Tracy is a self-employed embroiderer, specialising mainly in traditional embroidery including crewelwork, silk shading, and gold work.

Laid work is a great way of quickly creating a solid fill for a large area of your embroidery. Read on for tips and inspiration.

You won't want to miss these 9 little known embroidery tricks that are sure to save you time and frustration...

I promised to show you this, my crewel embroidery piece 'Tree of Life' started and completed in the mid 1970's. I recall it took me perhaps a couple of years, picking it up now and then between family and work commitments when we lived in Massachusetts. I bought it as a kit - complete with the skeins of wools in beautiful colors, printed Belgian linen, and stitch instructions - offered by one of the most admired American stitchery women ever, the late Elsa Williams. After a lengthy search I've managed to find this article on her which I found so interesting. Some of her kits, now classified as 'vintage', are still available online. I didn't have my crewel piece framed until later when we moved here to North Carolina in 1977, choosing framing and hanging on the wall over a pillow or chair seat cover thinking it would last longer with less wear and tear. I'm amazed that the colors have not faded at all, however admit I've never displayed it on a wall with bright light or direct sun. Jacobean embroidery refers to styles that flourished in the reign of King James I of England in the first quarter of the 17th century. This is one of many depictions in the pattern of the Jacobean motif named 'Tree of Life.' It was popular for curtains and bed hangings - remember those? They draped four poster beds to keep out the winter drafts in those cold British castles and country mansions. Ms. Williams' designs for this motif were unsurpassed. The term Jacobean is used today to describe this design for furnishing and is characterized by fanciful plant and animal shapes, stylized forests, and exotic plants arising from a landscape or terra firma, worked in a variety of stitches with two-ply wool yarn on linen. A chart of crewel embroidery stitches and techniques via the Internet. I doubt I will ever do another intricate and somewhat complicated embroidery such as this, my eyesight is not what it used to be for close-up stitching. I do love it though, recall how I enjoyed creating it, and am proud that I did produce this special piece of handwork when I was in my thirties. I hope it will be considered an 'heirloom' of sorts, and will be kept and admired by a family member some day in the future.

Via Second Street.

Getting that perfect circular shape when you’re embroidering can be really hard. But it doesn’t have to be! There are different stitches and techniques that this article will share that will be helpful to...

This is my most favorite wreath among the ones that I've stitched so far. White anemones, blueberries that perfectly match the centering of the flowers, leaves motif, petite blossoms and beads to add more dimensional variety to the work. The anemones flowers don't grow in the place where I live, so the first time I saw them was on Pinterest. It was the love from the first sight! Such a grace and delicacy, and such a wonderful combination of colors! I love all the species, but this particular one – the white one with dark center absolutely charmed me with its unique beauty. Since the flower has a cold color palette, I was going to stick to the same cold shades of white and blue when I was thinking of the pattern. But then I decided to add a bit of warmth with the beige leaves motif. I drew the wreath with crayons first. Then it was the time to decide on the stitches I would use. For the anemones I went with long-short stitching to fill in the petals, padded satin stitch for the center and french knots as stamen. I love the look of it! You may notice that in the process I simplified the flowers a bit, getting rid of the majority of underlying petals. The problem was, I wasn't sure I would execute them pretty enough for my liking. After removing the stitches that I was disappointed in, I decided that simplicity will be my best friend. The leaves motif is stitched using fly stitch – I adore the combination of a hard “backbone” look it gives to the leaves together with the lace effect. And to further stress this lacy appearance, I used the buttonhole stitch for the petite blossoms. They are stitched in a natural “linen” shade of floss. At last, I added the blueberries twigs stitched with stem stitch and french knots. After I washed and ironed the piece, I embellished it with beads placing them in a random order among the leaves and blossoms. Such wreaths are perfect for adding a monogram or a phrase inside, but I think I will leave this one as it is. Its measurements are 7.5 x 7.5 inches. As always, I still don't know whether I will just frame it and hang on a wall or use somewhere. I'm not fond of a pillow cover idea, to be honest. Thinking about stretching it on a canvas. Maybe... I will look further into it. For now, I will add this piece to the pile of my complete and unframed embroidery that is waiting for its fate to be decided.

Needlestudio

1. Petits animaux brodés • 2. État d'amour • 3. Passer le contour • 4. Fleurs brodées • 5. Star sur un T-shirt • More ...

Want to learn how to embroider animal fur so that it actually looks realistic? This post go over some tips to help you learn how...

Geht es dir auch manchmal so: du möchtest dein eigenes Projekt sticken und nicht ständig dieselben 2-3 Stiche immer und immer wieder benutzen. Also schaust du dich nach Alternativen um … 8 Stickstiche für Linien und Schrift Weiter lesen >>>

Annemieke Mein, artiste textile, représente grenouilles, libellules, oiseaux, poissons, papillons… de manière très précise. Ses coloris, son graphisme, les font évoluer dans un univers qui lu…

Strawberries are one of the cutest things to embroider. Check out these examples of our favorite strawberry embroidery patterns & designs.

