Have you ever set out to learn something new? Perhaps it was a new stitch or stitching technique. You get the idea and start stitching, but then come across someone or something that offers a slightly different way of looking at what you’re doing and find that somehow it makes the process just a little clearer?

Well recently, that very thing happened to us.

After talking about ‘The Middle’ in All Stitched Up! issue #337, we came across an article entitled ‘Wanna Run the Race of Life Well? How The In-Between is Shaping Who You Are’. After reading it, we found our ‘middles’ made just a little more sense.

Written by Callie Holland, it unpacked her journey as a runner and what she learnt from the ‘in-between’ of each race.

Although Callie takes to the treadmill at 5:15 each morning, she doesn’t consider herself a competitive runner, but rather an ‘are we done yet’ kind of girl. So, when her mum called to ask if she’d celebrate the year she turned 60 by running a race with her every month, her yes was a little shaky.

Over the course of the year, Callie and her Mum pinned their numbers to their shirts and joined the crowds at each of the starting lines to complete the 5ks, 10ks or half marathon that lay before them.

They quickly learned that each race was the same. The gathered crowd cheered at the starting line, if only to distract the thoughts of those who wondered what they’d gotten themselves into! Then, as the crowds thinned out and the runners separated, they’d eventually find their stride to cover the kilometers before them ‘alone’, only to hear the cheering grow louder once again as they neared the finish line and finally crossed it.

Yet, it was in that space, that Callie and her Mum became runners. It’s where they learned how to find their stride, breathe easier and find a way to believe that their bodies were capable of what their minds were saying they couldn’t do.

And so it is in our time with needle and thread - that ‘space’ between the excitement of starting a new project and the accomplishment we feel when we finally complete it, that’s when we become stitchers.

The in-between is where we find our rhythm in the meditative push and pull of needle and thread through fabric. Where we find the consistency of stitch formation and tension. Where we simply stitch.

The way we keep pace in the space between defines who we are when we take needle and thread in hand. So, here’s to always finding our stitching ‘stride’…

All Stitched Up! issue #339 included a question from a reader, Chermaine Bell, who lamented over the challenge of converting cross stitch designs to needlepoint. Chermaine is a needlepoint lover but is often captured by cross stitch designs and wondered whether there was any easy way to convert the latter designs to the former technique. We asked the question, and our community stepped up to the plate as we knew they would!

Susan Mickey said that this conversion was something she did all the time. She said that the key thing to remember is that cross stitch tends to be finer, using a higher count fabric. She counts the stitches in both directions, then measures that on her canvas just to get an idea of how much bigger the finished piece is going to be. She then uses basic tent stitch, converting the colours to wools and being careful of her tension so that the stitches don’t pull the fabric out of alignment.

Jackie Williams concurred with Susan, emphasising the importance of taking measurements before you start as the finished piece on canvas will be larger than it would be on aida or evenweave.

Roberta Kenney wrote in to say that although she’s not converted cross stitch patterns to canvas, she has converted crewel patterns to cross stitch. However, she gave a step-by-step of how she determined you would convert a graph-based cross stitch pattern to needlepoint:

1. Choose your canvas, preferably with a similar thread count.
2. Choose your threads, or wools that are close to the colours suggested in the pattern.
3. Determine the size needed for the canvas.
4. Frame up your canvas.
5. Choose a stitch for the background or paint your canvas. You could also purchase a canvas of the appropriate colour if preferred.
6. Baste a 10 x 10 grid on your canvas to make it easier counting stitches from the graph. You can choose to stitch using a basic tent stitch or choose any other stitches that may be appropriate to the design or that you like.

Roberta also kindly provided an example of a crewel design she converted using this process. She took the outline from an early American crewel pattern and overlaid it with a 14-count clear plastic graph. She then chose which stitches to fill the areas and the appropriate colours. This satisfied one of her stitching friends who loved crewel designs but just couldn’t do surface stitching!

Moving on to books now and it’s great to hear that our community is really enjoying reading all of the suggestions we’ve shared in recent months. Ellen Tabak told us how much she loved reading ‘The Gown’ by Jennifer Robson. She’s now on to ‘Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle’ by Clare Hunter and is enjoying that too.

Lorraine Ellison told us she bought a copy of ‘The Silk Weaver’ by Liz Trenow, which she likens to Tracey Chevalier’s work. Liz was born into a weaving family in Suffolk in the UK, and she traced her weaving ancestors right back to the 1700s. Using the knowledge she’d gained from her research, she wrote ‘The Silk Weaver’, a story about a female artist who becomes a talented designer of silk fabric.

The book explores the weaving industry at the time and blends fiction and history beautifully.

Probably the most recommended book we have had to date is ‘The Coat Route’ by Meg Lukens Noonan. Susan Hobkirk wanted to add her recommendation for it to the many others we’ve received.

