Stitching Sunday on a Monday...and a Ta-dah!

Hello and apologies for not posting my usual Stitching Sundays post yesterday – I spent the weekend looking after Little Flower, who came down with a sudden sick bug early Saturday morning. Ugh. The world stops when a sick bug comes along - we weren’t sure if we were all carrying the virus, so we cancelled all plans and spent most of the time in the sofa nest.

Happily, she’s feeling much better today and eating normally, so I was able to put the finishing touches on my latest project:

Ta-dah! This must be one of my quickest WIPs ever, I was so anxious to get it finished! I’ve wanted to recover this bench for a while, and I had the Tilda charm pack in my stash (purchased with no project in mind, just my crazy need to own these beautiful fabric squares!). A match made in heaven.

Once a month on a Wednesday morning I toodle over to Jooles’ lovely home for a quilting morning, and last week I brought my charm pack along. We drank tea, nibbled on warm, wonderful homemade scones (complete with clotted cream and jam, she does spoil me so!), and arranged and rearranged the squares on her kitchen table. What better way to spend a Wednesday morning?  

This was the final arrangement, although I could have kept repositioning one square after another all day long. Do you ever find that with patchwork?

While Little Flower and Bunny were playing a board game Saturday afternoon, I sewed the squares together – which took me under an hour! I’m getting better at this sewing lark... This morning I tooled up and used my new staple gun to secure the fabric to the bench. Then I attached the pretty ice-blue trim with fabric glue. 

Time will tell if that’s enough to keep it all together! The bench is happily in its place beneath my growing wall of embroidery hoops

*sigh* pretty.

Now on to the embroidery part of Stitching Sunday on Monday:

I’ve started the green on the eggs and ham. I decided to fill stitch in a sort of curved direction for the ham - you can see the texture it produces on the left, as the shape of the ham curves.

I use guide stitches whenever I’m filling a space – those are the little stitches spaced farther apart on the left side of the ham. These will keep my fill stitches flowing in the intended direction without going astray and leaning too much in one direction (a common problem if you just use fill from one far side to another). I’ll take more photos as I’m filling to further illustrate this...

And the sewing machine cover is coming along, albeit more slowly than I intended – the distractions of Tilda patchwork and a poorly child!

I finished the ‘Stitch’ and sewed on the measuring tape ribbon; now I’m working on the running stitch and little buttons. I actually find doing a running stitch in a straight line quite challenging, I have to measure and add guide dots along the way!

Little Flower’s resting and watching a show, but now we’re going to bake some cookies. She's requesting chocolate chip...she's obviously feeling better! Wishing you all a happy week, and a big welcome to my newest followers from the Grow Your Blog party!

Chrissie x

P.S. Do link up if you have something stitchy to share!

A broader view of stitching

Happy Sunday and a very warm welcome to my newest followers! I am so glad to be blogging again after the holiday break, and each and every comment has made me smile. Thank you!

One of my goals for 2014 is to do more sewing. I am a beginner, but I need to devote a lot more time to my machine if I want to improve (plus I have *so many* projects I want to try!).

To that end, I’m going to broaden my Stitching Sundays focus to include machine sewing as well as my beloved embroidery. All of it involves a needle and thread, so it’s fair game.

Lady Elna

A project I started ages ago, then stowed away at the bottom of a fabric pile, was a sewing machine cover. What better way to get more into the art of sewing than to create a lovely cover for Lady Elna?

Machine sewing and hand embroidery – a perfect combination. I found this wonderful pattern here, and I had a layer cake of Aneela Hoey’s Sew Stitchy fabric that I bought to entice me to sew (I have purchased *a lot* of fabric with the intention to lure me to the machine...). The two just seemed destined to be together!

I cut and ordered sixty small squares, then sewed them together to form a panel (I'm trying to be forgiving with the uneven squares, I'm still learning). The linen and patchwork panels use a “quilt as you go” technique, ironed to fusible interfacing and sewn together (ha ha! Get me, “talkin’ the talk” like a proper seamstress! I hope you’re enjoying this, Grandma!). Next will be some more embellishment, some fusible fleece, lining fabric, piping...a lot of sewing experience to be gained from one project!

