Stress Relief Through Embroidery And Cross Stitch

We all lead very busy lives in today's modern world, so why am I suggesting that you should seriously do what was once considered just a genteel activity for aristocratic ladies? Those of us who work in offices, retail or other inside careers need physical activity to keep up our health. But there are times when the gym circuits, the weights or the running don't take away the stress of meetings, demanding customers or exacting managers. Often the body does not need any more excitement or exercise, but the mind will not stop buzzing. Or how about the times when you are stressed out but you cannot exercise due to geographical, injury or time constraints?

At these times, the rhythms of simple stitching, watching the pattern grow stitch by stitch, is very soothing. Embroideries do not have to be large works involving thousands of stitches, working a small bookmark or embellishing a handkerchief will take your mind away from the day?s anxieties and provide a wonderful sense of achievement when finished.

Embroidery is also very forgiving; it can be picked up, worked on for a brief time then put down again. You do not need a large workshop or bulky equipment. In fact, small pieces can be tucked into your handbag for working on when traveling. It is usually an in-expensive activity, only needing a few skeins of thread, some remnants of cloth and a needle. Of course you can work with fine silks and pure gold threads if your budget allows!

The technical skills to start are neither complex nor difficult to learn. Simple cross stitch and back stitch are the basis of many wonderful designs but only take a few minutes to learn. Concentrating on stitching evenly, counting the stitches or covering a printed design calms a tense mind and allows you to put your worries into perspective. You may even find that concentrating on the stitching has allowed the back of your mind to work on your problem without stress.

There are lots of simple and quick to do cross-stitch samplers available, you may also develop your skills to complete modern designs using sophisticated shading and differing types of threads. Your interests may lead you to exploring the full range of counted thread techniques developed over the centuries or even move from counting to totally free form stitching of beautiful textures.

Embroidery can be as simple or as refined as you wish, but in all cases it will let you escape from the tensions of our everyday working lives.

Annette Garcia is an embroidery enthusiast with a day-job of managing projects involving construction and information technology for the manufacturing industry. She runs a website, http://www.xstitchandbeyond.com providing her original designs in blackwork, cross-stitch and other counted thread techniques.

The Perfect Embroidery

What makes a perfect embroidered product? Have you ever noticed an embroidered logo or sewn garment? Did it strike you as being a quality produced product, or one that looked like it was mass produced and sewn in a "cheap" fashion?

Nearly 10 years ago I founded my Denver based embroidery company with only one thing in mind - Perfect Products. Finished products that people would notice and want to wear or display. Since then, our business has grown 1000 fold. And we have always kept to our motto of "perfect products, guaranteed quality, satisfied customers".

But what makes a quality, embroidered product? Let's begin with the design before it is sewn to the garment. Was your design created in vector art using Adobe Illustrator? From these "AI" files, we are able to utilize our custom digitizing techniques, which translate to machine readable files and subsequent sew-outs on our Tajima and Barudan Embroidery Sewing Stations. Another important ingredient is choice of color. Why chose a quality embroidered design while selecting a less than desirable color scheme? We use only the pantone color schemes when selecting our sew outs. And speaking of color schemes, what about thread selection? Have you ever considered that some embroidery threads are low-quality, and will break after only a short time in use? Our thread selections only allow for the best thread offerings, including Ackerman and (the German one). Threads are offered in nylon and cotton, depending on the article to be sewn. Make sure your embroidery company selects the appropriate thread, no matter what the color.

All of the above factors will be meaningless unless the digitized image has appropriate stitch count (density) when finally sewing the image. Make sure your design does not come up short when digitizing your image. Many companies will reduce stitch counts during digitizing to allow for less embroidery thread (cheaper) and less dense sewn images (less time to be sewn), all resulting in poor quality finished goods.

We at Corporate Imprints are aware of all the shortcuts, and assure all of our customers that only a quality finished product is our goal. Next time you inspect your embroidered shirt, cap, or other wearable; decide if it was produced with an eye on quality, or an eye on the embroidery company's bottom line. Then call us for a quote and with assurance that once we have earned your business, you will never need to look elsewhere for quality embroidered products.

Tammy Briggs is the owner of Corporate Imprints, a Denver, CO based machine embroidery company. Corporate Imprints offers state of the art in-house machine embroidery, keeping an eye on "Perfection" of finished goods, screen-printing, embossing, graphics consulting and design, and specialized imprinted promotional products (ASI Membership). Visit http://www.corpimprints.com to find out more!

The History of Embroidery and Its Modern Development

Most people associate embroidery with a boring way to fill up a housewife's daily life. The uninteresting procedure of producing a stitched picture on a cloth may seem to many uninitiated a sheer waste of time. But, once you learn more about it, you may come to discover how incredibly fascinating it is. To begin with, embroidery has a long history, which dates back to more than 3000 years B.C.It is probably the first form of art, as man has used decoration with aesthetic purposes as early as the invention of the needle and thread themselves. What is more: you may not be aware but actually embroidery was a man's not a woman's invention! In ancient cultures from every part of the world, embroidery and needlework was regarded as a priority only for the chosen and talented boys. The embroiderers-to-be had to study the fine craft under the supervision of a master. It took them more than ten years' apprenticeship until they were approved to practice on their own. Embroidery has not only a long history. The most amazing fact is that it had evolved simultaneously in almost every part of the world where people practiced sewing. Different cultures formed different embroidery types. The development of needlework also depended on the various materials used by a certain culture. The styles of embroidery, which different nations invented, were passed on generations to generations and many of them have survived till nowadays. We know of the embroidery work practiced by the ancient Egyptians. It was done with white threads on a white canvas. This embroidery is so sophisticated that even nowadays the modern technologies have difficulty doing it the same way. Another type of finest quality was the Chinese silk embroidery, known as the two-sided embroidery. It is amasingly intricate and it takes years of hard efforts to complete. Also famous is the "raised" embroidery, practiced in the 16th century. It is better known as the Elizabethan embroidery. It involved stitching decorations like butterflies, leaves and other beautiful designs with the usage of wool, leather and wood padding. Still popular today is the Western European embroidery called crewel. This technique uses two-ply wool stitching on linen twill and is practiced when making decorations on different household cloths, such as counterpanes, wall hangings, draperies, chair coverings. What strikes most in these embroidery styles is that they are incredibly difficult to produce and many people lose their patience before completing one canvas. Nowadays, embroidery has developed so far, that even the clumsiest novice can try and stitch something beautiful by using computer software or high-tech sewing machines. That makes things more pleasant for the new beginner. Despite the available technology, artistic embroiderers prefer authenticity and still spend their time doing everything themselves. The finest details cannot be produced by technologically-based machines, because embroidery is most of all a kind of art, and all art needs its talented artists.

Article by Robbie Darmona For more information you can visit embroidery designs