stitch guides

kelly clark needlepoint rooster, stitch guide by janet perry

Order stitch guides like this from my new site.

I’ve been thinking about the canvases in my stash and, when I do that, inevitably I think about how others might stitch them and how I would stitch them. Also inevitably this brings to mind all the things that might go wrong when you buy a stitch guide that has already been written.

In my stitch guides I work hard to address many of these problems.

1. No diagrams or all the diagrams in one place. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like having too many papers around, needing a book and the stitch guide, or flipping through pages. If I need both guide and book because the guide doesn’t have diagrams, I’ll toss the guide and just use the book. If I need to flip through pages I won’t.

2. Threads that aren’t around anymore. I have a huge stash, but I don’t like it when I guide calls for threads that aren’t around. It’s one thing if it is from a shop, they wrote it, and you are buying the threads there. But this is often not the case. I don’t want to think of a substitute, I don’t want to call dozens of stores looking for the thread. Help me out here, don’t use it if the guide is commercially available.

3. Buying one of many threads that aren’t used much. Have these people heard of stashes? Couldn’t we improvise for threads where only a yard or so is needed? I am capable of picking a floss if I don’t need much of a thread. But if I feel I’m forced to buy it, I will not be happy. I don’t need excuses to make my stash bigger.

But mostly I don’t buy guides because they don’t suit my tastes. They don’t use enough threads, or too many threads, or it’s too plain or too glitzy, or there are too many stitches, or . . .

The solution to all of this is to buy a custom Stitch Guide. With one of my guides, you’ll get something that suits you — your tastes, your stitching level, and even your stash. Written by a stitcher for stitchers, you’ll get something that you can use when stitching with the cat next to you on the couch, in the car, or on your commute.

Best of all, the cost isn’t much more than an already prepared guide. And isn’t having one you’ll use worth it?

To get started, fill out the Stitch Guide Enquiry Form.

More:
Why Some Stitch Guides Disappoint

Pinwheel Quilt Block Pin Cushion – Free Project

needlepoint pincushion
Picture this. A needlepoint pin cushion bristling with ball head pins is sitting on a desk. A black cat, still almost a kitten, jumps up next to the pincushion. He takes one pin delicately by the head and pulls it out. Immediately he drops it onto the cushion and takes another one.

The cat is mine, Darcy, the pincushion is today’s free project and this really happened. He didn’t swallow any pins, we chased him off, and the pincushion is sitting in a drawer.

scotch stitch free needlepoint pattern by janet perry

The project is really simple and uses one stitch, Scotch. By varying the direction of the stitch and the colors, you can make this overall pattern. To make the design bigger most easly, just expand the size of the Scotch Stitches.

needlepoint pinwheel design by janet perry based on quilt block

Stitch it using two colors of Watercolours on 18 mesh canvas. I used two shades of blue, one medium and one light, but it will work in any color combination.

See the article here:
Pinwheel Quilt Block Pin Cushion – Free Project

Something to Crow about!

Originally posted 2008-10-21 06:37:44. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Easy stitches and great threads combine to make a realistic rooster.

The rooster is finished and here he is. The stitch guide will be available from Kelly Clark Needlepoint, as is the canvas.

My husband, who is supportive but not usually enthusiastic about my needlepoint, thinks this one is “spectacular.” He likes how realistic the tail is. It’s stitched in all silk ribbons, with over lapping stitches. I went color by color, following the painting on the canvas to build up the tail.

I’m nuts about the background. I wanted something which added some metallic and was open, to really put the focus on the rooster. So I thought about using a small blackwork pattern. I felt the one I was considering was too busy, so I enlarged it a bit and left out the stitches in the middle.

I really wasn’t thinking about chicken wire until I started stitching it. In fact I deliberately didn’t choose the chicken wire pattern I had already developed. But doesn’t it look just like a new roll of chicken wire?

And not just because of the shape. The Vintage Silver braid from Kreinik has a real aluminum luster to it, which is just perfect.

I’m so happy that the sum of the parts of this piece look even better than what I saw in my mind’s eye over the summer.

View original post here:
Something to Crow about!

