Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2024 i Stitch

One thing I love about embroidery is the exquisite details that can be created, sometimes just with a single stitch! The use of particular stitches to give texture and detail to a piece is such a skill, and provides a richness that a painter or artist working in other mediums would not be able to create so easily. That’s why our cover project this time, Jenni Davis’ clothes line hoop on page 7, brings a bit of joy on so many levels. Not only is the finished piece packed with so many different textures and effects that you just want to reach out and touch it, but half the fun is to be had simply by stitching it! Effects that stitches such as Basket Weave, or Turkey Stitch, can achieve…

Nice to speak with you, Emily, all the way from Canada! How long have you been living there? It’s been about two and a half years now; we moved on August 21. My husband is Canadian. When my business first started taking off, I would say 80% of my sales and my followers were coming from North America, but yes, there’s a huge embroidery scene here. I think it’s just the sheer population size, and the fact that typically people don’t travel as much here, so their hobbies are more home-focused, or at least in my experience the people that I’ve been lucky to meet and be friends with on the internet are like that. I think things are so far away from each other here – it takes you…

How long has the group been running, and how many members are there? We grew out of an Embroiderers’ Guild and have only been running as AVS for two years. We have 30 regular Members and quite a large group of ‘Friends’ who pay per visit – about 20. Where do you meet, and how often? We meet once a month on the 3rd Saturday afternoon at Wendover Memorial Hall in Buckinghamshire, although January and February meetings are via Zoom as a number of our members prefer not to travel at that time of year. What sort of activities does the group get involved with? We have speakers for 10 meetings each year covering a wide range of topics plus two meetings, August and December, for Sit and Stitch, chat…

FIND THE TEMPLATES FOR THIS PROJECT ON PAGE 62 Punch Needle Embroidery is a quick and effective way of achieving a three-dimensional look to your embroidery. All you need is a punch needle embroidery pen, frame, fabric and embroidery threads. Once you have learned the basics, you will find it very addictive. YOU WILL NEED MATERIALS Fabric: - Woven fabric, at least 42 x 42cm, I have used a heavy-weight natural linen - Calico, 36 x 36cm Woven iron-on interfacing squares, x 3 Wash Away Avalon Bondaweb Threads: - DMC Perle No.5; 3348, 3345 and 3347 - DMC Stranded Cotton; 743, 742, 904, 500, 988, 3013, 209, 153, 32 - Hand sewing cotton to match fabric Woven iron-on cotton interfacing Dried out twig Felt, Mottled brown 4mm thick Plastic flexi…

TURN TO PAGE 35 FOR DEBBIE’S TROUT PROJECT! What did you enjoy about creating the trout cushion in this issue? Funnily enough, I loved the repetitive and ‘zen’ nature of applying the tiny beads and watching the fish grow under my hands. It was really satisfying and because the embroidery panel is surprisingly heavy under all of those glass beads, it sort of felt real. Like the weight and temperature of an actual fish. Strange how a particular project can get you like that! What do you love about beading in particular? The surprisingly realistic effects that can be achieved. Glass beads especially have a lustre, and if you choose the subject well, smooth skinned reptiles and fish, for example, you can end up with something that turns into a…

PAY AS YOU GO! As a reader you already know what you have in your hands is the very best embroidery magazine around. In response to your feedback, we’re rolling out our most budget-friendly subscription offer yet. ENHANCE YOUR SKILLS with original tutorials and expert demonstrations DISCOVER A WORLD OF INSPIRATION from upcoming and professional embroiderers STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE and keep up to date on the world of embroidery Your loyalty means the world to us and we’re thrilled to make Stitch more accessible to each and every one of you. Delight in the joy of embroidery with this pocket-friendly offer crafted with you in mind. bit.ly/STCHPAYGM FROM £4.99* INCLUDING DELIVERY T&Cs: Pay as you go (PAYG) subscription of £4.99 per issue, paying by Direct Debit or continuous card payment only…

HAND-STITCHED OASIS: EMBROIDER REALISTIC ELEMENTS; STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE WITH 35 TECHNIQUES By: Theresa M. Lawson Publisher: Stash Books ISBN: 978-1644034125 RRP: £16.99 If you are in search of a creative and enjoyable way to capture your favourite places, embroidered portraits of landscapes can be very rewarding. The comprehensive lessons in this book will equip you with the necessary skills to design a landscape from memory or a photograph and the stitch realistic details using only basic embroidery techniques. You can even personalise your composition further by stitching various textures to recreate elemets such as foliage, water, pavement, or upholstery. Plus, you will have the opportunity to create five starter projects and incorporate personalised outdoor details to reflect your favourite locations. With 35 techniques to master realistic details and step-by-step instructions for…

