INDEPENDENT NEEDLEWORK NEWS

I really enjoyed checking out the links on About.com: Miniature’s list of the Top Eight Sources for Dollhouse Needlework Kits. The majority of these kits are done on 40 count silk gauze, so I was a bit surprised not to see Threads Through Time listed. (I can’t find a website for Threads Through Time; if anyone knows of it, please let me know what it is! ) However, perhaps that’s because Threads Through Time doesn’t advertise to the dollhouse market (that I know of).

Anyway, I wanted to share Lesley Shepherd’s picks for miniature needlework with you because I think you’ll enjoy looking them over as much as I have.

I particularly enjoyed Janet Granger Designs and MicroStitchery (click on “Stitchery Paraphernalia”) because of the teeny tiny display stands they have available for customers to use to display their miniature needlework in their dollhouses. Too bad the prices for these items aren’t anywhere near teeny tiny, LOL!

I had no idea there were so many options out there for miniature needlework. These people creating items for the dollhouse market haven’t done much to market to the stitching market … Maybe that will change now because I think a lot of their designs are really fantastic!

Of course, there is nothing that says you HAVE TO stitch something on that small of a count. If you fall in love with one of these itty bitty patterns but aren’t comfortable stitching it on 40 count for whatever reason, stitch it on whatever fabric count you prefer.

By the way, I learned a hint from a friend several years ago which has made stitching on 40 count MUCH easier for me. Instead of stitching on 40 count silk gauze, which is very difficult to see, and which requires you to stitch the entire background, consider stitching on 40 count fabric with the fabric being the color you want the background to be. I find this so much easier to see (even when using a dark colored 40 count fabric!) than working on gauze — and since I don’t have to fill in the background, there is also a LOT less stitching to do.

Technorati Tags: miniature, needlework, dollhouse, doll, silk gauze, 40 count, Lesley Shepherd, Threads Through Time, MicroStitchery, Janet Granger Designs

… of Rosewood Manor Designs’ ABC Tapestry on Stitching Bits and Bobs website (remember … I mentioned wanting to see a much bigger picture? I figure you probably feel the same way!)

By the way, you’ll probably want to take a look at Stitching Bits and Bobs’ 2007 Columbus Market Report. Keep an eye on that page for a couple of weeks, too, as things will be added as the shop receives them.

Leave me a comment and let everyone know what you’re adding to your wish list!

Also, two more new fairies from Mirabilia … this time in the Pixie Couture collection.

What do you think, Jenna? Daisy here certainly isn’t ugly … but the frontal view of a faceless fairy is fairly frightening. (Sorry … I appear to be on an alliteration kick. )

Perhaps Michelle will think Daisy is creepy but more interesting to stitch than blackwork?

For faceless fairies, I’m more comfortable with Lilly myself. (Everywhere I’ve seen this, it’s spelled this way, rather than like the flower.)

I’m certain I’ll add both to my stash, but I expect I’ll stitch Lilly first … especially because lilies are my favorite flower. I LOOOOOOOOVE the scent of lilies. MMMMMMMMMM.

Technorati Tags: Rosewood Manor, ABC Tapestry, Lilly, Daisy, Mirabilia, lily, Columbus market, Stitching Bits and Bobs

Paula Zahn had a fascinating report on her CNN Heroes segment this evening about a man named Matin Maulawizada who employs dozens of war widows in Afghanistan to embroider items for sale in other countries. Maulawizada is a Hollywood makeup artist who returned to his hometown of Kabul, Afghanistan to start this project, which he called Afghan Hands.

As there are estimated to be over 50,000 war widows in Afghanistan when 80% of Afghan women cannot read or write, the opportunity Maulawizada is able to provide to this small handful of women makes a huge difference to those individuals. Not only are they able to earn a living for themselves, but he pays them half again as much as the average Afghan government official makes, and also ensures they learn how to read and write among other skills. Maulawizada’s hope is that these women will be able to run their own businesses in the future.

At the moment, you can watch the video of this segment online.

Technorati Tags: Paula Zahn, CNN, heroes, Matin Maulawizada, Afghanistan, Afghan Hands, Kabul, embroidery

I loved this post from graphic designer Jessica Jones in her blog How about orange on making fabric-covered thumb tacks … which started out as buttons.

