Flosstube: Ornamentations #87 - Let’s talk about Gobelins, and Christmas stitching!

[@SarahsStitchySpot]

Still catching up on my FlossTubes and what a positive delight this was. Wishing you much happiness in the new year, dear Katie.

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you Sarah - the happiest of new years to you and your family as well!

[@charlenereeder8317]

The other side of your normally quiet videos is coming through and I love it. It’s the first bit of Christmas cheer that has truly been a joy for me. Christmas obviously gets you ecstatic with smiles and happiness overflowing! Thank you.

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you! I'm glad it made you smile - I love Christmas and am so happy t0 share that with others.

[@joanneneufeld8212]

Hi Katie. That was a beautiful and funny video. Your sense of humour is coming out more and more in your videos. You are such an inspiring stitcher and finisher! Have a very Merry Christmas!

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you, that's very kind! It's hard for me to be natural on camera - talking to an empty room as if there's an audience is the oddest thing...

[@JoyInMaking]

❤💚❤ Thank you for all the inspiration you provide all year long with your beautiful creations. Your tree is absolutely gorgeous ❤💚❤

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you so much!

[@athenabesa380]

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas season.

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you, we did, and I hope you did as well!

[@Melinda0329]

Happy Holidays! Another lovely, exciting, informative video! I just purchased a little piece of Cedar River linen Albarium, 56 count, I think I will use this for the Pineberry Lane Merry Christmas Hanging Sampler, chart is in the mail!

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Happy holidays! That'll be wonderful - mine is finished and hanging on the tree and I just love it, such a great piece.

[@barbarahunter6375]

Wishing you and your family a wonderful yummy stitchy Xmas day. Looking forward to seeing the hat that your brother gets you. Loved the jellyfish one in the past. I am so inspired by your tree again this year.

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you! I love that hat too - sometimes I show up on Christmas wearing it just as an excuse to pull it out. A classic!

[@michellefrothingham4275]

Beautiful ornaments and your Christmas tree is gorgeous! Hope to visit some of your prior video’s and learn some beading technique’s….Happy New Year 2025

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you! There are dedicated tutorials on several, you can find them under the tutorials playlist on the main channel page - enjoy!

[@reneebebla422]

Gorgeous tree and of course you need a sparkly Robin, it’s beautiful. Love all the finishes. That Gritty hat is awesome, even though we live in PA, we are not Flyers fans. Enjoy your time with your family! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you! A very happy new year to you and yours as well!

[@barbaralooney8558]

Thank you so much for sharing your stitching and finishing hints. Just fabulous! Merry Christmas Katie!

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Merry Christmas!

[@lindaskinner5887]

Thank you Katie for sharing your beautiful Christmas Tree. Have a wonderful Christmas enjoy your family and stitching.❤God bless.

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you and Merry Christmas!

[@carolfawcett1297]

Merry Christmas Katie! I just love seeing all of the beautiful ornaments you have made over the years. Your stitching is stunning, and you truly have a gift with color and beads, choosing just the right combinations of colors and sparkle! I want to try doing some of the beaded accents on some of my stitching, and will look back to get links to where to find the beads you use! I look forward to seeing your Christmas with your family and the silly hats! What a fun tradition. Have a wonderful holiday, and see you in 2025.

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you so much! Definitely try out the beading - it's a fun and easy accent that really adds a lot to a finish!

[@kathymountain4886]

Wonderful floss tube Katie and awesome finishes. Although I ordered your DOVE several weeks ago, i ordered your Prairie Schooler Santa Kit while watching this video. My LNS for 20 yrs was also Cathe at NIHS and between Cathe and the class ( Tudor/Stuart Goldwork Sampler) with Tricia I fell in love with Gobelins as well. Happy Stitching and a very Merry Christmas to you!

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you, and enjoy! Cathe has done so much for the stitching community in bringing great, less used threads to a wider audience. Also she's delightful!

[@kattavares1959]

Hi Katie, thank you for sharing the tour of your tree. Loved your creative ornaments. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you, I'm so glad you enjoyed it - merry Christmas!

[@cynthiaknell9575]

Katie, may you and your family have a merry Christmas. Thank you for bringing good cheer with your fabulous handcrafted ornamented tree. 🎄💕🎄

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you so much! Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!

[@DeeAZstitcher]

Great Idea, Mom's are so Smart!! I plan to stitch a lot on Christmas Day, crossing my fingers. Have good HAT fun.

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Enjoy! And truly, moms are so smart, mine is a genius!

[@donnaboyd5108]

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas with your family! The Christmas tree tour was FANTASTIC! 🎀🎄🎀

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you so much - merry Christmas!

[@kckoehler1766]

Merry, Merry Christmas 🎄 Thank you for the fun video.

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Merry Christmas to you as well, and thank you for watching!

[@jeanping9739]

Gorgeous tree! I'm a fellow Nutcracker addict 😊 I'm so sad that the gingerbread house won't be offered publicly. I really wanted to do it next year... maybe she'll change her mind someday??