Rooster — Sneak Peek

Originally posted 2008-10-14 07:01:03. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The canvas above is my current project, American Game Cockerel by Kelly Clark Needlepoint.

Most if the time the canvas is chosen first then the stitches. But this is one where I had the idea first and sought a canvas to fit it. I woke up one morning with an idea for how to stitch a rooster. What threads and stitches would convey the glorious tail (not stitched yet), the short furry feathers, the pebbly skin of the wattle and comb and even the velvet for the feet and beak.

To be fair, I had already seen pictures of the roosters a little while back on Kelly’s site, but they weren’t what I was thinking about — it could have been any rooster to stitch in needlepoint.

I’m so happy that he is coming out exactly how I had imagined. So what’s here? The beak and feet use Very Velvet, and the comb and wattle use Neon Rays in a stitch with a pebbly texture (Pebbly Perle would work here as well). But I’m really proud of his golden feathers. They are stitched in Continental using five colors of Fuzzy Stuff. The trick is that it’s really hard to fit Fuzzy Stuff in between other stitches, so you need to use five needles, one for each thread, start them all and go stitch by stitch.

It’s really easy to get the threads tangled and it goes slowly at first. It took me most of one evening to do about a third, but I finished the rest up in a less than an evening. I just love how it’s speckled and multi-colored and furry all at once and that such a simple stitch gave such a dramatic result.

After I’m done with the teal border, I’ll be working on the tail. It’s going to be done in long Gobelin Stitches using five or six different silk ribbons. I saw it in my mind’s eye — now I’ll see it on canvas.

The guide for the canvas will be available from Kelly Clark Needlepoint later in the year.

Follow this link:
Rooster — Sneak Peek

Needlepoint Stitch Guides Site Now Open!

in Halloween,Nuts About Needlepoint

Order stitch guides like this from my new site.

There’s no doubt about it, stitchers love stitch guides. Our appetite for them is almost insatiable. Talk to any designer and they will tell you shopowners ask about stitch guides all the time.

If a designer has none, they wonder why not. If a designer has some, they want more. And we, as stitchers want them and want them at an affordable price.

Today marks the opening of my new on-line shop, Needlepoint Stitch Guides. Here you will find stitch guides for many popular designers, available both as PDFs (for you to print) or as printed guides). You can order directly from the shop and have your guides as soon as the same day. Talk about immediate stitchy gratification.

It’s the largest on-line shop dedicated to needlepoint stitch guides and related products.

There’s lots more to the site. You’ll find reference information about stitch guides and using them, order forms for my popular custom stitch guides and quick stitch help, and lots more. The site is easy to navigate with guides classified by designer and by subject.

Guides are available for canvases by some of today’s most popular designers including, Melissa Shirley, Kelly Clark, and Raymond Crawford. And for one stop shopping, some designers will allow you to order the canvas at the same time.

There are special products designed to help you make the most of your needlepoint. Background Stitch Guides are stitch and thread suggestions to make your needlepoint shine. Custom versions of them are available at the same low price. Thread Maps help you with a complete listing of threads and areas. Some shops charge up to $50 to pull threads, but with this service you get my expert eye at a low cost. Technique Sheets are specialized sheets (not canvas specific) showing you how to create an effect or do a technique on painted canvas.

I’m committed to sharing my knowledge with you so that your needlepoint can be exciting and beautiful. More products will be added just as fast as I can get them written, so stop back often to see what’s new.

Visit Needlepoint Stitch Guides today and keep stitching!

Read the original here:
Needlepoint Stitch Guides Site Now Open!

Why a Custom Stitch Guide?

wicked needlepoint stitch guide by Janet Perry

Get the stitch guide for this Raymond Crawford canvas

It sits there in your stash tempting you. On the wall at the LNS you couldn’t resist it. Now it’s home and you don’t know how to stitch it.

What you need is a stitch guide. But one isn’t available. Or it is too hard. Or it uses threads you don’t like. Or . . .

What you need is a custom stitch guide. One written just for you.

One that takes into account your tastes, your stitching level, and even your stash. Maybe you have some ideas about the canvas, maybe there is something you want to change but don’t know how.

