Great Book of Celtic Patterns

Since seeing my recent articles about Irish Step Dancing Embroidery, and working on her own Celtic cross stitch piece, my daughter has become quite excited about doing some more Celtic embroidery of her own. She is at that age where she is thinking about a day in the not too distant future when she leaves home and makes a home for herself somewhere else. Naturally she wants nice things to bring along so she is busy designing and stitching and thinking about all sorts of wonderful domestic type things.

She was looking for some interesting Celtic knot patterns to use for pillow case embroidery or wallhanging embroidery, and she came upon a book by Lora S. Irish (interesting last name!) called Great Book of Celtic Patterns. In it are dozens of original designs of Celtic knots, lines, finials, corners, Viking animals, religious symbols, fantasy, circles, squares and motifs. She also includes a fascinating history of Celtic knots and lines, a section on layout ideas and line enhancements.

Each section includes clear pictures and many variations of each design. The author takes a simple twist or braid design and shows how it can be made to look like branches with leaves, a rope, a stencil or several lines from thick to thin and so many other variations. She renders some of the patterns in color with lots of interesting details such as birds nests or tendrils.

She shows how the designs can be used on notecards, frames, a chessboard and other creative uses. She even has a whole section on plotting and graphing knots so you can take a knot you like and really make it your own using graph paper, colored pencils and an eraser.

The book itself is paperback, but substantial with each page thick and glossy. I would recommend it to anyone looking for some new and interesting Celtic designs for embroidery or any other kind of artwork. Elizabeth has already traced many designs from the book and has wonderful ideas of how she wants to use them. I'll share them with you once they become a reality!

You can click on the button below to take a look inside the book on Amazon and see some of the beautiful Celtic designs.

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Irish Step Dancing Dress Embroidery: How-to Package

The Irish Step Dancing group that my daughter danced with is Anne O'Connell Boucher's Irish American Step Dancers who practice regularly at St. Leo's Parish auditorium in Leominster, Massachusetts. Anne's dancers do not compete, so their dresses are not what you will find at an Irish Feis or Competition or at a Celtic Dance Shop. They dance for the love of dancing, to share the Irish tradition, and to entertain all the different groups of people for whom they perform every year. The dresses that Anne's dancers wear are all handmade by moms or grandmas or aunts or friends and the embroidery is mostly done by hand by the same dedicated people.

This technique that I developed for myself over the many years that I embroidered dresses is something that many of the moms have asked me about. That is why I decided to put it together here for anyone to use. Hopefully it will be helpful to you in achieving the same results with your embroidery.

Now that I have posted information on all the stages of my method of embroidering an Irish Step Dancing dress, I can wrap it all up into a neat package so that anyone else who is interested in creating such a dress can see how it's done. Here are the steps:

Tracing the design and preparing the fabric for embroidery is covered HERE.

Preparing the stranded embroidery floss for stitching is shown in THIS VIDEO. This is a very important step and should not be skipped if you want your stitches to turn out looking their best.

Threading the needle is shown HERE. Of course if all else fails, HERE's a great tool you can use!

How to embroider the chain stitch is shown HERE.

If you would like to see some of the results of using this method to embroider on velvet, here are a few links showing finished dresses and details of the designs:

Brooke's dress
Bridget's dress
Elizabeth's dress
Katie L's dress
Katie K's dress

If you have any questions about any step in this process, or anything else you find on this site, please feel free to leave a comment for me. Comments are moderated so I see them before they get posted to the site. If you do not want your comment posted, just let me know and it will remain private.

Or you can email me at HookedOnNeedles (at) gmail (dot) com.

Happy Stitching!

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How to Embroider Chain Stitch - Video Tutorial

You've seen many of the Irish Step Dancing dresses I made and hand embroidered for my daughter and many of her friends. I also shared with you my technique for embroidering on velvet using a hoop. The most recent two posts have been about how to separate embroidery floss strands and how to thread your needle. So now I am going to complete the package and show you how to actually work the chain stitch, which is what I used for all of the designs on the Irish Step Dancing dresses, except for the initials on the sleeves.

