are not expensive and are a great idea if you have some designs of your own in mind.

Optional Items:

Thimble: These things drive me bananas, so you will not see me using one. However some people insist on them, so I’m just putting this out there that you might want to try using one. If your finger does get sore from pushing and pulling the needle and a metal or porcelain thimble doesn’t work for you, you can always try a rubber one, which feels a little more natural and comfortable to use.

Needle threader: These are great if you have any trouble threading needles, particularly as when using embroidery threads you will usually be using more than one strand at a time through the eye of the needle. They are not very robust, so be kind to them. I usually manage to break them after a while. They consist of a piece of wire attached to a small round thin metal handle. The wire is inserted into the eye of the needle, this leaves a nice large opening the other side of the needle through which to place the thread. Then gently – I repeat – gently pull the thread through the eye of the needle by pulling the wire back through the eye of the needle.

Now to Begin:-

The first thing that you need to do is learn some basic stitches. Practice these on any old piece of cloth until you feel confident with them, then you can use them on whatever design you choose. We will discuss designs later, once you have mastered enough stitches for the purpose.

Stem Stitch.

Back Stitch.

Back stitch is a hand sewing stitch most usually used to sew the seams of garments together, but can be used to good effect in embroidery. If you look at the back of the fabric upon which you have just done some stem stitching, that is what back stitch will look like. So, in effect, Stem Stitch and Back Stitch are the reverse of each other.

Back Stitch is also very good for creating outlines. It is formed by bringing the needle up through the fabric and down through it again a millimetre or two back along the line you wish to follow, then bringing it up again through the fabric a millimetre or two further along your line. Then bring the needle down through the same hole as the end of the previous stitch. Once that is done bring the needle up a millimetre or two past the end of the stitch just formed along you line, and bring the needle back and down through the same hole as the end of the previous stitch. Continue is that manner until you have completed the line.

Blackwork.

Just to whet your appetite – here is a cool e-book that I found giving you everything you need to know on how to embroider blackwork. What is blackwork? Blackwork is a form of embroidery using only black thread on a usually white background. However, you could do it on whatever coloured background that you like. I was quite impressed with some of the designs displayed on the website; and I think that it would be a fun thing to do.