Thread a Little Happiness!
"Hi, thank you for super fast service. also free chart. delighted with my purchase, thank you." - JB, Wales
"I would like to thank you for your help yesterday when I was ordering 'Colours'. I was thrilled to receive the package from you this morning at 9.30am. Thank you for such first class service." - SO, United Kingdom
"... Great customer service, pleasure doing business with you." - LB, West Sussex, United Kingdom
"Many thanks for my cross stitch chart. It arrived couple of days ago. Now I just have to save for the materials. Thanks again. Great service." - BS, Dorset, United Kingdom
"Just a quick note to say thanks very much indeed for the very prompt delivery of the cross stitch pattern I ordered from you - it looks great, and all I need to do now is find time to stitch it up! Thanks again for a great service." - LC, Scotland
See more testimonials here ...
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News | August News | Coats Anchor have just released new cross stitch kits in their Maia Collection of fine art pictures.
Among these are a new Thomas Kinkade winter scene, several Oriental designs of ladies in their traditional dress, two new Keith Mallett pictures: Jazz Cafe and Soul's Awakening, some new Art Deco designs with another added to the series of dogs and stylish lady owners, Dancing Dalmations and more stunning wildlife pictures from Africa and North America.
At the same time some older kits have been discontinued. Some of the copies of van Gogh and Monet paintings and all of the Erte ladies, including the very popular Symphony in Black are only available while stocks last. Some of the Oriental designs, African wildlife and the fantasy picture will also become unavailable.
Thea Gouverneur has released a Black Collection of many of her existing kits on black 18 count Aida including all of the 'Cities' series and many of the flowers, making very stunning pictures, though harder to stitch on black fabric. These will be the same price as their equivalent kit on antique white and we can order any of these for you if you are interested. Also coming soon a new kit of Sydney, Australia - the latest in the excellent series of world cities.
Classic Embroidery are now manufacturing Sarah May Designs and we have new blackwork kits from the range which will probably prove to be very popular.
Many Green Apple Beatrix Potter charts are still out of stock at our suppliers and our remaining stocks are dwindling! Lots of customers were waiting for Beatrix Potter's Alphabet ABC and we now have fresh supplies of that booklet.
The new Vervaco art deco kits 20`s Kiss and 20`s Dance are currently only available in 14 count Aida but in the full release in late August, there will also be evenweave versions which will cost slightly more. Vervaco have also dropped a few kits, including A Paris Kiss, Moulin Rouge and a Spring release of Marilyn Munroe which was only for a limited period.
During the month of August we are featuring historical, European samplers from Permin of Copenhagen, one of the longest established cross stitch houses.
These are mostly recreations of samplers in German and Danish museums, with originals dating from between 1749 and 1856. Most have alphabets with religious or romantic motifs and come with a detailed explanation of their significance and history.
Samplers are traditionally worked on fine linen fabric. This is recognisable by the varying width of the fabric threads unlike cotton evenweave fabric which has regular threads and less space between. As well as the difficulty of working on finer fabric, the spacing of the threads in linen means that extra care needs to be taken in finishing off threads. Threads cannot be carried across unstitched areas as they would be seen when mounted. These samplers will become family heirlooms and so the extra time involved will reap the benefits. Good magnification and lighting are essential.
Thread a little sunshine this August! |
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Art and Craft Events | Wrest Park Craft & Design Festival (Craft Exhibitions) - Silsoe, United Kingdom | Bedfordshire's Premier Craft Experience.
Traditional classic skills & contemporary design led crafts at one major event in a stunning setting.
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| Embroidery from the Arab World (Craft Exhibitions) - Leiden, Netherlands | | The world of Islamic and Arab art is well-known for its beautiful calligraphy, its manuscript miniatures, the exquisite geometric designs on wood, its pottery and silverware, but little has been said until now about another important aspect of Arab culture, namely its embroidery. For hundreds of years, embroidered textiles have decorated homes, public buildings, animals (especially horses), as well as the clothing of men, women and children. | | more ... |
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So much choice ... You have hundreds of cross stitch designers and suppliers to choose from, so here is a little more detailed information on some of them, their products and our opinions ...
