feeling stitchy

Patterns: Valentine Round Up

2012-01-29T05:14:00.003-06:00

There's lots of great Valentine's Day embroidery patterns out there at the moment and still plenty of time to stitch something.

How about something with a little cute vintage vibe from Sew Lovely?

(Stitched by me)

Or Wendi Gratz's lovely heart sampler?

Heart sampler embroidery pattern detail 1 by Wendi Gratz

Or how about some cute applique from Sew Sew n Sew?

Valentine's Embroidery / Applique Pattern by sewsewnsew

If anatomical hearts are more your thing, may I recommend this new pattern from Sublime Stitching.

Or if you're looking for something for the person in your life who is not that into pink or hearts, may I recommend the I'm Nuts About You pattern from Penelope Waits, I realise this pattern has been around for a little while but I thought I'd mention it because it just happens to be in this month's issue of Cross Stitcher to!

January Stitchalong: hang it up and enjoy!

2012-01-28T16:51:00.000-06:00

Can it be? We've finally arrived at week 4 of the January Stitchalong, and we're done! Or at least, I'm done - last week I walked you through possibilities for covering the backs of your letters and hanging them.

I chose to go with little felt loops that I secured with a tiny little x-stitch:

Here's some more:

As for "new" - I dangled those letters with white perle embroidery thread from the top row of letters:

I used thin white ribbon to hang them, and tied them onto simple tacks:

Just 4 tacks, some ribbon, and some wallspace, and we're done!

On to your projects!

It looks like Aimee finished her family sampler using couched letters:

Isn't it nice? Gorgeous work! :)

Kleas gave us a tantalizing preview of some of her couching - knowing her - it's going to be great!

And here's a cute peppermint-looking design by sisbabestitches:

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the January Stitchalong! If you'd still like to give it a try, remember you can always join in - here's the free template - just add your pics to the pool and tag them "JanStitchalong".

Here's a list of the previous weeks:
Week 1: Pattern
Week 2: Couching 101
Week 3: Covering the backs and hanging

Is there anything you'd like to see in this year's stitchalongs? I'd love to hear it! :)

Hearts and dragons

2012-01-27T05:38:00.000-06:00

There have been so many great free patterns in our pool this month that I'm doing a quick roundup!

Lovely dragon pattern by Aimee:

Cute (and gorgeous) free cross stitch dragon from Yasuko:

Cross stitch heart handwarmers by Mollie:

Mini felt heart pouch by Hiromi:

And these sweet little foxes by Jo:

I think that's plenty of free patterns to start your new year! :)

Love

2012-01-26T18:44:00.001-06:00

stitched by yarnattacks

I love everything about this! For more adorable-ness, be sure to check out Lisa's post. :)

Feather stitch

2012-01-26T05:19:00.000-06:00

stitched by Smallest Forest

I am in awe of this feather stitched work by Smallest Forest. I really can't remember the last time I saw something so artful and beautiful. Read about her design process on her blog.

She's taking on the TAST, or Take a Stitch Tuesday Challenge, and this February, I will be too! I doubt I'll create anything as amazing as this, but I'm giving it a go for 4 weeks - and I'll be posting my results here each Tuesday in February. Are any of you already doing the TAST challenge? Please leave a link so we can see your work! :)

So long, Farewell, Au revoir, Auf Wiedersehen*

2012-01-25T12:11:00.001-06:00

Well, now. It's my turn to say 'au revoir'.

It's a bit sad of course, but with the combination of &Stitches and my own work at Polka & Bloom, I think I'll have plenty of distractions. No need to get all down about the past - the future awaits! :-)

I have absolutely loved writing for Feeling Stitchy for the past (almost) 4 years and being part of this wonderful community. You have inspired me in more ways than I can possibly count! So thank you very much for being so awesome.

I hope the inspiration has gone both ways and you've been inspired by my posts, whether they've been about geeky, odd, pop culture or colourful things. Or whales! I think this community shows that when you plant the seeds of inspiration, a beautiful garden of creativity will blossom.

And I want to end this last post by encouraging you to do some stitchy graffiti. Seriously. Make the world prettier with stitches. :-)

I hope we'll bump into each other again! Do pop by my blog from time to time if you fancy: Carina's Craftblog.

xoxo, Carina

*To quote The Sound of Music...

Truffle time

2012-01-24T05:16:00.000-06:00

stitched by kunderwood

I can't believe how cute this is. Its cuteness is legendary. And very expertly stitched by Kristi. :)

This truffle is first in a 12 month series of patterns called the Dessert of the Month club. Yes, that means you get to stitch twelve different cuties. Judging from what I see in their store, The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, they're all gonna be pretty dang cute. Eeeeeeeeeep.

Farewell (not goodbye) and congrats!

2012-01-23T18:40:00.001-06:00

Carina's project from the new &Stitches

A little bird (or bunny) may have told you that two of our wonderful bloggers, Carina and Nicole, are setting out to create kind of the most amazing embroidery-related zine, ever. Jo did a review of the awesome publication they’ve put together (&Stitches) just a few days ago - and please don’t think we’re biased because they’re our friends - they’re also amazingly talented people. I thought you should know a little bit more about just how awesome they are...

Carina has been a blogging friend for years now on Feeling Stitchy. I founded this blog in March of 2007, and Carina joined in one year later in 2008. She has produced countless posts and has tirelessly helped moderate comments and photos and contributed so many ideas here. She hosted the July Stitchalong last year, which introduced you all to MimiLove's delightful Tom Gnome. She has her own successful side business - we showed you one of her beautiful patterns during the June stitchalong, and you can find more of her gorgeous patterns on her site Polka and Bloom. She’s also been a featured designer for DMC and has created her own stitching books.

Nicole joined us in 2010 and has contributed many lovely posts on embroidery and stitching - she also helmed the wonderful Covered in Stitches Contest last year - bringing together the talents of so many stitchers for a truly inspiring group of finalists and prizes. Her own lovely side business, Follow the White Bunny, features whimsical embroidery patterns that showcase her kind nature and her talent as an illustrator, quilter, and storyteller. She was also a featured designer in the recent Pretty in Patchwork: Holidays book.

If I have to say that Feeling Stitchy has been about anything at all (aside from embroidery) it has been about the joy of making things and the growth you experience from doing things you love, for free. They generously volunteered their time and effort here, and I know we have all grown thanks to their love and dedication. We wish them the best of luck in their new endeavor. Thank you, Carina and Nicole!!!!

Good times for a change

2012-01-23T04:51:00.001-06:00

I made the cross stitch you see pictured above to mark a special occasion: my last blog post for Feeling Stitchy. The text is a quote from my favourite '80's band the Smiths. Despite feeling sad about leaving this blog, I think this particular quote shows a positive sentiment too.

I surely loved writing for Feeling Stitchy and hopefully you have enjoyed my weekly posts too. Thank you all for reading them (and particularly for enduring my Dutch-English writing) and for taking the time to leave your comments. I hope my posts (and the Covered in Stitches contest) inspired some embroiderers reading this blog to try new things and to broaden their stitchy horizons!

Bye bye! *Waves fanatically* Oh and if you think you are going to miss me, you know what to do...just Follow the White Bunny!
Love and stitches,
Nicole/Follow the White Bunny

P.S. just to be clear, it's only me leaving, Feeling Stitchy is made by a team of bloggers and will continue to exist!

Patterns: Elsa Mora

2012-01-22T11:51:00.003-06:00

(Please excuse the bad light, I finished these today and was so keen to show you guys!)

I was blown away by the detail on these Elsa Mora patterns, which I discovered via Pinterest last year and I knew I had to stitch them. Well, it took me a while, but I am very pleased with the finished effect. You can find the patterns, which are free (thank you Elsa!) on Elsa's blog here. I can thoroughly recommend a good browse of Elsa's blog whilst you're visiting, as she has even more gorgeous art work on there to.

January Stitchalong: covering the backs and hanging

2012-01-21T17:39:00.000-06:00

Hi guys! Welcome to week 3 in the January Stitchalong. The theme of our stitchalong is couching and banners, if you'd like, you can tackle both or either one. :)

I'm doing a Happy New Year banner, using the shapes in the free template I provided. Up above, you see me trying to decide how I want this thing to hang - I decided to suspend "new" using white perle cotton from the letters a, p, and p.

Some of you may be wondering about hiding the backside of your work?

Well, I'm not super-neat but I am a bit prim about that, so I cut felt in contrasting colors to hide the back.

I'll just sandwich the perle cotton between the 2 layers of felt:

To attach them, you can stitch them together with a simple running stitch or blanket stitch.

I opted for the easier route: glue. ;)

I picked it up for cheap at Hobby Lobby. Honestly, its performance is "meh" - it smells super-strong and it's very thick and hard to control, so I'm glad I did a test-run first on some "stunt" felt. :) By the way, let me know if you've had better results with another fabric glue on felt!

