Not Your Mama's Stitching: The Cool and Creative Way to Stitch It To 'Em (Not Your Mama's)

308 Pages·2007·53.36 MB·English

by  Kate Shoup

01_095164 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 7:19 PM Page iii
Stitching
not
your
mama’s
™
The cool and creative way to stitch it to ’em
by Kate Shoup Welsh
01_095164 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 7:19 PM Page ii
01_095164 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 7:19 PM Page i
Stitching
not
your
mama’s
™
01_095164 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 7:19 PM Page ii
01_095164 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 7:19 PM Page iii
Stitching
not
your
mama’s
™
The cool and creative way to stitch it to ’em
by Kate Shoup Welsh
01_095164 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 7:19 PM Page iv
Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. All rights reserved.
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, elec-
tronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the
1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through pay-
ment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978)
750-8400, fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be
addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, [phone],
fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, Not Your Mama’s, and related trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing,
Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the con-
tents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular
purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained
herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in
rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent
professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising here from. The
fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information
does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recom-
mendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or
disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.
For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support please contact our Customer Care
Department within the U.S. at [phone], outside the U.S. at [phone] or fax [phone].
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in
electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, please visit our web site at www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Welsh, Kate, 1972-
Not your mama’s stitching : the cool and creative way to stitch it to ’em / by Kate Shoup Welsh.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-470-09516-4 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 0-470-09516-4
1. Embroidery. 2. Cross-stitch. 3. Needlepoint. I. Title.
TT770.W42 2007
746.44—dc22
2006101579
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Book design by Elizabeth Brooks
Cover design by Troy Cummings
Interior photography by Matt Bowen
Illustrations by Joni Burns
Wiley Bicentennial Logo: Richard J. Pacifico
Book production by Wiley Publishing, Inc. Composition Services
01_095164 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 7:19 PM Page v
For Gladys
01_095164 ffirs.qxp 2/20/07 7:19 PM Page vi
Free bonus pattern available online!
Can’t get enough stitching? Access one more Not Your Mama’s Stitching
pattern at www.wiley.com/go/notyourmamas.
Additional stitching resources online!
At www.wiley.com/go/notyourmamas, you can also find additional stitching resources—
books, magazines, instructional Web sites, and online storefronts—as well as a series of
alphabet designs for use in your projects.
02_095164 ftoc.qxp 2/20/07 7:20 PM Page vii
Contents
INTRODUCTION CHAPTER TWO
The Stitch Is Back Talking Shop: What to Buy
Stitch Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 What You Talkin’ ’Bout Willis? . . . . . . . . . . . 17
How This Book Is Organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Just Kitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Who This Book Is For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Test Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Roll Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
PART ONE Meet the Needles!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Go Tell It on the Mounting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Basic Training
Survival Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Destination Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Next!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
CHAPTER ONE
Back Stitch to the Future CHAPTER THREE
Weave Are the World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Technically Speaking:
Ancient Chinese Secret. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 NeedleworkTechniques
Vestment Opportunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Women’s Work, My Ass! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 The Anal-Retentive Stitcher: Setting Up
YourWork Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Urban Outfitter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Cut and Run: Preparing Your Materials. . . . 46
Read the Twine Print. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chart to Chart Chat: Understanding
Free Samplers!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
NeedleworkCharts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Gros Point Blank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Let’s Get This Party Started. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
You Say You Want a Revolution . . .. . . . . . . 13
Apocal-oops Now: Fixing Mistakes. . . . . . . . 62
The Agony of Effete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
The Final Cut: Finishing Your Piece. . . . . . . 63
Death and Threadsurrection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Next! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Next! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Contents vii
02_095164 ftoc.qxp 2/20/07 7:20 PM Page viii
CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER SIX
Stitch Hitter: Your Guide to Yarn and Floss Accoutrements:
Cross-Stitch, Embroidery, and Gussy Up Your Look
Needlepoint Stitches with Stitching
You Double-Crossing Stitch: Cross-Stitch You’re So Money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Stitches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 I’ll Stop the World and Belt with You . . . . . 152
Stitchin’ Confidential: Embroidery Felt Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Stitches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Chuck Berries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Get to the Point: Needlepoint Stitches. . . . . . 91
British Invasion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
But Wait! There’s More: Other
Germ Warfare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
NeedleworkTechniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
The Diet of Worms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Hand Job: Hand-Sewing Stitches. . . . . . . . 109
Laptop Dance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Next!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
CHAPTER SEVEN
PART TWO
Canvas the Area: Needlework
Projects
for the Home
You Bore Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
CHAPTER FIVE
Cue the Violins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Wear Me Out: Stitching We Got Spirits, Yes We Do!. . . . . . . . . . . . 200
You CanWear Wash Your Damn Hands!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Case in Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Tie Me Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Coffee, Tea, or Me?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Tattoo You. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 The 25,000-Calorie Pyramid. . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Hoodie Two Chews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
I Got My Eye On You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
viii Contents