Advocate staff photo by BILL FEIG -- On her sewing cases, Janell Richards used stumpwork, a dimensional embroidery technique that originated in the mid-1600s in England. Advocate staff photo by BILL ...

I mainly use DMC embroidery floss. For DMC No. 5 and No. 8 and for linen thread, I embroider with a single strand.

I have sewn for most of my life. My mother taught me when I was young and the repetitive rhythm of hand embroidery and machine sewing seemed to suit my temperament. It calmed me. It wasn’t however, ...