I decided the key to it actually sticking is to use lots of glue, but not so much that it seeps through and shows (ew). You can see my previous attempt on the pink side to use small neat dots. That didn't work. :)

I had fun choosing contrasting colors for the backs - so that if they ever flip over, it'll still look cute:

Ok, I'm just gonna admit I went way girly on this one. I think it's because I live in a pink room. It's infecting me! :)

Next step: how to hang your letters. There's a few ways you can do this, including sticking with the ultra-simple mini-clothespins I used above. Maybe even glitter clothespins? :)

Or, you could make ribbon loops, and secure them with stitches to the backs:

I decided to go with felt scraps - to follow along, cut a scrap about this big:

Fold in half:

Secure to the back with stitches, thread some ribbon or yarn through, and it's ready to hang!

So, if you're following along at my speed, we've arrived thus far:

Now, if you're looking at the yellow-orangey felt I used for the letters "new" and wondering to yourself - what was she thinking, you are not alone. :) I'm not 100% sure about that color - at first I thought it was cute and contrasty, but I may change my mind before I'm completely done, next week... :)

Onto your projects! :)

Amy did a banner, but with snowflakes, instead of letters:

I love the way her combinations of floss look like really neat running stitches! :)

Aimee is working on a couched sampler -

I love her combination of variegated yarn and bright green thread!

And finally, I dug up some lovely examples of couching on Flickr, like this beautiful piece by Eleanor:

This stitched piece in progress by Lalania:

And this very delicately stitched labyrinth in progress by fattycrafter:

Amazing stuff, huh? Hope you can join us this week, it's the last week of the January Stitchalong! To join in, add your pics to the embroidery pool and tag them "JanStitchalong.":)

Mary Thomas, continued

2012-01-20T18:38:00.000-06:00

I just received this wonderful email and photographs from Barbara, and with her kind permission, I'm sharing it with you here:

Thought you might be interested in the following.

There was another Mary Thomas book called The Mary Thomas Embroidery Book, first published 1936. I bought my copy (seventh impression 1952) in 1953 from Cheshires in Melbourne, Vic, Australia, for 18/9 (eighteen shillings and nine pence for you young ones).

I taught myself to embroider from this book. First was a couple of very ordinary dinner mats which I no longer have but in 1953 I made a shadow work "throw" from the book. I forget what the correct name for them was but after you set a tea table or supper table in advance you would cover the food with a nice flimsy throwover.

Isn't Barbara's shadow work beautiful?

Thank you so much for sharing this with us, and giving me yet another technique I'd love to try!If any of you have stitched from or own either of the Mary Thomas books, we'd love to see your pics in the embroidery pool! :)

Mary Thomas, chapter 1

2012-01-18T05:04:00.000-06:00

stitched by KittyStitch

I was on the hunt for all things couching for my next January stitchalong post when I found this amazing gem, stitched by KittyStitch. It seems she rendered all the stitches in chapter 1 of Mary Thomas's Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches. I am in awe of her color choices and the lovely precision with which she carried this out. Challenge: can you spot the couching? :)

I was really curious about the book, which I'd never heard of - it seems the original title was published in 1934, and looked like this (I love that sturdy 1930's typography):

photo courtesy of Savage Pink

A bit of googling led me to this helpful review of the book by savage pink and a nice review on Needle n'Thread. It seems the book is back in print and available on Amazon, and the updated photography in the preview looks amazing.

Does anyone own the updated or original versions of this book? I'd love to hear what you think of them! :)

Patterns: &Stitches

2012-01-15T07:47:00.007-06:00

Feeling Stitchy bloggers Carina and Nicole have just launched an exciting new e-zine called &Stitches. A quarterly e-zine, each issue has a theme and for the first issue their theme is colour, so cue lovely, bright embroidery patterns from Nicole, Carina and for this issue, their guest embroidery designer is none other than Corinne from SeptemberHouse, with a brilliant fish design.

As well as three fantastic embroidery patterns (as well Corinne's fish, Nicole has designed a lovely text based Spring pattern and Carina has designed a very cheerful felt applique bird), there are articles on finding colour inspiration from objects around you and colour theory, which I think will be very useful for that all important first step (colour selection) in embroidery projects. There are also interviews, book reviews and a how to for an embroidery stitch that I've certainly never heard of and I'm always up for learning new stitches.

All this and great photography to, I certainly enjoyed reading this issue of &Stitches and will be eagerly looking forward to future issues. If you would like to check out &Stitches, Nicole and Carina are very kindly offering a discount to Feeling Stitchy readers, you can find the &Stitches shop here, just enter the code ORANGE at checkout to get 15% off! This offer is available till Wednesday 18th January (CET).

Because bears have thoughts too...

2012-01-13T05:15:00.000-06:00

Naturally bears don't use words to express their thoughts, but their thoughts might just take the shape of a dark cloud... I am absolutely smitten with Cate Anevski's new pattern set called 'Animal Expressions'. The set includes seven animals, with all kinds of thoughts. You can purchase both the patterns and the finished art work in Cate's shop.

Patterns: Choose Your Own Rebellion

2012-01-08T04:06:00.003-06:00

Radical Cross Stitch stitched by Nicole from Follow the White Bunny, pattern by Radical Cross Stitch

Fellow Feeling Stitchy blogger Nicole has been getting really into cross stitch recently and I love this piece she's stitched up from Radical Cross Stitch. I definitely recommend checking out Radical Cross Stitch's other cool patterns to.

Doilies, not just for crocheters

2012-01-07T06:15:00.002-06:00

faux doily nearly done, originally uploaded by Smallest Forest.

I love this piece by Smallest Forest. Absolutely beautiful.

The combination of stitches is just right and it's just so very doily-ish!

Read more about it on the Smallest Forest blog. :-)

January Stitchalong: Couching 101

2012-01-06T20:33:00.002-06:00

Last week I started off the January stitchalong and I promised you some details of my first attempt at couching. So, without further ado, here we go!

step 1: trace your letter onto paper, cut out, and place on your felt

step 2: loop your yarn to form the first part of your "h"

I chose a chunky weight yarn, but experiment with whatever yarn you have on hand. Every yarn has a different "drape" so try a few and see what you like!

step 3: add a few stitches to keep your yarn in place, and trim (I made my "h" with 2 pieces of yarn)

step 4: lay down the second piece of yarn, add a few stitches to keep it in place, and trim

step 5: use sharp scissors to clip into the paper carefully (without clipping your yarn!) :)

step 6: tug the paper out very carefully

This is the trickiest step - don't panic if your stitches come loose - just have your needle ready to re-stitch as necessary.

step 7: briefly admire your work :)

I'm not kidding! It looks pretty nice so far, eh? :) I kind of liked it as is, but I added more stitches just in case...

step 8: add remaining stitches

Stitch as much or as little as you like. Also, experiment with thread color vs. yarn color - I chose a combo that would show up nice and contrast-y for these pics. :) My advice in terms of color (since I am usually stumped) is keep it simple - I used three shades of felt I had on hand and 1 shade of floss.

One down, 4 to go! :)

For all of you who are just now tuning in - welcome to the January Stitchalong! Last week I shared a free template with you that has a nice script alphabet, two template shapes, and ideas for a banner layout:

From your comments, you guys are interested in a range of things, so feel free to experiment with couching, use the banner templates, use just the alphabet, or whatever you like!

To join in, just add your photo to the embroidery group and tag it "JanStitchalong"!

Some of you joined in right away - I love tamaratamara's elegant take on this stitchalong!

Troublet42 made a detailed Valentine with her couching:

And one of you already has a banner ready to go! Bravo, kghawkes, for your first try at couching!!!

So, what do you say? I think we need to see some more stitching! :) I'll be back soon with more updates!!!

365 Lucky Days

2012-01-06T04:03:00.000-06:00

The Artist herself: a young Lucky

Last September Lucky Jackson started a remarkable project called 365 Lucky Days. For one year she creates a new work of stitched art, each day. Within the 365 days Lucky does 'mini-series', pieces connected by a theme from portraits of family members to mug shots of celebrities to new years resolutions. My favourite might just be the 'I think I love you but I'm only a preteen and my mum says it just hormones' week. Lucky just past the '100 days of Stitching' mark so it's about time we got to know the talented lady behind the challenge a bit better!

Steve McQueen. Notice the 'jail suit' stripes in the background.

Who is Lucky Jackson?
Hmmm. I'm a mother of two gorgeous girls (4 and 6) and wife of the world's greatest husband. I am a self taught artist that loves everything vintage. I am an extremely optimistic person. I like to think I am a pretty funny gal (the jury is out on if I actually am)

Where do you find inspiration?
I have always been a bit of a recluse and have found company in books, music, movies and visual arts. I am a culture vulture. I think that is where I draw a lot of my inspiration from. I also collect a lot of vintage dresses, boots, cameras...and of course fabric. These items inspire me daily. I just kind of look around at the things I have and the things I have seen and the stories I have heard. I like to think my art is a combination of the two.