FIND THE TEMPLATES FOR THIS PROJECT ON PAGE 59 From the French meaning ‘on the ground’ a Parterre is a formal garden laid out on a level area and made up of enclosed flower beds, separated by box hedging. They were designed to be seen from above, from a window. The overall pattern of a Parterre is its most striking feature. YOU WILL NEED: THE NEEDLE BOOK MATERIALS Fabrics: - Linen twill or a closely woven linen fabric, Cream, 20 x 20cm - Contrasting fabrics for the back of the needlebook, and the interior. (25 x 14cm strips for interiors and 20 x 20cm for back and spine) Threads: - Polyester sewing thread for sewing together sections. - Appleton wools in these shades: - Rose pink: 752, 753, 754, 755…

FIND THE TEMPLATES FOR THIS PROJECT ON PAGE 61 Here, the humble trout looks stunning, thanks to beading to bring him to life! I’ve used a mix of beads to create this, and the results mean your cushion will look extra luxurious and reflect the light, adding some British country charm to your home. Depending on the brand, you may need slightly more or fewer beads than listed below. Mill Hill, for example, has small packets, and you need more than one of some colours. Sometimes, a bead vendor packs their own, or you can buy a bulk pack. These can be a bit more generous, and you only need one packet. Happy stitching! YOU WILL NEED MATERIALS Beads: - Glass, 2,2mm: - Garnet - Honey - Medium brown -…

SEE PAGE 63 FOR THE TEMPLATE FOR THIS PROJECT love to doodle and play with patterns. Increasingly I find myself ‘Zentangling’ with stitches I in mind – so different stitches are represented in my designs and the patterns I create. I also love symmetry and geometry and recently saw an old Spirograph in a charity shop window. This had me remembering all the great patterns I used to create as a child. Anything that can be done on paper, I want to see if it can also be done on fabric! My next set of patterns incorporated Spirograph type designs and led to this project, which features stitches you may have not tried before. All can be found in a quick online search and mostly are variations of stitches that…

FIND THE TEMPLATES FOR THIS PROJECT ON PAGE 60 There is something so satisfying about watching the clothes hanging from the washing line gently blowing in the breeze on a spring day. With a slight crispness still in the air, we aren’t all ready to pack away our cosy cardigans, but the warmer seasons are coming soon enough. YOU WILL NEED MATERIALS Fabric: - Kona cotton, fat quarter; Breeze, Jungle and Leprechaun DMC threads (one skein of each): - 605 – Light pink - 3688 – Pink - 3722 – Deep pink - 554 – Lilac - 552 – Purple - 712 – Cream - 3346 – Green - 310 – Black - 938 – Dark brown - 433 – Chocolate - 105 – Variegated brown - 436 – Light…

Create a fun and easy portrait piece of a loved-one using free-motion embroidery and appliqué! Follow the step-by-step guide to learn how to work from a photo to capture memorable moments in stitch, using colour and pattern to make your portrait pop! YOU WILL NEED MATERIALS Clear portrait photo of your choice Plain paper, A4 (21 x 29.7cm) Piece of cotton organdie larger than your drawing or other similar fabric (approx. 27 x 36cm) Tracing paper Double-sided fusible webbing such as Bondaweb to fit your appliqué pieces Pieces of light to medium-weight cotton in colour and pattern of your choice to fit each appliqué section Aurifil 40-50 weight cotton threads (or use a suitable machine thread by other brands), colours of your choice EQUIPMENT Fine drawing pen or drawing implement…

USE THESE TECHNIQUES FOR THE TROUT CUSHION ON PAGE 35! HOW OLD IS BEAD EMBROIDERY? Bead embroidery examples, dated to somewhere around 2500 BCE, were discovered in Ur tombs in Iraq. Lapis Lazuli beads were sewn to a base material in a way that links this older-than-often-thought embroidery form to something that we might stitch ourselves. More examples of either bead embroidery or the tools undoubtedly used for the job were found in Neolithic burial mounds and throughout the tombs of ancient Egypt. And one of the richest traditions has always existed amongst the Native Americans where seed beads were traded with the arriving Europeans – the bead embroidery done by the original people helped them to hold onto their identity and tell valuable stories in the difficult time that…

LEARN NEW SKILLS! STRAWBERRIES & CREAM Needlelace sewing set by Brenda Sortwell A BRIDE’S REFLECTION Make Claire Muirs’ free motion mirror for a wedding MAGICAL MERMAID Make waves in silk shading with Jessica Devin’s portrait LILY PAD LAYERS Use mixed media to create Nikki Parmenter’s fabulous frog PLUS! ✶ Bunny Beware: Cotton-tailed crewelwork scene by Ilke Cochrane ✶ Sheer Elegance: Create statement earrings with Loëtitia Gibier’s tutorial ✶ Hardanger Stitches: Yvette Stanton shares her secrets IN SHOPS THURSDAY 30 MAY 2024 DIGITAL & SUBSCRIPTION COPIES AVAILABLE THURSDAY 23 MAY 2024* FOR OFFERS VISIT WWW.STITCHMAG.CO.UK SIGN UP TO OUR EMAIL NEWSLETTER FOR MORE GREAT CONTENT! SEE PAGE 61 FOR HOW! Contents may be subject to change. * ‘Date refers to the day our subscriber copies are posted, not the date of…