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2023 Free Yearly Stitch-Along + Mini Needle-Painting Tutorial

     Anne      6 Comments

Hello! It feels like a while since I posted anything here, and now it’s already 2023! Happy New Year to you and I hope you are having a lovely January so far. I’m thrilled to announce a new stitch-along again for this year, free to all my email subscribers.

If you’re new around here (warmest welcome!), last year I ran the Tea Party Mini-Quilt stitch-along, which consisted of 12 mini-embroidered hexies turned into a mini-quilt. The project combined embroidery, EPP and hand-quilting, and was tons of fun! Each month, I sent out a small embroidery pattern to my email subscribers, and at the end of the year I put together instructions for making the hexies into a mini-quilt. (You can find more info about it in the post linked above)

This year, my theme will be “Floral Garden” and instead of a mini-quilt, we will be making a nice string of bunting. It’s something I’ve been meaning to try for a while now and this project will be the perfect opportunity. Of course, if you prefer to make a mini-quilt again, or anything else you fancy, feel free to do so!

(By the way, if you missed the Tea Party project and it sounds up your alley, you’ll be able to purchase the pattern from my shop shortly. Sign-up to the email list to get notified!)

 

The January Anemone

For January, I’m starting off with a fanciful version of a white anemone, after having been inspired amongst other things by this beautiful wreath from Stitch Floral. I knew I wanted a blue flower for January, and after much Pinterest scrolling and deliberation over the palest DMC shades, I finally settled on two beautiful blues and the palest purple and sat down to stitch.

Of course, I had to do a little needle-painting to get the effect I was looking for, and I wasn’t disappointed! Since it’s a mini-pattern, it doesn’t take too long to stitch and yet it yields a very satisfying result. If you’re new to needle-painting, fear not! Not every pattern in this stitch-along will feature needle-painting, and to make things easier I’ve put together a little tutorial for you, specifically for this flower.

I already have a tutorial for the long & short stitch here, which is the technique most often used and referred to as “needle-painting”, but I wanted to simplify it a bit for this project. Since the pattern is so small, you don’t need to work many rows and the shape is quite forgiving. The addition of the grey-blue thread around the center will also hide any imperfections 😉

You could decide to use the satin stitch if you prefer, but personally I find the long & short easier to get a better definition and control of each stitch.

 

Easy Long & Short Stitch Tutorial

1. So, to begin, you want to be using only 1 strand of floss in your needle. This is one of those stitches that is much harder to lay smoothly if you use many strands. (I’m using a darker blue for this tutorial than I did in the original pattern, for the sake of the photos.)

Start by outlining the shape with split stitch. This will give you a nice edge to work with.

Then, start your first “long” or “short” stitch in the middle of the petal, outside the split stitch edge. We want to be covering this edge by using it as our guide to start stitches evenly.

 

2. Work more stitches on either side of that first stitch, spaced out, in the direction you want your stitches to go. For this project, you want to angle them towards the center as much as possible, to create definition along the edges.

 

3. Begin filling in-between those guiding stitches by working “long” and “short” stitches. Since this is a small area, it doesn’t matter if most of your stitches are about the same length. It will end up looking a bit like satin stitch, but gives you more flexibility to work around the curved edges.

Keep your stitches nice and tight against each other – you don’t want any gaps! You can use the tip your needle to smooth out and “comb” through the stitches before making the next one.

4. You don’t need to stitch all the way to the bottom of the petal, since we will add the darker blue there. Stop when you have just a little bit left.

 

5. Add stitches with the grey-blue colour by starting through the previous row and ending right along the center edge. You will only need to add a few stitches with this colour, just to give it that extra pop and really make the petals come out. Vary the lengths of the stitches so you have visibly long and shorter ones.

And there you go! You’ll notice that the petals will sort of melt into each other, but that’s ok! The more you keep your stitches angled, the more definition they’ll have.

I hope this was helpful and I can’t wait to see your beautiful anemones! Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram and use the hashtag #northernbellesal if you share your creations. Happy stitching!

Fondly,

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Fern Stitch Embroidery Tutorial

     Anne      Leave a Comment

It’s been a little while since I updated the Stitch Library with a new stitch tutorial! While stitching my latest pattern, I decided to branch out a little from the usual stitches I love and try the fern stitch. It’s a lovely leafy stitch that is super simple to work and is the perfect addition to a bouquet or to create a gorgeous border.

