Embroidery Inspirations

I keep getting stuck in a rut using the same embroidery stitches!  A couple of years ago I made myself try and use new ones, but then I didn't embroider for awhile and now I'm back to my old same old.  While looking for inspiration, I found a few sites you might also like.

I always key into any news coming out of the Royal School of Needlework, but for some reason had never looked at their website.  There are lots of pictures to look at, including some fascinating step-by-step explanations of restoration work they've done, like this Tudor Rose.  I died over the class descriptions - if I lived in England I'd be a regular!  However ..... I did not know that a couple of times a year they have classes in San Francisco.  This is very exciting!  See the information on the intensives here and the day classes here.

Okay - back to reality since I don't live England and can't go to this year's San Francisco classes!  Except for missing the camaraderie of a real life class, the internet has some very good sites for taking one's needlework to the next level.  My favorite stitch instruction site is Sharon B's Dictionary of Stitches.   For those new to Sharon, she's an amazing needleworker from Australia.  Take a look at the gallery of her inspiring work here.  Also, she features different stitches every week on her blog, Pin Tangle.

And finally, whether you're a beginning embroidery or have been doing this for a long time, if you haven't looked at Mary Corbet's Needle and Thread website, do it now!  I'm working my way up from the beginning, which is a good idea if you're wanting to improve your embroidery skills.  She started out with more of the basics and has moved into showing how she does her own work - which is gorgeous!  Right now she's working on a goldwork and silk piece inspired by an old ecclesiastical embroidery. And if you have problems figuring a stitch out from diagrams, Mary has a library of video stitch tutorials here.


Happy Creating!  Deborah