The chain stitch is a very versatile stitch which can be used as an outline, as a filling, on straight lines and around curves. It can be worked short or long and there are many varieties of the chain stitch. This is the basic chain stitch worked in very short stitches with six strands of DMC embroidery floss on velvet that has been sandwiched between a hooped piece of stabilizer fabric on the bottom and another piece of stabilizer fabric onto which the design was traced.

Here is the video. I hope you find it helpful.



If you want to see how this Celtic monogram S turned out, there are some pictures of it at the end of the post on how to embroider on velvet with a hoop. I still haven't decided how I am going to finish the piece. Perhaps frame it with a crocheted edging around it, make it into a small pillow, or applique it onto a tote bag. Oh, the possibilities!

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Embroidering on Velvet with a Hoop

The first time I embroidered a velvet Irish Step Dancing dress, not knowing any better, I put the hoop on the fabric itself and, much to my chagrin, discovered that the hoop crushed the pile of the fabric and left permanent marks on the dress. Brooke's mom was not in the least concerned about the hoop marks. She was just glad she didn't have to do the embroidery herself! But I learned my lesson and set to work trying to come up with a way to embroider on velvet while still using a hoop.

In my previous posts about Hand Embroidered Irish Step Dancing Dresses, which can be found listed in the Hand Embroidery Links Page on the sidebar, I referred several times to my method of embroidering on velvet fabric using a hoop.

This is how I did it:

First I gathered my supplies.

For this example, I am using a leftover piece of velvet and a Celtic monogram of the letter S. I also used a hoop, straight pins, basting thread, ultra fine point Sharpie, and two pieces of Stitch N Tear Tearaway embroidery stabilizer which can be found at any fabric store.


I pinned a piece of the tearaway stabilizer fabric over the monogram so I could trace it.


Then I traced it using an ultra fine point Sharpie permanent marker. Even though I knew I was only going to stitch one line of the knot design, I still traced two lines so that I could more easily tell where the lines went over and under each other.


Then I pinned the tearaway stabilizer with the traced design onto the velvet fabric and basted it all around the edge.


I picked out an embroidery hoop that was big enough to hold the entire design.


I put the hoop onto another piece of tearaway stabilizer and neatly trimmed the edges.


Then onto the hooped stabilizer I basted the velvet fabric which already had the design basted onto it. This makes sort of a stabilizer sandwich with velvet filling. Yum! But you can see that the hoop is only on the underside piece of stabilizer, not on the velvet.


I started stitching the knot design using 6 strands of DMC embroidery floss, separated so that it would lay flat and stay smooth.


The stitching goes through all three layers: the hooped stabilizer, the velvet and the stabilizer with the design traced onto it. This shows the back of the work.


This is a detail of the knot design showing the stitches going under and over each other which is characteristic of traditional Celtic knot designs and very important to stitch correctly.


Here's the green knot line all finished. You can see the basting thread in this picture pretty clearly. When I baste the design onto the velvet, I stitch just around the outside of the design. Then when I stitch the velvet onto the hooped stabilizer, I baste closer to the outside edge and then also on the inside of the design, in this case along the shape of the S. This ensures that the stitching will be smooth and not leave any puckers in the velvet.


Here is a detail of some of the points along the knot line. When the line reaches a point and takes a sharp turn, I always anchor the last stitch at the point, then begin again in the same stitch to go in the new direction. This keeps the points of the design sharp.


This detail shows how nicely the chain stitch takes to curves.


Here is the complete design with the stabilizer still attached to the front and back.


This is a detail of the completed design showing the purple stitching appearing to go underneath the green. In fact, the purple stitches are anchored before the green and started again after the green.


Once the design outline is finished, remove the basting stitches and simply start tearing away the stabilizer from around the design. It's sort of like a very satisfying punch-out project, like paper doll clothes or something similar! Always start from the outside and move towards the inside when removing the stabilizer. Use a pin or sharp needle to help lift the inside sections away from the stitching being careful not to pull any of the stitch threads or the velvet.