Bombshell: Marilyn Monroe

Any specific artist(s) that influence your work?
I love, graphic novelist Adrian Tomine. Luke Haynes blows me away with every new quilt he does. And I love the work of Children's book illustrator Oliver Jeffers. We collect all his books and the girls are always having to retrieve his books from my studio.

What inspired you to make a stitched work of art every day?
I keep journals of all my ideas and I kept thinking..when are you going to make them? You can spend a few hours surfing the web or you can make something.

Blog crush: Erin of www.calivintage.com

You use some awesome fabrics in your pieces, where do you find them?
Value Village, Vinnie's (local thrift shop) my friend My Girl Thursday just gave me a huge bag of the most fabulous fabrics ever! People know what I do and there has been bags of fabric left on my door step with kind notes of encouragement. I live in the best town (Peterborough, Ontario) ever!

Richie Tenenbaum

In your 365 days project you work with different 'themes', do you have enough ideas to last you until day 365?
I have lots of ideas. What I need is more time! (ed. luckily 2012 is a leap your so this just might turn into a 366 days project!)

Family portraits

What is your personal favourite of all the pieces you made so far?
I like the portraits I did of my family. Ben and I as kids and my kids dressed up like super heroes.

What good has the project brought you so far?
I am so grateful for the press the project has received. People are so super supportive and encouraging. It blows me away. The most surprising thing about the project is how happy it makes me! I really love making something new every day.

********************************************************************************

You can follow Lucky's progress on her 365 Lucky days blog. Some of her 365 days artwork is available in her shop.

Patterns: Jacobean Leaves

2012-01-01T04:11:00.004-06:00

Jacobean Leaves cushion by Kel Fletcher

Ooh I love it when pattern designers I haven't noticed before post to the Embroidery Flickr pool, so it was a real treat when I checked in this morning to find this beauty. Jacobean Leaves cushion by Kelly Fletcher is a Jacobean crewel work pattern, the pattern also includes instructions on how to make the piece up into a cushion. I love crewel work patterns and there aren't that many out there, so it's a pleasure to discover a new source. You can find the pattern here, also check out Kelly Fletcher's other beautiful patterns, I particularly like the Celtic Leaves pattern. Kelly Fletcher's patterns range from beginner to advanced (Jacobean Leaves is listed as intermediate) and include crewel work, applique and beading. Some of the pieces are intended for framing but as with Jacobean Leaves, those that are intended to be made into something, Kelly gives instructions on how to make the item to.

Kelly also publishes a quarterly hand embroidery digital magazine featuring what look like lovely embroidery patterns, you can find further details about the magazine, called The Stitch and Thimble, here.

January Stitchalong!

2011-12-31T16:34:00.000-06:00

Hey guys! It's floresita here, with the last post of the year and our first stitchalong of next year! I was up at the crack of dawn a few days ago, couldn't sleep, and instead started to brainstorm a felt banner idea for the new year. I was thinking of new year's resolutions, and mine just happened to be - try something new every month. What haven't I tried yet? Couching!

Using my own cursive, some yarn, and embroidery floss, I decided to give couching a try for the first time. If you, like me, have never tried couching before, this is a perfect simple project to try it out with!

Here's a nice video tutorial by Mary Corbet on couching:http://www.needlenthread.com/2006/10/couching-video-tutorial.html

And here's a very nicely photographed tutorial by Sarah Whittle:http://sarahwhittle.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-to-couch.html

If you'd like to join in this stitchalong, everything you need is pictured up above - a pen or pencil, scissors, pinking shears (if you want a decorative edge on your felt), embroidery floss, yarn, and felt.

I made a pattern file with the template pieces and a nice cursive alphabet called Handsome (if you don't trust your own handwriting). :) Get the free pattern.

Your finished banner can be a new year's banner, or maybe a Happy Birthday banner - with the letters in the pattern file, it can say anything you want. All you need to do to join in is add your picture to the embroidery pool and tag it "JanStitchalong"!

You don't have to wait until you're finished - we love seeing in-progress projects (check out my progress, below)

I'll be back to check in later this week with my progress and a walkthrough of my first try at couching. In the meantime, why don't you line up some colors and materials, feel free to ask any questions here, and let's get stitching! Although, depending on how many spots I hit this evening I may not get to your questions right away tomorrow... ;) Hope you guys have a great time tonight and have lots of fun with this! :)

Too wit to woo

2011-12-30T13:02:00.000-06:00

I think my stitchy resolution for 2012 might be 'stitch something neat on a doily'. I just love this 'Too wit to woo' piece by Kate Elisabeth Rolison (aka Poesie Grenadine). Kate stitches modern poetry on vintage linens. Read more about it on her blog.

Do you have any 'stitchy' resolutions for the new year? Are you finally going to try and master the French Knot maybe? Or participate in an embroidery contest? Embroider more (and spend less time at the computer)? Leave your resolution here in the comments, post your photos in the Embroidery Pool with #NYR2012 and maybe you will be featured on Feeling Stitchy!

Wishing everyone a safe and happy New Year!

Patterns: Some Favourites of 2011

2011-12-25T14:47:00.002-06:00

From left to right, top to bottom

1. Coming Home from Studio MME

2. On Parade Embroidery from Sarah Jane,

3. Crafting Shelves from This Tiny Existence,

4. Spring Cross Stitch from The Floss Box,

5. Winding Wool (5) from June at Noon

6. embroidered button display hoop adapted by doe-c-doe from an original design by Haylie Waring

2011 has been a fantastic year for embroidery patterns and here are but a few of the fantastic patterns that have appeared. Here's looking forward to a fantastic stitching year in 2012!

Happy Holidays from everyone at Feeling Stitchy!

You Better Not Pout, You Better Not Cry

2011-12-24T09:47:00.000-06:00

It might be a little to late to get on Santa's nice list, but everyone is a good boy or girl according to Panta. Over on Craftster, Limeriot stitched up a cute Panta for the holidays. I love the candy cane bamboo. Her piece was the featured project for December and it is fab! Happy Holidays!

What do you do when you're upset?

2011-12-23T05:02:00.004-06:00

Stitched by Pam

Pam stitches. And I think you and me do the same thing, too. Just a little Christmas stitching to remind you that the things you make, even in the toughest times for you, can inspire other people with a little holiday cheer. So stop worrying about who you have and haven't shopped for, and maybe just take a moment to stitch something. I think you'll feel better. :)

p.s. - The cross stitch pattern Pam used comes from CrossStitcher magazine, issue 245.

If you can't find a copy where you are, it looks like digital issues are available for purchase on Zinio.

Free stitchable gift tags from Miniature Rhino

2011-12-22T05:45:00.003-06:00

Doing some wrapping today? Here's some sweet gift tags from Jessica of Miniature Rhino. It's a perfect way to personalize a gift in just a few stitches. Get the pattern!

Cute ice skater embroidery tutorial

2011-12-19T04:30:00.002-06:00

Milla and Snowman by revoluzzza

Check out this adorable tutorial for a patchwork table runner with embroidery by Revoluzzza! The tutorial is in German, but just about any browser these days has a "translate" button (I use Google Chrome). If you're not feeling patchwork-y, the circular shape of the pattern is perfect to frame in a hoop, and voila, you're done. Last minute Christmas present or decoration! :) Go to the tutorial!

p.s. Am I the only one that thinks it's super sweet that snowman is "schneemann" in German? ;)

Patterns: Dala Horse

2011-12-18T01:42:00.005-06:00

Embroidery by Pangaloon

Pangaloon has been busy making Christmas presents, one of them being the Dala Horse by Feeling Stitchy's very own Carina. Pangaloon found the pattern in this month's issue of Mollie Makes but you can also find it in Carina's store here.

'Tis the season...

2011-12-16T12:57:00.001-06:00

1. The Mouse King Ornament, 2. hexagon christmas ornament tutorial, 3. Trio of felt portraits, 4. Tiny Snowman Ornament

...to be stitching cute Christmas ornaments! Emily has made a lovely series of patterns inspired by the Nutcracker. You can find a tutorial for Nova's Hexagon ornaments on her blog. The sweet trio is stitched by Lisa from a book called Fa la la la Felt. And I don't know much about this tiny cross stitched snowman made by thehomebird except that I think he's extremely cute..

Happy Christmas Stitching everyone!

December Stitch Along

2011-12-15T17:23:00.001-06:00

What a brilliant idea from Jodycourt! I love the use of burlap and ribbon on these adorable ornaments.These are for her granddaughters and I just know they will love them.

Have you started your December Stitch Along yet?

Patterns: Ed Hardy's Love Kills Slowly (plus a Christmas pattern link)

2011-12-11T01:43:00.004-06:00

Ed Hardy's Gambling Man - stitched by Rachael Lazenby

I am in even more awe than usual of this above piece, which is the Gambling Man from Ed Hardy's cross stitch book Love Kills Slowly and is stitched so ably by Rachael Lazenby, because I also have this book and have been about half way through one of the butterfly patterns in it for about a year and have been failing miserably at it. It's lovely to see a finished piece from it.

