Sandy's Stitching

SAYING GOODBYE TO MARCH!

I am amazed at how quickly time goes by.  Amazed.

Next week I will be teaching in Philadelphia at Rittenhouse.  I am really looking forward to it.  We will be working on several technique classes. Come by and visit if you are in the area.

I decided that I would make another post covering some of my 'trinkets'.

Needles run the gamut of what is available and what they can be used for.  I am sharing my personal use here, not making an advertisement of which needles are the best, most expensive, break the easiest, etc.  It is just my sharing with you what I use.

Needle use has changed over the years for me because they have become more difficult for me to thread and I never think to use a needle threader - mainly because I never know where I put them.  Because of this I tend to favor size 22 needles in the tapestry line.  They seem to work perfectly for me.  Most threads that I use work well in them - Pepper Pot Silk, Vineyard Silk, Kreinik sizes 8 and 12, some ribbons, straw silk and of course, most all stranded threads such as silks and cottons.

I do change needles as required of course.  I will use a much larger needle when the thread calls for same.  For instance when I use a boucle' I would use a size 20 to help enlarge the canvas hole to make passage of the thread easier.  There are many threads that need this assistance.  Velvet is another one. There are even a few threads that require size 18 needle.  When one chooses to use these threads it is sometimes better to couch them in place instead of trying to stitch with them.

Another stitching needle that I use is the beading needle.  For me I normally use a size 11 chenille needle.  I still manage to thread them most of the time and they will pass through most beads that I use.  The reason I prefer chenille is because I do most of my  beading on needlework and I prefer the stability of these.  If I am beading in the traditional sense - peyote, etc - then of course the long thin beading needle is required and much more suited for the technique.

There are needles that we don't often think of that are utilized more in other stitching arenas such as quilting, traditional embroidery, etc, that come in quite handy at times.

One such needle is the bullion needle.  There is now available a tapestry bullion needle.  When used for Brazilian embroidery the chenille is more popular.  For us in the needlepoint world, the tapestry needle works much better.

Another needle I find handy to have in my arsenal is the curved quilting needles.  These are wonderful in some instances where we choose to wrap our stitches but it is very tedious to do so.  These little guys just slip right under those threads and are up and away from other stitches allowing us to grasp the needle and continue on.  (There are also curved beading needles but I'd still be trying to thread them.)

One more needle that might not readily come to mind is a huck embroidery needle.  See the one on the right in the picture below?  This needle is perfect for weaving - you know those baskets where we go over and under, in and out, etc.  This little curved tip is perfect for that technique.

Of course there are lots more needles in my toys - punch needles, felting needles, knitting needles, crocheting needles, and many more - to many to go on and on about here.  I just wanted to point out a couple that I think you might find useful and that you may not have thought of before if you had never taken one of my classes.

So have a great weekend and we'll visit after I return from my wonderful classes at Rittenhouse.