Loose Threads

Multi-crafter and blackwork/cross stitch designer. Find me at LooseThreadStitchery on Etsy or at loosethreadstitchery.com.

[loosethreadstitchery]

I have a website of my own now! I'll still be active on Etsy, but this allows me to collect all my free patterns in one place, and to offer paid patterns without Etsy fees tacked on.

[loosethreadstitchery]

Thank you to everyone who reached out following my last post about the fire at my apartment. I’m still displaced and dealing with insurance while also preparing for what will now be a very different cross-country move than I’d planned. Again, I may be a bit slow replying to messages, but will get back to you as soon as possible. All my files were backed up in cloud storage, so nothing essential to LooseThreadStitchery was lost.

My hand is healing, and I’ve been able to make use of the little squares of Aida I always keep in my purse. As these are the only stitching supplies I have left, I’m getting an especially early start on this year’s ornament sets.

Most of all, I remain very grateful that no one else was hurt, and that my own injury was minor.

[loosethreadstitchery]

Hi friends,

This is a difficult post. I’ve had a fire at my apartment. A battery exploded in my hand as I was taking it off the charger.

The most important thing is that all people and animals who live in the building are safe. A burn on my hand is the worst of it. I’m grateful for that. I had renter’s insurance and am in touch with the Canadian Red Cross, so there’s nothing I need right now, and I’m grateful for that too.

I don’t know what condition my apartment is in or what I’ll be able to salvage, and that includes my computer with all my files. I have my phone and can access some things from here. If you have questions about a pattern you’ve purchased and are working on, I may be slow to answer messages for the next little while, but I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. I appreciate your patience as I get back on my feet.

-Nora @ LooseThreadStitchery

[loosethreadstitchery]

A quick rainbow before I disappear back under a pile of boxes. I'm packing for a cross-country move at the moment, and stitching and designing have both fallen by the wayside a bit.

Blackwork embroidery on black 14-count Aida. Free pattern is here.

[loosethreadstitchery]

This is an idea I've been playing around with for awhile, and I finally worked out a design I'm happy with. The outer fill patterns combine where their sections overlap, and the resulting patterns are more intricate than their component motifs would suggest. Blackwork embroidery on blue 14-count Aida cloth.

Pattern here (my site) or here (Etsy).

[loosethreadstitchery]

I'm seeing those white curlicues in my sleep at this point, but the effect was worth it. Blackwork embroidery on black 14-count Aida cloth.

Pattern here (my site) or here (Etsy)

[loosethreadstitchery]

Those of you putting crocuses on my dash, I'm happy for you, but there are still two feet of snow out my window, so my flowers for now are made of thread. Blackwork embroidery on 14-count Aida.

Pattern here (my site) or here (Etsy).

[kenchingfox]

Finished object: Golden Yellow (chalkboard edition) by @loosethreadstitchery. I finished this one a few months ago, but only just now got around to sticking it in a frame. I really loved some of these motifs.

[loosethreadstitchery]

Beautiful! It looks so good on dark Aida, too!

[loosethreadstitchery]

If you've seen just about anything I've stitched, you've probably noticed that I love rainbows. The prism that now hangs in my kitchen window has moved with me and been placed somewhere sunny ever since I was a kid, and the rainbows it casts always cheer me up at least a bit.

For this prism and its blackwork refraction, I played with layers a bit. The stem-stitched "white light" is actually behind the half cross stitches of the prism, while the blackwork sits on top of both the prism and its couched outline. Rather than have the rainbow fade out, I'll frame this one so that the blackwork runs right up against the frame, giving the impression that the rainbow continues on out of sight.

(Half) cross stitch and blackwork embroidery on black 14-count Aida cloth.

Pattern here (my site) or here (Etsy)

[beegoould]

I made a thing!

Pattern by Loose Thread Stitchery

[loosethreadstitchery]

Beautiful! I don't see this one made all that often; yours looks wonderful!

[loosethreadstitchery]

I've had versions of this saved in my drafts folder under "Geometric Wreath" (and Geometric Wreath Revised, and Geometric Wreath Revised New, and Geometric Wreath Final, etc.) for so long that I'll probably always see a wreath when I look at it, even though it's honestly not all that wreath-like. Blackwork embroidery on 14-count Aida.

Pattern here (my site) or here (Etsy)

[jessikast]

Finished a blackwork embroidery project. This is “Overlay Blackwork Sampler” by @loosethreadstitchery

This took me about two months, on and off. It’s stitched on 28ct “blue spruce” linen - the designer stitched it on a dark blue fabric, but since I’d just done another project on blue, I wanted a change. This shade is gorgeous and still has a great contrast with the white.

[loosethreadstitchery]

It turned out so well - beautifully stitched!

[loosethreadstitchery]

What software do you use to make your patterns?

At the moment I use MacStitch (Windows version is WinStitch). A lot of my older patterns were made with a little free app for Mac called KaroGraph that's not really meant for cross stitch or blackwork design, but works for simpler designs with fewer colours.

[loosethreadstitchery]

Life's been a bit busy lately and I haven't done as much stitching, but there's always time for a new colour wheel. Blackwork embroidery on 14-count Aida cloth.

Pattern here (my site) or here (Etsy).

[cfstuff]

Blackwork i finished while at Tabbie's

[mysticorset]

Another completed project! Cleaned & ironed, but unframed. The frame I bought for it is too small so now I have to decide what else to do with it.

Pattern by @loosethreadstitchery available here

[loosethreadstitchery]

Beautiful work! I love seeing this pattern done!

[loosethreadstitchery]

How do you come up with your patterns? How did you learn this?

Hi Anon,

I'm not sure I have great answers for you. The style of blackwork I do most is repetitive motifs filling sections of a larger piece. I start by coming up with the overall shape, whether that's trying to get an organic image to fit on a grid, or just playing around in a grid-based sketching app until I have a shape that appeals to me.

Once I have the outline, I'm once again just sketching on a grid to work out the fills I want to use. If I plan to use a gradient within a section, I'll come up with the fill pattern first and then adjust the colours.

How did I learn blackwork? My grandmother taught me the very basics of cross stitch when I was little, but beyond that I mostly kept stabbing fabric until it looked the way I wanted it to. If you're looking to learn a more proper way of doing things, there are tutorials out there. The Royal School of Needlework's stitch bank is great for individual stitches (I mostly use back stitch, double running/Holbein stitch, stem stitch, and cross stitch. Some couching stitch as well.) and there are plenty of YouTube videos that go over blackwork in general.

How did I learn design? More or less the same way, to be honest; I've always been a doodler and my doodles have always been mostly geometric, so this is really just a continuation of that, both digitally and with thread. The program I use most right now is MacStitch (or WinStitch). It's paid software, but a one-time purchase rather than a subscription, and there's a free demo version. I've also used KaroGraph (not sure if there's a Windows version), which is free, but not intended for cross stitch or blackwork design; it's just a very simple grid-based sketch program. I know there's free cross stitch/blackwork software out there as well (StitchFiddle gets mentioned?) but I haven't really used it before. Or, of course, the trusty paper sketchbook.