Deborah Katchko-Gray is a professional cantor and accomplished needle artist. When she’s not weaving melodies with her voice she’s weaving embroidery thread, creating Judaica with a technique called Swedish weaving. Swedish weaving is a type of embroidery in which the stitches are worked on the surface of the fabric. Rather than the needle passing to … Continue reading
This month, when so many students are going back to school, seems like the perfect time to highlight Rachel Braun’s book, Embroidery and Sacred Text: New Designs in Judaic Needlework, in which Rachel draws on principles of mathematics to develop needlework designs that explore Jewish spirituality. Rachel teaches high school math and statistics, and she’s … Continue reading
Have you ever finished an embroidery project and wanted to hang it up using the hoop as the frame? Use these instructions to add a back to a hooped embroidery project and give it a finished look. Add a ribbon, and it’s ready for hanging on a wall or window. For the hoopla in the … Continue reading
Personalize your cell phone sleeping bag, the cut-and-sew project available at Spoonflower (Cell Phone Sleeping Bag Cut-and-Sew Project), by adding your name with embroidery. You can use an electronic embroidery machine, of course, and you can also embroider a name by hand. If you’re giving the bag as a gift, a hand-embroidered name gives your … Continue reading
The blanket stitch comes in handy for several uses. As an embroidery stitch, you can use it to outline an object and give it a real folk art look. Or use it to hand-sew an applique onto background fabric, like the hamsa in the photo. You can also use it to finish a narrow hem … Continue reading
This stitch creates a dashed line. Pass the needle up and down at equal intervals through the layers of fabric or trim. A typical stitch length is about 1/8” (3mm), but you can adjust the length based on the materials you’re working with. If the fabric allows, you can make more than one stitch at … Continue reading
The eye of this little dove is made with a French knot. How to Embroider a French Knot A key to making a French knot is to start with the thread in front of the needle. Then, rap the thread around the needle several times. The more times you wind the thread around the needle, … Continue reading
The French knot is one of the most popular and widely-used embroidery stitches. But sometimes you only need one, as for the eye of this little dove. Here is a technique for anchoring a single French knot. It’s especially useful when the knot is isolated and not conveniently near any other of your stitches. In … Continue reading
I’ve really been inspired by people who’ve put themselves on the line for the sake of building a better world. I’ve been looking for ways to contribute, if only small ways. This is one of those small ways. It’s a pattern for a hand embroidered atarah, a neckpiece for a tallit prayer shawl. The design … Continue reading
Here’s a quick way to make a whole field of embroidered flowers: the lazy daisy stitch. It’s another variation on that versatile chain stitch. Instead of the loops forming a line, they radiate out in a circle from a center point like flower petals. Five or six loops make a full flower, depending on how … Continue reading
The chain stitch is one of the most widely-used embroidery stitches in folk needle crafts, especially Jewish folk needle crafts. It’s also one of the most versatile. Most of the time the chain stitch is used to make a continuous line of linked loops, like the outlines of the fish and the letters in the … Continue reading
To embroider curved lines, the stem stitch makes a fabulous choice. It turns along curved lines beautifully, and you can vary the thickness of your embroidered line by varying the angle of the needle as you make the stitch. These stitch diagrams illustrate the how-to, and I’ve posted a little hamsa for you to practice … Continue reading
This Sukkot I got the chance to lead a workshop for the Beacon Sukkah Project, a Sukkot-long program of arts and lectures organized by the Beacon Hebrew Alliance and Beacon Arts in Beacon, New York. To fit this year’s theme, “Open to the Sky,” I led an introduction to drawn thread embroidery, and thought I’d … Continue reading
For tips on how to begin and end your stitching and other embroidery basics take a look at Hand Embroidery Basics. The backstitch is a simple stitch for embroidering lines, and with just a little practice you’ll master a stitch that will take you far. Overall, we move along the line from right to left. … Continue reading
