I grew up in the South and always admired the colorful gardens in our neighborhoods. I unfortunately have the blackest thumb imaginable – my garden is where plants go to die. So, I stitched a garden instead, and partnering with Shining Needle Society you can too!

Southern Charm features the color and balance of a formal southern garden, with fountains and scrollwork in a lush lawn. This fun project includes some twisty stitches like Jessicas, crescents and Amadeuses, with background stitches filling in the blank spaces. The “lawn” is created with several shades of green, maintaining the garden illusion.

What will you learn in our Southern Charm class?

• Twisty stitches and variations of twisty stitches, along with some versatile stitch patterns for backgrounds
• Understand the development of the twisty stitches so you don’t have to refer to the diagrams constantly
• Learn how to start and stop lengths of threads with pin stitches and loop starts

Southern Charm is 8″ square, a stitch count of 145 x 145 on 18 ct. mono deluxe eggshell canvas.

Kit contents:

• 14″ x 14″ canvas with taped edges
• Presencia #8 pearl cotton
• Presencia cotton floss
• Kreinik #8 Braids
• Rainbow Gallery Silk Lame’ Braids
• ThreadworX #8 Pearl Cotton
• Size 22 tapestry needles
• Printed instructions, more than 70 pages of detailed step by step diagrams
• Large printed graph and color picture for reference

If you’ve not participated in an online class before, we make it easy! We’ll have weekly Zoom sessions for 4 weeks, and the sessions are recorded so you can review them later if the weekly session isn’t convenient for you. Access to stitch video demonstrations in a private showcase allow you to view the stitch demonstrations as many times as you need, both during the class and later. A dedicated groups.io classroom facilitates our weekly sessions, for sharing the weekly lessons, diagrams and your progress pictures. The first Zoom session introduces all the resources and how to access them, so don’t worry if you’ve not done this before!

Class Options:

• Full Kit – Canvas, all threads, needles, printed instructions – $210
• Instructions with canvas – printed instructions and Eggshell mono deluxe canvas with taped edges- $135
• Instructions only – printed instructions- $115
• Audit – no materials will be sent, for those who have previously taken Southern Charm – $60

All options include access to the video stitch demonstrations, Zoom sessions and groups.io classroom. Zoom sessions are recorded and added to a private showcase for class members only. The Zoom sessions are a bonus for class participants and additional to the printed instructions; sessions will be on Tuesday mornings at 10 a.m. Central.

Students will need to provide 2 pairs of 14″ stretcher bars, lighting, magnification, laying tool and usual stitching supplies.

Important class dates:

Now through May 14, 2025 – Registration open

May 15-July 14 – Materials ordered and waiting for shipments (our vendors require a long lead time to fill orders); kits hopefully mailed by the end of June 

July 22 – August 31, 2025 – Class sessions (4 weeks, one lesson per week), Zoom sessions on Tuesday mornings at 10 a.m. Central

August 31, 2025 – Class officially ends but the classroom will remain open for posting photos, questions and follow-up

I hope you’ll join us for Southern Charm!

Questions about Southern Charm: debbie@debbeesdesigns.com

Questions about Shining Needle Society: kategaunt@aol.com or kategaunt@me.com