Even though my hands are not good at it, I admire a good piece of embroidery more than I can say. One style that has always particularly appealed to me is crewelwork. I love the flowing lines typically seen, the texture with the slightly raised bits, the long history of the technique. If I were any good at embroidery, this would be the one I think I would do most.
If you love crewel, or if you’re thinking of giving it a try, consider heading over to The Crewel Work Company & Historic British Needlepoint and looking into one of their historically accurate kits.
The crewel kits start with historically accurate Jacobean ‘Z’ twist linen to work on. They go on to provide quality thread, one gold-plated needle for single-thread stitching and a nickel-plated one for double threads (so easy to tell apart at a glance!), a booklet of basic instructions in crewel, and a full-sized chart of the work showing the exact stitches and colors used.
I’m in love with the Jacobean period Rabbit pattern shown above. It runs 39 pounds sterling. Other kits are priced individually, and there’s a handy currency converter right underneath each price so you can know what you would pay in US dollars, Canadian dollars, or whatever currency you’re using.
Also, be sure to check out their gorgeous needlepoint canvases. They have me seriously considering taking needlepoint up again.
