i embroider by hand and by machine. lately I have been exploring stumpwork.

I am glad to see someone does handwork. I have a lovely machine that does embroidery but it just isnt the same is it. I am not familiar with stumpwork? Can you explain it? it might be an old art with a new name or just something new but I am not familiar with that. Do you do any crewel work?

I do both. And love them equally. At the moment, I'm doing handwork. I collect antique linens, and I love using them in my home. Especially the pillowcases. I worry about wearing them out, however, so I started making my own "antiques." I have bought a lot of old transfers off eBay and put them on plain cotton fabric and turn them into pillowcases and then finish with hand-crocheted edging. I love them! I also buy old Workbaskets that have embroidery designs in them. Another thing I do is go to estate sales and buy half-finished embroidery projects. The older the better! You'd be surprised how many of them are out there! At the moment, I'm working on a day-of-the-week tea towel set with vegetables. It's a current Aunt Martha transfer, but it has a fifties feel to me. I'm going to enjoy using them in my kitchen.

Interesting I never thought of searching eBay for transfers. I will put that in my list of things to do.

Walmart has the iron on transfers that have been sold for years and years.

I do both..I prefer to hand cross stitch.

Good questions, what exactly is stump work?

Years ago I subscribed to Workbasket. Wish I hadn't thrown them out. They had at least one tatting design every issue. I agree hand-made is the best.

Hello...I'm new to the forum. I stopped by because I love to do hand embroidery. It's the first handcraft my mother taught me as a little girl. I remember the knots I'd get and I remember my mother struggling for hours trying to get them out after I got them in there. She made me rip out and start over many times but her patience paid off. I have been embroidering for nearly 40 years now. I've never had a machine but have had people do monograms and such for me by machine. Somehow the quality was just never there to me that you can acheive with hand stitching. Glad to see there are others out there that embroider by hand.

MeMo

I have just started back at a little hand embroidery . I designed some christmas ornaments for sale and I did some stitiching on them and embellished them with tiny buttons. I also do some quilting time permitting, and I enjoy just the quiet work that these things bring. Irene

I do both hand embroidery and cross stitch, although have not done anything lately. My next project is going to be teaching both to my grand daughters ages 8 and 10. They are very interested in sewing. I am already teaching them to sew - interesting as they both want to sew at the same time.

I want to teach my daughters how to embroider by hand. I am looking for a good starter book for it since I dont remember most of the stiches my mother taught me.

Maria

The only stitches I use are blanket st, straight st, satin st and french knots.

Anyone interested in transfer patterns can contact me to see if I have anything you are interested in. I found a great "junk" store that has tons of the old ones. I bought about 30 of them thinking my handicapped sister would like to do some of them but she doesnt seem to be interested.

Yes, my mother in Minnesota still does the most GORGEOUS hand embroidery, tablecloths and matching napkins, crib quilts, you name it. Also does cross stitch. She sat me down to teach me when I was a small child (I'm now 55 years old), and my first project was a needle turned applique rooster (with embroidered detail) on a dish towel. However, I now much prefer the machine embroidery...I didn't inherit her patience, I'm afraid, and want things done NOW.

Mary

I just surfed over from the Quilting forum, as I do a lot of embroidery, too.....currently like doing felted wool pennyrug type things with applied embroidery accents. I got a kick out of this posting subject, for I was wondering the same thing.....till I saw it everything seemed to be about machine embroidery, which to me, just isn't the same as hand work.
I saw that someone asked what stumpwork is....NOT a new name, but a very old name for a very old artform. It could be called dementional raised work, and historically was done on small boxes, firescreens, frames, not clothes or anything that would require flat surfaces such as tablecoverings, etc.
I remember seeing, in the V@A Museum in London, a wonderful box that was covered in a linen fabric and then had applied figures of people...these were stuffed so as to give roundness to the figures. The women had beautifully embroidered hair (done with real human hair) and beautiful clothing, as did the men...it was made in the reign of King Charles I (the one Cromwell had beheaded)...so, as I said, a very old form of embroidery.

Hello, I am new to this site and was so glad you asked this question. I have an embroidery machine but my first love is by hand. I just found som birds to hand embroiery. If interested they are at
www.marthastewart.com
Glad I could share my find.

Yes, in fact I am about to begin embroidering some very small flowers on black wool before covering some buttons with the fabric. Can anyone suggest some online floral patterns or something I dont need a pattern for? I am making a long black wool coat with 5 1-inch fabric covered buttons. They would be absolutely beautiful if they had embroidered flowers on them, instead of plain black buttons. Anyone able to share some ideas? Perhaps they could be embroidered or needlepoint, pettipoint or cross stitch? Thanks for any and all ideas. Robin in NC