Now an update on my Green Eggs & Ham embroidery, part of the &Stitches Finish-Along:

I’m making progress on the letters this week, ignoring the dodgy “H” and concentrating on the “Green”.

Featuring my handy-dandy needle magnet

It is slow going, as I fill each letter with long-and-short stitch embroidery, but it is extremely calming and enjoyable. I’ll probably bounce down to the ham next, I’m itchin’ to get some green floss in there now...

I’d love to see what you’re up to with needle and thread, link up embroidery or sewing projects below!

Chrissie x

The return of Stitching Sundays

Although I don’t make a specific list of New Year’s resolutions, I start a new year by taking stock of where I am with things and make adjustments as needed...and some adjustments are certainly needed with my embroidery.

I decided to re-launch Stitching Sundays so that at least one day a week, and preferably more, I will give time over to my needle and thread. I absolutely love embroidery, but so often I find myself reaching for the crochet hook, because at the end of a long day it’s easier for me to crochet than it is to concentrate on small satin stitches...but honestly, I think I’m just being lazy. I only find crochet easier because I’ve been doing it so much longer than embroidery.

I just need to keep my stitching supplies to hand, preferably sitting atop my crochet hooks, and I know I will make good progress with embroidery techniques. The concentration helps me to forget about all else going on, which is ultimately very, very relaxing.

If it's written on a mug, it must be true

I have a WIP list a mile long, and I want to clear away some of these projects before I take on anything new (and of course I have a mile-long list of new things I want to stitch, too!).

Luckily, &Stitches is hosting a Finish-Along for the month of January!

I’m now a contributor to this wonderful site devoted to all things stitchy, and a little part of me is wondering if they introduced this FAL topic just for me...and Sam-I-Am...

I know they are fond of my Dr. Seuss embroidery, but the poor fellow has sat waiting for so long, I’m sure they really would love to say, “Get on with it, woman!” but are being polite...

I needed a break from this because I wasn't happy with the black outline of that letter 'H' - it's just sloppy, and I got ticked off that it wasn't working out as I planned. I knew I'd have to rip out part of it, so I put it away for a while. 

I’m joining in this FAL so that I devote more time to Sam, finish up his green ham and eggs, and then I can move on, because I have some ideas swirling in my head that I’m excited to share with you! Do you have an embroidery project needing some TLC? Link it up to &Stitches and finish it with me!

Please also join me as and when on Stitching Sundays – you might be curious to take up some fun and simple embroidery (click on the relevant words in my ‘Looking for Something?’ section on the right for inspiration), you might have a detailed project languishing in a drawer, you might want to add a personal touch to a quilt or item of clothing – share it here! I have some interesting topics to share in the coming weeks.

Link up below, and don’t forget to grab the button on the sidebar...

Happy crafting!

Chrissie x

Negative space embroidery

In between Halloween parties and the approaching Rainbow Birthday Party, I've been playing around with an embroidery idea.

A while ago I found a striking heart shape embroidered with stitches surrounding a heart shape in the fabric - essentially stitching the 'negative space' around the center. I loved it so much I decided to try it out using my new-found skill with French knots...

I might be bonkers using the butterfly shape, it may turn out to be too complicated a design to effectively show up with negative space knots. We shall see, it's not a large design so hasn't taken very long at all to get to this point. 

I'm using just one colour - I chose white as I wanted a very simple, ethereal, girly air about it - and I'm joining in with the &Stitches Month of Colours, which focuses on using single colours in embroidery. This is a very interesting exercise, no matter what type of embroidery or needlework you are doing. I urge you to check it out! 

And even though I might not be able to post each and every Sunday for Stitching Sundays, given the busy holiday season upon us, I'll be sure to put the linking tool in my weekend posts, I'll keep the grab button on the sidebar, and I really hope you all continue to share your latest projects! 

Oh, one final word, in case you're wondering where I got the image for the butterfly...

It's a cookie cutter! 

Hello to my newest followers, and thank you all for your comments, they provide so much inspiration! 

Chrissie x

Stitching Sunday: Cross stitch love

This week I finished my very first cross stitch project

Golly, how much did I love the thread organiser? Where have you been all my life, you lovely hole-punched card?

You may remember that I bought this lovely little kit at The Knitting & Stitching Show, and I started working on it with the help of my lovely friend. I’m happy to report that I really enjoyed cross stitching, the repetitive nature of the stitches was rather relaxing. And figuring out what colours to stitch where wasn’t as tricky as I thought.

