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June 29, 2014

Patterns: Las Flores de Frida

FridaKahlo-EmbroideryPattern

Las Flores de Frida by Carina from Polka & Bloom

Carina from Polka & Bloom has branched out to doing people! Embroidery patterns of faces (particularly realistic looking faces) are often tricky but Carina's done a great job here. You can learn more about how she created the pattern, which is fascinating, here. And you can find the pattern itself here.


June 28, 2014

Review: Stitch it with Wool Craftsy Class


When I was contacted by author Kristin Nicholas to review her upcoming Craftsy class, Stitch it with Wool: Crewel Embroidery, I was excited about my first experience with Crewel embroidery. I really enjoyed this experience and recommend this class for crewel beginners - Kristin is a great teacher with a Matisse-like colorful style and her thorough lessons give you all the tools you need to get started! I'll walk you through the class, the materials I used, and the small project I stitched for this review.


The class includes an 8 page PDF with a list of supplies and 2 large designs for the pillows above, with a clear breakdown of color, and which stitch goes where.

Here's a brief overview of the class, which is divided into 7 lessons: Lesson 1 goes into all the particulars of threads, needles, hoops, fabric, and transferring your design. You'll also learn great tips if you have never embroidered, like how to start and end your thread! Lesson 2 covers basic stitches - if you have embroidered for any length of time, you probably already know these - but I would still give them a watch because Kristin gives some great tips and examples. Lessons 3 and 4 are where the good stuff starts for an intermediate stitcher - introducing stitches that build on the basics. Lesson 5 and 6 introduced me to lots of unfamiliar stitches that were not yet in my repertoire - and stitches that lend themselves particularly well to crewel threads. Finally, in Lesson 7, Kristin tells you all about untangling and managing wool skeins, finishing techniques, and a really interesting topic - knowing when to stop. :)

Kristin is a fabulous and thorough teacher - she explains every stitch carefully, taking the time to explain mistakes that you may make, and how to avoid and correct them. Kristin is calming and personable, and I really like that her emphasis is more on creativity and not on perfection, which makes this class a great springboard to create your own projects. I also like that she shows you finished examples of every stitch, so that you can better visualize how each stitch can contribute to an overall design. Her own work features imaginative lines, textures and vivid combinations of color with a lively, painterly style.

You may be asking, do I really need to buy a bunch of crewel wool?

Crewel wool

I was going to experiment with my regular embroidery floss or finer weight yarns until I saw Kristin's online store, and was hooked by her beautiful crewel wool. I bought the Some of Each set (above). Kristin was also sweet enough to add a large square of linen, in the color of my choice - I chose a neutral gray, to make the bright colors of the wool pop.

After taking the Appletons crewel wool for a test drive, I cannot say enough, yes, if you have never stitched with crewel wool, you should certainly try it.

my first stitches with crewel wool

Stitching with wool is SO distinct from stitching with embroidery cotton floss - the wool fiber is very thin, spongy, and springy. It has a marvelous matte texture that piles up nicely as you stitch. If you take this class, I definitely recommend purchasing a few crewel wool skeins. Another important note is that if you stitch with wool, you should definitely use linen fabric (something I learned the hard way, a few months ago). :)

Here is my small project:

Spiderweb stitches

I decided to practice the Spiderweb stitch for this review, tracing random circles to create this design. I used 3 bright colors of Appleton crewel wool, along with 2 light yarns and one thicker white wool yarn from my stash. I have to say, the Spiderweb stitch is addictive and meditative, and I can't wait to try even more stitches from this class.

So, to sum up, Stitch it with Wool: Crewel Embroidery is a great class for beginners to learn crewel embroidery, and it's also perfect for a complete beginner who has never embroidered before. There is plenty of detail, instruction, and inspiration to get you started - whether or not you chose to stitch the pillow designs as they are, or create your own designs. Thank you Kristin, for allowing me to review your class and share it with our readers!

And, thanks to Kristin, for a limited time, we have one more thing to share with our Feeling Stitchy readers - a 50% discount on the Stitch it With Wool class: Get the discount. Hurry up, because that discount expires soon! Edit 7/5/2014 - Sorry guys, the discount has expired, but I still totally recommend the class!

Have any of you experimented with crewel embroidery or stitched with crewel wool? Let me know what you thought of it in the comments!

