Official blog of www.NeedlePaint.com
where you can design your own Needlepoint!

NeedlePoint Kits and Canvas Designs | Design your own Needlepoint Kit!

Archive for the ‘NeedlePaint Inspiration’ Category

NeedlePaint Creates a Custom Shop for Personalized Needlepoint Ring Bearer Pillow Kits

We just created a personalized needlepoint shop for wedding ring bearer pillows needlepoint kits.  These ring bearer pillow designs allow crafters to adjust names and colors and even add their own designs to make that special day just a little more special.

If you are new to needlepoint, or very experienced, you will find making a ring bearer pillow to be a treat.  The small size and easy to follow designs mean that you can finish your project in less than a month!  If you are not crafty, don’t worry, we also have stitchers here who can have your pillow ready in as little as six weeks.  Personalized needlepoint ring bearer canvases start at only $49 and finished needlepoint pillows start at $160.

Don’t miss your chance to make an unforgettable wedding gift, that not only will be used during the wedding, but also will be cherished in the newlyweds home for a lifetime.

The Ring Bearer Pillow Shop Has Launched with over 20 Personalizable Designs

 

A War and Peace Needlepoint Christmas Stocking

Three weeks before Christmas, my daughter-in-law finally finished the needlepoint design for her daughter’s (my grand-daughter’s) needlepoint Christmas stocking.  So, I put the canvas on my Victorian stretcher frame, began leafing through my favorite needlepoint books ( The Needlepoint Book by Jo Ippolito Christensen and A Pageant of Pattern for Needlepoint Canvas by Sherlee Lantz), and began stitching like mad.

Zoe's Personalized Needlepoint Stocking - BEAUTIFUL!!! (Click on Photo to Enlarge)

Well, not that fast! I took some time to picking out the stitches while I downloaded from my local public library the audio recording of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy by Blackstone Audio, Inc. Downloadable audio books which can be listened to on your computer, MP3 player, or iPod has allowed me to combine creative stitchery and literature and learning.

War and Peace was 60 hours and 42 minutes long and I finished listening to Tolstoy a couple hours before I finished the stocking. Thus, I have termed the project the Ware and Peace Stocking. Similarly, an afghan which I knitted for a wedding present became The Children’s Book Afghan and I sent a copy the book by A.S. Byatt as an additional gift. Both books are long and dense. I found them much more enjoyable as audio presentations as I stitched away than they would have been had I read the written words. I remember that the first time I read War and Peace in 1968, it took me the entire summer!

Coming soon details of some of the unusual stitches I used on my Ware and Peace Stocking.

Baseball Player Needlepoint Kits

Zainab Al-Chalabi recently created this beautiful needlepoint kit of a Evan Longoria.  Her exquisite stitching and framing capture a great memory in Florida baseball.

Evan Longoria in Needlepoint

A few things I want to mention.  #1.  The picture is cropped very close so the details of the face and body show up really well.  #2.  The colors on the face had very good lighting.  This can be adjusted, if you are uploading a portrait to make a needlepoint canvas and having trouble, feel free to email us and we will adjust the colors on your image in Photoshop.

Currently, we are working on a portrait of a customers grandchild that is a portrait from their sports team.  It looks like another fantastic project!

Needlepoint Christmas Ornament Photos!

Peggy has finished all of her quick stitch needlepoint ornaments, and while you may have seen some of them already, there are more great pictures in this post!

In case you want to learn about how to make the personalized needlepoint ornaments you can click the links below:

How to make a Quick Stitch Needlepoint Ornament

Using Quick Stitches

The Four Hour Needlepoint Ornament

Also, if you want to see the whole needlepoint canvas design, they are all available on our personalized needlepoint shop as needlepoint kits or needlepoint canvases.

Candy Cane and Christmas Trees

Santa's Sleigh

Penguin Needlepoint Ornament

Green Snowflake Ornament

Personalized Train

Personalized Christmas Ornament

Santa's Airplane

Flying Christmas Angel

Blue Snowflake Personalized Needlepoint Ornament

The whole collection of Needlepoint Ornaments!

 

Lovely Needlepoint Pillows

These two lovely needlepoint pillows were emailed to by Hala Alfi last week.  The pillows are very well stitched and they are a great way to display your talent!

Marine Crest Needlepoint Pillow

Marine Crest Needlepoint Pillow

Cute Dog Needlepoint Pillow

Cute Dog Needlepoint Pillow

The Four Hour Needlepoint Ornament

With less than a month to do to Christmas, I was getting challenged to finish my goal of 9 personalized needlepoint ornaments. I needed to cut dramatically the time it took to needlepoint the ornaments. Could I do one in 4 hours?

Looking at the needlepoint design choices, I selected the Snowflake Design — not too complex and only 3 colors, but there is a lot of background. If I were to meet my 4-hour goal, I had to come up with something even quicker than the open work I did on Santa in his sleigh .

To the drawing board — the custom needlepoint canvas has a rich dark green background so why cover it up? Add red running stitches in alternating columns of over 3 rows and under one. It looked great and added a new dimensions to the otherwise plain background.

