needlepoint

Project: Needlepoint Purse

By Danielle Thompson

I really love the look of vintage needlepoint (especially needlepoint handbags!) from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and wanted to try my hand at needlepoint myself. So I grabbed some plastic canvas from the craft store, got to stitching, and soon realized: needlepoint is pretty easy! Even the simplest stitches produce a beautiful effect. A lot of people associate ugly designs from the 80s when they think of plastic canvas, but it's a great way to introduce yourself to the gorgeous world of needlepoint. The canvas is easy to use - it has a large weave so projects work up very fast, and it's not finicky like fabric canvas can be. I've put together a tutorial for making a stylish needlepoint purse with a design that's a modern twist on this favorite from the past.

Materials

(2) 13 1/2" x 10 1/2" plastic needlepoint canvas
Scissors
Plastic canvas needles
Worsted-weight yarn in various colors (this is a great stash buster)
1" button cover kit; you'll be making 3 buttons
Wool felt: (2) 8 3/4" x 4" pieces; (2) 13 1/4" x 8 3/4" pieces; scraps for felt buttons your choice of colors
Purse handles

See the supplies/resources guide at end of this tutorial for tips to help you find these items.

Download the Needlepoint design PDF
Right click to save the PDF to your desktop. Directions on downloading PDFs.

Directions

Step 1: Trim your plastic needlepoint canvas down with scissors. For a 13 1/2" x 10 1/2" piece, cut off 12 horizontal plastic threads at the bottom and 1 vertical plastic thread off one side. Be careful to cut down the last nubs of plastic fairly close, while being careful not to cut into the next thread. When I made this purse, I cut down my canvas after I finished my needlepoint design - it's up to you if you want to do it before or after.

Step 2: Get stitching! Only the front panel of the purse is created using needlepoint. You can download the needlepoint design PDF (above). The Continental Tent Stitch and Crossed Corners Cushion Stitch are used. These are very simple stitches. The Crossed Corners Cushion Stitch is great because it covers a large area quickly. And the weave on plastic canvas is so large, the piece works up fairly fast. As you can see, the arrangement of four Crossed Corners Cushion Stitches together creates a pretty pinwheel effect.

Here are some diagrams on ending and starting threads for needlepoint that directly relate to this purse project.

Step 3: Add your felt covered buttons. If you don't have a button-covering kit, some large-sized vintage buttons would be a pretty addition. Make your buttons according to the instructions in the image above. To attach the buttons to your needlepoint, knot one end of a length of yarn, pull your needle through the middle of one set of four Crossed Corners Cushion Stitches, pull the yarn through the shank of your button, and then insert your needle back into the same hole through the back. Secure your thread and cut. Add three buttons down the front center of the purse.

Step 4: Cut out the remaining pieces of your purse according to the image above.

Step 5: You can choose to back your needlepoint with felt or not, but I thought it was important to protect the back of the piece from whatever you're putting in your purse. Place your needlepoint backing on top of the wrong side of your needlepoint piece. Anchor the four corners of the backing to your needlepoint piece so that it stays in place while you stitch the two together. Stitch all the way around as shown above. Use a yarn color that blends in well with your plastic canvas. I used blue so that you could see the stitches well for this tutorial, but ended up using a dark brown to match my canvas.

Step 6: Stitch all parts of the bag together as shown in the above image, in this order:

Whipstitch A to B.
Using a running stitch, stitch A to C, C to D, D to E, and then E to A. Leave approximately 1/4" of a seam allowance (keeping this to the inside of the bag). You could also use a sewing machine to stitch C to D and D to E to save time.
Carefully flip the bag inside out. Whipstitch B to the bottoms of C, D, and E.

Step 7: Attach the purse handles. For the front side of the purse, anchor a length of yarn (use a color that blends in with the color of the purse handle) to the top of the needlepoint panel, loop through one end of the purse handle opening, and then back through the needlepoint canvas. Continue doing this wide whipstitch to connect the two together until you get to the end of the purse handle opening. I wanted the look to be thick, so I doubled my stitches through the weave of the canvas, as shown above.

