I'd rather be stitchin': Academy of Needlework

22 Jul 2024

Academy of Needlework – ABC Sampler

It’s so right when they say you’re never too old to learn, so when Nicola Parkman from Hands Across the Sea Samplers, said she was going to start an on-line Academy of Needlework, I knew I had to join in, despite having stitched for more than 60 years.

You start by downloading the ABC Sampler from her web site and then you tune in to her weekly FlossTube video and away you go.

She starts with the basics, like preparation of the fabric, including how to calculate the size of the piece of fabric you need, to how important it is to insure the edges of the fabric are straight, something I’ve been guilty of never doing in the past.

The tutorials are intended to work through stitches, as well as show ways to enhance those stitches in various ways.

The first week covers cross stitch and reversible cross stitch, as well as ways of starting and finishing threads.

I've never been precious about how the back of work looks, although having said that, I do keep it as tidy as possible and try not to carry threads too far.

Learning how to work a pin stitch start has made a big difference my back of my work though, as you can see here.

The reversible cross stitch makes a big difference too, but I'm not sure it's something I would do often, unless I was stitching on a tablecloth, napkin or something else where the back won't be covered up in some way. The reason, because it uses more thread due to the fact you have to stitch again over threads that have already been laid.

The next stitch Nicola covered was 'Running Stitch' and 'Double Running Stitch'. She also showed another way to start and finish threads, because pin stitch is not really compatible and would show.

Apparently this was one of the first stitches that was taught because it was used on their samplers to stop the edges from fraying while they worked on them.