Let the people choose…Specialty Stitches!

I am linking up with Jo of Serendipitous Stitching for her monthly SAL, Let the People Choose…and the people chose Specialty Stitches this month!

I am firmly in the “Love Specialty Stitches” camp!

My career as a needlewoman began with cross stitch and crewel almost simultaneously. Cross stitch is what stuck, although I remain fascinated by crewel and I bet if you hang out reading my blog long enough you eventually will see me try it out again. One of my first crewel projects was a cauliflower and carrot by Jiffy Stitchery. The cauliflower was entirely made of French Knots. I never finished the project because I ran out of orange yarn for the carrot but here it is! I can’t even believe I still have it! I dug it out of my box of UFOs from childhood/teenage years.

You could say that this was the way to master French knots! I do like doing them!

When I got seriously back into stitching several years ago one of my first “big” projects was Just Nan’s Bee Blossoms which is full of specialty stitches:

Of course Just Nan does enjoy using specialty stitches in all her band samplers, and I have made two others for my baby girls, Baby Garden and Baby Celebration:

About that time, I discovered The Victoria Sampler’s Learning Collection which is a wonderful series for practicing specialty stitches. If you are interested in learning a new stitch, I highly recommend these very pretty little kits.

The Biscornuments from Victoria Sampler also have some nice specialty stitches:

Another designer who is excellent for learning some specialty stitches is Atalie, from France. Atalie charts are nearly impossible to find in the US but I ordered a bunch from a French shop several years ago, and it is just a question of making them up. Here are 2 hearts I made from Atalie, which I showed for our February Hearts post.

And then there is one of my favorite designers, The Drawn Thread. You all have seen my Random Thoughts piece many times of course so I will show just the close ups of the most fun specialty stitches and then the French Garden fob and “All You Need Is Love” which are both small but chock full of special stitches!

And finally, going along with the Love theme, I have this sweet little mini sampler from The Sweetheart Tree: Tiny, but full of specialty stitches!

I wish I had something new to show you this post because if you are a regular reader you probably have already seen all of these! I am not working on anything with specialty stitches right now, but I have several in the queue, so stay tuned!

10 thoughts on “Let the people choose…Specialty Stitches!

  1. All of your stitching is gorgeous and it’s so nice to see closeups of your beautiful work! I love specialty stitches too although I still have a lot to learn 🙂 I’ve always wanted to try crewel too and love vintage kits like yours!

    1. Thank you! You know, I was able to collect up a few old crewel kits form that maker on eBay, I really must sit down and make them now that I’m more experienced!

  2. Thanks for taking part in The People’s Choice this month. I love all the pieces you have shown us, some are new to me as part of your stitching finishes, although I am familiar with all the designers. Especially the Drawn Thread – All You Need is Love – very familiar!

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