A Little Chat About Pearl and Her Friends

Teri and I (Kara) are feverishly getting ready for the Academy of Appliqué in Williamsburg, Virginia, the first week in March—making kits, gathering threads, and writing patterns. Since many hands make light work, I asked a friend to come over and help me put together thread kits. I was explaining that there were a few different types of pearl cottons in the kit along with the floss. She mentioned that she hadn't even heard of pearl cotton only floss. That spawned an idea for a short post on pearl cotton and its variations, along with how it compares to floss and wool thread. Many of us who have been stitching a while use all these threads on a regular basis, but if you are new to stitching, this is for you!

This picture shows floss on the left then pearl 8, 5, 3, and wool (Dried Sage by Weeks DyeWorks)

Embroidery floss is something most of have used and are familiar with, even if we just used it for those lovely friendship bracelets back in the day. It is plentiful and relatively inexpensive as threads go. DMC is the brand that is most popular and economical. It is usually 6-stranded and when used in stitching, is best separated by those strands in order to get a smoother stitch. You can use 1-6 strands in your needle, depending on the look you want to achieve.

Here you can see the 6 strands

Embroidery floss

Pearl cotton (or Perle depending on where you live) is great to use because it is not stranded and you can just stick it in your needle and go—no separating the strands. The most used sizes are 12, 8, 5, and 3; the larger number means the smaller diameter or thinner thread. (Occasionally, you can find it in 16 as well.) You can vary the look you are trying to achieve by using the different sizes. To fit the larger diameter threads through your needle, you will need to use a needle with a larger eye. We tend to use chenille needles ranging from #26-#18, depending on the thread. Teri is going to talk about needles in the next post.

Pearl 8

Pearl 5

Pearl 3

From left to right 8, 5, and 3

Weeks and The Gentle Art (just floss and wool) are two companies we like for threads, whether it is floss or pearl or even wool. Their products are hand-dyed, which gives a great variation in your stitching, but not so much that it is overly noticeable. They also come on these little cards, which makes it a little less likely to tangle. All you do is cut the bottom loops, and you instantly have the perfect length for stitching.

Wool thread is lovely to use as well and will give a completely different texture to your stitching. It is perfect for things that you might want to appear to be fuzzy or if you are stitching on wool, it will blend in beautifully. It lends a great contrast when used with other fibers such as floss or pearl.

Another popular company for pearl cotton is Valdani. Their pearl comes in different sizes and in a multitude of colors, both solid and variegated. It is very economical as the little balls go a long way.

Our curated In the Garden set by Valdani

Lastly, another company that we like to use is House of Textile Arts (Tentakulum) Painters Threads. These threads are dyed in gorgeous unique color-ways, and their names are based on famous painters.

There are many other thread companies out there that offer pearl cotton, but these are just a few of our favorites. All of these companies offer other fibers as well, and each fiber is going to give a different look and texture to your project. Below we have listed a few sources for these products and hope you will be inspired to try them all!

Weeks DyeWorks, Valdani, and The Gentle Art

Primitive Homespun and Needleworks

Painter's Threads

Threadnuts

Village Wanderings—Homes

Last year, Kara and I (Teri) had designed these four little homes with the plan to teach them at our local wool shop, Primitive Homespuns Wool and Needleworks. Initially, they were to be finished as individual little projects to fit in a frame, which could be switched out with the seasons. Then life happened and a pandemic hit. No classes. 

The houses were complete, and we were ready to write the patterns, but we had so many requests to teach them at the Academy of Appliqué that we decided to put the pattern release on hold until that event was finished. And indeed, we had a lovely class of house builders, which you can read about in our post from last week. And as promised, we have the pattern listed on our website for purchase, along with kits to complete all four houses.

Let's wander through our village and take a look at the four homes, all of which are included in the pattern.

The spring cottage has climbing wisteria and a flower box of pansies,
surrounded by swags of forget-me-nots.

The summer house has a potted rose bush with flower boxes filled
with geraniums and sweet alyssum; the swags are black-eyed Susans.

The autumn home includes topiaries and flower boxes of mums, pansies,
and ivy; asters bedeck the surrounding swag.

The winter house has wreaths in the windows and a box of evergreens in the 
dormer, and it is flanked by swags of mistletoe.

