loosethreadstitchery

[loosethreadstitchery]

This is a bit of an unusual one. A stitcher reached out to me to commission this pattern based on the logo of the International System of Units or Système international d'unités. 2025 marks the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Metre Convention, and the commissioner thought the logo would work well as a blackwork pattern.

Each of the outer sections represents a base unit of measurement, while the inner sections represent defining constants. As the constants are the basis of the units, the blackwork motifs in their sections form the basis of the motifs in the unit sections.

The commissioner has kindly allowed me to share this mockup and make this design available to other fans of standardized scientific measurement. You can find it here.

[loosethreadstitchery]

A few little Easter egg ornaments. Blackwork embroidery on 18-count Aida cloth.

Not pictured: The old cardboard box, utensil rack, and set of roasting skewers all delicately balanced to get the eggs to hang in halfway photogenic positions.

Patterns here (my site) or here (Etsy)

[loosethreadstitchery]

Hello! I would like to purchase from you, do you have a preference for your website or Etsy? I know different platforms have different fees and such and I want the most money to go to you.

Hi, and thank you so much for asking!

I've set it up so that I get pretty much the same amount whether you buy from my website or from Etsy - the fees are lower on the website, so the prices are lower there (it's usually less than $1 CAD difference, but still).

[loosethreadstitchery]

Is there a good way to learn blackwork? Somehow the patterns are overwhelming. I am able to do cross stitch, backstitch and Holbein stitch (double running stitch), but I don't know where to start

Hi Anon,

If you know the stitches, it comes down to placing them according to the pattern. If it feels overwhelming, I'd suggest starting with something small - you could try something like this ornament or this bookmark (both free patterns). Take a minute before you start to look at the pattern and try to plan a route through it that makes sense to you. I always end up using a mix of backstitch and Holbein stitch rather than sticking to a single stitch.

I've been meaning to make something small I can use as a tutorial - I'm in the middle of some projects that I'll need to finish up, but will try to get it done soon!

[loosethreadstitchery]

There's something about rainbows that keeps calling me back when I'm choosing colours for a design.

Pattern here (my site) or here (Etsy)

[loosethreadstitchery]

i'm really pleased with the way this blackwork turned out!

[loosethreadstitchery]

Just off the hoop. Four thread colours, nine sections. Blackwork embroidery and a bit of cross stitch on 28-count evenweave.

Pattern here (my site) or here (Etsy)

[loosethreadstitchery]

I don't work on higher-count evenweave as often as I probably should; I always like the result. Blackwork embroidery on 28-count.

Pattern here (my site) or here (Etsy).

[loosethreadstitchery]

Beautiful! I'm so glad you're having fun with it!

Just finished. I'm so happy with how this one turned out! At just over 17" (43cm) in diameter this is my largest design to date. Each section uses only 2 thread colours (white + 1 other). Blackwork embroidery on 14-count Aida cloth.

Pattern here.

[loosethreadstitchery]

I will continue stitching colour wheels until I am stopped. Blackwork embroidery on 14-count Aida.

This one uses just seven thread colours (six for the fills, plus white for outlines). Each section has a 3-part gradient on a bit of a curve, which was a bit different to design, but no harder to stitch than my earlier 2-part gradients.

Pattern here (my site) or here (Etsy).

[loosethreadstitchery]

There's no such thing as too many colour wheels. Blackwork embroidery on black 14-count Aida cloth. This is another big one, just over 43 cm (17") across.

Pattern here (my site) or here (Etsy)

[loosethreadstitchery]

It looks fantastic!

Finished another chalkboard edition of @loosethreadstitchery's. This one is Orange Blossom. And you can see the awful blurry photo of it in the frame, the crumpled pre-iron version of it, and the glorious backside! Also the tiny book I made to read the patterns from.

[loosethreadstitchery]

Just finished this one, the Orange Blossom sampler. Together with Red-Letter Day and Easy Being Green, this is part of a set of blackwork samplers I'm working on. Each square is 20 x 20 stitches.

Pattern here (my site) or here (Etsy).

[loosethreadstitchery]

This was my travelling project while visiting family over the holidays. It's a bit of a throwback in some ways; it's been awhile since I did a sampler inspired by a quilt block. The white motifs in particular were a lot of fun to stitch. Blackwork embroidery on black 14-count Aida cloth.

Pattern here (my site) or here (Etsy).

[loosethreadstitchery]

Hi,

I'm BRAND new to embroidery and you've inspired me to try blackwork. I especially like the ones you do with color thread on black cloth. That's what I'd like to do.

I visited three craft/fabric stores today and could not find any black "tapestry cloth" (what's it properly called?)

Where do you get it?

Thanks 🖤

Hi, and thank you!

It’s called Aida cloth. It comes in different thread counts, which indicate the number of squares per inch - I mostly use 14-count.

I don't know if you're in a country with Michaels craft stores, but they carry Aida, though they don't always have black. I've had good experiences with 123stitch.com shipping to Canada, and there are some Etsy sellers who carry it. It's also available from Amazon, though the quality varies. You'll want to wash it before you start stitching, in case it's not fully colourfast.

If this is your first time stitching, you might want to try a small project on white or lighter-coloured cloth before jumping into black; a lot of people find black more difficult to work on. When you do work on black, I suggest either some backlighting (like putting a dim light or a tablet with the screen on low behind your work) or working with a white background (like a white pillow on your lap or a white wall behind your work) to help you see the holes.

Good luck, and happy stitching!

[loosethreadstitchery]

I've been blending colours in blackwork a lot lately; it's not especially complicated, but you can get some cool effects out of it. A few people here and on IG have asked for a smaller pattern they can use to try it out, so here's a pair of hearts. Same fill motif for both, but one gradient runs horizontally, while the second is diagonal.

Back-stitch for the fill; stem-stitch for the outline.

Free patterns for both are here.

[loosethreadstitchery]

Hello! I just wanted to say that your work is gorgeous and so inspirational! I haven't done any blackwork yet, I've mostly done embroidery. I found cross stitch too repetitive for me, so I'm hoping blackwork will be a nice in between. I'm not sure when I'll do it, but I absolutely hope to be able to do something like your colorwheels someday! Thank you for posting your work. Happy stitching!

Thank you so much, and I hope you enjoy blackwork when you give it a go!