Finally, Alison Springett has brought a new book to our attention – ‘Embroidering Her Truth’ by Clare Hunter. This is a nonfiction book that was published this year. It tells the story of Mary, Queen of Scots, demonstrating how she used textiles and embroidery to advance her political agenda, affirm her royal lineage and tell her own story. Dubbed a ‘cultural biography’, it blends history, politics and memoir to tell the story of the queen in her own voice.

After all of this fabulous discussion, we are going to grab our stitching, one of the many books we’ve been recommended, and a nice hot cup of tea and settle down in our stitching nook to enjoy a wonderful afternoon doing our favourite things. We hope you get to do the same.

There are a lot of us who remember the 1970s. It was an iconic decade for many reasons. For some, it was the distinctive fashion featuring bold oranges, browns, greens and yellows. For others it was the music, and for still others it was the social and political upheavals that carried on from the 1960s that allowed people new ways of living and expressing themselves.

But for anyone creative, there are memorable crafts that speak to that era even more loudly than any music or political movement. One of those has to be macrame.

Macrame is a technique that uses beautifully knotted yarn to create homewares and accessories. The yarn was usually thick, resulting in delightfully chunky wall hangings, pot holders and table mats. It was all the rage during the 1970s but sadly fell out of fashion over the following decades.

We’re all looking for projects that are easy to do and look fabulous when finished. We like projects that allow us to be mindful as we work, bringing calm into our day and helping us achieve that wonderful feeling of flow. We have just added three classic macrame kits that are guaranteed to give you all of that and more.

You can choose from a classic wall hanging, a set of plant pot hangers or a circular table mat. Each kit comes with a ball of strong yarn as well as easy to follow instructions on how to create the knots and construct the finished piece. Each kit can be completed in 4 to 6 hours, bringing you calm and contentment from beginning to end.

We will admit there are some aspects of the 1970s best left back in the 70s, but macrame is not one of them. It’s back, all ready for a new generation to fall in love with and, for those of us who are old enough, to relive the joy.

Elisabetta Sforza’s books, featuring beautiful, embroidered alphabets, have been popular with our community from the very first moment we stocked them. Her latest book, Rose to Rose, adds to her collection of publications, but this book goes one step further. It offers more than just an exquisite alphabet; it also offers a range of other floral projects that Elisabetta has recreated from the sublime watercolours of artist Patrizia Silingardi.

Each project is a perfect translation of one of Patrizia’s designs, to which Elisabetta has added her unique and characteristic touch. She then uses the floral designs to form the alphabet, allowing you to combine letters with the main designs or choose to stitch one or the other separately.

This book is a must for lovers of Elisabetta’s work or anyone who appreciates fine surface embroidery. Ensure your collection of Elisabetta’s books is complete by purchasing Rose to Rose today.

Dorset buttons are a type of handmade button where thread is used to bind a ring and decorative centres are then stitched or woven to give each button a unique finish.

They were popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Britain and although their commercial use fell out of favour with the advent of machine-made buttons, working these beautiful items is something that needleworkers continue to enjoy to this day.

Pat Olski’s Button Bouquets first appeared in Inspirations issue #111. The project featured a pincushion and a tape measure cover, each with a stunning Dorset button worked with a delicate bouquet of embroidered flowers at the centre.

The beauty of this project is that once you had completed the two gorgeous accessories, you could use your newfound skills to create your own Dorset buttons that can then be used to adorn whatever you wish.

We have now published this beautiful and adaptable project as a printed pattern for you to purchase and keep with your printed pattern collection.

Looking for a Button Bouquets Ready-to-Stitch kit? We even have a few of those in stock for you to enjoy as well!

If placing the terms ‘heavy metal’ and ‘knitting’ together seem like a complete contradiction, then perhaps you missed our news article in All Stitched Up! issue #209 from 2019. In that article we introduced the Heavy Metal Knitting World Championship that ran for the first time that year in Finland.

Fast forward three years, and despite the pandemic and various other global challenges, the 2022 Heavy Metal Knitting World Championship has just been held.

This year, the overall winner was String Thing from the UK, however there was tough competition from the other UK team, Woolfumes and UniKorn from the USA.

It is worth watching the footage of the competition to see just how much fun the competitors are having.

And who said that knitting was supposed to be a quiet hobby? You can read about this year’s competition and view the footage at NME and MSN or see their official website HERE. Enjoy!

From wares to kits and all kinds of tricks, if it has recently come back in stock, you’ll discover it below.

Ribbon embroidery is back! More and more projects are appearing and they are just getting better and better. If you don’t believe us, then one look at Primroses & Violets by Di van Niekerk from Inspirations issue #115 will be enough to convince you.

This is ribbon embroidery at its finest from one of the most talented ribbon embroidery designers around. Di van Niekerk has been designing stunning embroidered pieces for over 30 years. She has a broad range of skills and talents, being adept at techniques like threadpainting and stumpwork among many others.