And, canvas on stretcher, I headed off to my flight from Denver to Boston — 3.5 hours. When I landed in Boston, I had finished all but 2 square inches of the background. It only took me another 15 minutes to finish up when I got time at my destination and then another 20 minutes to sew it onto the green fabric stuff it and tie it up. Success!!!

As you can see, I used the same technique on the blue snowflake ornament with light blue on the dark blue background.

Thanksgiving is not here and I am done with the ornament!!

Christmas Needlepoint Cat Pillow Finishing

Hightail and Tagger

Hightail and Tagger Christmas Needlepoint Cat Pillow

We just got a pillow back from our needlepoint finisher, and I have to share the pictures of it!

Helen Dixon stitched this pillow using a custom needlepoint kit she purchased on NeedlePaint.com.  She mailed us back the mostly finished canvas and requested the black velvet frame and backing, with red velvet piping, and it looks amazing!

Just in time, this needlepoint Christmas pillow still look sophisticated.  The needlepoint pillow is 12 x 12 inches.  If you are interested in having your needlepoint kit turned into a pillow, please feel free to contact us, our prices are great, and our pillow finisher has over 30 years of experience!

Cool Needlepoint Cat Pillow for Christms

Close Up, the Needlepoint Cat Pillow, Just In Time for Christmas!

All NeedlePaint.com customers get a discounted rate, and if they let us know that they may want to have us finish the pillow for them, we will include a return label with their shipment so they can mail us back the canvas after they have done the stitching.  (We do also offer needlework finishing if needed, in this case we finished the cats).

How to Design a Needlepoint Wedding Ring Bearer Pillow

wedding ring bearer pillow designsNext summer’s weddings are fast approaching.  While most “save the dates” and invitations have still not been created, the forward-looking needle pointer will want to consider getting ahead of the game and start a personalized needlepoint ring bearer pillow.  An experienced needle pointer should find a wedding ring pillow to be a fun project since it is small enough to be finished in a few weeks, and it’s very affordable.

Some tips on where to start:

#  Has the couple already created their wedding invitation?  Often the invitation can be used as the inspiration for the design and colors that go onto the pillow.  For example, if there is a flower on their invitation, that flower could go on the pillow.  You can either try to draw it onto the canvas yourself, or you can email a picture of the invitation to the designers at NeedlePaint.com, and they will prepare a preview, free of charge.

#  If there is no invitation to look at yet, consider looking at our personalized needlepoint shop at www.needlepaint.com.  Most of our needlepoint kits include space for the bride’s and groom’s names and a date.  The colors can be adjusted to match any color theme.

#  Talking to the bride or her parents before selecting the colors can be very helpful.  A well designed ring bearer pillow will be one of the best gifts the couple receives, as it will be used during the ceremony, and will always bring them back to their special day as a piece of decoration in their home.

Once you have decided on a design, you will need to select the type of thread.  NeedlePaint.com currently stocks DMC cotton embroidery floss.  They have hundreds of great colors and are very easy to work with.  But if you prefer wool or pearl cotton, then you can also work your canvas with these.

After you have your needlepoint kit figured out, you can order it online, taking only 2-7 business days for your custom needlepoint canvas to be made. The next steps are simple enough for all level needle pointers, including those that are trying needlepoint for the first time!

There are a number of stitches when needlepointing, some being quicker than others.  The classic stitch is the continental; but if you have some large areas to cover, you can really add to your design by picking out a fancy stitch.  Often these stitches take less time, and will make the pillow sparkle.  Please look at NeedlePaint’s blog to see some examples of all types of stitches.

Once the canvas has been finished, it is time to make your needlepoint canvas into a pillow.  You’ll need some fabric for the background, and probably want to add a small bit of piping.  A quick search on the internet for “make a pillow” will make this part easy, even for inexperienced crafters.  Or, if you contact us, we can email you links to videos we like.  If you decide you want somebody else to make your pillow, NeedlePaint does offer this service to its customers.

Almost done!  Just one more detail.  To attach the wedding rings to the ring bearer pillow, you will want to be sure you use something secure.  Some suggestions are safety pins, ribbon, or even a piece of twine.  Any method is OK, but be sure to test it before the wedding day, to be sure the rings can’t come off.

We hope you’ll share your needlepoint ring bearer pillows with everybody!  You can upload your ideas to our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/NeedlePaint

NeedlePaint October Newsletter

We just sent out our October needlepoint newsletter.  A lot of fun custom needlepoint projects!

Please note, if you would like to subscribe to our newsletter, you can email us with your name and email address, and we will add your name to the list.  Or click here, and select the Subscribe option.

If you would like to view the live version of the newsletter with links that actually work, click here.

How to Design a Photo Needlepoint Stocking

You can now stitch a great photo needlepoint stocking very easily.  As part of our new personalized needlepoint shop, we added some stocking designs that have an area where your favorite photo can be added.

To view personalized needlepoint christmas stocking designs that you can add your photo to, just go to our personalized needlepoint shop.  All you have to do is type in your name and place the order and then email us the photo you would like to include.

We will email you back a preview of your design for your approval.  We won’t ship any personalized orders until we have approval, and all orders are 100% satisfaction guaranteed.  See our post on customer satisfaction to learn more!

Add your own Name and Photo to this Needlepoint Stocking Canvas