Hello Sarah,

I redid my wreath and monogram, using your advice and it certainly helped. Tracing and transferring the wreath is somewhat tricky when doing it freehand, there is still some ‘wobble’, but I think I can live with this version.

Thank you for all your help.

Nikki 🌻

Hi Betsy, I’m not sure what is going on with your system. I n these situations, it’s usually not the document. So, I can only make a couple of suggestions.

1. Have you saved it to your computer, then tried printing?

2. Have you tried restarting your computer?

3. If 1 and 2 don’t work, try sending it to your local office store and they can print…[Read more]

Hi Pat,

Thanks for your suggestions! Catherine

Amy,

I’ve used suture needles in the past (although I’ve found it difficult to buy them without the sutures already attached), and they are a good alternative, as they are available in may sizes and gauges. You do need to be a bit careful about the point on the needle- some suture needles have a bladed edge beyond the point which can rip fab…[Read more]

Catherine,

I like the way you showed working the diagonal lines.  I had marked mine out like you showed.  It really helped me.  Sorry I need to read before I suggest you could enlarge the diagram!!  Will people be confused that the radiating lines on either side of the name oval are not the same length on the “Compass Rose Enlarged graph” as…[Read more]

I also ordered some from 123 Stitch.

Thank you Maxine.   I also ordered some from the site you recommend.  We will see which comes first.

Hi Gail,

The Needle in a  Haystack store in the USA has the John James size 10 curved beading needles in their catalogue, price $3.15 for a 2 needle pack.Website is needlestack.com. I have ordered items from them in the past without any problems.
Cheers,
Maxine.

It make perfect sense.  Thank you, I think I am going to test out the add one option and see how it works. I like the style of the belly and the down stroke full.

Denise

Sarah, thanks for the offer and the link.    I have ordered myself some from jjneedled.       I will limp along until they arrive😁

Nikki,

My tip for tracing on a light box is to put your fabric into your hoop upside down – so that the design is on the inside of the hoop, and pull the fabric tight. Then you can place the hoop over the light box with the fabric flat against it and trace.

Usually what happens when you stick the fabric down is that because the fabric is not…[Read more]

Joanne,

I don’t think there would be an issue with putting beeswax on the lacing threads, I use beeswax on the Gutermann Sew-All threads all the time for Goldwork and other than it changing the colour slightly it has no bad effects that I can think of for the lacing!

I might be a bit cautious about using wax for the ladder stitching as there is…[Read more]

Hi Denise,

With ‘standard’ trailing it is difficult to copy the font entirely – you could choose to have the thicker point either on the belly or the down stroke.

However you can cheat with trailing and make it thicker, but it can be a but fiddly (might be something to sample first if you want to try it). You can add in core threads again by…[Read more]

Hi Gail,

Happy to pop some extra needles in the post to you! They may take a little time to arrive as the UK post office is having issues with International Postage at the moment, but I think letter sized parcels are now going through.

For reference the needles are Curved Beading Needles made by John James (where I source all my…[Read more]