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you! I hope so - it's a wonderful project!

[@shelly2758]

Merry Christmas, Katie! Thank you for all that you do, babe. ❤

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Merry Christmas to you too - thanks for watching!

[@bellajkw]

All beautiful! Love the Robin! 🎄

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you so much!

[@rose2fame1]

Hi Katie, have a great holiday. I like your tigger that your mom made for you. I hope that your cake goes over well with your dad. I enjoy watching hockey games also, I played on a team as a teen. TTFN

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you!

[@annemahoney8429]

I love your joy of needlework and all the different threads and materials you show us! I do wish you would hold things up longer and more still. My eyes don't focus quite so fast!

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you! I do try - when you're in front of the camera, it feels like you've held things up forever and your arm will fall off, then I review the video (I watch it myself before posting, to write the notes) and it looks like it just flashed it at the camera. Huge disconnect between the experience of filming, and of viewing...

[@maryhogan9561]

Your Christmas tree is wonderful! Could you share how you finish the back of your ornaments? Couldn’t find it in any video, they look so soft and light. Thanks

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you! I lace (or if I'm being lazy, use double sided fusible web) silk over bristol paper, then slip stitch it to the ornament to finish it. You can see the general method in my pinkeep finishing tutorial - just imagine that one of the sides of the pinkeep is an ornament.

[@maryhogan9561]

@ thank you

[@karenkirk8261]

Your tree is stunning Katie. I am also starting the Stacy Nash Needlebook. I’m starting mine Christmas Day which is your Christmas Eve🎄🎄

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you Karen! Of course you are - great minds and all that! Send photos and I'll do the same

[@daliafruchtnis6239]

את מוכשרת ברמות גבוהות כל הכבוד על הריקמות היפות. חג שמח

[@mildredalayon7095]

As a first-time viewer, I will say that I enjoyed your video. Your stitching is beautiful, as close to perfect as I've seen. I got a little dizzy at the moving of items forward and backward from the camera (I know, getting good focus is hard), so I viewed your video in parts. Nevertheless, great video.

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you so much - welcome to my channel, which is admittedly imperfect!

[@justinerogers1353]

Have you any thoughts on why white thread doesn't sit well ? I find it is not only on white but on many light colours. I stitch so carefully with light colours, always left to right and top to bottom and do all my /// legs before I come back with the \\\ and don't jump around yet they don't look as good as the darker colours so it must be the colour of thread in itself - either the dye takes different or light. It seems to me and others have said the same, it is the way light bounces off the light colours. Very difficult to get Gobelins in the UK but would be interested to try it and hear your thoughts. Thank you.

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

This is speculative because I can truthfully say it's not something I've ever observed in my own stitching, but I don't see any possible cause for the thread itself to be different in terms of how it handles or dyes. I think it has to be that the white or very light colors are less forgiving of any small changes in tension, stitch path, or other errors/inconsistencies. I recently pierced just a tiny bit of a linen thread instead of getting the hole on a window frame, stitched in white, and to me it's glaringly obvious in a way I don't think it would be in another color. That's the best guess I have, which I'm afraid is not very helpful!

[@justinerogers1353]

@@katiestrachanembroidery Many thanks for your reply. I think you mentioned you nearly always stitch with silk so perhaps this gives further support to it being a light / reflective issue ??? I need to get some pale coloured and white 100.3 or Gobelins and compare. Thanks again.

[@helio-trope]

😍🎄😍

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you!

[@pambutler5437]

When stitching with Gobelins can you use 36 count linen or 32 count?

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Yes! Two strands (just as you would with any other thread) for 32 count, one for 36, although I would recommend stitching on a Zweigart base 36 count in a hoop, qsnap, or frame. Zweigart linens have thinner linen threads, and the Gobelins definitely benefits from structure, to give you something to pull against when you tighten the stitches.

[@pambutler5437]

@ thank you Katie for your reply and for your wonderful videos! Merry Christmas!

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

@@pambutler5437 Merry Christmas!!

[@laura-z2x2c]

Where do you buy the bijoux threads? Is the bronzy mettalic selled pyrate?

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Any LNS can order them for you but they're in stock at Needle in a Haystack, the Attic, and Hoop & Frame (that I know of, there are probably others as well). And yes, it is Pyrite.

[@Threadgremlins]

❤❤❤🎉🎉

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you!

[@marlenedavey6262]

Love your floss tube! Where do you buy your soie surfine, gobelins and 100/3s? Love, love the crystal golden shadow! Very much my taste!!

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you! Hoop & Frame, Needle in a Haystack, and the Attic.

[@wendyfulbright3156]

Merry Christmas from A Flyers fan🎄But I agree…Gritty is pretty scary & looks just like former Flyer Jake Voracek.

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Merry Christmas! I never saw the Voracek likeness but you're right, just a little more orange!

[@scoobers3493]

Love your video, you are incredibly talented. Could I please suggest that you hold it s up a bit longer and more still. The camera takes a second to focus and by then you’ve moved on.

[@katiestrachanembroidery]

Thank you!