 

 

Ready to try it? Let’s go!

 

For this tutorial, I’m using 3 strands of Anchor #365.

 

1. First, I suggest drawing 3 parallel vertical lines, making sure that they are at an even distance from each other.

 

2. Then, once you’ve secured your thread (see this post if you need), bring your needle up from the back at point A, right at the top of the middle line.

 

3. Go down at point B, the length of a stitch, and come back up at point C along the left line, just a little below point A.

4. Go back down at point B again (in the same hole), which will form the second stitch, and come back up on the right line at the same level as point B. This is point D.

 

5. Pull through to close the left stitch from C to B.

 

6. Then, go back down through B again and come up at point E along the middle line, the length of a stitch.

 

7. Pull through to close the right stitch from D to B.

 

8. Go down in point B one last time, to close the stitch from E to B along the middle line. To close this stitch, I prefer to pull through while my needle is on the wrong side, but you could come up at point F on the left line to start the new stitch in the same motion, as we did previously. I just find it easier not to for this middle stitch.

 

9. If you haven’t done so in the previous step, come up at point F along the left line, below point C.

 

10. Go back down through E and up again at G, on the right line below point D. Pull through to close the stitch.

 

11. Go down through E and back up at point H, along the middle line. Go down through E one last time, closing the next stitch.

 

12. Keep going in the same fashion to get one continuous line. Here I’m going in a straight line, but you can decide to curve it as you like. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you won’t need to draw the 3 guide lines, you’ll only need to trace the middle one (or none at all if you like to totally free-hand things!).

 

And that’s it! I find it such a satisfying stitch and should definitely use it more often.

 

Bonus:

You can easily add little beads as you stitch and it creates the loveliest effect!

A snippet from a current WIP, which will be available as a pattern in my Etsy shop soon!

 

I hope you’ll try this stitch too and enjoy it as much as I did!

 

Fondly,

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Basket Weave Stitch Tutorial: Simple & Pretty

     Anne      4 Comments

Welcome to another stitch tutorial! The basket weave stitch is a really fun one. There are so many different ways to approach stitching a basket, but this method is rapidly becoming my favourite. You can easily change the look and texture of the basket by playing around with the number of strands you use.

 

the basket weave stitch embroidery tutorial

 

If you’re here following the Tea Party Mini-Quilt project, ready to stitch June’s Strawberry Basket, I used only 2 strands in the original design. For the purposes of this tutorial, I’m using all 6 strands. Up to you to decide which you like best!

If you’re new around here and you’d like to join in on the Tea Party, I send out a free mini-embroidery pattern each month, to turn into a hexie for a decorative mini-quilt. This month’s pattern is this adorable cottagecore strawberry basket.

embroidered strawberry basket in wooden embroidery hoop

If you’d like to stitch it too and catch-up on previous patterns, you can join my mailing list by subscribing here! I send out a newsletter every two weeks (usually, haha!).

 

Now, onto the tutorial!

 

Basket Weave Stitch Tutorial

1. First, assuming you are indeed wanting to embroider a basket, transfer or draw your pattern on the fabric. Mark the vertical lines of the basket’s weave.

basket outline drawn on fabric

 

2. Make straight stitches over those vertical lines.

vertical straight stitches

 

3. Then, come up on one side of the basket, just beside the first straight stitch.

needle coming up beside the first stitch

 

4. Weave your needle under and over the stitches, all the way to the end.

needle weaving through vertical stitches

 

5. Pull through, adjusting the thread if need be, by pushing it gently with your needle so it rests in a curved line at the top of the basket. Go down into the fabric.

pull working thread through
first row done

 

6. Coming up from the back just beside where you last ended, start weaving the needle again, in the other direction. You’ll want to do the opposite you did previously, so if you ended your stitch “under” the last vertical stitch, start by going over this time. Go all the way to the other end, end the stitch by going down into the fabric, and come up again just under where you left off.

second row complete
basket half filled

 

7. Continue to weave your needle over and under until the basket is filled!

basket filled with weave stitch

 

8. I like to finish with a nice line of stem stitch to hide the weaving ends, and stitch the handle.

stem stitch added around the basket base and handle

And there you are, the sweetest little basket!