But she is probably best known for her gorgeous ribbon embroidery projects, many worked on the most beautiful printed background panels imaginable.

She has authored more than fourteen books on various different needlecrafts and has her own range of hand-dyed silk and organza ribbons, as well as one of the largest ranges of printed panels ready for embroidery that we’ve ever come across.

Primroses & Violets showcases Di’s style in all of its glory. This beautifully dimensional study is worked on a delicately printed linen panel. It makes use of stumpwork techniques, with the teacup, saucer and glass forming detached elements that are embellished with embroidery and gold stitching to give an opulent finish. They are then added to the panel, leaving the top part open so you can add the cascade of silk ribbon blooms.

The plump petals of the primroses and the rich purple violets are all worked in beautifully shaded silk ribbon. The highly realistic, three-dimensional effect is just stunning, with each individual petal differing from all the others.

The flowers are finished with French knot centres and leaves and buds are included to set the bouquet off. By selectively adding to the panel, with some parts stitched over completely, and others left in their natural state, the viewer is teased into believing they’re looking at a real bouquet rather than one stitched onto a two-dimensional plane.

We are confident that once you’ve stitched Primroses & Violets, you’ll put all other projects aside and hunt for more silk ribbon designs. The results of this fabulous technique really do speak for themselves.

Step 1 – Purchase Project Instructions

Primroses & Violets by Di van Niekerk is a sumptuous silk ribbon embroidery brought to life with dimensional silk ribbon and layering techniques.

Step 2 – Purchase Ready-To-Stitch Kit

The Inspirations Ready-To-Stitch kit for Primroses & Violets includes everything* you need to re-create this delightful silk ribbon embroidery: Printed fabric panels, fabrics, fabric stabiliser, wires, stamens, yarn, silk fibre, silk ribbons, embroidery threads, beads, and needles.

Sunflowers and Daisies by Helen Eriksson from Inspirations issue #97 is a cosy woollen blanket adorned with a circlet and bouquet of sun-loving flowers.

Roses and Daisies by Cathy Gunn from Inspirations issue #35 is a charming knee blanket suitable for the beginner.

Poppies & Cornflowers by Jo Butcher from Where Meadows and Gardens Grow features papery, pink skirts of poppy flowers twirling amongst the cornflowers.

Nigella & Honesty by Margaret Light from A Passion for Needlework 3 | Blakiston Creamery features gorgeous blooms and seed pods worked using luxurious wool and silk threads.

We weren’t sure what theme to use this week, although the term that came to mind was ‘threadpainted masterpieces’. Of course, all threadpainted works are masterpieces in their own right, but these particular works, with their sheer size and scale, seem to fit the title perfectly. You’ll be amazed at what people can achieve with a needle rather than a brush and a range of threads rather than a palette of paints.

‘As a token of my appreciation, I stitched his yacht from a photograph. He was so pleased when I gave it to him.’

He must have been thrilled, Margot! What a magnificent and beautifully stitched gift. We hope you have now recovered from your surgery and are maybe even ready for a day of sailing!

These are absolutely stunning embroideries, Mary! You’ve captured them exquisitely, and your stitching and shading is amazing. Congratulations on two beautiful finishes.

You’ve left us almost speechless with the quality and scale of your work, Fred. These are masterpieces in every sense of the word. Thank you so much for sharing them with us and we look forward to seeing more of your incredible output.

Do you regard every project as a masterpiece in the making? Do you have a tendency to start audacious projects, knowing that they’ll take time and effort, but still imagining the incredible results? Do you see painting with needle and thread as akin to painting with brush and acrylics?

Whatever it is you like to stitch, we’d like to see it. Send us a picture of your work with some information about the project and your stitching journey to news@inspirationsstudios.com

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Available in blue, pink or soft grey, these koalas are perfect for a new baby and they come with a little bib ready for you to stitch on.

Blue-breasted Fairy Wren by Renette Kumm is a colourful, blue-breasted fairy wren depicted with threadpainting.

Pretty in Pink by Trish Burr from Inspirations issue #109 is an Australian rose robin resting on a splendid magnolia depicted in threadpainting.

La Fauvette by Catherine Laurençon from Inspirations issue #97 is a gorgeous threadpainting of a European warbler amongst reeds and grasses.

Chatelaine by Susan O'Connor is an elegant collection of scissor sheath, needlebook and pinwheel.

Versailles Chatelaine by Susan O’Connor from A Passion for Needlework 2 | Factoria VII is an elegant silk needlebook with a monogram, pinwheel, scissor sheath and fob.

Redwork Pincushion & Chatelaine by Margaret Light from A Fine Tradition is a barrel pincushion and chatelaine comprising a scissor sheath and fob, thimble fob and strawberry emery.

~ Trina McNeilly ~

Stay informed of upcoming needlework events taking place all around the world in our What’s On page on the Inspirations Studios Website HERE.