Here is a close-up of my work – I’m going to need some advice for certain tricky areas. Some crosses – like the sandy one on the far right – weren’t centered, like something made the thread bend up a bit. What’s up with that?

And different shades of floss behaved differently. The deep red colour seemed quite thin – I’d like my ‘x’ to fill the fabric more, I really don’t care for lots of space around the stitch – while the palest pink seemed so fluffy that the stitches tended to look a bit crowded and messy to me. But I always used two strands of floss, so not sure how to deal with this...

I also found it challenging to make a neat 'x' when all four corners were already occupied with other stitches. I think I need a coaching session...

But hey, onward and upward, as I really would like to do more cross stitch. Now that I finished my little test kit, I can justify buying this lovely book:

*sigh* It's just so pretty...I’ll tell you more about it once I try a pattern or two!

I know there are a gazillion ways to display cross stitch...trinket boxes and cushions and bags, oh my! But I was keen to get my first piece on my new little Wall of Stitching. Alas, the fabric was too narrow on the vertical sides to fit in the smallest hoop I had (I think it’s a 3-inch hoop), and just like last Sunday’s post, I had to figure out how to fit my work into the hoop.

This time I decided to fray the edges a bit and tack it onto some pretty French linen from a fat quarter purchased a while back. I repeated the simple linen ribbon bow to hide the screw.

Hmmm. Very granny-ish. But granny chic or granny ick? 

I hung it on the other end of the wall, given that both stitched pieces feature squares of fabric stitched onto a base fabric.

This might be just slightly on the wrong side of twee for my taste. I’m going to consider carefully what else goes on the wall. I think one of Delilah’s black silhouettes would balance it well. I also am mulling over something decidedly silly...

Please share your needle ‘n thread love below!

Chrissie x

Stitching Sunday: Framing in a hoop

Happy Sunday everyone! A brief Stitching Sunday post today, as we are in full Halloween decorating mode here and I have to get back to my little goblins!

After mulling over ways to display my organza flowers I made at The Knitting & Stitching Show, I decided to frame them simply in a hoop and hang it in the hall.

Full English Grey Effect...

But I wanted something with a bit more style than the plain wooden hoop, so I covered it with a grey metallic spray paint. I only sprayed the visible outer hoop.

I centred the embroidery in the hoop and secured it tightly. Then I cut a felt circle to cover the back of the piece.

Next step was to secure the fabric at the back of the frame. Here’s where I ran into a bit of trouble – the fabric wasn’t large enough to wrap around the inside hoop. Usually I use a larger piece of fabric, then cut a circle wide enough to either sew in a gathered bundle at the back of the hoop (like a covered button) or glue evenly to the inner hoop wall.

But because this piece was a make-and-take project at the show, the fabric I was given was only a bit larger than the embroidery. I made the best of it by trimming the squared edges and gluing what I could to the frame.

To cover the screw and hang the hoop, I chose a simple linen ribbon, which I fashioned into a bow and glued to the front (I am loving my little glue gun, it makes me feel proper crafty!). I then secured a length of ribbon to the back.

I like how the hoop and ribbon provide an understated frame to the embroidery. It looks quite sweet on the bit of wall by the understairs closet – but it also looks a wee bit lonely...notice I left some wall space for a few more hoops...

Hope you are all having a cozy weekend! Happy crafting!

Chrissie x

Stitching Sunday: Hassle-free French knots!

Welcome to Stitching Sunday! It is a thundery, rainy day today, perfect for stitching in your pyjamas with a hot cup of tea by your side...

Within the first half hour of The Knitting & Stitching Show I learned an embroidery tip that has since saved me time and saved my nerves. Would you like to see?

Get your needle and floss ready, you might want to follow along step by step.

First, wrap the floss twice around the needle

Then pull the wrap higher up the needle, giving you lots of room to insert the needle into the fabric

Needle back through, very close to where it came up

Now anchor that thread! Pull the floss down taut to the fabric before you push the needle through any further, and keep it anchored to the side of the hoop as you pull the needle through the back

This little step - simply anchoring the thread with your thumb at the edge of the hoop - makes a huge difference to the process! 