 

As you might notice, the weaving looks different in this tutorial compared to my original strawberry basket. That’s because I used fewer strands and made my base stitches much closer for the latter. The basket in the tutorial used more strands, and the vertical stitches were further apart, creating a longer weave.

 

You can play around with this until you find the look you are best satisfied with! I hope you enjoyed this basket weave stitch tutorial, and I wish you lots of happy stitches and strawberry pickings. There’s nothing quite like a basket of freshly picked wild strawberries on a sunny June afternoon, is there?

 

Fondly,

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Spiderweb Stitch Tutorial & May’s Rosy Teapot Pattern

     Anne      Leave a Comment

It’s May already, and that means a new mini-embroidery pattern for our Tea Party Mini-Quilt SAL! It’s time to crown the Tea Party with its ultimate essential, the Queen of all tea things: the teapot. For this pattern you’ll need to know the spiderweb stitch to embroider the roses, so I thought I’d add to the Stitch Library and post a new stitch tutorial. It’s been a while since I posted one, and this is one of my favourite stitches. It’s so simple, but so pretty!

 

Of course, you could embroider the roses on the teapot pattern with bullion knots like we did for January’s Teacup pattern, but I decided to switch it up a bit and do spiderweb roses instead. It’s up to you! Initially, I was going to make the teapot a close match to the teacup pattern, and stitch it in the same blue, but then it just happened to turn pink. I’d pulled out DMC #3779 from the floss box and kept gazing at it, and next thing I knew, the teapot was pink. Just like Sleeping Beauty’s dress.

embroidered teapot on epp hexie

 

I loved the pink too much to change it, but honestly, I still think they do match. I would buy that tea set in a heartbeat if I saw it. 😉

teapot and teacup embroidered on epp hexies

Anyways, onto the spiderweb stitch tutorial!

 

Spiderweb Rose Stitch Tutorial

 

1. First, I recommend marking five straight lines in the shape of a star on your fabric. This will be the foundation for the “spiderweb”. Make sure they are of equal length.

pencil markings on fabric

 

2. Then, I like to use just a strand or two to make straight stitches over the markings. End the stitches in the same hole in the middle.

start-like shape stitched with straight stitches

 

3. Depending on how big you want your rose to be, use as many or as few strands as you like and come up from the back between two of the base stitches, just above the middle point.

needle coming up between two stitches

 

4. Skip over the first straight stitch, and slide your needle under the second stitch. Pull through, and go over the next stitch, and down under the one after. You can go clockwise or anti-clockwise to do this, depending on what you prefer. I like to go anti-clockwise.

needle going over a stitch and under the next
needle going under a base stitch

5. Repeat these motions, going under and over the straight stitches, and you’ll see the rose start to take shape.

needle going down under base stitch to make spiderweb rose
spiderweb rose stitch taking shape

6. Go around the rose several times, until the 5 straight stitches are fully covered. When you’re satisfied, simply bring your needle down to the wrong side, as close to the rose as possible. Anchor your thread on the back, and you’re done!

needle going down the fabric to complete the spiderweb rose stitch

 

You can choose to add a French knot or a seed bead to the middle, but often I like to leave it as is and let the 3D effect create the nice center.

spiderweb rose stitch complete

 

This stitch is very addictive, and also looks amazing worked with ribbon. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and that you’ll give it a try.

Here’s the pinnable image if you want to save it for later:

how to do the spiderweb stitch

 

I can’t wait to see all your beautiful teapots! Don’t forget to use the hashtag #northernbellesal and tag me on IG (@northernbelle.atelier) with your lovely embroideries.

If you’re new around here and would like to stitch the pattern too, simply subscribe to my newsletter and you’ll find the pattern in your inbox next newsletter! I send out a newsletter every two weeks, and a new mini-embroidery pattern every month. At the year of the year, the embroideries will be turned into an EPP mini-quilt. 😊

For more information on the project, you can see this post:

mini-quilt project: epp & embroidery

 

And for an introduction to EPP (English Paper Piecing), you can see this one:

english paper piecing: how to cut and baste shapes

 

As always, thank you so much for reading and following along! Happy stitching, and best of all, happy tea-brewing in your lovely teapots,

 

Fondly,

epp stitchalong: May's rosy teapot
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Getting Started With the Long & Short Stitch

     Anne      2 Comments

Hello, it’s been a while! I haven’t been blogging as much lately because I’ve been working on something new, but today I happily bring you a new stitch tutorial: the famous long & short stitch! I say “happily”, but if I’m honest I dreaded making a tutorial for this one. It’s such a beautiful stitch, but it’s a harder one to master. Doing it justice in tutorial photos was harder than I expected, and I had to shoot the whole thing twice. 😉 Nevertheless, here we are, so if you’re ready to take your embroidery skills to the next level, let’s dive in!

