Learn about Thread Painting with Lisa: The Movie

Lisa Kessler of BeStitched has posted a video about thread painting on the shop's Instagram account.  She'll show you examples of canvases that would work will with thread painting techniques and how you can tell, show off stitched examples of the technique, and generally help you understand how she works animals and flowers in thread painting (also called needle painting).

https://www.instagram.com/p/DFL-XUtScJ2/?inf_contact_key=4e0bd587f6d74ac74d0fac68c33ac274

In case the video disappears, Lisa says you can use overdyed thread in needle painting, it works on both 13 and 18 count canvas, if you use thinner threads (silk and cotton floss, Bella Lusso) it won't bulk up, you can come up at the outside edge or the inside edge--this usually doesn't matter, the thread length doesn't matter that much but you should not have all the threads the same length as that looks artificial, you can mix strand able and non-strandable threads, and more.  

BeStitched's "Wild About Animals" Club that Lisa mentioned is an easy way to dip your toe into thread painting.  You'll have to ask the shop if you can buy just one of the designs instead of choosing three, six or eight of them.

https://bestitchedneedlepointshop.com/products/wild-about-these-animals-club

If you need more information on this topic, I've written a thread painting tutorial which you can find here-

https://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/p/needle-painting-on-needlepoint-canvas.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright January 26, 2025 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tracy Franklin Demonstrates Long and Short Stitch

Needlepointers love the shading you can achieve on leaves and flower petals with long and short stitch, but it seems daunting.  Luckily Tracy Franklin has posted a tutorial that shows how it is done step by step.
http://tracyafranklin.blogspot.com/2020/08/a-basic-silk-shading-tutorial.html

Note that Tracy is stitching with what appears to be crewel wool on linen.  If you work on needlepoint canvas, you'll need a sharp needle instead of a tapestry needle so you can angle the stitches exactly where you want them.  You can't skip steps.   Tracy outlined the leaf shape with split stitch first and that always has to be done.  Then she worked the first half of her leaf in three rows.  You can't rush this by attempting only two rows and if you omit the split stitch edge, the leaf stitches won't lay well.  Patience is key here.

Read through Tracy's blog for more tips on shading and some fascinating interviews.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright August 5, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Woodlawn 2015

While I was wandering around the Internet, looking for something else, I found these photographs of pieces exhibited at Woodlawn in 2015. The crewel and the long and short dog portrait are amazing.
http://marshacannon.org/2015/03/14/woodlawn-plantation-needlework-exhibition/

The exhibit starts March 1.  Get ready!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright December 26, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Learn Long and Short Shading

Trish Burr has made a series of video tutorials to help folks learn long and short shading, sometimes called needle painting here in the U.S.   She also has a video on padded satin stitch, which you may also find useful.
https://trishburr.com/tutorials/

Thank you, Trish!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright December 14, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Long and Short Tips

One of the techniques used in crewel embroidery is long and short stitch, which greatly resembles needle painting except it is done in a less free-form style.   You can achieve beautiful and realistic shading with this technique.  Kathy took a class with Owen Davies on this technique and kindly shares her tips for creating the best long and short stitched area possible.
http://www.theunbrokenthread.com/blog/2016/09/20/pineapple-long-and-short-shading/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright September 20, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Trish Tutorials: Needle Painting

Trish Burr, the South African teacher and writer best known for her embroidery classes and kits, is going to post a series of tutorials on her website. The first one is available and it is on needle painting, the technique by which you create realistic animals and plants with a single ply of (usually) cotton floss.  Of course we needlepointers use a readily countable ground, i.e., needlepoint canvas, but if you switch to a sharp needle you can put your stitches anywhere you wish, even through one of those underlying canvas threads.  We don't use hoops or typically wash our work after the stitching is done, though.  Still, with a few modifications, needle painting is very useful for needlepointers.
http://trishburr.com/tutorials/

Trish also reminds us she has free designs on her website to use to practice what you have learned.
http://trishburr.com/south-africa/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright September 2, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Silk Shading Tips UPDATED AGAIN

Kathy of The Unbroken Thread is off to England to take a Royal School course on silk shading. We Americans call this needle painting or long and short stitches. Kathy's going to be stitching a white flower.  Here are the things she does before she actually starts stitching.
http://www.theunbrokenthread.com/blog/2015/03/05/rsn-silk-shading-setting-up-to-stitch-2/

Here's what she did wrong, to help us make our needle painting better.
http://www.theunbrokenthread.com/blog/2015/03/06/rsn-silk-shading-four-petals-done-2/

UPDATE:  Kathy added important tips on matching colors to a design you are copying this morning.
http://www.theunbrokenthread.com/blog/2015/03/25/rsn-silk-shading-first-large-petal-finished/

UPDATE #2: How to lighten an area you got wrong.
http://www.theunbrokenthread.com/blog/2015/03/28/a-turned-under-petal-silk-shading-the-shade/

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

Tanja Proves My Point

This morning I got an email from Berlin Embroidery about Tanja Berlin's latest needle painting cyberclass--the red fox.   The class starts in February and lasts roughly two months.  If you are interested in learning to create realistic animals with just DMC cotton floss in long and short stitches, this is the class for you.
http://www.berlinembroidery.com/onlineclasses.htm

See?  Told you this was the Year of the Fox!