June 22, 2014

Patterns: Solar System

Solar System Cross Stitch

Solar system cross stitch by Rebecca Greco

This amazing piece by Rebecca from Hugs Are Fun was done as a swap piece over on the & Stitches blog. Luckily we don't have to be too jealous of the lucky recipient, as Rebecca also has the pattern over in her shop! You can find it here.

June 17, 2014

Tutorial Tuesday

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Today's tutorial comes to you out of somewhat of a necessity in my world. I sew and stitch quite a bit and realized that I needed a thread catcher for the floss tails, threads, and fabric pieces that I snip off of my projects as I am working on them. I know I am not the only one who needs a quick place to toss the excess threads and floss while I am sewing and stitching. I am hoping you can make use of this project in your workspace as you stitch up your WIP, as well!



To make this thread catcher basket out of fabric, you'll need:
- Fabric for exterior (11 inches tall by 14.5 inches wide)
- Fabric for lining (11 inches tall by 14.5 inches wide)
- medium weight interfacing (11 inches tall by 14.5 inches wide)
- sewing machine and supplies
- scissors
- embroidery hoop, floss, and needles

I used the spool image from the Sewing Collage pattern available at Urban Threads.


Step One: Transfer the embroidery pattern to one of the front exterior panels of fabric, keeping it 2-inches from the top edge. Stitch. I used a 3-ply backstitch for this spool pattern.


Step Two: Place the exterior fabrics right sides together, with a piece of interfacing on the wrong side of each exterior piece. You should have a fabric sandwich with interfacing, exterior piece right side up, exterior piece right side down, then a piece of interfacing on top of that. 


Step Three: Sew around the three sides of the exterior and interfacing using a 1/2-inch seam allowance, leaving the top open. 


Step Four: To create a flat bottom for our fabric basket, take one bottom corner and fold it so the seams are laying flat against each other. 


Mark 2.5-inches from the center of the seam, where there is a V. Stitch straight across using the 2.5-inch mark as a guide. 


Clip the excess fabric away. Repeat for other side.


Step Five: Take the interior or lining pieces of fabric and place them right sides together. Stitch along the three edges with a 1/2-inch seam allowance, leaving a 2-inch space open along the center of the bottom edge. 


Step Six: Square off the bottom of the lining as we did for the exterior in Step Four. Mark 2.5-inches from the center of the seam, where there is a V. Stitch straight across using the 2.5-inch mark as a guide. Clip the excess fabric away. Repeat for other side 


Step Seven: Turn the exterior ride sides out. Place this inside of the lining, right sides together. Stitch along the top edge with a 1/2-inch seam allowance. 



Step Eight: Flip the fabric basket right side out, by pulling through the opening in the bottom seam of the lining. 


Step Nine: It is optional for you to press this top edge. Top stitch along the top at the 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch marks. 



Step Ten: Stitch the space used to flip the fabric basket shut. 


Step Eleven: Place close to your sewing machine or work area and toss your clipped threads, floss pieces, and fabric scraps into the basket. 


I hope you enjoy this thread catcher fabric basket and take the time to make one for yourself. It really does help around the work room. 

Hope you have a great Tuesday!

June 15, 2014

Patterns: Ice cream hats!

Ice Cream, You Scream... for Embroidery! Ice Cream, You Scream... for Embroidery!

Ice cream, you scream ..... for Embroidery! by Cate Anevski

Summer has hit us here in the UK, it could go away again any second mind you but even if it does I'll keep dreaming of it whilst stitching up these great ice cream patterns from Cate Anevski. 

Also worth a check out is some great extra stuff on Cate's blog at the moment, some cute printables and a romantic free embroidery pattern.

June 3, 2014

Tutorial Tuesday

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

With summer on its way and so many great summertime tutorials floating around, I thought it would be good to share all these fresh and fun projects with you today!

Welcome the summer blooms with a "Bring on the Sunshine"embroidery pattern and tutorial for 3-D flowers from Crafts Unleashed.

Update summer flip flops using a whipped running stitch with Julie K's tutorial


Brighten up your bathroom with DesignLoveFest's embroidered shower curtain tutorial.



Bev over at Flamingo Toes has a super cute tutorial for an embroidered map of the USA with a chevron print. Would make for a great 4th of July display!


Hope you are able to check some of these out and give them a try!

Have a great Tuesday!