New Group Correspondence Course: Uncommon Stitches with Melinda Sherbring

Our Education Department has added a new course to our selection of Group Correspondence Courses: Uncommon Stitches with Melinda Sherbring. Are you inspired by embroidered book covers of the late 16th and early 17th centuries? Do you collect unusual stitches — ones uncommon in modern embroidery? If you answered “Yes” to any one of those questions, then you may want to try this Group Correspondence Course. This small panel has a central wyvern-filled oval surrounded by typical flora and bugs, and a general horror vacui (i.e., “fear of open space”). It employs a raised work technique often used historically. It is worked on a linen fabric with colorful silk or cotton thread, plus non-precious-metal passing threads in gold and silver colors. It glitters and sparkles as a dragon’s hoard should. This Intermediate-level, 6-lesson course starts with a few common stitches, such as Chain, Couching, Double-Running, Running, Satin, and Stem stitches, then builds upon them to form some unusual stitches rarely seen today. The uncommon stitches are Linked Chains, two versions of Corded Detached Buttonhole that combine silk and metal threads — one flat and one open-ended, Plaited Braid with a Twist, Corded Lark’s Head, Figure 8 Circle, Ladder Braid, Raised Knot, Looped Edge Threaded Back stitch. Registration for this course is currently available to groups. There is a $200 fee per group, and each student in the group pays $50 for a full-color, spiral-bound book. Gather your favorite stitchers, make a group and sign up! If you are interested in registering for this Group Correspondence Course, you  can learn more about the process and download the registration form from our Group Correspondence Course page.

Learn more about Uncommon Stitches with Melinda Sherbring

GCC Lightning Rounds

Through May 31, 2025 any member may register for the Group Correspondence Course (GCC) Lightning Rounds featured below. These are a selection of our Group Correspondence Courses that have been hand-picked by our Education Department and made available for individual EGA members to register without a group for a limited time.

Beginning Teneriffe Lace with Jonalene Gutwein

Beginning Teneriffe Lace will give you the basics of the beautiful needlelace technique of Teneriffe. Learn More and Register!

Boca Blossoms with Carol Currier

Boca Blossoms is a beginner to intermediate crewel embroidery course with a focus on soft shading using one color family but varying the color order. The stitches include Chain Stitch, Fly Stitch, French Knots, Long & Shorting Shading, Outline/Stem Stitch, Split Stitch and Straight Stitch. Learn More and Register!

Cosmos with Kim Sanders

Cosmos introduces students to needle painting, one of the most realistic forms of surface embroidery. Learn More and Register!

Jacobean Fantasy with Kay Stanis

Giving new interpretation to designs of the seventeenth century and blending them with the silk and metal of the twenty-first, in Jacobean Fantasy, we will create an exquisite floral design on silk fabric with detached sheer fabric. Learn More and Register!

Sweet Bag Sewed of Silver and Gold with Melinda Sherbring

Stitch an embroidered bag like the ones that were in style in England from the mid-1500s to the mid-1600s on Sweet Bag Sewed of Silver and Gold. Read our Interview with Melinda! Learn More and Register!