Lacey Thread Designs - Latest Blog Entries

Blanket Stitch flower, further instructions

Wed, 11 May 2011 21:05:00 -0700

Good evening, thanks for inquiring about the Blanket Stitch flower! Let me try and explain the directions a little more thoroughly for you.

The first step is to WEAVE the bars as shown in the first diagram. Begin weaving the first *bar from the inside towards the outside of the square, run your thread under the Kloster blocks, and come up at the second bar and weave it towards the center. Turn the corner and weave the left adjoining bar to the outside**. Repeat * to ** around the square until you reach the inside of bar 8. Begin weaving the inside bar 9 from bottom to top as shown on the diagram.

THEN, begin the blanket stitch over bars 9 and 7, *by taking thread UNDER bar 9, up through center space, then come back over bar 9 and 7, going back down on the upper part of bar 7. Bring thread to the front in the space between bar 7 and bar 9 as shown on the diagram. Take the thread back BEHIND bar 9 then, and back again to the front**, repeating * to ** until the bars about half full of blanket stitches. When bars are full enough (4 to 5 blanket stitches, depending on how tightly you stitch) turn fabric one quarter turn and do the same stitch again over bars 6 and 10, then over bars 5 and 4, etc., until you have stitched bars 3 and 2. At that point, begin the center stitch as shown on the diagram, then finish the blanket stitches over bars 12 and 1. When you reach that point finish the center spider web stitch, then stitch the blanket stitches over bars 1 and 8.

Florette Stitch directions

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:23:00 -0700

Hi, thanks for your email regarding the Florette stitch!

One thing to remember is that the stitch is done the same way on each loop, so you could have one loop or twenty loops close together...This flower is three loops placed very close together.

The first step is to make the loop with the silk ribbon. I like to come up to the front and go to the back with the silk ribbon in the same hole or just one thread apart. (For the flower make three silk ribbon loops about one thread apart. Then using one strand of DMC white, bring the needle to the front of the fabric in the center of the loop, come straight up through the silk ribbon loop, thread a bead onto your needle if doing a flower with beads, and then back down through the silk ribbon loop at the very same spot you came up in, and then back down through the fabric at the very same place you came up in. As you pull the thread tight, it will pucker and gather the silk ribbon loop into a "rosette" with a bead (or not) in the center of the flower.

For pcchip41 from England!

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 23:38:00 -0800

Good afternoon, thanks for your email regarding postage. For some reason, your complete email address did not show up and I am unable to send you a private email. Would you mind emailing me directly at Connie@LaceyThread.com and we can talk about options? I am leaving for work right now, and I will look forward to hearing from you this evening! Thanks again!

My Heart's Garden fabric

Thu, 07 May 2009 05:12:00 -0700

I just had an email from a stitcher asking about the fabric used for My Heart's Garden so that it would fit in the Sudberry box. It is stitched on 28 count fabric for a perfect fit into the box top.

I'm sorry, Santa41, but I couldn't get your return email address to work! Hope that this omission hasn't inconvenienced you too much, and thanks so much for asking! We love to hear from stitchers!

New Designs Released!

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 11:50:00 -0700

We have released two new designs, My Child's Heart and Sunglow Memories.

My Child's Heart is an exquisite birth sampler containing hardanger, pulled thread, specialty stitches and ribbon embroidery. This sampler could also be customized for a wedding sampler, or stitched without words for a beautiful band sampler! A Mother-of-Pearl heart bead is also included with each leaflet.

In Sunglow Memories you can display your favorite pictures in a gorgeous memory frame, using unique and creative corner photo holders designed by Lacey Thread Designs. Your photos can be easily exchanged as you desire without having to reframe the stitching each time. Stitched with basic hardanger (NO CUTTING!) and pulled thread stitches, and detailed directions for the corner photo holders are included in leaflet.

Open for Business

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 11:25:00 -0800

You have probably noticed that Lacey Thread Designs is open for business!! All of us are so excited to have finally reached this point!You will find 4 beautiful designs in our design catalog. Feel free to order from us online in our shopping cart, and we have a special section just for Shop Owners!!! We have two more designs to be released very soon! My Child's Heart, a sweet birth sampler based on My Heart's Garden, brings in the same elements of hardanger and ribbon embroidery. And Sunglow Memories is another design of kloster blocks and pulled thread in a lucious overdyed silk. It is a unique picture frame that needs no cutting, and pictures are easily exchangeable!! Be watching for these great designs!!

Design Teasers

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:51:00 -0700

It's coming right along. The first four models are stitched and finished. The photos have been taken and the covers are pretty well in place. They will probably receive their final tweaking next week. (I'm studying for an exam for my general insurance designation, so I have been devoting extra time to that). I went to the post office today and signed up for a post office box. The first publication date is within sight!!!

The first four releases (and some teasers) are as follows:

Hawaiian Memories

Allison's Ring Pillow

Quaker Inspirations

My Heart's Garden

This has been quite an adventure, and not going as quickly as I hoped. That is only because life seems to keep getting in the way....my normal job, studying for my exam, school starting for Lizzie and Alana, etc. It will all get done though. The first time through everything seems awkward and slow. We are anticipating getting into a groove with the second set of releases.

Learning to use a lightbox

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:49:00 -0700

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Last Saturday DD#1, Amy, and I spent about 8 hours photographing, choosing just the perfect photo, and doing the color front page for the model for "My Heart's Garden". Whew. We learned alot, and I think we are going to work on photographing it again this coming Saturday. We finally got the setting the way we liked, but the lighting was just not perfect. I want to try it again.

I made a very homemade, what supplies I had on hand, type of lightbox. I used a see through plastic container instead of mounting white paper on a cardboard box, and I am pleased how it left no shadows. But I used two regular lightbulbs along with my natural daylight Dazor, and tried every setting on the camera. I think I will try it with the Dazor and two flourescent lights and see what kind of effects we get. This has sure been a learning experience. The next go-round should not take quite so long!

The Beginning

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:47:00 -0700

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Welcome to my Lacey Thread Designs blog. I plan on talking about the designs when they are actually published, and in the meantime, sharing with you the process of becoming a full fledged company. It has been quite a learning time for me, having to deal with software with which I am unfamiliar, state laws and local ordinances with which I am totally ignorant about, having to find a web site server that doesn't charge an arm and a leg, having to decide on a layout template that will nicely service all, or most, of my designs.

I have had to learn about drawing stitch diagrams, and dealing with a slightly unstable design software. I have learned that one must do about 10 backups of every little change in a design, and then back it up again by creating a JPEG or PDF. Because, if something can go wrong, it will.

I have learned to buy way more thread than I think I need for a project, like 3 or 4 times the amount I think I will need, because invariably, it will not be enough, and the next time the thread is ordered, it will always be a different dye lot. I have learned to rip out stitches to blend in the new dye lot. and then rip again to blend some more. Take my word for it. It will ALWAYS require more thread than you think, especially, ESPECIALLY, if you are using an overdyed thread!!!!
I have learned that one can start a design business on a shoe string, but it is very difficult. It would be so much easier to find the easy and expensive solution to whatever I need to do. But I am learning that even though it takes me four times as long to get done what needs to be done, it CAN be done with very little start up money. I am going to have to break down and invest in a couple of things. Like a website server. And printing.

I am learning that this is what I love. I have discovered that perhaps my life's journey will not be working for someone else 40 h0urs a week for the rest of my working life. At least I hope not. I long to have the time to invest in this full time.

This will be an interesting journey. Hope you come along for the ride!!!