Step 8: Attach the other purse handle to the back panel. Since it's the back, I didn't care too much how it looked so I didn't double up my stitches. Since the back panel is felt, I wanted to reinforce where the handle will be attached, so I stitched a small piece of plastic canvas to the top using a running stitch, and then attached the handle using a whipstitch (see the above image).

Step 9: Pinch the tops of the side panels and secure with a small stitch. You're done!

Supplies/Resources Guide:

Plastic canvas (brown): Joann craft store
Wool felt (12" x 18") in Butterscotch, Mint, and Grapefruit: Giant Dwarf
Wooden purse handles: Joann craft store (Everything Mary Brand, RN #128183)
Button cover kit: you can find at your local craft store or on Etsy
Stitch Step by Step is a fantastic needlepoint/stitch guidebook

About the Author:

Danielle Thompson is a graphic designer, crafter, blogger, collector, thrifter, and scout of all things vintage. She lives in Atlanta, Ga. with her two boys and husband. You can follow her on her blog, Twitter, and Facebook and see her designs at Kitschy Digitals.

Threads Days at Nuts about Needlepoint

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Being laid up with a cold last week and having lots of new threads to play with, I did a whole bunch of stitching. That means this week,tomorrow through Friday and next week, Tuesday through Friday, I’ll be reviewing these threads.

My thread reviews are more than just descriptions of the threads. I use the threads in my own stitching and let you know, and see, just how the behave.

Some of the threads we’ll review include a mohair from The Thread Gatherers, new silks from Gloriana and Planet Earth, a new fiber from Dream House, and a great post from Barbara Elmore on a new thread from Sundance.

I’m so excited to share these with you.

More:
Threads Days at Nuts about Needlepoint

Vist the TNNA Show On-line

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

The World of Needlepoint, the site for TNNA’s Needlepoint Group, has put up a delightful gallery of pictures from the recent Winter Market in Phoenix.

Go to this page and scroll down a bit to find the gallery. In it you’ll find lots of wonderful pictures from the show. There are pictures of each table from the Needlepoint Gallery, where designers show off their newest , including several of the pieces I wrote about.

Check it out.

Continued here:
Vist the TNNA Show On-line

On Older Canvas

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Originally posted 2007-01-22 17:39:14. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

My Sunday stitching project at the moment is an older canvas and Iâ€™m stitching it in hand. Working on it yesterday got me thinking about canvas.

High-quality canvas, like Zweigart mono, is made from 100% cotton. The stiffness of a new needlepoint canvas comes from sizing added to the canvas once it is woven. Sizing also makes canvas hard on threads because the stiff sizing wears out the thread more quickly than the smooth fabric alone.

Sizing is removed from canvas is several ways. If you thoroughly wet the canvas, you notice itâ€™s a bit sticky — thatâ€™s the sizing. Wet it and wring it out a couple more times and the sizing is removed.

As you stitch the canvas, your needle moves the canvas back and forth – this will eventually break down the sizing. Folding the canvas also does this along the fold.

Finally the sizing disappears as the canvas gets old.

In my case, the canvas was folded (and I know better) and it is three years old. So itâ€™s very soft. Iâ€™m still crumpling it up in hand, so I donâ€™t mind too much, but if you have an old canvas and want stiffness, your only solution is to stretch it on a frame. Stretching and the tension it brings will put stiffness back into the canvas. I would go further and say just use Evertite bars because you will need to adjust the tension more often with an older canvas.

View original post here:
On Older Canvas

Merry Easter Eggs – book review

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Originally posted 2006-02-18 14:51:18. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Carolyn Hedge Baird. 2004.

Whimsical and bursting with ideas, Carolyn Hedge Baird has written a book of stitch ideas
which covers much more than just Easter Eggs. It contains “ideas for borders and stripes,
backgrounds, details, threads, finishing, and displaying your needlepoint eggs!”

The book can roughly be divided into four sections; introduction, stitch suggestions, stitch
dictionary and additional techniques. Each section is packed with ideas.

The introduction is short and includes an introduction (and a great story about the Easter
Raccoon (who now lives at my house, I think), an introduction, some thoughts about
needlepointing, and a wonderful set of outlines of Easter eggs (for designing your own).

The second section is called Easter Needlepoint. It is divided by types of objects (straw
hats, bunnies, etc.) and lists stitch and thread suggestions for all parts of the object.
Needing to stitch some dots? This section includes suggestions for evenly spaced dots,
random dots, dots over 4 threads, and dotted areas. Along with some stitch diagrams,
there are list of stitches for all these areas, as well as hints and comments. Blank pages
and graph paper are included throughout this section to record your own choices.

The largest section of the book is the stitch dictionary. It is divided into sections including
tiny and small stitches, backgrounds, stitches for details, laid fillings and more. The
sections begin with a listing of stitches in them and then each stitch is diagrammed, and
many have additional information. In the tiny stitches section, for example, she has a great
description of Chottie’s Plaid. Once again idea, blank pages, graph paper and clip art are
interspersed throughout the section.

Specialized techniques, finishing and display information make up the last section of the
book. This included information which often is not seen in needlepoint books with
sections on silk ribbon embroidery, wired ribbon, and beading as well as finishing and
display information.

I love this book and find myself turning to it often for ideas, but I would add a small word
of caution. For people who have difficulty reading or who don’t like densely packed
information on a page, Baird’s style could be difficult. Her typeface can be hard to read
(especially in small sizes) and with clip art, text and diagrams on a page, it can be difficult
for some people to see what is most important.

But these are small problems with a book which is joyous, fun and full of ideas, even if you
never stitch and Easter Egg.

Continue reading here:
Merry Easter Eggs – book review

Painted Canvas Goodies from TNNA

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

There is always so much more great stuff at TNNA that I can’t cover everything. Here’s more stuff I loved.

Tapestry Fair has some lovely geishas that have a great concept. They are seen from the back. The clothing is line drawn, so you can pick your own stitches, colors and threads, but the heads are painted. A cool basis for creativity. There are three single geishas and a piece with six.

A Collection of Designs has new mini-socks, snowmen, ornaments and, my favorite, elaborate crosses. Jean Smith had an absolutely amazing large (4 feet square) of a single flower, plus many delightful coasters that are smaller versions of her popular flowers and vegetables. These are great for giving you an assortment of her work.

At Elizabeth Turner there was a delightful Noah’s Ark mini-sock, stocking, and mitten, all with plenty of opportunity for embellishments and fancy stitching. They also had a great set of coasters with fancy purses on them as well as glasses cases with many purses as well. Sew Much Fun had another charming variation for those who don’t go in for stockings, oven mitts in large and mini sizes. There were three designs in each size with my favorite being Piece, Hope, Love with cake on the mini and pie on the large.

Birds of a Feather had delightful owls, nativity figures in their whimsical style as individual ornaments, and three sampler designed by artist Nancy Davis. They also had a delightfully different “Hunting Wild Boar” canvas. Cooper Oaks had small pieces of Susan Wallace Barnes artwork in ornament rounds and small (6″ square) pictures.

Looking at the beachy theme of those canvases, my favorite beach pieces were from j.child. They had extremely clever beach stockings, ornaments, and mini socks in lots of designs. Probably my favorites were the beachy ornaments stocking and the mini sock with bright Christmas lights along a driftwood fence.

I simply adored the resin boxes at Amanda Lawford. There were a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes. To go along with them were clever canvases. Stitch the canvas and pop it into the box for a fast, unique gift. There I also saw a set of wonderful bird silhouettes that came with thread lists and embellishments. There is a cardinal, chickadee, dove, and blue jay.

The Point of It All had a lovely wedding ensemble that was dainty and elegant. It included votive covers that can be done with your choice of initials, a small ring bearer’s pillow, a tiny brides bag and fairy tale shoes. Making any of these would be such a treat for a wedding. JulieMar & Friends has a new snowman collection and lots of new creative Halloween pieces.

DReam HOuse had several new designers including by Georg with lovely florals. They also had new Mindy pieces and some wonderful mid-century modern pieces, including one called Falling Leaves that has a great 50′s vibe. Needledeeva has a great series of nine Christmas trees of various kinds, each decorated and with a different shape. Vicky DeAngelis did the stitch guides.

Robbyn’s Nest has a lovely series of botanically correct roses as coasters or pillows, along with four new designers eggs (think Faberge), and a set of five colorful tropical frogs. Canvas Connection is back with new Talavera and Imari designs.

I loved the initially yours series of squares from new designer Canvas Art by Barbi. Each square is divided into rough quarters with a different font of the initial with a different color background on each. They each also have a letter embellishment on them. Barbi also makes a great series of needlepoint “postcards” with many colorful heart designs.

Associated Talents has a lovely set of semi-custom script monograms in squares. You can have up to three letters in the monograms and they are available with patterned or plain backgrounds, in several colors and with plain or elaborate borders. I loved them because the script monograms make such a strong and elegant design statement just on their own.

Labors of Love has added to their clip-on line with a new 12 days of Christmas series. The thing I like best about this is that the birds in this series are compatible in size with their other birds.

Tomorrow, news about distribution of some of your favorite designers, along with more canvases. Next Friday another TNNA article with a look at new stuff from two of my favorites, Kathy Schenkel and Melissa Shirley.

Go here to see the original:
Painted Canvas Goodies from TNNA

How Do I Find a Neutral Gray Thread?

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Grays can be a real problem in threads. You think you have found the perfect one, you get it home and UGH, it looks horrible with your other threads.

This is because there are three types of grays, warm, cool, and neutral. Warm grays have gray plus a bit of a warm color. Cool grays have gray with a bit of a cool color. Neutral grays are just mixtures of black and white.

If you pick a grey for an all-cool color piece and it’s a warm grey, you get that UGH feeling. A neutral, or even better, a cool gray will look great.

But often it’s hard to tell.

Here’s what to do at a shop or when shopping your stash.

Take a skein of red thread and with a skein of blue thread. Put one next to a possible gray thread. Then do the same wit the other thread. If it is a neutral gray, it will look warm next to the blue thread and cool next to the red thread.

If it doesn’t do both, it isn’t a neutral gray.

I get home from Phoenix late tonight or early tomorrow, so my TNNA reports will start on Wednesday.

Read the rest here:
How Do I Find a Neutral Gray Thread?

New Series from Leigh Designs

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Leigh Designs’ new series to be introduced at this weekend’s TNNA show is called Shogun. They are 12″ x 16″ on Sandstone 18 mesh mono.

There is a picture of one in the newest Needlepoint Now.

A stitched model of Yoritomo will be on display at the show.

You’ll be able to see them all soon on the Leigh site.

See the original post here:
New Series from Leigh Designs

Cool Plastic Canvas Alert

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

These plastic canvas robots are from Crafty Pod (http://www.craftypod.com)

My friend Diane over at Crafty Pod made these completely amazing robots from plastic canvas.

Her post details the project and many more pictures of them.

I am completely in awe of the wonderful and fresh things Diana does with plastic canvas. In fact there are several posts on this blog pointing to free projects she has made available using this ground, including:

See more here:
Cool Plastic Canvas Alert

Anna Maria Horner’s New Needlepoint Kits

by Rachel Hobson

in Uncategorized

Back at Quilt Market in October, I was particularly excited to get a sneak peek of more needlework love in Anna Maria Horner's booth. In addition to her gorgeous fabrics, sewing patterns and books, Horner recently released embroidery kits of specially-selected embroidery floss to coordinate with her fabrics. A Quilt Market, though, an even newer needlwork addition was on display: needlepoint kits. The canvases were so new that they hadn't even had time to be stitched before Quilt Market, but even unstitched, they were beautiful. (you can see a picture of the un-stitched canvases at the bottom of this post) I was excited to see Horner's post with some of the canvases stitched on her blog this week. They are stunning. I can't wait to get my hands on one!

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