THE HISTORICAL SAMPLER COMPANY

FIRM FAVOURITES: JOANNE & SUZANNE

Designers share with us their top stitching essentials

Here's our five favourite things when creating designs for www. historicalsamplercompany.co.uk

SIESTA AND NURGE HOOPS

We like to use ahoop whilst stitching as it keeps the tension correct on the material. We use an 8in hoop from Siesta Frames on all of our designs and then move it around the fabric as we go. We also like to use Nurge Hoops (below) as these keep the fabric very tight. At the end of astitching session we release the hoop so that it does not leave any crease marks on the fabric and thread.

NEEDLEWORK SCISSORS

Apair of needlework scissors is a must when stitching. They are really sharp and snip through the thread perfectly. We always have apair of scissors in our project bag so that we are not hunting around for them when we settle down to do some stitching. We have some lovely scissors in our range in avariety of shapes and colours.

FLOSS DROPS

Floss Drops are very useful as you start anew project. You can put each colour thread from the design onto afloss drop and then write the colour code on asticker and attach it to the floss drop (you can then remove the sticker when you have finished the project and use the floss drops again for adifferent project). You then put the floss drops onto ametal split ring which keeps all of your threads together. We stock arange of floss drops from DougusCo. –you can see their full range on Etsy.

NEEDLEMINDERS

We love needleminders as they’re perfect for keeping your needles safe while stitching. The strong magnet on the their back allows your needle to stay in asafe place while not in use. We have alarge range of enamel and ceramic needleminders some of which are themed to our designs.

ZWEIGART AIDA Aida was invented by Zweigart in 1907 and this is by far the best fabric you can buy. It is very simple to work with and has avery clear square with ahole in each corner to make counted cross stitch easy.