Christmas Shopping at DMC

I haven't paid a lot of attention to DMC's new Common Threads site but it does have some fabulous gifts for stitchers. They have two styles of wooden sewing boxes, although I have no idea why they are only offered in washed-out blue-gray.
http://commonthread.us/large-wood-sewing-box-antique-gray-plus-floss.html

http://commonthread.us/gondola-wood-sewing-box-antique-gray-plus-floss.html

If you want stocking stuffers, they have a finger tip magnifier...
http://commonthread.us/finger-magnifying-glass-red-2.html

...and cute DMC-themed pins, either the skeins shown or two card spools shown at the bottom of the page.
http://commonthread.us/mercerie-brooch-rwb.html?utm_source=Commonthread+Website+Signup&utm_campaign=ea5b2b8e4a-Stocking_Stuffers_12_10_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_946d6b91ed-ea5b2b8e4a-82345393

If you want something to stitch fast, there are mini stockings, although they really are geared towards cross stitchers.  Regardless, it's fun to browse all the styles.
http://commonthread.us/dmc-products/stitchables/stockings.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright December 10, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

A Business Tip

Needlework Unlimited in Minneapolis posted about how much it helps their bottom line if you pay by cash or check instead of credit card.  It's something to think about, particularly if you are purchasing something for less than $25.
https://needleworkunlimited.wordpress.com/2015/12/03/why-we-love-cash-checks/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright December 3, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Happy Hannakuh

Menorah One

Doris of Needlepoint Gallery & More just sent me wonderful photographs of finishing she did for a customer.  She wanted to know if I could help identify the designer for her as her customer did such a fabulous job --check out those beaded flames!-- other customers want to order this Menorah design, too.  With a little help from the nice folks at Facebook's Needlepoint Nation, we found the designer--Princess and Me!
http://princessandme.com/judaica

Menorah Two

Here's the link to Doris' shop, by the way.  Thanks for sharing the wonderful finishing and the fabulous stitching, Doris!
http://www.theneedlepointgallery.com

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright December 3, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Want to Learn Needle Painting? Introduction to Stitches

There are only a few stitches used in needle painting:  long and short, satin stitch, split stitch and stem stitch.  For your convenience I've found the best online diagrams of each so you have these references at hand.  Most of the stitch diagrams I've found are for embroidery so the ground material is fabric, not needlepoint canvas.  This makes it a little harder to come up and go down where you should since the grid of needlepoint canvas dictates where your needle can go down.  To counteract this, simply use a sharp needle like a crewel needle* instead of the blunt tapestry needles we normally use.

Long and Short
This is a nice basic video about how to do long and short.  Easy-peasy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDM4bO7jB1Q

Satin Stitch
Mary Corbet does a fabulous satin stitch video here.  She is padding the area first, which comes in very useful for slightly raised areas like dog noses, but this isn't necessary for satin stitches.  The outlining she does is also very helpful to create a lovely edge for the area to be covered in satin stitches but this isn't always necessary for needlepoint.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09L9o5IMxoU

Split Stitch
Another simple stitch, split stitch can be worked with the needle coming up through the previous stitch, or with the needle going down into the previous stitch.   It is easier to know where to split the previous stitch if you go down into it, but the preferred way is to come up through the stitch.  The end result looks better.  So learn to do it by feel from the back and you'll be happier with the look.
http://sublimestitching.com/pages/how-to-split-stitch

Stem Stitch
Stem stitch is a lot like split stitch and its cousin, outline stitch.  It's not too hard, either.  I like to do rows of stem stitch to fill an area, packing them in as tightly as possible, and varying the length of the first stitch of a row so that the area where you come up and go down for each stitch doesn't line up across the rows even though almost all the stitches are about the same length.
http://red-brollyblog.com/2015/02/stem-stitch-tutorial/

And that's it!  None of these stitches are hard, even if you do have to use a sharp needle to pierce the needlepoint canvas threads underneath to put a stitch exactly where you want it.  Because we will be using only 1-2 plies of a thin thread, we can easily cover with another layer over stitches that aren't as perfect as we'd like.  (Cheating?  Only if you tell and I won't!)

I'd like to emphasize that you won't use all of these stitches to do needle painting. It's more typical that only 2-3 of them are used on a piece.  But I wanted to put everything in one place as a reference for the tutorial I'm building.  I'll add each posting to the "Needle Painting on Needlepoint Canvas Tutorial" tab as they go live.

*Donna posted in the comments she uses Bohin's chenille needles for needle painting. Personally I often use beading needles, since they are sharp and I have a nice supply of them.  Whatever works for you is fine so see what you have put away or what your favorite shop has a nice supply of in a small sharp needle that will pierce the needlepoint canvas threads.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright November 29, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Want to Learn Needle Painting? Introduction to Threads

Traditionally, needle painting is done with silk or cotton floss, but for my little dog, I'm using Gloriana's Cashmere/Silk floss. This is a blend of cashmere and silk available in limited colors from Gloriana in 6 yard skeins.  I'm using "Silver Fox" which is a light gray and "Soft White" which is white.  If you want to try needle painting yourself, I recommend you use either cotton or silk floss, whatever you have at hand in the colors of your animal.  Cashmere/Silk is rather expensive for a beginner to play with, although you can't beat the luxurious sheen and softness.  It also only comes in a few colors: black, white, gray and brown.   By the way, one strand of Cashmere/Silk separates at the cut end into four plies, each of which can be further divided into half, giving you eight plies from one strand.  Whatever thread you choose, the ability to ply the thread is important to get the most realistic shading and definition of fur.

If you want a more wooly look, Gloriana has Lorikeet, which is all wool and strandable down to 9 plies.  It can be mixed with a ply of cotton or silk floss to add sheen and even more colors.
http://www.glorianathreads.com/Lorikeet.html

Burmilana is also a decent choice for needle painting, particularly on 13 count.  It cannot be plied so it isn't as useful on 18 count unless your animal is less realistic and more cartoonish.  However, there is a lovely range of colors and there is also the Heathered Burmilana, which is a sort of tweedy mix of colors.
http://www.amybunger.com/Burmilana_Solids.html

Many other threads will work, but these are my favorites for animal fur.

Next time we'll talk about the main stitches we will use.  The links to each article on needle painting will go in the tab for the Needle Painting on Needlepoint Canvas Tutorial so you can read them in turn without having to search Blog.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright November 29, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.