Inspired to try embroidery? (It is all the crafting rage, you know.) You’ll be glad to know that I have a brand-new book coming out full of techniques and ideas perfect for everyone from total beginners to veterans of the stitch. It includes transfer patterns, stitching diagrams, decorative stitch combinations, unique projects, and inspiration just for you:

FLOSS BLENDING
Floss blending is kind of the thread equivalent of mixing paint. Only, there’s no mess, it’s very simple to do (but looks impressive) and the results are always unexpected. It looks a little something like this:

(red + yellow + stem stitch)

Or this:

(light green + dark green + feather stitch)

Neat huh? Wanna give it a try? We can do that.
(Never stitched a single thing before? My kit will get you started and so will these instructions for total beginners.)

Now, let’s blend some floss!

Step 1:
Choose two colors, of six-stranded floss (needs to be stranded embroidery floss, not perl cotton).
Oh, I think I’ll try one of my favorite combos: pink and black. Pretty.

Step 2:
Separate away three strands of each color and unite them as one.

TIP: To easily separate strands apart so they don’t snag, you can pass them through your mouth as you separate them, or strip the floss across a piece of velcro first (the rough half), and then pull them apart. The velcro combs and separates the strands making it easier to separate them from one another. Got it?

Step 3:
Load up your needle!

Step 4:
I drew some squiggles on my fabric just for practice, and dived right in. It’s already looking pretty interesting…

Neato! This is how the split stitch turned out. I like it. Let’s see what it looks like in another type of stitch.

What a difference a stitch can make! The squiggle on the left is worked in a back stitch. I gotta try one more.

And now we have it in a stem stitch (far left). They each turned out so uniquely from one another just by changing the stitch. Which one do you like best? I think the split stitch (far right) is my favorite. I will have to report these findings back to the lab. This is just the tip of the floss-blending iceberg, people! What can you do with it?

Purchase Embroidered Effects

Jenny Hart

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