Love Kills Slowly is not a beginner's cross stitch book, the patterns are quite complex and no matter what size the pattern is, each pattern is printed on on only one page of the book, so if it's a large pattern be prepared to squint. This is also not helped by the patterns being in black and white and some of the colour symbols are minuscule.

However, if you're prepared to grit your teeth a bit with the pattern pages, this book is a great source of some unusual patterns. If you're familiar with Ed Hardy's work you'll know what I'm talking about but if not be prepared for lots of tattoo inspired cross stitch, with lots of skulls, roses, daggers and butterflies. Love Kills Slowly would be a good book to find patterns to stitch for the teenager in your life (or for someone unhappy in love and wants to celebrate the fact in cross stitch!).

Not completely forgetting Christmas here, there's still time to stitch something, so for those looking for some Christmas pattern inspiration may I recommend this excellent guest post with a tutorial by Wendi Gratz and free embroidery patterns by Joel Henriques, on one of my favourite (normally non-embroidery but still crafty) blogs, Made By Joel.

Cuckoo clock

2011-12-07T23:43:00.001-06:00

Free ornament pattern by Mollie Johanson

How wonderful is this sweet little cuckoo clock ornament? Mollie is posting wonderful free Christmas ornament projects on her blog this month - they're quick, easy, and her tutorials are super detailed and a joy to look at.

Here are some more:

These are all great options if you want to do some holiday stitching but don't have a ton of time or materials. They'd also be great projects to teach some beginners in your family...

December Stitch Along

2011-12-07T12:12:00.001-06:00

I can't believe December is already here and the holidays are coming up fast. I'm not ready! This month's stitch along is all about ornaments. I love homemade ornaments and stitchy ones are even better. I am a sucker for the vintage holiday images and between Floresita and myself, we have managed to compile a few of our favorite vintage images for the stitch along. The great thing about these images is that you don't have to use them just to decorate for the holidays, you can leave them up all year long to remind you of that special time of year.

Don't forget to post your progress in the embroidery group on flickr and label it December Stitch Along.

Feeling Artistic?

2011-12-05T17:51:00.003-06:00

Thank you AlwaysInspired

Have you just been dying to take the next step and put a piece of your awesome stitching into a show? The wonderful and talented lady over Schindermania is curating a show the summer entitled Home is Where the Needle Marks. You can find out all the details over at her website. Don't be shy, get to stitching and enter an amazing stitchy piece!

Patterns: Cute

2011-12-04T02:55:00.006-06:00

Cute - tagged baby blanket by Stitchalicious

Any little person under this baby blanket is going to be one seriously funky little person. This was stitched up by Stitchalicious aka Jacinta Lodge, you can read more about it on her blog or find the cross stitch pattern in her Etsy shop here.

Stitch your own handwriting

2011-12-02T10:15:00.000-06:00

Have you ever tried to stitch your own hand writing? Seems to me it's the perfect way to add a personal touch to your piece. Dana of Water Penny has a tutorial on her blog on how to transfer your handwriting to fabric.

And if you are a fan of stitched lettering, quotes, alphabet samplers etc. be sure to check out my Stitched Lettering group on Flickr!

Patterns: Whistle While You Work

2011-11-27T01:18:00.004-06:00

WIP stitched by Pooka Loves Tomatoes

This week's pattern is from the September 2011 issue of the CrossStitcher magazine. The CrossStitcher magazine is one of my favourite crafty magazines and I'd love to have the time to stitch up all their amazing designs. Pooka writes that this work-in-progress (which is for her Nana for Christmas - lucky Nana!) has taken more than 40 hours, wow!

You can find the CrossStitcher in newsagents in the UK or in online magazine places like Zinio, the latter being a great place for finding back issues or if you live outside the UK.

Covered in Stitches Winners!!!

2011-11-23T14:32:00.000-06:00

We had lots and lots of votes in the past week for the Covered in Stitches nominees! Without further ado I would like to announce the winners.

With 18.9 % of the votes The Invisible Mountain by SpidersPaw wins the first prize.You will receive the current set of Penguin Threads classics offered by Penguin Books, a Party Fox Crewel Kit from Takofibers, a Matroushka floss organizer from Girl on the Rocks and a $15 voucher from Cate Anevski's shop.

Contes des Mille et Une Nuits by Coeurdefreesia is runner up with 17.4 % of the votes. You will receive one book of your choice from the Penguin Threads classics, an owl floss organizer from Girl on the Rocks, a $15 voucher from Shiny Happy World and a $10 voucher from Cate Anevski's shop.

The third place goes to Lisa Leggett with her piece Wynken, Blynken and Nod. Her piece won 14.4% of the votes.You will receive one book of your choice from the Penguin Threads classics, an owl floss organizer from Girl on the Rocks and a $10 voucher from Shiny Happy World.

Congratulations to all the winners! Please send me an email at followthewhitebunny AT e-tropolis DOT nl with your full name, home address and email address.

Many thanks to the sponsors who made it possible for us to treat the winners to some wonderful prizes. Please check out their shops and products. Thank you Feeling Stitchy readers for casting your vote for your favourite piece. And last but not least: thank you contestants.Your work made this a FABULOUS contest!

Fire place sampler

2011-11-23T13:03:00.000-06:00

A Night In by Pin Pals

Now, this is my kind of cross stitch sampler! Love everything about it, the little scene, the colours.

And is it just me or is there something Matisse-esque to this?

Patterns: Nativity Set

2011-11-20T01:47:00.004-06:00

Donkey by Rebecca Rendon

Now of course there are a lot of nativity embroidery patterns around at this time of year but I think my jaw dropped just a little at the sheer scale of Rebecca Rendon's nativity set from her new Etsy shop WholeLifeLovely. Consisting of 24 nativity pieces, both front and back, the lovely donkey above is but an example. Check out Rebecca's blog Beauty All Around for a tutorial on how to turn the embroideries into little stand up pieces.

Have you voted yet?

2011-11-19T11:31:00.001-06:00

Don't get me wrong, we've had a lot of votes! Like A LOT a lot of votes, but I'm just curious if you have voted. All the entries are amazing and it's so hard to decide on just one!

I thought I'd share one last look at the Top 10, as we move into the last few days of voting...

Superman by Huzzah and Fancy Pants - detail

Can you believe this is their first embroidery project - wow!

Still Life With Woodpecker by cappywanna - detail

Wonderfully stitched and a hilarious novel, too. :)

French Revolutions by the Stitchsmith - detail

Intricate stitching - I can only imagine the hours that went into this piece!

The Great Gatsby by broderies de Cecile - detail

Vibrant blue fabric with letters and details stitched so carefully they look painted!

The Adventures of Tintin by wendalene - detail

Lots of bright chain stitch creatively accented with watercolor and color pencil.

Dune by funkembroidery - detail

Metallic thread, dense stitches, intricately layered strips of fabric. And - she hand-dyed the muslin... with spices.

Wynken, Blynken & Nod by Lisa Leggett - detail

A whimsical, colorful piece with many different stitches, color tinting and applique sail.

No.1 Ladies Detective Agency by Embellisher - detail

Layers of fabrics, dense piles of colored stitches and - the croc is made of French knots, people.

The Invisible Mountain by SpidersPaw - detail

A fascinating piece, painstakingly stitched, filled with movement and color.

Contes des Mille et Une Nuits by coeurdefreesia - detail

Applique, sequins, beads, and many, many different stitches.

Yeah, try picking one of those. Sheesh this was hard! :) Still haven't voted? Vote here!

Who did you vote for, and why? Come on, you can tell us - who is your fave? :)

Bushy Tail

2011-11-18T06:14:00.002-06:00

Admit it, you too want to touch that squirrel's bushy tail! Gorgeous stumpwork by Emily (aka Flossbox). She writes about the project here.

So when I think of stumpwork (which is essentially raised embroidery) I tend to think it's all beetles, flowers and forest critters. Nothing wrong with that of course (see our little bushy tailed friend above) but I was surprised to find a few very modern examples in our Embroidery Group as well. Like this Skeleton Fire-Banner by Childrenplayingwithfire and this Green Man by Rebbeca Ray. And let's not forget the KISS piece by Drop Dead Quirky! These pieces certainly make me want to attempt to create a stumpwork piece too!

Covered in Stitches Contest: vote for your favourite!

2011-11-15T09:43:00.212-06:00

The Feeling Stitchy team had the incredibly hard task to select 10 embroideries entered for the Covered in Stitches Contest, for the public vote. Yes, it's now up to you, dear Feeling Stitchy readers, to choose your favourite Embroidered Book Cover!

Please click here to vote until the 22nd of November 12 pm CST. Please vote only once. Any duplicate entries will be disqualified.

But let's first meet the nominees (in no particular order) and find out what the judges had to say about the pieces in their reports!