Of course, I immediately thought this would be a wonderful item to share with all of you on how to make your own matching buttons to use on your needlework pieces (biscornus, needlebooks, scissor fobs, and anywhere else you want a matching button).

Or what about when you can’t find the right button to use on any piece of needlework, but you do have some fabric with the image you want? For instance, you need a daisy of a particular size, and you have a piece of fabric with a daisy just the right size … Now, you can just create your own button!

Technorati Tags: buttons, button, fabric, needlework, cross stitch, biscornu, Jessica Jones, How about orange, covered thumb tacks

Kreinik, Redefined, Inc. (the manufacturers of Tokens & Trifles and Trinkets perforated paper sewing cards), and Just Cross Stitch have come together to encourage amateur designers to try their skills in a holiday ornament designing contest. All the details and complete contest instructions and requirements are also here.

There are two different design categories: (1) Designs using only Kreinik threads, and (2) Designs using at least one Kreinik thread.

Ornaments are to be designed using the Tokens & Trifles stocking shaped Trinket!

All contest entries must be submitted by August 1st, and winners will be selected and notifed by August 30th.

The first place design for both categories will be published in the December 2007 issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine. Other prizes for the first place winner vary slightly by category but are worth $500. Second place winners’ prizes are valued at $150, and third place winners’ awards are valued at $50. The merchandise awards are really, really nice ones and include Kreinik Very Fine #4 Braid, Kreinik Silk Bella, Kreinik Metallic Cord, publication of your design on Kreinik’s or Tokens & Trifles’ websites, Tokens & Trifles sewing cards, Just Cross Stitch magazine subscriptions, and copies of Darleen O’Steen’s The Proper Stitch: A Guide for Counted Thread.

Professional designers are not eligible to enter this contest, so if you’ve ever wanted to try designing but been afraid to, this is a good opportunity to do so. You don’t even have to tell anyone unless your design wins, in which case, of course, you’ll want to tell everyone. I only hope you’ll give Independent Needlework News exclusive announcement rights first, LOL!

Technorati Tags: holiday ornament, designing, designer, design, contest, competition, tokens & trifles, trinket, stocking, ornament, Just Cross Stitch, Redefined, Kreinik, silk bella, metallic cord, Proper Stitch, Darleen O’Steen, embroidery on paper, perforated paper

So many stitchers eagerly wait for this to come out in September every year … Well, here’s the front cover of the 2007 Christmas Ornament issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine for your early perusal!

Technorati Tags: Just Cross Stitch, Christmas Ornament issue, ornament

Did you find anything you just have to have listed among this week’s new releases from Hoffman Distributing?

I definitely want Mirabilia Designs‘ Thanksgiving Harvest Fairy:

This charming punchneedle design by The Needlesmith called Ribbons and Roses also caught my eye:

And I’m pretty sure I’ll want to add Rosewood Manor Design’s ABC Tapestry to my wish list, but I want to see it up close and personal first … This picture just isn’t a good enough one for me to make up my mind, and neither are the slightly larger pictures of a few of the sections shown on Rosewood Manor’s website.

This week’s Friday Feature is an interview with Kathy Hackford of Designs by Lisa. That looks like a typo, doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t, but you’ll have to read the Friday Feature to find out the details.

Technorati Tags: Hoffman Distributing, new releases, cross stitch, Friday Feature, Designs by Lisa, Kathy Hackford, Thanksgiving Harvest Fairy, Mirabilia, Needlesmith, Ribbons and Roses, punchneedle, punch needle, Rosewood Manor Designs, ABC Tapestry

I received a note from Tam of Tam’s Creations about her new blackwork designs, which she calls Weird Blackwork Series, saying, “Bet you have never seen blackwork designs like this before!” Well, Tam is right; I hadn’t … and I’m betting you haven’t either.

After seeing Total Paranoia …

and Bad Hair Day …

I am quite interested to see what else Tam comes up with in this series of designs.

But don’t stop there … Be sure you look around the rest of Tam’s site, ESPECIALLY if you’re a fan of blackwork. Tam has a very unique artistic talent for making blackwork look modern and fun no matter what color you might choose to stitch it in, and while the above two pictures might seem a bit creepy for your taste, Tam has something to offer to everyone. For instance, here are her gorgeous Floral Serviette (Napkin?) Holders.