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

Tips on Long and Short

This little article has great tips on how to do long and short stitch.   Long and short is a crewel embroidery technique that is absolutely beautiful when well done.  (On needlepoint canvas, I use a sharp needle to put a stitch right through a thread of the underlying canvas if necessary.)  Believe me, I am going to study this religiously!
http://www.theunbrokenthread.com/blog/2012/12/21/acorn-long-and-short-shaded-leaves/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

How Trish Burr Got Started

You are probably familiar with Trish Burr as I constantly rave about her needle painting classes, DVDs and art work here.  To celebrate the 100th posting on her blog, she's written a little history of her interest in embroidery and how it has grown.  Fascinating!
http://trishburr.com/2012/09/12/a-walk-through-time/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Long and Short Plunging

If you do any needle painting (which is basically using long and short stitches to create realistic plants and animals) you have to figure out whether to plunge your needle down into the previous row of threads OR bring your needle up from the back through the previous row of threads.  I know folks like Tony Minieri tell students to come up from the back, but why is that better?  Is it better?  It is things like this that keep me awake at night.  (Hey, it's better than worrying about ill health, roof leaks, the mortgage or any of a zillion other worries we adults have on our plates, right?)

Mary Corbet decided to explore the question and has come up with the answer--It Depends!  To see what she discovered and figure out what is best for your project, visit her site.
http://www.needlenthread.com/2012/02/split-stitch-direction.html




Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Trish's Tips for Better Needle Painting

Whether you call it long and short stitch, needle painting, random long and short, or any other term, Trish Burr has mastered the art of using threads to create realistic plants and animals, particularly birds. She's posted ten tips to help folks do smoother shading in this style on her blog. If you use this technique or want to, you should check Trish's tips out.
http://trishburr.com/2011/10/25/smoother-shading/


Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Longer and Shorter: Tips on Stitching Long and Short Stitch

Anyone who is intimidated by long and short stitch or who isn't happy with how their current attempts look will find Kathy's tips very useful the next time they are shading using this wonderful stitch.
http://www.theunbrokenthread.com/blog/2011/09/23/long-and-short-shading-going-deep-into-the-stitch/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Message for Carla

Yesterday I got a nice note from Carla asking about the long and short stitch lessons that Mary Corbett is posting.  Carla tried to click on the link and got an error message and wanted help getting to the lessons.  I sent her an answer but because she uses AOL for her email, the message bounced.

I sent the message from two other email addresses and they both bounced.  So the only way to communicate with Carla is via Blog.  Sorry! AOL is notorious about blocking messages from anyone except another AOL user.  My emails probably didn't even make it to Carla's spam folder judging from the cryptic bounce messages.

Here's my reply to Carla.  Hope she can use this link but if you have trouble, try shortening the link to www.needlethread.com and see if you can find the Long and Short Stitch lesson link in the right hand column.

This is the main page link. Once you choose a long and short stitch lesson, there is a link to PDF files to download the instructions if you want to print them out.

http://www.needlenthread.com/2009/08/long-and-short-stitch-lessons-index.html

All the lessons aren't up yet (I think nine are planned) but this will tell you everything you need to know  and you can follow the lessons for the parts you are especially interested in.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

September 2009 Chilly Hollow Newsletter Article

It's back to school in September for those of us in the United States. Luckily, the classes I've found for you are taught by Mary Corbet and the lesson is mastering long and short stitch. This is a crewel stitch that gives beautiful and realistic shading that is used a great deal to create beautiful flower petals and leaves in particular. It also will shade any other object you wish to make with needle and thread. Mary tells you how to do it for any sort of shape in a series of nine lessons. Six of the lessons are posted already. Here are all the links. Bookmark this to find the other lessons when they are posted and you'll never wonder how to do this stitch again.
http://www.needlenthread.com/2009/08/long-and-short-stitch-lessons-index.html


Do the lessons make your head spin? Then you need some eye candy. Look at the details on these finished projects by customers of The Thread Garden! Click on the thumbnail photos for a better look. The second link is to a gallery of framed pieces, including a Halloween house whose framing and mat you must see.
http://thethreadgarden.com/Finishing.html


http://thethreadgarden.com/Framing%20Gallery.html


Now browse some of the fun tips Thread Garden has written in their Garden Almanac section.
http://thethreadgarden.com/The%20Garden%20Almanac/The%20Garden%20Almanac.html

[Note:  if these links won't take you to The Thread Garden, go to the framing gallery, then use the subtitles at the top of the page.]


See? Learning can be fun! Go treat yourself to a new Adam & Eve nagmetic needle minder from Kelmscott Deigns.
http://kelmscottdesigns.com/needle-minders.htm

Have a lovely back to school.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
blog at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow