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Welcome to Thistle Threads
Historically Inspired Needleart
Our mission is to:
- Highlight techniques from the past in a manner that educates the embroiderer about styles, materials, and historical context
- Feature quality embroidery and finishing materials in our projects, highlighting those that are from craftsmen or ancient family businesses to ensure that our heritage is not lost
- Study, design and facilitate the reintroduction of historical materials that we have lost
- Collaborate with artists and craftsmen in complementary decorative arts that relate to embroidery historically or aesthetically
- Use new technologies to present embroidery instruction in a manner that empowers the student
What's New?
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As it's the summer, the staff at Thistle Threads will be on vacation with our families until July 11.
Thank you for support. |
Kit price - $175
Salem Flower Basket Needleroll by Tricia Wilson Nguyen of Thistle Threads
This adaptation of a 19th century needleroll is embroidered with charmingly naïve wildflowers amongst the counted alphabets and motifs from Lucy Beadle’s 1817 sampler, housed in the PEM collection. Worked in Au Ver a Soie silk on a 32 count green linen, the accessory is finished with rose-green changeable taffeta and textured satin ribbons. The kit includes instructions and CD Rom of the embroidery in process and finishing, 32 ct. linen, silk threads, needles, doctors cloth, green taffeta, batt, cardboard tube, Mokuba ribbons, and design transfer paper. A portion of each kit's proceeds goes to the Peabody Essex Museum.
Price - $275
Memorial Photokeep by Tricia Wilson Nguyen of Thistle Threads
The approximately 4.5 inch x 7 inch Memorial Photokeep features an embroidered weeping willow and flower garland over an urn on the front cover. Open the photokeep bi-fold and the inside contains a place to put a photo of a departed loved one, perhaps a favorite relative, friend, or pet, and an area to stitch a personalized saying. The project teaches a combination of embroidery and counted stitches using Au Ver a Soie Soie Paris filament silk on 40-count linen. The design of the photokeep is inspired by several silkwork mourning pictures in the Winterthur collection. Silk chenille, specially dyed for this project, is used to embroider the tree trunks and grass as was often done in the mid-nineteenth century. The embroidery is framed by a black velvet ribbon and couched gold outline to emulate the painted glass which was often used to frame these silkwork pictures. A touch of gold is included in the picture as the vine of the garland. A button closure that is reminiscent of a piece of Victorian mourning jewelry is included.
The kit includes a CD-ROM with in-process photographs of the embroidery and finishing along with the 40 ct linen fabric premounted to scroll bars with the design transfer completed. Other kit contents include instructions, 40 ct. linens, silk threads, needles, hand-dyed silk chenille thread, metal threads, Mokuba velvet ribbon, victorian button, silk taffeta finishing fabric, and all other finishing materials needed to produce the photokeep. A portion of each kit's proceeds goes to Winterthur.
Price - $55
Limited Edition 2000 Sweet Bag by Tricia Wilson Nguyen of Thistle Threads
Less than 200 are left of this kit. Additional funds from this kit will be donated to the Museum of Fine Arts for conservation supplies. This piece coordinates with the Running Stitch Etui and Scissors Fob collection found on the Retail Charts page.
Lady's Sampler Slipper and Burse
Lady's Sampler Slipper and Burse is a three piece needlework necessities set featuring muted colors. The pieces are worked on 32 count Belfast linen using Au Ver a Soie Soie d'Alger silk. The pieces include a pinkeep, a slipper to hold your scissors and needles and a sampler burse with peak-a-boo gussets. The kit includes all instructions, silk fibers, linen, needles, silk finishing fabrics and all needed finishing materials such as interfacing, skirtex, and cardboards. A CD-ROM showing the finishing of the pieces in detail is included with each kit.
- Lady's Sampler Slipper and Burse - $85.00
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Joys Many and Sorrows Few Sewing Box Limited Edition 2004 $110 kit The project is a box that is inspired by a mid-nineteenth century sampler. It is embroidered on four sides and the top with satin stitch and cross stitch over one. The inside of the box has a cross-stitched narrow ribbon that helps keep wooden threadwinders against the sides of the box. There is room for at least six threadwinders. On the bottom, an area for your favorite tools and the top contains a pincushion and needlekeep areas. I have had special walnut threadwinders fabricated for this piece. One will be included in each kit. You can fill the other spaces with other threadwinders in your collection or some from our available styles. The kit includes 32ct. linen, needle, stitchable ribbon, silk floss, Anchor floss, silk lining fabric, ultrasuede, wool doctors cloth, the special acorn button, a walnut threadwinder, instructions, and four color xeroxes showing the finishing in progress. Items not included are 1/8" batt (Warm and Natural suggested), Cardboard, and Skirtex. |
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I have had many people buy multiples of the Gold and Plum Vintage Purse Box or ask me if they can buy an empty Friendship Box. I had to know why (were they really going to stitch that many pieces??) and found out that some enterprising stitchers had realized that these boxes make wonderful gift packaging! One lady was planning on using the Teal Friendship boxes as packaging for baby items for a shower so the mommy could them use it to hide diapers. (Why hadn't I thought about that!!) Another woman told me she was using the boxes as gift baskets this Christmas. And yet another was going to put her homemade cookies in them! If you are interested in buying the boxes for other ideas - please go ahead. We have put up on the web site the option to get empty Friendship boxes and also have slashed the prices for multiples even further for any combination of Friendship or Vintage Purse boxes. I happen to have a huge bag of gift basket raffia filling and will be happy to half fill a box for you before shipping if you send me a note with your order. The medium boxes (6" tall x 9.25" x 6.5") come in Teal, Plum, or Gold. The large boxes (7" tall x 10" x 7.5") come in Green or Teal Send me email at thistlethreads@comcast.net with your order to let me know which color combinations of boxes you are interested in getting and if you need any gift basket filling.
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Mother Is Love A few years ago Kreinik asked me to design a piece for their website to celebrate Mother's Day using their silks. I decided to produce a hanging set of linked hearts that could be used on the wall, doors, or bedposts. The free graph titled "Mother is Love" proved to be very successful ( download it today) and inspired the retail line of hearts. |