I’m really not all that much of a fan of stitching blackwork myself, although I very much enjoy looking at it, but there are at least ten different designs Tam has created that I really want … How about you?

Technorati Tags: Tam’s Creations, Tams Creations, blackwork, Weird Blackwork series, Total Paranoia, Bad Hair Day, Floral Serviette Holders, cross stitch

Are you aware that Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams and Teresa Wentzler of TW Designworks teamed up with each other and released two sets of designs available only through PatternsOnline.com? Well, now you know!

Moon Dragon and Sun Dragon are a stunning pair. The heavenly matched Celestial Sun and Celestial Moon would be perfect for a scissor fob or needlebook.

Teresa Wentzler also has released another design called Miniature Autumn Sampler exclusively through PatternsOnline.com, and she appears to be making all of her out of print designs, including those previously published only in magazines, available through PatternsOnline.com … So check this resource before spending a big chunk of change for an out of print TW pattern on eBay or another auction site!

And the best thing? Purchasing through PatternsOnline.com means instant gratification! So you can buy your chart and be stitching it within just a few minutes if you already have the threads on hand!

Technorati Tags: Jennifer Aikman-Smith, Teresa Wentzler, Dragon Dreams, Celestial Sun, Celestial Moon, Sun Dragon, Moon Dragon, Patterns Online, cross stitch, TW Designworks, TWDesignworks, eBay, Miniature Autumn Sampler

In response to an earlier post on copyright law, a reader commented:

Just because you wrote some thing doesn’t mean it’s copyrighted. You have to file for a copyright through the Library of Congress and have a copyright number for there to be any copyright infringement.

I hope your legal team tells you that.

My commenter is wrong, of course. If she were a lawyer or had asked her own legal team, they would have told her so in order that she not come across as misinformed.

According to the US Copyright Office, copyright exists from the moment the work is created. Registration is recommended, but not required. Additionally, expect to see the recommendation for registration to change due to the Internet. The world is a different place now, and the laws must change right along with it. But the definition of what is theft will NOT change.

Copyright law has been the way it is now for some time.

Back when I finally finished writing my master’s thesis in 1998, I did not have to file for a Certificate of Registration in order for my thesis to be copyrighted. In fact, all the time I had been writing my thesis (I started writing in … 1992), even before it was finished, even before it was published, even before it was read by any of my professors, even before it was read by any other individual at all, it was copyrighted. That’s because copyright covers unpublished works as well as published ones.

If I keep a diary intended for no one’s eyes but mine, it is copyrighted, and I own the copyright.

I DID file for that Certificate of Registration on my master’s thesis, though (you’ll have to look me up under my maiden name, Espie), just because I wanted the nice piece of paper from the Library of Congress. I’ll admit I was more easily convinced to part with the registration fee because, should I ever need to go to court if someone steals my original work and claims it as their own, I wanted that piece of paper as proof. That will make the court case EASIER, but it wasn’t REQUIRED. The copyright always existed, it always belonged to ME, and anyone who might try to pass off my work as their own is STEALING.

By the way, it sure is a good thing copyright exists from the time the work is created. Here is a story about red tape. I mailed my application and the required fees in April of 1998. I finally received my Certificate of Registration from the Library of Congress in March of 2000 — and the Effective Date of Registration is stamped January 14, 1999. So the Library of Congress wasn’t all that behind in processing the Certificate of Registration, but they were well over a year behind in mailing their outgoing mail.

Can you imagine the implications to the needlework industry if copyright weren’t actually in effect the whole time? My, my, that could present quite a conundrum, couldn’t it? Imagine all the unhappy needlework designers unable to release their new designs until they finally received their Certificates of Registration … Think of all the shops who would have no new designs coming in to offer their customers … All of us stitchers would have nothing new to tickle our fancies. Good grief, we might all have to stop with the retail therapy! We might actually be stuck with just stitching!! Or, gulp, even stuck doing something else, like reading, or sleeping, or WORKING!!! It gives me nightmares just thinking about it. Thank goodness for copyright. Whew!

So, yes, everything I write is copyrighted from the second I write it. Period. It’s the law. Buckle up, be grateful, and keep your hands inside the car at all times. Thank you, and enjoy the ride!

Technorati Tags: copyright, infringement, theft, Certificate of Registration, copyrighted, stealing, needlework, Library of Congress, cross stitch, Heather Orn, Heather Espie