loosethreadstitchery

[loosethreadstitchery]

It's been awhile since I finished it, and I've been happy with plenty of pieces since, but this is still my favourite. It's framed and in my parents' living room now.

Whats your favorite piece you've made? Reblog with a picture, tag me, send it to me. You deserve praise for your work.

[loosethreadstitchery]

This is an idea I've been playing around with for awhile, and I finally worked out a design I'm happy with. The outer fill patterns combine where their sections overlap, and the resulting patterns are more intricate than their component motifs would suggest. Blackwork embroidery on blue 14-count Aida cloth.

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

[loosethreadstitchery]

When I said I'd continue stitching colour wheels until I was stopped, I meant it. Blackwork embroidery on black 14-count Aida cloth.

A total of 17 thread colours across 24 sections, each with its own fill motif.

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

[loosethreadstitchery]

I will never regret making anything rainbow, but I may make a second one in white thread on coloured cloth, just because I think it would look lacy and cool. Cross stitch and blackwork embroidery on 14-count Aida cloth.

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

[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).