Keep at it until all the stabilizer is removed from around and between and underneath all the stitches.


At this point, with the top stabilizer removed and the hooped stabilizer still attached with the chain stitch embroidery, I could fill in the purple S or add some other stitching. Removing the stabilizer after filling in a shape with solid stitches is very difficult. Always do the outline of a shape, then remove the stabilizer, then do the filler stitching.

For my purposes, this design is complete, so I removed the stabilizer from the hoop and trimmed it away around the outer edges of the stitching on the back of the velvet. Leaving the stabilizer on the back gives the stitches and the velvet some extra support.


This is Katie L's step dancing dress with the design basted in place. As you can see, the dress is a little bit more daunting project than a little monogram on a scrap piece of fabric, so using a hoop is necessary in order to keep the stitches neat and even and smooth. The results are well worth the effort.

Now you know my secret for embroidering on velvet while using a hoop and without crushing the pile of the fabric! Do you have any good embroidery secrets to share?

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Time to Get Organized -- Hand Embroidery

Here we go with another administrative task. This page will keep a running list of links to any posts on Hand Embroidery projects, patterns, classes, helpful hints and the like. It will be available on the sidebar of the Hooked On Needles homepage for easy reference.

Hand Embroidered Irish Step Dancing Dresses

• Chain Stitch Embroidery - pictures
• Brooke's Step Dancing Dress
• Bridget's Step Dancing Dress
• Katie L's Step Dancing Dress
• Katie K's Step Dancing Dress

Embroidery How-To Posts

• How to embroider Chain Stitch -- Video
• Embroidering on velvet with hoop
• Separating Stranded Embroidery Floss -- Video
• Blue Wren's Nest Mattress Pin Cushion
  

Original Embroidery Designs

• Angel Swap gift -- Tote Bag with Angel Embroidery

Other Embroidered Projects

• Embroidered Scissor Holder
• Religious Embroidery
• Sweet and Rosy Needle Wallet
  

Children's Summer Embroidery Class

• Getting Ready
• Finished Sample
• Ready to Go
• Children's Finished Projects
• Sam's Finished Project

Paper Embroidery

• Embroidered Paper Bookmark
• Embroidered Notecards
• Hand Embroidered Card
• Embroidered Christmas Cards
• More Embroidered Christmas Cards -- Snowman and Tree
  

Embroidered Craft kits

• Christmas In June -- Dimensions Long Legs Craft Kit
• Christmas Tree Skirt
• Merry Christmas Wall Hanging
  

Counted Cross Stitch

• Cross Stitch Kits Vacation Loot
• Irish Counted Cross Stitch in progress
• Irish Counted Cross Stitch finished and framed
  

Handy Helpers

• DMC Needle Threader
• Thera-Glove

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Another Katie's Hand Embroidered Irish Step Dancing Dress

Katie K.'s hand embroidered Irish Step Dancing Dress turned out to be my very favorite of all the dresses I made and/or embroidered over the many years that I provided this service. Take a look at the pictures and see if you like it as much as I did.

Katie K. chose a lighter and a darker shade of each of five different colors for her embroidered designs. I just love the way the colors work together and the overall richness of the effect.

This is the design of Katie K.'s initials which were embroidered in split stitch using regular DMC stranded floss on the right sleeve before the seam was finished.


This is the same Celtic knot design that Katie L. and Brooke chose for their hemlines. This one is embroidered using both shades of each of the five colors Katie K. chose, in sort of a light-and-shadow or bright-and-soft configuration. It's my favorite part of this dress.


This is the same design that Bridget and Katie L. chose, but in yet another color combination. It was always interesting to see how creative the girls would get with their colors.


This pink and pink design is similar to the pink and white heart design that Brooke chose for her dress, except that these hearts are not quite completely formed in this design. Still it looks like hearts and is appropriately pink.


Katie K.'s belt is the same design as Katie L.'s but done in the soft purple.


I just love this square design that Katie K. picked for her brat.