Rico DesignRICO DESIGN embroidery products are very popular in most major European countries. Their range is characterised by contemporary design, high quality and low cost.
They make and supply needlework fabrics, laces and aida linen bands, ready made and part made tablecloths and table runners, terry cloths, embroidery and cross stitch ideas booklets, cross stitch kits, tapestry and embroidery kits. And of course, a vast collection of supplies and accessories.
The home textile collection contains a range of embroidered tablecloths and wall hangings either as finished articles or as kits. The designs are worked in a range of embroidery styles - free, cross stitch and shadow embroidery.
RICO DESIGN GMBH & CO. KG was founded in Brakel/Westphalia (Germany) in 1974 by Franz Jacoby under the name Tap-Service as a service company for textile manufacture and framing of Gobelin pictures and is definitely the leading manufacturer of products in the embroidery field. maiamaia is an exclusive range of beautiful and artistic embroidery kits designed to inspire you down to the very last stitch.
Maia is the goddess of spring, growth, life, rebirth and love – all fitting qualities for you and your stitching.
Produced by Coats Crafts, maia kits include carefully sorted Anchor thread, quality fabric and easy to follow charts and instructions. The designs are all inspired by the artwork of various artists - Karl Bang, Thomas Kinkade, Keith Mallett, Erte, Nel and Kawase Hasui.
Quality cross stitch kits, inspirational design. Permin of CopenhagenPermin of Copenhagen were established in 1854 by Christian Permin and each year they produce a huge range of elegant cross stitch, hardanger, needlepoint/tapestry and embroidery kits which are exported to 70 countries throughout the world.
They have a large catalogue of traditional designs, including a collection of samplers which includes authentic patterns from previous centuries. Permin kits come with black and white charts and instructions in several languages, including English of course! Kits include DMC Mouliné yarn, fabric, needle, colour chart and graph/pattern.
Floral design is well represented with dozens of patterns in a variety of styles and media.
There is a wide range of table linen, some in cutwork and hardanger, some with stamped cotton and some in cross-stitch and embroidery.
In fact, Permin have one of the best selections of Christmas items of all -Christmas cards, stockings, advent calendars, tree skirts, towels and table linen, and also some junior cross stitch kits. Lanarte
The Dutch company Lanarte have produced many and varied designs. They produce quality large scale charts in black and white with detailed instructions in several languages.
In 1934, Augustinus (Guus) Vergnes opened a shop in Leeuwarden selling yarn and knitting wool. The range was gradually extended to include other needlecrafts, such as simple cross-stitch kits. Over the years, Guus managed to open numerous shops throughout the country under the name Naaldkunst (Needlecraft). As the range of needlecraft kits was not very broad at that time, Guus felt the need to design his own.
Lanarte, now grown into a family business was set up in 1973 and new business premises were built on the newly developed Schenkenschans industrial area in Leeuwarden, Holland.
Lanarte's collections consist of :-
- Art Nouveau - Stylish images from the golden age of art
- Home and Garden - beautiful flower pictures, individually, in bouquets and vases or in garden setting;
- Romance - delicate colours and subtle shades in pictures of beautiful women, children and flowers;
- Marjolein Bastin - designs of flowers, birds and samplers from the well known Dutch illustrator;
- Classic - from paintings, posters and Dutch tiles;
- Animals - styled, realistic and cartoons;
- Culture - Egyptian collages, oriental ladies, dark African beauties are all in this group;
- Holiday - lighthouses and seaside views and the country with fields of flowers;
- Just for Kids - cute teddies, toys and contemporary birth samplers;
- Maria van Scharrenburg - beautiful fantasy figures, romantic baby pictures and a cute nursery range.
Rose SwalwellRose Swalwell is the founder of Derwentwater Designs, named after the lake in the beautiful English Lake District where she lives and where her business is situated.
The company has been designing and manufacturing embroidery kits since the mid 1980s and Rose still designs most of the kits although there is also a team of designers each specialising in a different range.
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