The Great Gatsby by Broderies de Cecile "Love the eyes and lettering, so clean"

Superman by Huzzah and Fancy Pants "The lettering is perfect! Love the satin stitch"

Wynken, Blynken & Nod by Lisa Leggett "Brilliant stitching, shading and applique, you can feel the movement in this, it's got everything."

The Adventures of Tin Tin by Wendalene "I had to look closely at this one to see if it wasn't some kind of printed on fabric it looks that accurate, but nope, all stitching and shading, fantastic."

Dune by Funkembroidery "Muslin hand-dyed with kitchen spices? How awesome is that!"

Still Life with Woodpecker by Cappywanna "Brilliant choice of book cover, perfectly executed."

The Invisible Mountain by SpidersPaw "The creative use of fill stitching on this piece is mind blowing."

No.1 Ladies Detective Agency by Embellisher "Fantastic recreation of the cover, yet with the stitching it somehow manages to look even better than the original, I love how textured it looks"

French Revolutions by the Stitchsmith "I like the different stitches used. Especially the little 'airflow' details on some of the letters."

Conte des Mille et Une Nuits by Coeurdefreesia "The face and the colors are wonderful, love the metallics"

Again, we were quite overwhelmed by the many great entries for this contest. We loved that many of you used techniques like fabric dying, tinting and appliqué to create the finished book cover. Another highlight was the crazy amount of fill stitching on many of the embroidered book covers! It was also lovely to see a couple of first time embroiderers among the contestants (and even making the final 10!).

Now go on, vote for your favourite!

It's the eyes

2011-11-14T10:42:00.003-06:00

Totoro Cross Stitch, originally uploaded by Aleximo.

At least I think it's the eyes that makes this so super cute!

It's a character called Totoro from Japanese anime film My Neighbour Totoro.

Patterns: ~glenda's Christmas stitching

2011-11-13T02:33:00.005-06:00

Dachshund with gift - free pattern by Orange You Lucky

Ninjabread man - pattern by Urban Threads

Holiday Penguin - free pattern by Badbird

Singing girl with bird (I unfortunately can't find the link to this pattern)

Dachshund with Christmas antlers - free pattern by Orange You Lucky

~glenda has stitched up these beautiful ornaments up as part of the Bastrop (Texas) Wildfire relief effort, replacing Christmas decorations for those that lost their homes in the fire this summer. Click on the links above to take you to bigger versions of the embroideries or to go to the pattern source. Go here for a great photo tutorial on how ~glenda made the embroideries into ornaments.

Charley Harper Water Drop Quilt

2011-11-11T08:43:00.005-06:00

This is a quilt in progress but it's already so incredibly wonderful that I just had to share it with you! Of the 33 organisms in Charley Harper's original illustration Martha (a k a Q is for Quilter) has appliqued and stitched 17 so far. Isn't the background fabric just perfect for this Water Drop project? Love the combination of applique and stitching too. Inspiring stuff! Read all about it on Martha's blog.

Covered in Stitches Contest update

2011-11-08T07:05:00.003-06:00

WOW! We are absolutely delighted by your submissions to our Covered in Stitches contest. Many contestants have clearly put a lot of thought, time and effort into their embroideries. And to learn that there is so much talent among our readers, is quite humbling.

In total there were 45 embroideries entered by 42 contestants (if I counted correctly). Some books appear several times (Anne of Green Gables was a popular one) but on the whole there was a large variety in the book covers that were chosen. From Science Fiction to children's books and from cook book to comic books. According to the descriptions of the pieces entered for this contest, quite a few embroiderers have expanded their stitchy horizon to complete their work. Either by the scale of the project or by trying out new stitches or techniques. There were even a few contestants who made their very first embroidery for this contest!

Early next week a shortlist of candidates (as chosen by six members of the Feeling Stitchy team) will be presented on this blog. After that Feeling Stitchy readers can vote for their favourite Embroidered Book Cover!

Patterns: Studio M.M.E Illustrations

2011-11-06T01:11:00.000-05:00

Embroidery patterns and stitching by Studio M.M.E

I was browsing the embroidery patterns on Etsy, which is a bit of a hobby of mine, and to be honest I normally recognise most of the patterns on there or at least the designer, so it's a rare treat for me to see something new and to be totally blown away by it. And I was totally blown away by the embroidery patterns of Studio M.M.E Illustrations, an Etsy store that principally sells some absolutely beautiful prints. Luckily for us embroiderers, Megan from Studio M.M.E has now also converted some of her illustrations into embroidery patterns. Billed as embroidery patterns for experienced sewers, I think it's great to have patterns available that are a little more of a challenge. However Megan herself taught herself to embroider over 2 months in order to create these patterns, so I think they're probably actually doable by most embroiderers, that extra effort would be worth it to have such a fantastic final piece. So I definitely recommend checking out the link above so that you can read more of the story behind each piece.

More Embroidered Book Covers to look forward to...

2011-11-04T03:40:00.000-05:00

Penguin has done it again! After the awesome Jillian Tamaki embroidered book cover designs for the the Penguin de Luxe Editions of Emma, Black Beauty and the Secret Garden (now all available!) there are three more 'Penguin Thread' titles to look forward to! Rachell Sumpter has stitched some fantastic cover designs for Wind in the Willows, The Wizard of Oz and Little Women. The designs are wonderful but equally important: embroidery gives these cover illustrations warmth, and really makes them come alive.

If you want to know a little bit more about the design process of the first three 'Penguin Threads' books check out this short interview with Penguin Art Director Paul Buckley and Jillian Tamaki.

This Monday our 'Covered in Stitches' contest comes to an end so if you are playing along please remember to post your photos in our Flickr Group in time. As you may recall one of the grand prizes is the full set of the first three 'Penguin Threads' books! If you are not submitting an embroidery, have a look in the group anyway. I"m so very impressed with all the submissions so far!

Día de los Muertos

2011-11-01T22:49:00.002-05:00

I love Día de los Muertos. It is a wonderful celebration honoring those who have passed on. Phizzychick stitched this amazing Day of the Dead teacup and saucer. I love the rustic feel to it and I think it would be a great addition to my alter. You can check out her other greatness on Craftster and in her shop.

Patterns: Petting Zoo

2011-10-30T06:07:00.002-05:00

Petting Zoo stitched by cscrabeck, pattern by Cathy Gaubert

How cute are this threesome? I love this embroidery by cscrabeck and I also love the pattern itself which is by Cathy Gaubert. As of typing this pattern is not in Cathy's shop, but hopefully it'll be back in there soon. I think it would be a great pattern on a girlie pencil case or bag.

Home Invasion! Free pattern pdf

2011-10-28T06:27:00.001-05:00

Wanna stitch a home invasion this weekend? The awesome peeps at Arsenal Pulp Press are giving Feeling Stitchy readers a sneak peek of Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery with this creepy cool bug and insect project. There's flies, roaches and spiders to cover every creepy crawly base...

This awesomely creepy arachnid would look great creeping over a pillow or camping out on an apron:

Or you could really freak people out by stitching it on an elegant vintage doily, as the project author, Sarah Terry suggests:

Want the creepy free patterns? Here you go!

Want to learn more about Hoopla? We're super proud that 3 of our Feeling Stitchy contributors - Penny, Jo, and Jenny Hart all took part in this book. And you know, maybe we have a bit of a giveaway cooking... just maybe. Guess you better stay tuned! :)

Fall Flower

2011-10-28T05:28:00.000-05:00

I know we have already featured some Fall themed embroideries in the past couple of weeks but I really wanted to show you all this fabulous flower stitched by charm.mama. The colours are so vibrant and well...autumnal. And the fill stitching (notice the different stitches she used?) is just lovely. Read more about this project here.

Are you still in 'Fall' mode with your stitching or already stitching up winter themed patterns?

State Flower Quilt by Vicki Haninger

2011-10-24T09:23:00.000-05:00

Today I'm excited to tell you about a wonderful embroidery and quilt project by Vicki from the Turkey Feathers blog. I just know you're going to love this! Over a period of many months she embroidered every single (US) state flower and then she turned them into a quilt. It's beautiful and inspiring!

You should check out Vicki's blog, Turkey Feathers. And her shop, PatternBee! PatternBee is a wonderful resource for vintage embroidery patterns which Vicki restores and sells both as PDF and iron-on patterns.
She is also an author of two books: Embroidery Craft: Stitching Through the Seasons and Blanket Statement.

I asked Vicki a few questions about the project and here's what she had to say. You can also read more about it on her blog. Thank you, Vicki!

(All images with kind permission of Vicki)

Tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Vicki Haninger, and I live in the beautiful Willamette Valley here in Oregon with my husband and two youngest daughters and various adorable critters, including some that run wild through my backyard on a daily basis!

When did you start stitching?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been sewing and stitching. Like most stitchers, the biggest influences I had growing up, came from the women in my family who always seemed to have a project of some kind in their hands, mostly out of necessity. But there was also much joy in the making. I found this out early when at the age of five, I was handed a needle and thread and completed my first embroidery of a tiny cross-stitch chick. It was a defining moment for me I guess, because I can still remember the thrill of that simple task (over fifty years ago now, ahem!), and then, to realize where it’s led in terms of what I am doing today.

