Stitch School: Chicken Scratch

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Chicken Scratch post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: Beads.3

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Beads post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: Beads.2

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Beads post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: Beads.1

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Beads post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

a cottage of your very own

A couple of weeks ago, Susan showed some very cool embroidered pictures of cottages on her T-Cozy blog. Knowing that I sell copies of vintage patterns on my website, she emailed to ask if I knew anyone who could take her original picture and make a pattern from it. It was a challenging picture to trace (lots of tiny leaves and flowers) but I told her I'd do it. Yes, it's possible to digitally trace original embroidery but it's not magic—you still have to do all the tracing. It's just done with a mouse instead of a writing instrument and a steady hand and graphic design background doesn't hurt either.

The pattern is now for sale and you can head over to her latest blog post for ordering information. It's a really a cool pattern, and not just because I had a hand in it's creation. Everyone loves a sweet little cottage surrounded by flowers, even if they don't really live in one themselves.

A beginning embroiderer may want to practice up on their stitches—about half of the design is cross stitch (that's easy) but the rest uses a variety of other stitches—like chain, outline, French knot, and lazy daisy. If you need help with those, check out my Stitch School posts listed to the right in the sidebar. And, like my patterns, you'll need to transfer the design to your own fabric.

Someone emailed me recently asking if I'd do a tutorial on transfering patterns. I didn't think it was that complicated as I just lay the pattern on a lightbox with the fabric on top and trace over the lines with an air-soluable marker. But, that only works if your fabric can be seen through. I recently bought some flannel-backed baby burp cloths that I thought would be cute with a bit of embroidery in the corners. I set up the lightbox and (oh, no!), you can't see through the layers of fabric. There is another way to do it involving a transfer pencil, so maybe a tutorial would be a good idea after all.

I'll add it to the list. Next up for Stitch School is a post about attaching beads and sequins (or other small objects) because sometimes you just need a little extra bling! I'll try to get that posted next week if the weather cooperates for picture-taking. They weren't kidding about those April showers—it's rained every day since the beginning of the month!

Stitch School: Guilloche

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Guilloche Stitch post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: Interlaced Running Stitch

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Interlaced Running Stitch post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: Monograms

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Monograms Stitch post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: Braid Stitch

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Braid Stitch post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: Twisted Chain

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Twisted Chain Stitch post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: Ladder Stitch

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Interlaced Running Stitch post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: Up and Down Buttonhole

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Up and Down Butonhole Stitch post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: Portuguese Stem Stitch

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Portuguese Stem Stitch post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: Spider Web

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Spider Web Stitch post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: Overcast Stitch

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Overcast Stitch post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: Interlaced Band

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Interlaced Band Stitch post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: Vandyke Stitch

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Vandyke Stitch post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: Pekinese

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Pekinese Stitch post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: Palestrina

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Palestrina post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.

Stitch School: New beginnings; happy endings

Stitch School has moved to it's very own space on the web! You'll now find the Beginnings and Endings post here. Comments are now closed on this post; if you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the new one.