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: More ways to display

Hello to you all and a special welcome to my new followers! Before I start musing about embroidery, I want to say a special thank you to everyone who sent emails, hit the ‘Like’ button and commented on my “Reader of the Week” accolade on Simply Crochet’s blog and Facebook pages. That was an unexpected and very pleasant surprise for me!

And while I’m still on the topic of crochet, I happened upon a very sweet combination of crochet and embroidery...

A crochet border for embroidery hoops! How happy is this? I just did a bit of the hoop to test the pattern. This beautiful idea came from Sew Chatty. She offers a clear and easy tutorial for hooking a scalloped border around a hoop.

This is the scalloped edge – but once you tackle her instructions for the first row, I think you could use any number of borders. I envisage a cute picot edge, perhaps a granny chic ruffle, colourful stripes to echo the embroidery...hmmm, I see a wall of wee little embroideries for children, with candy-coloured crochet borders...uh oh, I can tell this could become an addiction!

In my online travels I also found some simple magnetic discs which will clearly frame embroidery on the fridge, the microwave or anywhere you can stick a magnet.

Framecraft magnets come in various sizes and can be found in many places online. These could make great gifts for family members, teachers, those of you who collect fridge magnets...

Now to some unfinished business. My Hive Sweet Hive embroidery. I was all ready to frame it and dub it a Finished Object, but then I spied a little bag of fabric scraps, and the cogs started turning.

I have no idea where this is going, or how this will end up, but I decided I wanted little hexies around my beehive. I’ve chosen pastels and florals because this will end up on a wall in my kitchen, which is soft green and cream with pinks.

As I stitch these wee hexies, I’m not sure whether I’ll surround the entire hive, whether the hexies will just peek out at the edges, perhaps run parallel in two even rows...I could cut the hive into one large hexie and stitch it onto the small hexies...I’m just going with the flow and hoping something sings out to me. I would love any input, please brainstorm with me!

That's all for today; I didn't achieve as much embroidery this week as I wanted because, well, life just gets in the way sometimes, doesn't it? 

Happy crafting and enjoy the rest of the weekend! 

Chrissie x

Stitching Sunday: Finishing touches

I have so enjoyed Stitching Sundays, not only because they give me a special time to do my own embroidery, but also because I absolutely love reading about your projects as well. I have discovered some great gadgets and learned some helpful tips, and I hope you all have, too!

I have a big embroidery project in mind as soon as I’m finished with my smaller WIPs, so I don’t think I’ll be giving up Stitching Sundays anytime soon...

That being said, I know a number of you are nearing the end, or have already finished, some stitching projects, and I want to discuss finishing touches and different ways to display your work.

I’m still suffering from a nasty head cold, so I decided against any more work on Green Eggs and Ham this weekend. Today’s tip: Don’t work on any detailed embroidery if you’re not feeling well! I started to outline the red letters, but ugh, I just couldn’t get the stitches even, the thread was wonky, so I stopped. I’ll rip out that little bit and start again when I’m well.

However, nothing is wrong with a little fun doodle stitching! My ‘Hive Sweet Hive’ design is just fine to work on, because by nature it isn’t supposed to look too stylized.

I finished the words then added a few bees, teeny tiny ones, with one strand of charcoal floss, grouping three or four short straight stitches together horizontally, then using one strand of pale yellow to make two vertical stitches along the bodies. Grey floss for tiny lazy daisy stitched wings. See how tiny they are next to this pin!

I added some grass with long straight stitches, then put the work aside. Now I’m considering the finishing touches...is this enough? Do I want a few blossoms in there? Which ones and how large? Hmmm. I’ll go back to it later and see, I might like a daisy or two on the side, but I don’t want to go overboard. What do you think?

I have to start thinking about what to do with this little hive when it’s done. I’ve been reading about others considering what to do with their work...so let’s bounce around some ideas! You’ve seen my heart key fobs and my patchwork cushion, both of which are pretty and easy ways to showcase embroidery. Here are two more:

This is a treasured sachet made by my friend Jooles. She explains how she cross stitches on fabrics on her blog, and framing the stitching with pretty fabric and filling it with lavender makes it a lovely gift. The velvet ribbon and the little initial tag are two touches that put Jooles in a different league...

And just look at this teeny embroidery hoop! I found this at Dandelyne on Etsy, and I’m mad for it! It comes as a little kit with instructions for inserting your own miniature embroidery in the hoop, then you can either string it onto a necklace or glue on the brooch attachment. I cannot wait to stitch a wee something for this! I have a feeling I’ll be ordering more – wouldn’t they make just the sweetest gifts for special friends? Monograms, ribbon embroidery...what is it about miniatures that is so enchanting?

Next week I’ll hopefully be well enough to show you how to frame your work in an embroidery hoop, which is very trendy at the moment. You’ve seen the ones I made for my girls, but you can also paint a hoop, wrap it with ribbon, have a hanging bow...makes a pretty addition to any wall.

What are you stitching today? Check out the links below!

Chrissie x

PS One final shout out about the Bloomin’ Crochet-A-Long Giveaway! Deadline is tomorrow, so click here to enter your comment for a chance to win!