Welcome to Thimbles & Tales
Welcome to Thimbles & Tales
A Place for Stitches, Stories & the Joy of Making Things by Hand
Hello, and welcome to Thimbles & Tales!
I’m so happy you found your way here.
If you love the feel of fabric in your hands, colorful little bundles of floss, a good book beside your favorite chair, quilts draped over the back of the sofa, and projects that somehow seem to multiply when you aren’t looking—you’re going to fit right in.
Thimbles & Tales was created for people who simply love to make things.
You don’t have to be an expert stitcher. You don’t need perfect stitches, an enormous sewing room, or every fancy tool in the craft store.
You just need a little curiosity and the desire to create.
Why Thimbles & Tales?
I’ve always believed there is something special about things made by hand.
A hand-stitched dish towel isn’t just a dish towel.
A quilt isn’t simply pieces of fabric sewn together.
An embroidery hanging on the wall can remind us of a person, a place, a season, or a particular time in our lives.
And a book can carry us somewhere completely different without ever leaving our favorite chair.
That is really where the name Thimbles & Tales comes from.
The thimbles are for all the things we make with our hands.
The tales are the stories we tell, the books we read, and the memories that become part of the things we create.
Around here, I think the two belong together.
Simple Stitching Is Good Stitching
If you’ve looked through our patterns, you may have already noticed something about them.
They aren’t complicated on purpose.
I love simple embroidery.
Give me a piece of linen or cotton, a handful of pretty floss colors, a needle, and a quiet afternoon, and I’m happy.
Many of the Thimbles & Tales embroidery patterns are designed especially for beginners. We use familiar stitches, whimsical designs, and very little fill work.
I like to say:
Outline it. Don’t fill it.
There’s no reason you should have to spend hours filling a giant area with thread before you can enjoy seeing your project come together.
Hand embroidery should be relaxing.
It should be something you can pick up while you’re having your morning coffee, watching television in the evening, or sitting outside on a pretty afternoon.
And your stitches do not have to be perfect.
Sometimes the slightly crooked ones are the stitches that give a handmade piece its personality.
What Will We Talk About Here?
A little bit of everything!
We’ll talk about embroidery, cross-stitch, quilting, sewing, books, patterns, decorating with handmade things, and the creative life.
I’ll share new Thimbles & Tales designs, behind-the-scenes peeks at projects I’m working on, finishing ideas, beginner tips, seasonal inspiration, and some of the things I learn along the way.
There may be a recipe now and then.
There will almost certainly be coffee.
And knowing me, there will probably be more than a few unfinished projects.
Because this isn’t going to be a blog about creating a picture-perfect handmade life.
It’s about enjoying a creative one.
Use the Good Fabric
There’s one other thing I hope we can do here.
I hope we can encourage each other to actually use the things we love.
Use the pretty fabric.
Open the beautiful notebook.
Start the pattern you’ve been saving.
Read the book.
Make the quilt.
Give away something you stitched.
Put the handmade pillow on the chair instead of storing it safely in a closet.
And please—cut into that fabric you’ve been saving for fifteen years because it’s “too pretty to use.”
I know you have some.
We all do.
Creativity isn’t supposed to sit on a shelf waiting for the perfect day.
Today is a perfectly good day to make something.
Pull Up a Chair
That’s what I hope Thimbles & Tales becomes—a cozy little corner of the internet where creative people can pull up a chair and stay awhile.
You might come looking for an embroidery pattern and end up discovering a book.
You might come for a quilting idea and decide to try embroidery for the first time.
Or perhaps you’ll simply stop by with your coffee to see what we’re working on this week.
However you found us, I’m glad you’re here.
There are lots of stitches to make, stories to tell, and ideas waiting for us.
So gather your thread, find your favorite chair, and let’s make something.
Welcome to Thimbles & Tales.
♥
Until next time,
Debbie DeeThimbles & Tales
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