That’s where my custom stitch guides come in. Written to the same high quality as my published guides, they have stitch diagrams, instructions, and materials list. I will even customize them to the threads carried by your LNS to make shopping easier.

Nothing beats a customized stitch guide. Through our email discussion, I learn about you and why you want to stitch this canvas. Together I will create for you the guide that will make the canvas everything you want it to be.

Even after 40 years of stitching, I am always delighted when the stitching I imagine looks better on the canvas. I want to share that delight with you by creating a guide for that special canvas.

You can begin the process by filling out the stitch guide enquiry form to get a free estimate for your canvas. Finished guides begin at $65.

If you’re stumped by only a section of the canvas, try my Quick Stitch Help Service, beginning at only $5. If a stitchy shot in the arm for perplexed needlepointers.

The rest is here:
Why a Custom Stitch Guide?

Stitch Guides from Barbara Bergsten

needlepoint butterfly from barbara bergsten designs

You can get the stitch guide for this butterfly from the designer

I love Barbar Bergsten’s needlepoint canvases. Her colors are wonderfully bright and cheerful, her designs are great, and her designs are on larger mesh size. For awhile she has been blog-stitching many of her pieces and writing stitch guides for them.

Best of all they are free on her site. She has just completed a wonderful index page of stitch guides, showing the canvases, linking to the guides, and often showing pictures of the finished canvases. Great stuff!

See the rest here:
Stitch Guides from Barbara Bergsten

Needlepoint Stitch Guides Now Available

Get the stitch guide for this Raymond Crawford canvas

You are probably a stitcher like while I often like the challenge of picking my own stitiches and threads, sometimes I want the relaxing pastime of stitching from a stitch guide.

melissa shirley needlepoint chocolates stitch guide by Janet Perry

Innovative and easy techniques for these popular canvases

This propelled me into writing my own stitch guides and continues to keep me designing. On the one hand I do custom stitch guides (click here to get started with one) that are comprehensive and affordable. They are customized to you and even to the shop you use. No one offers a better guide at a lower price.

tink boord-dill peach tile needlepoint stitch guide by Janet Perry

learn shading with multiple colors in this stitch guide

I have long been thinking about a way to make the guides I’ve written available to a wider audience. I hear from many of you about your frustration with the lack of guides, your desire to have some help, and your love of the canvases you find.

chinese letters needlepoint stitch guide by Janet Perry

You can use this guide to stitch any canvas in this series and make up to 8 canvases

Today I’m preannouncing my new site, Needlepoint Stitch Guides, where you will be able to buy already created guides, order custom guides, and download free stitch guides. The pictures you see throughout the article are some of the guides available.

needledeeva nativity needlepoint stitch guide by Janet Perry

Make your own needlepoint nativity with this guide

Until the site is up, email me for the list of guides. And as a special bonus to you you can get 20% off already published guides, either as PDFs or in print, and 10% off any custom guide. This offer is good through June 30, 2010, just tell me you saw it here.

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Needlepoint Stitch Guides Now Available

I’ll have that cocktail

Originally posted 2007-01-11 07:07:27. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

I’ve been working with Kathy Peterson from Bongo since last winter. One of my favorite projects from her is this delightful Mai Tai. I designed and wrote the stitch guide.

It was lots of fun working with these bright colors.

The border is Herringbone Stitch, done in a multi-colored metallic and Vineyard Silk. Herringbone is a great â€œbig bang for the buckâ€ stitch. This is the name I give to those stitches which are far easier to stitch than the final appearance suggests. Herringbone has a complex woven look, and you might think this is hard to achieve.

But it’s not, just make the stitch in multiple trips, one for each thread or color.

Another cool think about this design is the umbrella. It too is stitched in stages. The first stage stitched the background in Basketweave. The French Knots were scattered throughout using several threads. Finally the spokes were added with long slanting stitches — pretty effective!

You can see another post about more Bongo stitch guides and other great products at TNNA on the Preview Promenade blog at http://www.yarnandthread.com.

For shopowners attending TNNA, Bongo (booth 2211 & 2212) has some show specials.

I hope you can stop by!