 

long & short stitch embroidery tutorial

 

The long & short stitch is a fill stitch, used in the wonderful technique called “needle-painting”, also called “silk shading”, or “art needlework”. As the first name suggests, using this stitch feels like painting with a needle and thread. Best worked with only 1 strand of floss (cotton or silk), stitches get impeccably blended together to create realistic designs. You’ll often see animals, flowers, and other botanical subjects worked with this technique. For today, I’ve prepared a little flower petal to show you how to get started with the long & short stitch.

 

Long & Short Stitch Tutorial

1. First, you’ll want to thread a fine hand embroidery needle (size 9-12) ideally with 1 strand of floss. I’m using 6-stranded DMC cotton floss, and you can use more strands if you like, but the blending will be less smooth. Depending on the look you’re going for though, it might work very well. But if you’re hoping to get a really fine, paint-like blend, I recommend 1 strand only. It takes more time, but it’s worth it. You’ll want to pick at least 3 different colours that will blend together well. Use variations of the same tone if you want to create a shading effect. I’ll be using 3 different pink tones, going from light to dark.

 

2. Next, you’ll want to draw a shape to be filled. I just made a petal shape, and divided it into 3 sections, since I’ll be using 3 different colours to fill it. I highly recommend adding pencil guidelines to divide your shape, especially if you’re new to this technique.

petal shape drawn in pencil on white fabric

 

3. The next step is to outline the shape with an outline stitch, such as the stem stitch or split stitch. I’m using the stem stitch here, with 1 strand of DMC #778, the dominant colour for this petal. When you outline, choose one of the lighter colours you’ll be working with, to make sure it won’t be visible once the shape is all filled.

petal outlined in stem stitch

 

4. Thread your needle with the colour you’d like to use in the first row. I’m using DMC #225. Bring your needle up from the back right outside the outlined edge at the top of the petal, in the middle. Come back down to end your stitch in the second section. Work another stitch in the same way, a little shorter or a little longer, towards the right or left. Before you start making the stitches very close together, you want to leave space between them to create guideline stitches. This is to help with the stitch direction and makes it easier to fill the shape accurately. Work more stitches in this way until the first section has enough guidelines both on the left and the right side.

stitch guidelines added to the petal

 

5. Now, we can actually fill the first row! The idea is to fill the first section completely by adding “long” and “short” stitches very closely together between the guidelines stitches. I like to work from right to left. Always start your stitches just outside the outlined edge, and down into the second row. Vary their length, ending the shorter ones just at the pencil guideline, and letting the longer ones go as far as 2/3 of the way down into the second row.

first row starting from right to left
needle going down to fill first row

6. Continue in this way until the first row is filled, making your stitches very close to each other.

a third of the first row filled
first row almost filled with long & short stitches
first row filled with long & short stitches

 

7. To fill the second row, thread your needle with a different colour – I’m using #778, a slightly darker pink than #225. Come up from behind through the first row, right about where your pencil guideline was.

needle coming up through first row

 

8. I like to start in the middle, and work a few guidelines towards the right before I start filling.

long & short stitches to fill second row

 

9. Keep filling the second row, just as you did the first. Use guideline stitches if you need (stitches that you place ahead of time to help with direction). Always come up through the previous layer, not down into it. It gives it a much smoother effect!

second row almost filled with long & short stitches
second row filled

 

10. To fill the last row, thread your needle with another colour (#316), and fill it much like you did the second row. Only this time, your stitches will end right outside the outlined edge.

needle going down just outside the outlined edge to stitch the last row

 

11. And that’s it, you’re done!!

petal completely filled with long & short stitch

 

A Few Notes:

  • As I said earlier, this stitch takes a lot of practice! Don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t work too well the first time. It’s normal! It took me years of on and off practice to get comfortable with it, and even still it’s not always perfect. ^_^ It’s just how this stitch is, it requires a lot of patience and precision. But you got this, don’t worry!
  • There are so many different ways to shade, and so many directions you can go with this stitch! Depending on what you’re trying to fill, you might not need such precise rows, or you might need to work diagonally, or use more or less colours. You can shade from dark to light, light to dark, or really any combination that works for your design. The main takeaway with this stitch is that it’s smoother when worked with 1 strand, and you always want to come up through previous rows (or stitches), rather than down into them.
  • If you’re serious about needle-painting, I highly suggest you consult Trish Burr’s amazing work and resources. I already recommended one of her books in a previous post here, and she also has a wonderful website where you can buy her patterns and read her blog: Trish Burr Embroidery Blog. She’s really the expert of long & short stitch, and her designs are stunning.
  • Anything by the Royal School of Needlework is also fantastic, they have a few really great books on silk shading, and they offer acclaimed classes and workshops.
  • Lastly, just remember to have fun with it, and don’t be afraid to experiment!

 

Here’s the pinnable tutorial if you want to save it:

 

how to do the long & short stitch

 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that it was helpful! Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need some help. I promise you this stitch is so worth it, and opens up wonderful possibilities. Happy stitching my friend!

Fondly,

Scallop Stitch: Very Easy Embroidery Tutorial

     Anne      Leave a Comment

Hello and welcome to another very easy stitch tutorial! Today we will look at the scallop stitch, which is a variation of the fly stitch. I realize that I haven’t yet posted a tutorial on the fly stitch, and that’s because I never really use it! I prefer the scallop stitch, which is basically a curvier version of a detached fly stitch. I often use it for small details in my embroidery, worked with only 1 or 2 strands of floss.

 

scallop stitch embroidery tutorial

 

For example, if you’re here following my Tea Party Mini-Quilt stitch-along and you received the February Sweet Cherries pattern, you might have noticed that the scallop stitch was used for small details on the cherries. The scallop stitch, although really easy, is not a stitch I had heard much about when I first started to embroider, so I thought I would post a tutorial on how to do it. If you already know how to do lazy-daisy (detached chain), then you’ll have no problems at all with this one!

 

Scallop Stitch Tutorial

1. Bring your threaded needle (I’m using 2 strands for the tutorial) up from the back at point A, and back down again at point B. Don’t pull all the way through. The distance from A to B will be the length of your finished stitch.

needle going down from A to B

 

2. Start pulling the thread, until a small loop is left. Hold it down with a finger while you bring the needle up from the back at point C. Point C should be half-way across A and B, but slightly lower. The idea here is to create more of a curved line as opposed to the “V” shape of the fly stitch. So to do that, you don’t want point C to be too low. It’s the position of C that will determine how much or how little your line will curve.

needle coming back up between A and B at point C

 

3. Pull the needle all the way through, allowing the loop to rest against the working thread coming from point C. Bring the working thread over the loop, which should now be laying in a curved line from A to B.

thread being pulled all the way from point C to create curved line

 

4. Finally, anchor the curve in place with a very small stitch from C to D. Point D will be directly below point C, forming a very small straight stitch. This is the same way you would finish a lazy-daisy stitch.

needle going down in D to anchor scallop stitch

 

And that’s it!

finished scallop stitch laying nicely on the fabric

 

Repeat as many times as desired. Grouped together it looks like a flight of birds!

several scallop stitched grouped together

 

Here’s the pinnable step-by-step tutorial if you wish to save it for later.

scallop stitch tutorial

I hope this tutorial was helpful and that you enjoy giving the scallop stitch a go if you haven’t already! It’s such a handy stitch for little details. If you’d like to participate in the Tea Party Mini-Quilt stitch along, I send you a free mini-embroidery pattern each month this year as part of my newsletter! You can subscribe right here. We are turning the embroideries into little hexies to make an EPP mini-quilt at the end of the year. 🙂

 

Check out these posts for more info & tutorials on EPP:

english paper piecing: how to cut and baste shapes
stitching a hexie flower english paper piecing
mini-quilt project: epp & embroidery

Have a lovely week my dear readers, and happy stitching!

 

Fondly,