Needlestack Tips & Tricks

Stella Lighting Review

Stella Lightining has a new sytle of LED lamp that allows you to select from 3 different color spectrums (Warm, Natural and Cool) and has 5 light levels within each color spectrum. Warm looks the most like an incandescent bulbs with that slightly yellow cast to the light. Cool is a white light similar to fluorescent bulbs with a slight blue cast. Natural is a mix of the two so more like sunlight. If you look closely at the LEDs in the lamp you'll see 41 of them, arranged in rows of 3. Every other row is a specific color. The odd numbered rows are Warm, the even rows Cool. When the lamp is on Natural both the Warm and Cool LEDs are lit.

There are 3 different models to choose from, each with the same lamp head.

Stella Sky is their floor lamp, which adjusts from 48" to 70" in height. It comes in White and Black. It is controlled by a remote.

Stella Desk is the their desk lamp, with controls on the base of the lamp. It comes in White, Black and Pink and the controls are on the base of the lamp.

Stella Edge is their clamp on lamp, which opens to fit large tables such as the Lifetime tables you find at Costco. It comes in White and Black and is controlled by a remot.

Warm - odd rows 2800K	Cool - even rows 5500K
Natural - all rows 4000K

None of the lamps marketed to crafters have this ability to change both the color spectrum as well as light level. I actually don't know of any that allow you to change either, much less both. What this means is that you can get a more precise color and light level for your particular task, whether that's working at a desk, sewing at a machine, reading a book or stitching.

Needlework System 4 Review

In 2013 we decided to start carrying the Needlework System 4 stands and over the past few months have ordered most of the components, both for customers and for us to test them out. As with all stands, no single version is right for every stitcher or every stitching environment and we hope this review will help you determine if a Needlework System 4 stand is right for you and which one that might be.

This review was written by Cathe, owner of Needle In A Haystack. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail.

 

How do I calculate my fabric size?

We get this question all the time, both for needlepoint and cross-stitch. You have a design that gives you a stitch count (or you've counted it for yourself) and now you need to know how much fabric to buy. You'll need to know the stitch count, your fabric count and what use you plan for the design. The reason you need the latter is that you need more margin for a piece that's going to be framed and matted vs. a piece that's going to be framed or something turned into a pillow.

We have a handy Fabric Calculations page that gives you all the details you need to know so you can do this calculation yourself. You're always welcome to ask us to figure it out for you and we'll ask you for the 3 things mentioned above. The page is a PDF file you can print and keep with your stitching for reference. And the math really is not hard :-).

Optional Colors for The Drawn Thread's Open Heart

Many customers have asked for the colors I used in my version of The Drawn Thread's An Open Heart. I used all Au ver a soie Soie 100/3 thread, which is a buttohole twist thread. You can use more than one strand and I did so for all of the whitework border. You do have to lay this thread when using more than a single strand since it is very round and if they wrap over each other you will not be pleased with the look. You'll need 3 spools of the Creme since it gets used for the whitework border and it'll use all of 2 spools and a small amount of the third one. You may need two spools of the #557 as well. I used a single strand for most of my stitches on 34 count but in places I used 2 strands because I liked the more dense look the stitching gave with 2 strands.