What inspired you to start the State Flower Quilt?
The State Flower Quilt Project was the result of a basic pattern restoration. (That’s primarily what PatternBee offers, in an attempt to keep the old vintage patterns, which are under public domain, available so that others can access and use them more easily.) Sometimes an old pattern has little things about it that could be made better though and this was the case with the state flower patterns.

So I tweaked the typography, changed the awkward shortened state names to two letter abbreviations, and made slight changes to the flower blocks themselves. Then I began stitching them, one by one, and sharing them on my blog as free pattern downloads. The finished blocks and free patterns can also be found on the Turkey Feathers Flickr page, and the pattern is also available from the PatternBee website as a PDF and as an Iron-On Transfer.

How long did it take to finish the quilt?

My State Flower Quilt was completed in about 18 months, but I didn’t work on it every day or very fast, so that’s maybe an average timeframe for a quilt like this. The flower blocks are easily done though, with just a few basic stitches, and being small they are travel-friendly; a nice size to stow in your bag and take with you to pass the time while you wait somewhere. So the fact that there are fifty of them shouldn’t be too daunting! But if it is, you can always just omit the lettering and use the flowers individually for other projects.

Patterns: Nutcracker Sweets

2011-10-23T02:18:00.003-05:00

Nutcracker Sweets by Wild Olive

Ok, yes, I know we haven't even passed Halloween yet but this pattern by Wild Olive was too cute not to mention. As of blogging, this pattern is currently not in Wild Olive's shop because *ahem*, I just bought the last copy, but I'm sure it'll be back in soon, so it's definitely worth checking out because it's Christmas-y but not too Christmas-y if you know what I mean. I'm sure there are lots of households (like mine) with little dancers in, who would love a spot of Nutcracker any time of the year! As well as Clara, the pattern sheet also features the Nutcracker himself, a Christmas tree and a Grandfather clock, amongst other things.

Truly truly truly outrageous

2011-10-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

Stitched by moxiedoll77

My twin girls recently started watching reruns of the the mid-1980's cartoon classic Jem on one of our cable channels, so it's through new eyes that I see this totally rad (and truly outrageous) portrait of the young, misunderstood artist herself.

Don't know who Jem is? Whoa, you are in for a treat. Check out the Wikipedia page and you'll have a leg up on your competitors at the next 80's trivia night.

And for those who do know about the awesomeness that is Jem: go ahead, I dare you to get the song out of your head for the rest of the day.

As for me, I was always partial to the Misfits -- especially their Brit-punk-glam sax player.

Pirate Sampler

2011-10-21T02:04:00.000-05:00

Do you recognize this Stitchin' Octopus? It is Feeling Stitchy's March stitch along Pattern! Robyn Enz has turned it into a cross stitch pattern. See how delicately our Octopus, wonderfully stitched in several shades of grey, has cross stitched some initials and the year it was made?

The Octopus, or rather Kraken, is part of an absolutely stunning and gorgeous Pirate sampler that Robyn has put together from different pattern sources, old and new.

Apparently these 'pirates' originally were a bunch of patriots on a 4th of July pattern. Obviously the 4th of July pattern didn't include swords, hooks and mugs...The whole sampler has these little additions and alterations to fit the Pirate Theme. I particularly love the seagulls with chips in their beaks. Do check out Robyn's photostream for more photos and descriptions of all the clever details.

P.s. Submissions to our Covered in Stitches contest are accepted until November 7th, don't forget to post yours in the Flickr Group!

Vintage Illustration - Creepy or Cute?

2011-10-19T14:16:00.003-05:00

illustration by G. C. Williams

Thumbing through an old needlework magazine from 1906, this illustration definitely jumped out at me. I love images and illustrations of people working in embroidery, but, isn't the Victorian, Gibson-girl-esque woman's head on the cherub's body a bit strange? What do you think? Creepy or cute?

I'm saying creepy and posting it because Halloween is coming! Maybe she'll become the flying monkey of the embroidery world...(not responsible for ensuing nightmares).

With kind apologies to G.C. Williams, rip.

PUSH Contest Winners

2011-10-17T22:39:00.002-05:00

Priest stitched by David Hill

Penny Nickels just announced the winners in the PUSH Stitchery Contest on her blog and I have to say I'm pretty blown away by the submissions - you're looking at the 2 winners of the contest, David Hill and Lord Libidan. Penny commented on the beautiful, painterly Van Gogh lines in this piece, and I have to agree with her - I'm in awe of David's skills. Truly painting with thread here.

Transformer stitched by Lord Libidan

Yeah, your eyes do not fool you - that is a fully transforming Transformer, stitched painstakingly on plastic canvas. Seriously, think of the architecture that went into that piece.

But every bit as amazing are the 2 runner-ups:

Tattoo sleeve stitched by Di Ellis

Hair stitched by Stefanie M.

Penny is featuring essays by the stitchers on their work on her blog - go on over there and check it out.

Thanks, Penny, for hosting such an awesome contest - be sure to check out PUSH Stitchery the next time you're in a bookstore - it looks like MrXStitch and amazing contributors like Penny have made an awesome book that will not disappoint!

Patterns: Breast Cancer Charity Patterns

2011-10-16T01:33:00.004-05:00

Pink ribbon - pattern by Emily Peacock for Breast Cancer Care and Cross Stitcher (stitched by me)

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and I've found two great Breast Cancer awareness patterns where the proceeds go straight to charity. The first is a pink ribbon cross stitch pattern designed by Emily Peacock for Cross Stitcher magazine. You can download the pattern for a donation here. All proceeds go to the charity Breast Cancer Care.

Breast Cancer Fundraiser Embroidery Pattern by Happy Sew Lucky, stitched by Krista Hennebury

All proceeds from this pattern by Berene from Happy Sew Lucky, go to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. You can read about the story behind the pattern here on Happy Sew Lucky's blog, definitely worth a read for some moving art work from Berene's mum, Rosemary Sellars.

September Stitch-along | The wrap-up!

2011-10-15T07:00:00.004-05:00

With only a little over two weeks left before the big, spooky day, we wanted to wrap up our September stitch-along by showcasing some of the amazing finished products that can be found in our Flickr group. We hope that everyone stitching along enjoyed this fun Halloween project, and that everyone who didn't get a chance to embroider their own pieces were still able to draw some Halloween inspiration from our posts.

(Don't forget: you can still find the pattern in our kick-off post!)

First up, the finished piece by the pattern artist herself, Cathy Gaubert! A felt ghost? Black & white stripey tights on the cat? The cuteness is almost too much to bear!

We're loving this little mini quilt by Flickr user suesueb, who machine quilted a little label right on the front of the piece!

Here's another beautiful little mini quilt made by Marianne Penner (~maripen on Flickr). See the second picture for more detail of Marianne's awesome quilting.

The pattern looks fantastic framed in an oval hoop, as shown here in a piece stitched by Jana (megmormel on Flickr):

This finished piece is all hooped up and ready to be hung for the holidays, made by LindsayPindsay:

This embroidery on black fabric is especially effective. It almost looks like it's glowing! (by letscallitlove):

The only thing better for a Halloween stitchery than black fabric is orange fabric! Check out this mini quilt by simonedk:

Highlights of this next piece by Kristin (Sew Technicolor) include her use of metallic silver floss for the ghost and the inclusion of candy corn in place of the skulls on top of the posts:

And finally, here's a great finish by Melanie Jane (mj ...), including a super rad green cat:

We hope you enjoyed our September stitch-along. Stay tuned for more stitch-alongs here on Feeling Stitchy!

The Birds

2011-10-14T12:16:00.001-05:00

Murderbird has posted some awesome bird themed embroideries in our Flickr Group. I love the use of the green patterned fabric as backdrop for this sweet little American Redstart.

And how about this fabulous Turkey Vulture? O.k. Mr. Vulture may not kill us with his cuteness but the fill stitching is to die for, right? (And he probably wouldn't mind if you did!)

A word about advertising...

2011-10-11T06:05:00.002-05:00

Hey guys, just a reminder that we don't allow advertising in our Embroidery group, or on our Facebook fanpage. If you add an item to our pool (or fanpage) with a link to your Etsy or online store, it will be removed. We may also remove items from our pool that look like advertising - if, for example, you are posting images of your entire store stock. If you're a pattern designer, feel free to post free patterns in our group, just not links to patterns for sale.

We love small businesses and frequently feature them here, but there are other ways of getting our attention - post a link to your Etsy or small business site in this thread. (You'll need to be logged in to Flickr and a member of our Embroidery group to see that). Or just post a few of your best (embroidered) items to our pool, and let us find you!