We thought it would be fun to try our hand at stitching these up in cotton,
to see how it would work for those who don't care for wool.
We think they turned out pretty cute, albeit a bit more challenging. 

Our plan changed as we stitched our way through the pandemic. The separate framed houses became the basis for a new quilt—Village Wanderings—and we added a set of shops (which we will be teaching at Baltimore on the Prairie in September), a center medallion, and seasonal trees in the corners. As we have posted pictures of this project on our social media, we have had many requests for the patterns and kits. And now, we are ready to release Set 1: Homes. 

Patterns are available in printed format or as a digital PDF download.

The wool kit is comprised of 13 different textured, solid, and hand-dyed wools—enough to complete all four of the houses. You will need to provide your background, and perhaps a batik for the windows, if desired. You can purchase the wool kit alone, or with a printed pattern for a savings. 

The ribbon kit includes 7 spools of River Silks hand-dyed silk ribbon in two sizes—4mm and 7mm—to complete all of the leaves and flowers on the swags.

The thread kit consists of 12 skeins of hand-dyed threads by Weeks DyeWorks, a variety of crewel wool, pearl cotton (sizes #3, 5, 8), and six-stranded floss. The included threads will be sufficient to embroider and embellish all four of the Homes. 

Of course, if you buy the whole kit and caboodle, you'll save!

These patterns and kits have been listed in our website shop for less than a week and are going faster than we would have dreamed. I think we will be restocking ribbon and thread soon! Thanks to those who have already purchased our Village Wanderings—Homes patterns and kits. We are humbled by your interest and support and hope you have as much fun stitching them as we did.

Please stay tuned, as we will be releasing the rest of this quilt over the next year. And perhaps you'd like to join us in Nebraska while we stitch up some shops!

Village Wanderings quilt top, by Through the Needle's Eye

To order, click HERE.

A Little More Lavender and a Free Pattern!

Last week we traveled to Provence to see the amazing fields of lavender, and this week we are going to put that lavender into stitch form with a free pattern! This little circle of lavender can be stitched onto just about anything—a hand towel, an ornament, or a sachet—which is what I (Kara) am going to show you today.

Lets get started!

The first step was gathering my threads. I love it when I can use my Valdani threads, so I chose one of my favorite greens for the stems and then a solid black and a variegated gold for the little bees. It always seems that though you have lots of threads, you don't have the right one for a particular project. That was the case with my purples, so I made one up by using 2 strands of the lighter purple floss and 1 strand of the darker purple. This created the depth in the purple shades that I wanted.

Valdani 12 pearl cotton and Weeks DyeWorks floss

Using the pattern, I traced the circle onto a 4" piece of linen and then drew lines for the lavender. You can just mark the dots for the French knots as they are shown on the pattern. Then I used the green pearl cotton and did a stem stitch around the whole circle and added lazy daisies for the leaves. After that was finished, I added the French knots for the lavender. The bees were made by making a 3-wrap bullion knot using a strand each of gold and yellow threaded together. When you wrap the threads around the needle, wrap them carefully so the two colors alternate, and then pull through. White sewing thread and a lazy daisy stitch make the wings.

Stem stitch

French knots with 1 strand of dark purple, and 2 strands of light purple

Tiny bees!

Once the embroidery was finished,  I cut a 4" square backing piece to match the front. Then I marked a 3.75" circle on both pieces making sure I centered the lavender circle in the middle. When I cut out my circles, I left a 1/4" seam allowance on both. I put right sides together and used the drawn circle on my backing as a stitching guide, making sure I left an opening to turn.

4" squares front and back.

A 3.75" circle is drawn and then cut out with a 1/4" seam allowance.

Use the drawn circle on the backing as your stitching guide.
Leave a space open for turning.

Once I had turned the sachet, I dampened it to remove the blue marker and then let it dry before I stuffed it with the lavender and poly-stuffing. When it was dry, I gave it a bit of a press as the linen likes to wrinkle. I used a funnel and wooden skewer to put the lavender in the sachet. I only used about 4 tablespoons of lavender and then filled it with poly-stuffing until I was pleased with the shape.

I bought the lavender on Amazon for under $10
and should have plenty for more sachets.

I decided I wanted to add a hanger so it could be hung in a closet if needed. I cut a 2" piece of velvet ribbon and inserted the ends in before I stitched the opening closed.

