Embroidery Tools

This post is LONG overdue and is dedicated to Jules of Adventures in Thread who requested it quite some time ago when I mentioned that I'd cleaned and reorganised this section and then offered to explain what some of the things were.  So, without further ado..... (Sorry about some of the photos - too bright light!)

First we have a thimble (which I use on occasion), a pack of expensive Japanese pins from a quilting shop in Taipei, Taiwan, some Thread Heaven, which came as part of a cross stitch group exchange game and which I don't use much, a needle threader, which I never use and have only keep 'just in case' and the ubiquitous seam ripper.

Next is the scissors/cutters section and you can see here from top left a pair of goldwork scissors, a small pair of embroidery scissors I keep as a spare, petit point scissors used for cutwork in hardanger and drawn thread pieces, some more embroidery scissors which are a bit wrecked, a Clover cutter pendant for air travel and the general pair I use for most thread cutting work (and which aren't as dirty as they look - the white spots are actually the bright light reflecting on the 'textured' surface of the black plastic!)

This stuff is mostly measuring, marking and cleaning: 3 dressmakers' pencils, an ordinary 6"/15cm ruler, a ruler which you can use to measure angles with (that I got 4 years ago in Taiwan thinking it was nifty and that I would use it a lot - but never have!!), a toothbrush for brushing away fluff and carbon/chalk marks, tweezers which are more for bending things than picking things up and, finally, an old clothes price tag which is just the right size for making tassels around.  No, I don't wear XL.  This seems to have been something for Sir!!

Here are my stumpwork wires.  There are 4 coils from a set I bought - probably meant to be jewellery wire (as is the small reel, I think, which came from an art shop in Taipei), but will be just fine for most wired stumpwork elements and is also much easier to find than florists' and cake decorators' wire.  The front 2 packs are from a sugarcraft store and are paper covered.

Here we have some more stumpwork etc tools:  A hedebo stick, which is used for making circular elements around before attaching them to the main fabric, a set of 3 half cone sticks in various sizes, a stiletto for puncturing fabric (for Broderie Anglaise etc), and a stuffing tool for pushing toy stuffing into smaller spaces.

And that, apart from the pair of thread snips that got overlooked whilst doing the scissors photo, is it!  What's in yours?

I can't believe how long it's been since I actually did any proper stitching!  I've done a bit of finishing up this month (as you saw last post), but the only embroidery I did was to finish off the cupcake card.  Things are hanging around the living room waiting for me look:

This is one of what we call our 'intelligent bags' (an Oxford University Press bookshop tote - the other is from Cambridge!!) and it's good for housing the stuff I need for the projects on hand.  You can see various patterns, materials and so on in here - mostly upside down!!

And here are my poor, neglected work frames, which have only been touched to move them out of the way and back again recently!

I've been trying to clear the decks of things like finishing up, mending and so on of late, or else have been mad busy with something else and/or stuck with my nose in a language textbook.  Having said that, I feel quite impatient to get back on now with these two, the things that are in the bag (about 4 more - a camera case to make up, the rabbit, TAST stuff and an old C&G sample I mean to finish up as my last UFO to clear) and some baby knitting that I'm just waiting for the yarn for.  A Chinese friend here is having a little girl in November after 2 boys and so I thought I'd do her a couple of pretty things - with which idea she's thrilled.

Oh, speaking of being thrilled, Georgina the disabled girl loves her scatter cushion cover and has already had a cushion pad bought for it.=)

Other than that, what news?  I added a 'forthcoming' page to my blog, so you can easily see what's planned for the near future (where possible) and something which will disappoint some: I won't be doing the C&G after all - health's still too poor and I have really too many demands on my energies as it is.  However, I plan on developing a fair few ideas and new skills, so I hope there'll be enough to keep everyone's interest.

'Til next time, tinkety-tonk!

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2012