It may help if you set the hoop down on the edge of a table while you’re getting used to this technique, so you have one hand free to pull the needle, the other hand keeping the thread taut.

As you pull, you can gently let loose the thread, at which point the knot should already be secure on the fabric

Keep pulling through and suddenly you’ll have a cute little dimple of a French knot on your fabric.

hello cutie!

Try a few of these, it gets easier with practice – which I had plenty of when I made the organza flowers...

Dare I say I actually like making French knots now? Words I never thought I’d say...

What’s on your hoop this weekend? Link up and show us!

Chrissie x

P.S. A big hello to my new followers, I’m so happy to have you here! 

Stitching Sunday: The Knitting & Stitching Show

Yesterday I ventured to London to The Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace...

...where I nearly went into craft overload! There is too much to condense into one blog post, so today I’ll focus on the stitching side of the show, in keeping with Stitching Sundays. Yarn love will follow!

I boarded a train nice and early with a very dear friend, had my compulsory chai tea latte from Starbucks at Waterloo (part of my “letting go of real life” routine every time I arrive in London for fun) and hopped on the Tube to Wood Green.

Interestingly, as the Tube came nearer and nearer to the destination, the ratio of female passengers carrying crafty-looking shopping bags and wearing colourful, artsy fashions increased substantially...snippets of conversations about sewing and craft kit drifted through the car...and seated across from us were two older, colourful ladies who we figured were us in a couple decades (and I’m sure some young gals standing by the door were thinking the same about us!).

We were already having fun and we hadn’t even arrived! Ah, how a little “me” time works its magic.

What a show! Inspiration hit as soon as we crossed the threshold

And skyrocketed as we wandered through the exhibition

Within ten minutes of arriving, we were seated at Rowandean Embroidery’s Make & Take table...

...trying our hands at embroidering over organza. We were supplied with a pre-printed fabric square, then given free rein to choose organza scraps and colourful threads to layer on with easy stitches.

Pinning on the base organza square

Layering the tiny organza scraps

Adding the stitches

The long, straight stitches for the flower stems secured the organza to the fabric. How do ya like those French knots? I learned some good tips, which I will share very soon...

This took about half an hour, then we bundled up our projects to finish at home.

Here is my finished piece – with my feeble attempt to take a photo in the in the grey light of a rainy English autumn day (I really must find some tutorials for taking photos during dark winter months, or everything will have this dull cast until spring!)

We walked and walked, admired and shopped

Threads galore! 

Liberty love

I love the 3D birch tree 

I bought this fabulous spring-loaded embroidery hoop – no tugging fabric and tightening screws here!

I bought a little cross stitch kit from The Cross Stitch Guild.

It is high time I learned to cross stitch (all that counting and following of a pattern intimidates me!). I was so keen to buy about half a dozen beautiful, complicated cross stitch projects here, I’m a sucker for natural linen tones and soft thread colours, but luckily my friend encouraged me to start with a beginner’s kit and work my way up. I tend to put the cart before the horse with a lot of projects...

In addition to all the exhibitors selling their wares, the show highlighted artists’ work with threads and yarn.

I was very intrigued by these mini galleries, and it set this exhibition apart from other craft shows I’ve attended. It was wonderful to see the crafts on a contemporary, truly artistic level.

One mini gallery showcased historical and modern crewelwork. Unfortunately, photography wasn’t allowed, but I was able to speak to a woman who was working on a piece of crewelwork, and after our conversation I was inspired to try my hand at it!

This little kit is from Sue Hawkins – her beautiful stall was chock full of tapestry, cross stitch, crewelwork, stumpwork...all in subtle shades and lovely fabrics.

And speaking of stumpwork, our favourite little stall, from the Embroiderers’ Guild, enchanted us with the most delicate stumpwork flora and fauna from this book

I was gutted that photography wasn’t permitted, because these were the most beautiful, perfect, delicate stitches I found at the show. The woman who created them was there, sitting at a table with tiny stumpwork acorns and leaves that I very nearly begged to take home! So I simply must buy this book and learn to do stumpwork.

Hmmm, I really am living up to my tagline, aren’t I? Life is most definitely one big WIP...

Thank you for reading my very lengthy ramblings today - time for a nice hot cup of tea!

Chrissie x