Cretan stitch

Cretan stitch can be used in many decorative ways. With it, you can fill a shape, create a border, or create a line. If you arrange rows of Cretan stitch in lines, it makes a wonderful filling stitch to work within a shape. You can also use it to couch …

Buttonhole Stitch

Buttonhole stitch, or blanket stitch, as many people call it, is actually the foundation stitch for many varieties of Buttonhole. This stitch is often used along the edge of projects — often blankets — hence the name. Never underestimate a stitch-like buttonhole, as it is a marvellously versatile stitch. You …

Madame Worth’s New Manual of Fancy Work

As regular readers know, I am addicted to the Antique Pattern Library as it is such an interesting and free resource. If you have not discovered it before now take a coffee break and have fun poking around these old books. Yesterday, I was doing just that poking around the …

I Dropped the Button Box quilt – a Millennium quilt

The “I dropped the button box” crazy quilt is a Y2K quilt. What is a Y2K Quilt? It is a Millennium quilt. At the turn of the century as it approached quilters made quilts that had 2000 or 2001 different pieces of fabric in them. Millennium or Y2K quilts were …

How to Transfer Hand Embroidery Patterns to Fabric

When you first start to hand embroider items, or perhaps you have picked up some of my free patterns and want to start stitching, one process that often stumps people is how to transfer hand embroidery patterns to fabric so that you can start to stitch. Here are the 2 …

How I designed and stitched this encrusted highly textured embroidery sampler

As you can see it is this encrusted highly textured sampler is fresh off the hoop and still to be blocked. Today I plan to share how I designed and stitched this sampler. This bone sampler is both surface embroidery, combined with textured stitches and beadwork. It is a contemporary …

A tutorial on how to make a Ric Rac Rose or two

Some people call it ric rac other call it rick rack but no matter what you call the stuff it can make great roses. Here are tutorials for two different types that you can incorporate in your embroidery or craft projects. How to make a Ric Rac Rose 1 Depending …