Thanks everybody! :)

The X-files: Restoring an older piece

2011-10-10T10:47:00.001-05:00

Maybe you can help elliefunkhandmade? Over in the Flickr group, she's asking about restoring and cleaning older embroidery pieces:

[...] an advent calendar my grandmother made close to forty years ago - it is very special to me. I was wondering whether anyone had some ideas or tips about how best to wash it. It needs some minor repairs but the fabric has also stretched in places. I don't know for sure - but I think it is all cotton fabric (but I'm not sure of the stitched thread - I assume they are DMC)

Here and here are some photos of the calendar.

I'm sure others have the same question/problem, so if you have any suggestions for how to care for older pieces, please share them in the comments. :-)

Patterns: DIY stitchable phone case

2011-10-09T01:48:00.003-05:00

Created by Wee Little Stitches

Following on from Floresita's stitchable phone cases post, how's this for a fun DIY version? Created by Wee Little Stitches (and featuring two of the heroes from their Justice League pattern), you can found out how on their blog, here.

So cute

2011-10-08T12:24:00.002-05:00

Do not feed after midnight!, originally uploaded by loveandasandwich.

But don't feed after midnight or you know what will happen: cute goes bye-bye and you'll have to put him in the microwave! ;-)

Brilliant piece!

Flower Power

2011-10-07T02:00:00.001-05:00

This is some serious gorgeous stitching by Anne (aka Dozydotes on Flickr)! An abundance of lovely satin stitches, French Knots, Lazy daisy stitches and a few other stitches as well. The flowers seem to be bursting from the hoop and I love that the stitching nearly covers all of the fabric. The autumnal colours Anne used for this piece are also spot on: rusty brown, yellow, orange and even a hint of pink. Do check out Anne's other 'Flower Power' pieces here.

Nyan Cat iPhone Case

2011-10-05T06:11:00.003-05:00

Stitched by poppet with a camera

This makes me want an iPhone - because I'm just the sort of dork that wants a thing just so I can cross-stitch a cover for it. :) It also made me curious about the history of Nyan Cat.

Want stitchable covers? I hear you can find them here. And those free patterns they have to stitch? Also to die for:

Purl Bee also just posted a sweet free pattern for an iPhone cover:

Eeeeeep.

Patterns: Penguin & Fish

2011-10-02T09:17:00.002-05:00

Blocks and embroidery by KCQuilts, embroidery patterns by Penguin & Fish

I love these bright and colourful blocks by KCQuilts and the embroidery in the middle of each is just perfect. The embroidery patterns are from Penguin & Fish, slightly adapted to go with the fabric patterns. You can read more about these blocks here.

September Stitch-along | Week 3

2011-10-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

We hope you enjoyed Flor's post yesterday, and just in case you're not in the Halloween spirit yet, we're sharing some of the September stitch-along progress from the Embroidery Flickr pool!

Enjoy ...

--

Love Marianne's coordinated fabric selection for her Halloween wall hanging:

by ~ maripen

A green ghost? Sure, why not?! : )

by Fiber Fairy

by dappleapple09

by AllThingsBelle

Blown away by this amazing fill stitch:

by Savage Pink

Here Comes Halloween!

2011-10-01T08:48:00.000-05:00

Photo and Pattern by Flossbox

Looking at the pool and seeing all the entries for our September Stitchalong has really gotten me into the Halloween spirit. Also, this awesome cross stitch by Flossbox, of course. :)

Looking for something quick and fun and free to stitch (assuming you've already done our Stitchalong pattern by Cathy Gaubert, of course)?

Here's a few of my free faves:

Free pattern by Badbird, stitched by onetomatotwo

Free pattern by Annie Oakleaves, stitched by yours truly

Free pattern by The The Treacys

Old is New again: Swedish Weaving

2011-09-30T02:45:00.000-05:00

I do not pretend to know everything about embroidery or stitches. Actually I still have a lot to learn. The good thing about that is that I regularly stumble upon exciting things that have been around for ages but are new to me. Last week I found some great tutorials on Swedish Weaving on Collette's blog Serendipity Handmade (find the posts about it in the side bar of her blog). Swedish weaving is also know as Huck Stitching (and a bunch of other names) and was especially popular during the 1930's and 40's to embellish tea towels and aprons. Huck refers to one of the fabrics used for this technique and the 'weaving' bit becomes clear when you study how it's done.

The thread stays on top of the fabric so there is no thread visible on the back of your piece.

This sampler by Lynn (aka the Little Red Hen) shows a lovely colourful variety of patterns in Swedish Weaving. Of course you are not limited to tea towels and aprons. Personally I quite fancy the idea of an Ipod case embellished with Swedish Weaving! More info about the history of Swedish Weaving, what fabrics to use and techniques etc. can be found here.

I'm sure you are aware we have a fun embroidery contest going on at the moment called Covered in Stitches. There are quite a few fabulous entries in the Covered in Stitches Flickr group already but it's certainly not too late to join in at this point! Submissions are accepted until November 7th.

Texture and leaf

2011-09-28T11:28:00.002-05:00

Fall Leaf Embroidery, originally uploaded by flossbox.

This is a lovely piece, isn't it? Perfect autumn colours, great texture and a lot of different stitches.

How many different stitches do you see?

Patterns: Halloween

2011-09-25T04:10:00.003-05:00

1. Badbird's Batty Framed, 2. Halloween Cross Stitch Wall Hangings, 3. progress 9/24/11

I think Halloween has to be one of the most fun celebrations to stitch for, so I couldn't just mention one Halloween pattern -

Badbird's Batty Framed was stitched beautifully by xperimental, the pattern is by Badbird and can be found here.

Halloween Cross Stitch Wall Hangings were stitched by Early Bird Special from patterns by My Paper Crane which can be found here. These wall hangings were stitched on plastic canvas with acrylic yarn and you can read more about them on the Early Bird Special blog here.

progress 9/24/11 was stitched by Kunderwood from a Lizzie Kate Halloween pattern and I've been following Kunderwood's progress shots eagerly on Flickr recently.

Also worthy of Halloween pattern mentions are Zombies and Monsters from Sublime Stitching and Urban Threads Halloween selection, both of which I've been using as I prepare for my own Halloween celebrations. I haven't stopped stitching yet however and plan to stitch something from this great new Halloween pattern set from Cate Anevski and hopefully of course Feeling Stitchy's very own Halloween pattern from Cathy Gaubert.

Spooky stitching everyone!

Perfectly fishy

2011-09-19T14:00:00.002-05:00

For me, originally uploaded by wendalene.

This is really cute, don't you think?

But even more than that it's a great example of the effect you can get with just a couple of different stitches.

Love it!

Patterns: Wee Little Stitches Family Portrait

2011-09-18T04:09:00.003-05:00

Wee Little Stitches Family Portrait of my family stitched by me

I've stitched a few of Wee Little Stitches pixel people now and loved doing them, so as a treat to myself last summer I commissioned Wee Little Stitches to turn me and my family into pixel people as well. They did a wonderful job, really capturing my family's likeness from just my description of us and I received the finished pattern really quickly. All that and for a one of a kind pattern at a really reasonable price, I can highly recommend them. You can find them here, maybe just in time to start stitching for those personalised family Christmas cards?

Book cover inspiration and a Contest update

2011-09-16T11:59:00.000-05:00

Today I'm showing you some examples of embroideries I found on Flickr that were inspired by or based on book covers. These are not entries for the 'Covered in Stitches' Contest (and yes, there are already some entries!) but they certainly could be! 'Monster' was superbly stitched by Lauren on a tea towel.

'A Wrinkle in Time' is an embroidery made by Lynn. She used a cool book cover from the sixties as starting point for her piece.

A very different approach is this mixed media piece made by Moxiedoll77. She embroidered on the leather book cover of a book called 'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter'.

I have great news for all the stitchers that are joining in the 'Covered in Stitches' contest. In addition to the wonderful collection of prizes we already had, we have an extra prize for the winning Book Cover! When Penguin Books learned about our Contest earlier this week, they kindly offered to send the winner the full set of the Penguin Classic editions with the Jillian Tamaki covers. Thank you Penguin Books!

Remember, if you have any questions about the contest, just want to say 'hello' to your fellow 'Covered in Stitches' stitchers or post a submission: visit the 'Covered in Stitches' Flickr group!

September Stitch-along | Week 2

2011-09-14T07:00:00.003-05:00

It's great to see that some of our FS readers have gotten into the Halloween spirit a bit early and begun stitching up Cathy Gaubert's spooky September stitch-along pattern. It's such an adorable image to stitch up, and so versatile too -- I can see this becoming a wall hanging, a tea towel, a mini quilt ... even a toddler's (or grown man's, just sayin') t-shirt.

So what are you waiting for? Come and join us! In the meantime, enjoy these works-in-progress by your fellow stitchers:

Photo by mrsmcporkchop

Photo by dappleapple09

Photo by ~ PixieFey ~

Photo by Savage Pink

Covered in Stitches a Feeling Stitchy Embroidery Contest!

