Glossary.
BEADIES:
My name for the beaded shawl or hair pins I make, using a tapered piece of jarra timber with beads attached to one end. See examples under ‘Ready to Wear ‘ in the Bead Section.
BEADING NEEDLE:
A very fine needle able to pass several times through beads. They can be short, suitable for beading stitches such as Peyote, Square or Brick Stitch where only one or two beads at a time are picked up and Bead Embroidery; or long, and used for Stringing or Loom-work.
BLACKWORK:
Counted thread embroidery predominantly worked in one or two colours on Aida or even-weave fabric. A Backstitch or Double Running Stitch (Holbein) is used to create the lines and many patterns found in this type of simple, but effective embroidery.
BOX PINCUSHIONS:
My name for a chart pack or kit of a square, box shaped pincushion, worked on all sides and easily assembled. They are available in a variety of different needlework techniques.
BRICK STITCH / COMANCHE STITCH:
An off loom beading stitch, resembling a brick wall. It usually begins with a row of ladder stitch and the subsequent rows are made by passing the needle under the bridging threads of the previous row.
CANVASWORK / NEEDLEPOINT:
Any embroidery worked on canvas. It can include Bargello or Florentine, Tent stitches, or counted or freeform stitches.
COUNTED THREAD:
Any type of embroidery worked on an even-weave fabric.
CROSS STITCH:
A counted thread embroidery worked from a chart on even-weave fabrics such as Aida or Jubilee usually with 2 strands of floss.
DRAWN THREAD:
A counted thread embroidery technique where warp or weft threads are cut and the remaining threads are grouped together to form patterns.
TASSELED TRIMMERS:
My name for a kit or chart pack for two needlework (may be Cross Stitch, Blackwork, Hardanger or Pulled Thread), pincushions with a twisted cord hanger and tassels. One is larger than the other.
EVEN-WEAVE FABRIC:
Any fabric where the warp and weft threads are the same, resulting in the same number of threads to the inch or centimetre in each direction. The list below comprises the most commonly used fabrics in my range.
LUGANA:
A 25 count Zweigart ™ fabric available in several colours.
AIDA:
A fabric consisting of groups of threads woven together to form a ‘square’ with holes at each corner, over which the stitch is worked. Suitable for Cross Stitch and Blackwork, but not for Pulled Thread, Hardanger, or Drawn Thread.
JUBILEE:
A 28 count Zweigart™ fabric.
BELFAST LINEN:
A 32 count Zweigart™ linen.
DUBLIN LINEN:
A 25 count Zweigart™ linen.
MONO INTERLOCK CANVAS:
A white canvas that appears to be a single thread, but is 2 threads woven together and interlocked at each intersection. It is available in several counts such as 12 , 14 and 18 threads to the inch.
MONO CANVAS:
A single weave canvas available in several counts, suitable for many types of Canvas-work.
PENELOPE CANVAS:
A double weave canvas available in several counts, best suited to Tent Stitches.
FLOSS / STRANDED COTTON:
A 6 strand embroidery thread available in many hundreds of shades. References in my designs are to DMC™ colours.
FLOWER THREAD:
A matt finish single thread equivalent to approximately 2 strands of floss. It is available in solid or over-dyed colours.
HARDANGER:
Originating in Norway and traditionally worked with white thread on white even-weave fabric, this classic embroidery uses simple counted stitches, cutting and needle-weaving and is ideally suited to the making of table linen.
HUMBUG:
A lozenge shaped pincushion, made of two squares of needlework stitched together.
LOOMWORK:
A beading technique in which a ‘flat fabric’ of beads is made on a beading loom.
NEEDLE ROLL:
A small needlework item in the shape of a bonbon that is more decorative than useful. It is usually a pretty way of showing off a sampler of counted threads.
NETTING:
An off loom beading technique that resembles netting. This beadwork works up quickly as there are spaces left between the beads. It can be flat or circular.
OVER-DYED OR SPACE -DYED THREAD:
This term describes threads of any description that have been dyed in several shades or colours at intervals, so that the colour changes as the thread is stitched. The list below gives some of the over-dyed thread used in my designs.
CARON™ WATERCOLORS:
A perle-like thread of three strands that can be separated or used as is.
CARON™ WILDFLOWERS:
A single cotton thread without the sheen of a perle or stranded cotton. Equivalent to approximately 2 strands of floss.
CARON™ WATERLILIES:
A 12 strand silk thread.
THE THREAD GATHERER STRANDED™ SILK:
a 12 strand silk thread.
THE THREAD GATHERER™ SILK RIBBON:
A 4 mm silk ribbon.
PATTERN DARNING:
A counted thread embroidery where repeating patterns are formed by rows of running stitches.
PERORATED PAPER:
A sheet of sturdy paper that has evenly spaced, perforated holes, resulting in 14 stitches to the inch. It can be trimmed close to the work without fraying, so is ideal for shaped pieces such as Christmas decorations. It is available in several colours and used mainly for Counted Cross Stitch.
PERLE THREAD: 3, 5, 8 & 12
A twisted thread with a soft sheen, usually used singly, of varying thicknesses. Perle 3 is the thickest through to Perle 12, the finest. My references are to DMC™ colours.
PEYOTE / GOURD:
An off loom beading stitch which is very versatile. It can be stitched flat, circular or tubular.
PULLED THREAD: (Also known as DRAWN FABRIC)
A form of counted thread embroidery where the stitches are pulled tightly to draw the fabric into lacy openwork patterns.
SAMPLERS:
A piece of embroidery or needlework containing several different stitches, often used a s a project for learning different techniques.
SQUARE STITCH:
An off loom beading stitch that has the same appearance as loom-work
TEACHING SAMPLERS:
These are projects that I designed specifically for use in classroom situations and cover the basic techniques for a particular type of embroidery.
TENT STITCH:
The term that encompasses Half Cross, Continental and Basket-weave Stitch, which are all canvas stitches that are worked differently, but have a diagonal appearance on the front of the work.