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Creative Jean Patches

Cool Concepts for Patching & Repairing Jeans Create fashion statements with unique jean patches. While “holey” jeans are undeniably in style, some holes (and some dress codes) require a little improvising to make jeans acceptable for wear. Patching a pair of jeans can be an opportunity for a fashion statement, not a fashion punishment, with …

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Recycle & Repurpose Fabrics

Start a Fabric Stash of old, cast-off Materials and Garments! Use old or cast-off garments, textile remnants, or pieces of upholstery fabric in your sewing to create original items. This is a low cost and environmentally friendly. Recycling and repurposing fabric not only gives a free or low-cost source of materials, but it also provides …

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Freestanding Machine Embroidery

These Popular Designs Offer Creative Opportunities to Embroiderers Freestanding machine embroidery designs have been cleverly created to give lacy openwork patterns that do not require fabric and can be used in a variety of ways. Freestanding machine embroidery patterns, (also known as freestanding lace) offer the machine embroiderer the opportunity to get especially creative. As …

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All About Monogramming

A Look at the Classic Way to Personalize Just About Anything The art of monogramming has been around for centuries, and today’s use is as much about personal expression as it is about identification. It is a popular design element for wedding decorations, for personal stationary, and for jazzing up plain towels. It can be …

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Machine Embroidery Tips

Design Considerations, Stabilizer Choices, and Hooping Techniques With the right hooping and stabilizing techniques and the right design choice for a particular fabric, even a novice can achieve professional embroidery results. Although machine embroidery appears fairly straightforward – the machine does most of the work – it is important to realize that proper hooping and …

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Guide to Needlepoint Canvas

Seven Different Types of Needlepoint Fabrics and When to Use Them Learn about the different types of canvas available for needlepointing: mono, interlock, penelope, rug, plastic, waste, and gauze canvas. Canvas is always the base fabric for needlepoint embroidery, which makes the end result stiffer and more durable than forms of embroidery like cross stitch, …

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How to Block a Needlepoint Canvas

Restore Needlepoint to its Original Shape after Stitching Learn how to use needlepoint blocking to straighten out needlepoint canvases and make them lie flat to look their best. Needlepoint blocking is an essential finishing step for almost any needlepoint project. This is because the act of stitching tends to pull the needlepoint canvas out of …

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Essential Needlepoint Supplies

Tools and Accessories for Getting Started with Needlepoint One of the reasons needlepoint has been favorite for centuries is its simplicity and portability. Just a few easy-to-find needlepoint supplies are all you need. The essential equipment for needlepoint embroidery couldn’t be simpler. All you really need is a needlepoint canvas, yarn, and a tapestry needle. …

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Brief History of Crewel Embroidery

Ancient Hand Embroidery Technique Reinvents Itself over Time From the Bayeux Tapestry to modern floral wall hangings, crewel stitches worked with embroidery wool on the woven fabric have been an enduring hand embroidery tradition. Crewel work is a form of embroidery that uses wool yarn to stitch a design drawn on a background fabric. Linen …

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Free Fairy Wonder Needlepoint

This Fairy is Designed by Donna VermillionGiampa Size of Design: 77w x 94h Materials Required: one 2.5m skein of Kreinik Silk Mori® in each: 3013, 3021, 7135, 7012, 7014, 7124, 6083, 6106, 6104, 4166, 4164, 4163, 4162, 5093, 5053, 5091, 6124, 6123 Kreinik Blending Filament in 002HL 32-count silk gauze from Kreinik (at least 4” …

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Beautiful Needlepoint Flowers

108 x 32 stitches. 7.5″ x 2.4″ stitched on 14 count. 6.7″ x 2″ stitched on 18 count. Difficulty level: Easy Designed by: ©Crosstitch.com Check out this FREE Flowers cross stitch pattern! This flower design only uses full cross-stitches. As you might see in the photo, it has an illustration of the design stitched onto …

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Needlepoint Basic Instruction

1 . Working With Patterns Designs are embroidered by using DMC embroidery floss to put X’s on the fabric material similar to emblems on the chart. Every symbol on the chart signifies one X on the cloth. The various symbols on the chart signify distinct shades of DMC floss. For further in depth guidelines, you …

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