And here is Katie K.'s completed dress. A beautiful and cheerful dress for a lovely young lady and a talented dancer.

If you are interested in my method of embroidering these velvet dresses using a hoop without crushing the velvet, click HERE for complete instructions.

Happy Stitching!

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One Katie's Hand Embroidered Irish Step Dancing Dress

Recently I've been talking about the hand embroidery I had done on a few Irish Step Dancing dresses and I showed you some of the designs. Here are the designs from another dress I did for a lovely young dancer named Katie L. This was her fifth year dress which was newly made since she had outgrown her first velvet dress, thus requiring all the embroidery from the two previous years to be done again. Being a fifth year dancer, she had earned the privilege of wearing the brat, or scarf, and also the belt and her initials on the right sleeve, plus two more small designs on the front of the skirt. All this in addition to the original third year designs and the fourth year small designs. Quite a lot of embroidery to be done all at once! And this dress was one of two that I made and embroidered that year!

This is the chain stitch embroidery design that Katie L. chose for her brat. The fabric was a silky satiny type of polyester which draped nicely across the back when pinned at the shoulder and opposite hip. The shape of it was square, but it was folded into a triangle to be worn. The embroidery was put on the exposed corner so it could be seen from the back. Lovely design and very nice color choices.



This is Katie L.'s belt design. I stitched it before sewing up the belt so that I would not have to stitch through two layers of velvet. As you can see, this design is Much Simpler than the belts I did for Brooke and Bridget!



This is one of the small designs on the front of the dress. I just love the simple lines and curves, and I think you just can't go wrong with rich purples and greens.



This is the other small design on the front of the dress. It is the same one I did on Bridget's dress, only in a different color combination.



Katie L.'s initials, done in split stitch using regular DMC embroidery floss.



And this is Katie L.'s completed dress. I love the knot design at the hem with the rainbow colors used throughout the dress all brought together. She did a nice job choosing her designs, placement and colors.

The other dress I did that same year was for another Katie and it turned out to be my absolute favorite dress of all. That one can be seen by clicking HERE!


Happy Stitching!

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Even More Irish Step Dancing hand embroidery

Recently in my articles on Chain Stitch Embroidery on Irish Step Dancing Dress and More Irish Step Dancing Embroidery I shared with you some of the Celtic designs I embroidered on my daughter's friends' dresses. Here is another one I did with a little bit different placement of designs and very ... how shall I say it? ... interesting color choices...


This is Bridget's dress with all the designs embroidered for her fifth year. She chose to place the four smaller designs below the large triangular knot design on the skirt, and she also wanted the entire hem of the circular skirt embroidered with the knot row, or pretzel design. As it turned out, I only had time to do the front half of the hem before the big show this group does in March every year, so that is how it ended up. Also notice that Bridget chose to switch up the color combinations on the four smaller designs, changing the inside and outside colors between the two matching designs.



Here is a close-up of the pretzel design. Bridget decided to have alternating rows of very bright pink and very bright yellow along the hemline. This picture shows where two designs joined.



This star design was one of my favorites to do. I love the simplicity of the outside shape, and the three shapes woven together on the inside. This would be lovely in any color combination.



This design was popular with the girls because the inside shape resembles a shamrock. I did quite a few of them in green, of course! It's hard to tell from this picture, but the inside shamrock like shape is actually green, and the outside shape is sort of a periwinkle color.



These are Bridget's initials, done in a very soft pink floss in split stitch.




This is a close-up of Bridget's belt design, done in four pastel colors. The yellow lines weave up and down from one end of the belt to the other as do the blue lines. The green and pink designs are each a separate little shape interwoven with each other and with the blue and yellow lines. This one was very complicated to stitch, trying to keep track of what color went where and when to go over or under previous stitches. This is the one and only four color belt design I did!



Here are Brooke and Bridget's dresses, complete and ready to go on stage! Notice Brooke's belt design on the left. It is the same as Bridget's but I stitched it in only two colors. After stitching these two belts, I switched to a simpler belt design for all the other girls' dresses!

