Hand and Lock Goldwork Video Tutorials

I've just discovered that Hand and Lock, the UK specialist embroidery company, is posting goldwork tutorials on their YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/@handandlocklondon1767/videos

If you want to brush up your goldwork techniques or just are curious, these folks know all there is to know about stitch with metal threads.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright April 8, 2026 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Sue Has An Aficot

Sue ordered a new aficot and shows it off on her website. Sounds like a disease, doesn't it?  But it isn't--it's a special sort of laying tool.
https://sudukc.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/1st-valentines-day-present/

If this intrigues you, follow the links to Mary Corbet's website for the history and use of aficots and then go to M&H Handcrafts to order your own.

I think the mesquite one is gorgeous!   Oh, don't miss looking at the laying tools.  I like the barley twist style, and the bone stiletto is just lovely....

Ten enabling points to Sue!

(By the way, Ridgewood has a silver mellore on sale at half price while we are looking at exotic tools that are used for laying threads.  Mellores are for gold work, by the way.)
http://ridgewoodneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2016/02/birds-wreath-and-threads.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright February 4, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Visiting Needle Art 2015

Melita and her husband took a road trip to visit the twentieth annual exhibit of needle art at Montpelier Museum in Maryland recently. Here is her report--complete with photos of Deborah Wilson's gold work ribbon winners.
https://melitastitches4fun.wordpress.com/2015/11/15/road-trip-for-needle-art-2015-at-montpelier-mansion/

Brenda went on the retreat organized to coincide with the exhibit.  What a great idea!  I hope they do a retreat organized around Woodlawn in 2017.  That would be quite a great thing.
http://brendasneedlepointstudio.blogspot.com/2015/11/road-trip-to-needlearts-2015.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright November 15, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Lion and The Unicorn UPDATED

Some of Benton and Johnson's gold work kits are on sale, but that's not really why I posted the link to their shop today.   I want you to put your cursor over the lion and then the unicorn pieces on this page, then click on Quick View.  You will see the amazing dimension achieved in these animal images from basically straight stitches and some padding with a bit of embellishment (like a sequin mane).
https://www.thetoyeshop.com/benton-johnson/benton-johnson/embroidery-kits.html

I find all this very inspiring!

Have fun looking at it all.  Metal embroidery like this is wonderful.

UPDATE: Mary Corbet explains what you'll find inside one of the B and J gold work kits.
http://www.needlenthread.com/2015/03/goldwork-kits-from-benton-johnson.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright January 6, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Magnet Docks and Slice Tweezers

Nimble Needle has the coolest tools!  Karen is taking a Margaret Kinsey silk and metal embroidery class with her local EGA chapter.  She talks about the class on her blog.  The fact that many of the threads are no longer available makes me sad.
http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/2014/07/metal-work-gold-work-embroidery-with.html

On a happier note, I did not know that the Evertite dock magnets (made to clip over your Evertites) came in two widths.  The larger magnet is for Evertites that are 19-33 inches long while the smaller dock magnet is for anything 18 inches or less.  I didn't realize that Evertites had different widths, depending on their length, but that makes sense.  A longer Evertite has to be wider to support the weight.

Evertite dock magnets seem like very useful items, particularly if you want to use a magnet but don't like them clamped on your needlepoint canvas.  Nimble Needle has them in stock but not on their website, so here are photos from elsewhere.
http://store.apneedlearts.com/madoforevwpo1.html

I had never heard of Slice tweezers, either!  Slice Soft Touch Tweezers are available quite a few places.  I don't know if Nimble Needle stocks them or not.  Shop around as the prices vary from $19.99 to $25.  They come in red or stainless steel handles.  (The red finish is non-slip, in case that's important to you.)
http://www.sliceproducts.com/product/slanted-soft-touch-tweezers

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 15, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Next Big Thing

In Stitches-Atlanta just posted a video on Facebook that shows Laura Taylor demonstrating how to bead letters using stem stitches. This is the next big thing--stringing beads on various stitches.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=690630157661180&set=vb.351241641600035&type=2&theater

Try it with a Rhodes stitch for berries....

Rachel also mentions something in her Tudor Rose class on 17th Century embroidery techniques and threads that I think is starting to intrigue needlepoint teachers and stitch guide designers--using multiple threads in one stitch.  This technique is as old as needlepoint.
http://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2014/06/03/starting-on-the-tudor-rose/

This is a bit about the class Rachel is taking, in case you are intrigued.
http://thistle-threads.com.mytempweb.com/teaching/projects/17thcentury/17thcent_tudorrose.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 5, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.