All stuffed and ready to insert the hanger and stitch it closed. 

The finished sachet!

Voila! The sachet is finished! While I made mine as a circle, making a square would work as well. This will make a sweet and functional little gift, and for me it also provides a scented memory of my travels to Provence. 

You can download the pattern below. If you stitch this up, please send us pictures of your finished lavender. We would love to see them!

Lavender Circle Free Pattern

Block of the Month 11—Bellflower

A field of wildflowers just for the bees!

Thank you for your interest in our Flora and Fauna blocks! They are no longer free but will be part of a future quilt pattern.

We are coming up on almost a year of stitching the flora and fauna that I (Kara) see over here in Germany! It has been so interesting to see what new wildflowers pop up along the way; or what insect or bird emerges as the landscape changes through the seasons. I am learning new things every day as I walk through the countryside. Something I recently discovered was that some local farmers wait to cut the hay until the wildflowers have finished blooming in the orchard fields. Why? Because it gives the bees more time to collect what they need from the flowers. In more than one location, I have noticed entire fields of intentionally-planted wildflowers. This careful consideration of the bee population is wonderful—and certainly needed.

As spring and summer have rolled along, the stitching choices have been plentiful. It is hard to pick what to stitch each month! This month I chose the bellflower, as it has been on display in a variety of forms. Some varieties are quite large, while others are delicate but hardy.

Along the forest path

A close-up 

A different variety, found bravely growing on a mountaintop castle

Cotton Block

This month's block is simple in its design and will focus on a couple of new stitches for the stems. It will also give you a chance to work on those pesky inner and outer points. Gathering the supplies for this block was not too difficult, as I only used one piece of fabric—a piece of hand-dyed, marbled fabric was perfect. Some silk ribbon, hand-dyed wool, and perle cotton, and I was ready to get started.

Supplies

The flowers are appliquéd and my embroidery lines are drawn.

For the calyxes of the flowers, I used a 4mm silk ribbon and made 5 ribbon stitches on the flower and two straight stitches, horizontally at the top of each flower. 

To keep my ribbon straight stitches straight, I put my finger or a pencil
in the loop to keep it smooth before pulling it all the way through.

The two straight stitches at the top are on top of each other.

Using a #5 perle cotton, I created the main stem with the Palestrina stitch. (Click here for a great tutorial by Mary Corbet.) I placed my knots close together to get a nice thick line.

The Palestrina stitch

Use a stem stitch to attach the flowers to the main stem.

The finished block

Stitches and Threads Used (Cotton Block)

Stems—Palestrina stitch and stem stitch; Oliver Twist Fibres, blue/green, hand-dyed, #5 perle cotton

Calyxes—Ribbon stitch and straight stitch; Thread Art, 4mm silk ribbon #629

Petal Lines—Stem stitch; Painters Threads wool, Kirchener

Wool Block

For the wool version of this block, I used a light purple scrap piece that I had laying around. The ribbon for the calyxes was a beautiful hand-dye from Thread Gatherers. Since I was going to use an interlaced chain stitch for the stem (tutorial here), I needed two different thread colors—a light green, #12 perle and two strands of dark green floss.

I began by stitching down the wool flowers, and then I marked my stem lines. The interlaced chain is done by making the stem with a chain stitch in one color and then interlacing the chain stitches with a second color—first going down one side and then the other.

Interlacing the right side

The effect here is subtle but it adds a nice dimension.

Once the stems were finished, I added the petal lines with two strands of floss in a stem stitch. After that, I made the calyxes in the same way as the cotton block, and just like that, the block was finished.

The finished wool block

Close-up

Stitches and Threads Used (Wool Block)

Stems—Interlaced chain stitch, chain stitch, stem stitch; Weeks Dyeworks, Juniper, 2 strands, Painters Threads #12 perle, Turner

Calyxes—Ribbon stitch and straight stitch; Thread Gatherer, 4mm silk ribbon, SR4 O25

Petal Lines—Stem stitch; The Gentle Art, Blueberry, 2 strands

As you can see from the previous photos, this flower comes in all shapes and sizes and is a lovely pop of blue/purple in the landscape. Hopefully, you will enjoy stitching this simple little block, and you will give the new stitches for stems a try!