Stay tuned for a few more hand embroidered Irish Step Dancing dresses and a little demonstration of my method of embroidering on velvet with a hoop.

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More Irish Step Dancing embroidery

In the previous post I shared the story of how I got into doing this embroidery on Irish Step Dancing dresses for my daughter's friends. I lost count of just how many dresses I stitched and I'm not even sure I have pictures of all of them. But here are a few pictures of one of the completed dresses with close-ups of some of my favorite designs.



This dress is one of my favorites because of the layout of the designs. Each dancer was allowed to decide where she wanted the designs placed on her dress, after the third year. I think Brooke's placement was very balanced and pleasing.





Brooke chose this design and the pink and white color combination because she thought it looked like a ring of hearts. The designs were usually only stitched with two rows of chain stitch, but Brooke had her own ideas, and wanted pink on the outside and white on the inside. I was pleased with the results, and so was she!




This color combination was Brooke's own idea too and where do you think she got her inspiration for it? The Irish Flag of course! Very appropriate!





These are Brooke's initials which were embroidered on the right sleeve before the sleeve seam was sewn up. The initials are the only embroidery on the dress that is not chain stitch. I used split stitch throughout this design. I used white floss for the letters and a metallic pink floss for the crazy line that weaves in and out and up and over. Using the floss was fine, but stitching with that metallic thread was a nightmare for me! However, Brooke was very happy with her dress and as far as I know she still wears it with pride.

Stay tuned for more on embroidered Irish Step Dancing dresses soon!

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Chain Stitch embroidery on Irish Step Dancing Dress

When my older daughter was somewhere around 10 or so, she had some friends in school who were very much into Irish Step Dancing and had gotten to the point in their dance careers where they were ready for their velvet dress with hand embroidered designs. These dresses were sort of a symbol of their progress and were only worn by those who had been with this dance group for 3 years or more. It was a very big step, so to speak.

I saw one of the moms diligently practicing the chain stitch on a piece of scrap fabric one day while she was waiting in the car after school and I asked her what she was doing. Up to this point, I had no idea about anything having to do with Irish Step Dancing. She showed me her practice piece and I gave her a few tips that might make it easier for her. Jokingly, or so I thought, she said, "I'll pay you fifty bucks if you'll do this for me!" And my entry into the world of Irish Step Dancing dresses and embroidery was made! I soon discovered that $50 wasn't nearly enough for the work involved!

That year, I did the "third year" embroidery on two dresses. Third year embroidery consisted of a large Celtic pattern on the front of the skirt, a smaller version of the same pattern on the bodice...



and two Celtic knot patterns along the hem of the skirt.

When I took these pictures many years ago, I had no idea I would need good close-up shots in the future, so please excuse the poor quality!

All the embroidery is done in DMC embroidery floss, six strands separated and then reunited so the floss wouldn't get all bunchy and weird. The stitch used throughout is the chain stitch which you can see demonstrated HERE.


This is a picture of my daughter's third year dress which I made and embroidered about three years after I started doing the embroidery for her friends. By then I had worked out some kinks, the worst of which was how to embroider on velvet with a hoop without crushing the pile of the velvet. I share that secret with you HERE. I also crocheted the Irish Lace color for her to wear.

Each year the girls could choose certain other designs to add to their dresses, depending on how many years they had been dancing. The longer they danced, the more embroidery they could add to their dresses. At the 5th year, they could also add a brat or scarf that would be worn on the back, pinned at the shoulder and the opposite hip. The brat could also have embroidery on it. An embroidered belt and embroidered initials on the sleeve could also be added at the 5th year.

So I ended up doing the fourth and fifth year embroidery for the same two girls I had started with, and making and embroidering several other girls' dresses over the next few years before my daughter was ready for her first velvet dress. By then I was an old pro!

This is one of the girls' 5th year dresses. You can see the many extra designs added to the skirt, more of the Celtic knots added to the hemline, the embroidered belt and the initials on the sleeve.

Next time, I will show you a few more dresses I embroidered and some close up shots of some of the designs. Stay tuned!
Happy Stitching!

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