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November is coming to an end, so it's time for a lil freebie to make this month a bit more exciting ^^. This time it's the Grace embroidery design that you might already be familiar with from my previous posts. I'm excited to share not only the pattern and stitches I used but also a bit of guidance and tips. Hopefully, it will make the stitching process easier for you! This design features 3 key elements: Rope-looking lines and outlines for the leaves Filling of the leaves Lettering Lines All of the lines are worked in stem stitch. You can see some additional tips on stem stitch in the following posts: Changing direction of stem stitch and the 6 faces of stem stitch. Long story short, as you are stem stitching, keep bringing your needle up to the left of your stitches. This will help you achieve the “rope” appearance of your stem stitch. Given that the direction of lines keeps changing throughout the whole pattern, be careful to not mix up the sides of where the needle should come up. If you are confused, rotate the hoop or embroidery frame so that the line faces upwards and make sure the needle comes up to the left of the line. When I stitched I worked the outline in portions. Let's say I completed 25% of outline first, then filled in some of the leaves, then worked the next 25% of outline and so forth. It helped me to keep a steady path. But, of course, it might be more convenient for you to work it in another way. Maybe you'd like to complete all of the outlines first and only then fill in the leaves. It's completely fine! Decide for yourself the order of working this embroidery pattern and work it in the way that makes you comfortable! I used two strands of floss for the box around the word GRACE, and one strand of floss for the rest of the lines. It made the plant motif look finer and helped the box to stand out. Leaves All of the leaves are filled with the fishbone stitch after the outline is already complete. The leaves are not always conveniently “straight” and with even edges. Their form changes here and there and sometimes they are not complete or cross with other leaves. So, yes, although the fishbone stitch itself is quite easy to pick up on, this design might still present a challenge. As a result, it will be an excellent practice of fishbone stitch for you ;) The order of working the leaves can be whatever you want. Just like with outlining I did it in portions, but it is possible to fill all the leaves with one shade of floss first, and then another and so on. I used two strands of floss when I embroidered the leaves in this pattern. Also, in some places leaves “fold”. These small areas are worked by satin stitch using one strand of floss in the needle. I didn't do any padding here. Just stitched the outline the same way as the areas of the plant motif and covered the “foldings” with parallel satin stitches. Lettering I used an easy and quick approach to lettering for this design. Take two strands of floss and outline a letter in back stitch first. Then “wrap” the letters in satin stitch. Because the letters are not that big and we use two strands of floss, there is no need for any padding. The letters look dimensional enough and pop out of the fabric surface. That's pretty much it. In case you have any questions left, you're always welcome to leave them in the comments below or send me a DM through the contact form :) DOWNLOAD THE FREE PATTERN HERE Have a nice stitching!

1. Petits animaux brodés • 2. État d'amour • 3. Passer le contour • 4. Fleurs brodées • 5. Star sur un T-shirt • More ...

Beaucoup de gens associent le mot “broderie” aux héroïnes de romans du XIXe siècle qui passaient leurs longues soirées d’hiver à faire des travaux d’aiguille. Mais la broderie n’est pas seulement un loisir et un passe-temps. Les artistes participent même à des concours, et certaines créations pourraient faire concurrence aux chefs-d’œuvre de la peinture.

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You may be curious as to what the different types of embroidery out there are...there are a lot! Here's some of the many different styles...

Here is a quick and easy tutorial that shows you how to embroider a moon. This shape can be tricky to get right...here's how!

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to embroider woven roses using 3 different fun and creative techniques...

Embroidery on tulle is so beautiful but it can be a challenge, so I've put together some tips on how to successfully hand embroider on tulle fabric!

View the stunning embroidery work of Michele Carragher, customer designer for Game of Thrones and Elizabeth I. Read the full interview.

Start off by coming up through the fabric. Hold the needle with your dominant hand. Wrap the thread around the needle 2-3 times depending on how big you want the knot. Now, go back down the same hole you came out. Push the knot all the way down your needle so it is touching the fabric. Take your time and gently nudge the needle through. You can keep the knot stable with a finger nail as you pull the rest of the tail through. That's all there is to it! I love this example of what can be created with french knots from Incy Wincy Stitches.

Explore hiroko&5's 1020 photos on Flickr!

This free tutorial will walk you step by step how to embroider a bee. The design and stitches are simple and the outcome is so cute!

If you’ve ever tried to embroider a tree, you may have realized how tricky they can be to get right. I’ve been there before, and I have a few tips as well as a...

Love this foliage series of patterns by Cathy Eliot on Etsy, especially this Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme hoop.