Embroidery Designs Guide

Have you ever wished that you had one great knitting resource at your side to help you learn the things that are missing in your knitting repertoire? Have you found knitting manuals to be too technical and confusing? Maybe you have a pattern and just can’t figure out what that abbreviation means? Well, my friend Sarah Beth has put together an awesome Ebook called Knitting Secrets that spells out how to knit starting at the very beginning and moving on to advanced stitches and techniques. It has helped so many people learn to knit that I thought you should know about it too.

Check it out here: Knitting Tips and let me know what you think!

I did go through the 5 day mini course and it was really interesting! It starts right from the basics like casting, the slip knot, casting on single, casting on cable, knitting and goes on details like turning Your work, purling, stockinette, garter, binding off and figuring out gauge - Quite comprehensive, isn’t it?

Check out these Indian applique patterns on parasols beautifully handcrafted on handloom cotton fabric.

Some of the unique points to note are that these applique embroidery designs are made of colorful and multi pattern cotton fabric and are handmade by artisans from Pipilli (meaning Papillion) in Orissa in India.

I found this interesting product description which I am reproducing verbatim: “Applique in Orissa, India is an old temple art, which has been refined to a perfection. A fine example of the craft is the enormous applique canopies above the reigning deity of Puri, Lordjagannath. Applique art is the process of cutting coloured cloth into shapes of animals, birds, flowers, leaves and other decorative motifs and stitching them on to a piece of cloth that can ultimately be used as a lamp shade, a hand bag or even a garden umbrella. The village of Pipli, close to Bhubaneswar, is the site of beautiful applique work, created by artists, quite a few of whom have won national awards for their crafts. Applique’, which is a French term, is a technique by which the decorative effect is obtained by superposing patches of coloured fabrics on a basic fabric, the edges of the patches being sewn in some form of stitchery. It is distinct from what is known as patch work in which small pieces of cut fabrics are usually joined side by side to make a large piece of fabric or for repairing a damaged fabric. Though the form is not unknown in other parts of India, it is Orissa and specially in Pipli that the craft has a living and active tradition continuing over centuries.”

A friendly acquaintance drew my attention to this beautiful needlepoint tapestry website - Friendly Services. An excellent and wide range of embroidery designs in various categories ranging from crewel embroidery to cats, horses, christmas designs and other best sellers. (The name of the website is misleading though!)

Tapestry is an ancient art. Tradition has it that in Greek mythology, Penelope awaited her husband Ulysses while weaving tapestries. The tapestries were not only decorative, but played a practical role in covering the walls of huge castles. Medieval cartoon-painters and weavers produced the very same masterpieces that are shown on this web site. The ones I liked best were the best sellers.

Tapestry kits contain the canvas printed in full colour, yarn, needle, and instructions. The 100% cotton canvas is a double weave antique or white canvas called Old Penelope or White Penelope - the name coined from the mythological tale. The yarn is 100% pure wool. The kits may be stitched in either half-cross or tent stitch.

The goal of Friendly Services is to provide you with the best quality in hand craft products.