2011-09-13T07:11:00.005-05:00

Remember the awesome book covers Jillian Tamaki designed and stitched earlier this year for some of the Penguin Classics? Well these have inspired us to make 'book covers' the theme of a fabulous Feeling Stitchy contest called Covered in Stitches! The contest starts today and submissions are accepted until the 7th of November 2011. You can post photos of your piece in this Flickr group I especially created for this contest. If you don't have a Flickr account do not worry, basic Flickr accounts are free and you can sign up easily. You can also post your questions about the contest in the Covered in Stitches group.

Jillian's design for 'The Secret Garden'

Some rules...

Whether you design your own book cover or base your embroidery on an existing book cover design: it's all o.k. as long as it's clear that embroidery (and of course I also mean cross stitch, crewel, creative free hand machine embroidery etc) is the main 'ingredient' of your piece.
You can make your embroidery any size you like and stitch on any material you want.
You are not limited to design/or be inspired by a book cover of a novel, other book designs are welcome too! From Biology books to Cook Books and from Encyclopedias to History Books.
Be sure to present your piece in the best way you can and post at least 2 (but no more than 5) photos of your piece in the Covered in Stitches Flickr Group , one of the whole embroidery and one of a stunning detail.
Tag your photos with 'CoveredinStitches' and write a little bit about your piece in the description (what book inspired you, materials you used etc.) Photos that are not clearly related to the contest will be removed.
It is *not* o.k. to use this 'opportunity' to sell your stuff. Photos with links to shops will also be removed.
Digital alterations to your piece (like photo shopping a book title in) are not appreciated.

The contest is open to anyone, anywhere in the world!

Prizes!!

Naturally, Eternal Feeling Stitchy Glory is the main prize for the winner...but we have some awesome more 'earthly' prizes for you as well. Please check out the artists and shops that have kindly sponsored the prizes for this contest!

First Prize: (clockwise from top left) Party Fox Crewel Kit ($30) from Takofibers, ~~One Penguin Classic book with a Jillian Tamaki cover (you can choose from: Black Beauty, The Secret Garden or Emma)~~ A full set (Black Beauty, Emma and The Secret Garden) of the Penguin Classic Editions with the Jillian Tamaki cover designs offered by Penguin Books , A Matroushka Floss Organizer ($20) from Girl on the Rocks and a Voucher ($15) from Cate Anevski's shop.

First Runner up (clockwise from top left): One Penguin Classic book with a Jillian Tamaki cover (you can choose from: Black Beauty, The Secret Garden or Emma), an Owl Floss Organizer ($8) from Girl on the Rocks, a Voucher ($10) from Cate Anevski's shop and a Voucher ($15) from Shiny Happy World.

Second Runner up (from left to right) One Penguin Classic book with a Jillian Tamaki cover (you can choose from: Black Beauty, The Secret Garden or Emma), an Owl Floss Organizer ($8) from Girl on the Rocks and a Voucher ($15) from Shiny Happy World.

So remember: submissions are accepted until the 7th of November 2011. Posting your photos in the Covered in Stitches Group in time is sufficient, there is no need to send in the actual piece you made. A shortlist of candidates (as chosen by the Feeling Stitchy team) will be presented on this blog about a week after the closing date. After that Feeling Stitchy readers can vote for their favourite Embroidered Book Cover!

If you want to help spread the word about this contest (and show us that you love Feeling Stitchy!) please put the neat contest button you see below on your own website!

We CAN'T WAIT to see your entries!

If you're participating, grab the button for your blog!

Interview - Sarah Hennessey

2011-09-12T13:57:00.001-05:00

There's a lot of nice stuff in the Feeling Stitchy Flickr group. And then there's stuff that's so nice that we need to know a bit more about it. As in the case of Sarah Hennessey. Her stitcheries are very colourful and graphic - you can't help but be cheerful when you see it. Lots of flowers, lots of houses and cityscapes. Nice stuff.

Check out her Flickr stream and her shop: Sometimes I Swirl. Sarah also has a blog. And would you believe it, she designs fabrics too, check it out on Spoonflower!

Thank you, Sarah!

What inspires your embroidery?
I'm always inspired by abstract, symmetrical designs (mandalas), circles, concentric things, anything with great line. Also, color is really important to me, so I might base an entire piece around one color of thread, or around something I see in real life (for example, a teal pillow helped me decide on the color scheme above). It's kind of funny, because I am so strongly inspired by the simple, classic combination of black-and-white as well. If something is B&W and has good, clean design, oh I am such a sucker for it.
Natural themes influence me too, so I really enjoy embroidering leaves, abstract flowers, etc. I have quite a few books on traditional mehndi design, Italian textile floral designs, etc., so I find all of that incredibly interesting.

Where's your favourite place to stitch?
I can sew anywhere as long as I have background noise. Most nights after work, this means lounging on my comfy couch with episodes of The Office going and a kitty assistant at my side. I also love to sit outside on my front porch and sew with my ipod on shuffle.

What perceptions of embroidery do you meet?
Honestly, because we are seeing more sewing, embroidering, cross-stitching, quilting and knitting/crocheting in the art scene (and especially on etsy and blogs), people are very positive and supportive when I tell them that I embroider. I've had a lot of girls my age even respond with: "I really want to learn how to embroider!" and I always tell them yes, yes they should because it's amazing and therapeutic and wonderful and fun. The fact that so many artists are trying out fiber art means that we're slowly cutting down the idea that only crotchety old cat ladies are embroidering and sewing and quilting.

Do you have a favourite stitch?
The majority of my shapes/outlines are created by using a split stitch, and I love how solid and sturdy a line of split stitches looks, so that's perhaps my favorite? The thing is, I am completely self-taught, and when I started, I didn't even know that the split stitch was called the split stitch, same goes for the running stitch, seeding, couching, etc. Lately, I've been experimenting a bunch by looking up tutorials on youtube - which, side note, is pretty awesome, because a lot of the ladies uploading embroidery stitch tutorials are British, so I'm learning new techniques by way of amazing British-accent-instruction! I have been doing some pieces lately that are comprised solely of french knots, and I'm getting much faster at doing those and am stabbing myself with the needle far less than when I first started, so they might be inching to the front as a favorite, as well.

Do you have a favourite project that you have made?
I have a few favorite projects, and I like them all for very different reasons. I'll always have a soft spot for the very first project I embroidered, when I didn't know a thing and was just winging it. The lines are sort of dreadful in spots, but on a whole, I didn't think it turned out too awful, so I listed it in my shop.
Another piece which is very dear to me, is this one, I just really like the white-on-black look and it was just incredibly fun to make. And, okay, one more... I just love this one because it's slightly weird and yet captivating and it was also lots of fun to figure out.

Patterns: Mommy & Baby Whale

2011-09-11T04:02:00.002-05:00

I just had to stitch Badbird's free September pattern this month, it's so cute (and as mum to a boy I love anything that's more boyish). I think this would look great on a swim bag or a towel or just in a hoop hung up in a bathroom. You can find the pattern here, thank you Badbird!

Pure Adventure

2011-09-09T03:35:00.000-05:00

With the anniversary of the tragic events on 9/11 ten years ago in mind, I thought today I'd post something positive and inspiring. Stitched by Disobedient Child on a vintage (looking) hankie. I like the idea of stitching messages on a hankie so you can carry your inspirational quote with you... (or even better: give it to someone you love!)

This Tuesday I will be telling you everything you need to know about our fabulous Feeling Stitchy Embroidery Contest. Amazing Prizes? Strict Rules? Fantastic Theme? We've got you covered!

A happy skull

2011-09-08T14:31:00.002-05:00

Face All Rotted And Shit - FINISHED, originally uploaded by ohyeth2008.

Love the colours in this piece.

But even more than that: the stitching is awesome! All that chain stitching. Nice!

Patterns: Embroidered and Appliqued Ship

2011-09-04T04:05:00.004-05:00

embroidered and appliqued ship closer stitched by doe c doe

I absolutely love what doe c doe has done to this pattern which she found in the Hoop Love Flickr pool, uploaded by Brian Campbell. Stitching a masted sailing ship has been on my personal to do list for a while and I had already seen this pattern, but it hadn't occurred to me in a million years to applique the sails in that way (or the sea for that matter). Visit doe c doe's blog to see her inspiration behind this piece (and she's also provided another really cute vintage floral freebie, which is also on my to-stitch list now - now that particular list grows longer every day).

Check, check and check!

2011-09-03T16:41:00.002-05:00

Khal Drogo, originally uploaded by AlwaysInspired.

Stitched portrait? Check.

Pop culture reference? Check.

Maximum use of just one colour? Check.

Yup, this stitched image of Khal Drogo as seen in the HBO series of Game of Thrones ticks all the boxes. Great work!

Stitchy details

2011-09-02T14:29:00.002-05:00

Picture 006, originally uploaded by peregrine blue.

I love stitching like this. Random. Colourful. Lots of different stitches.

And I especially love when people take the time to take this kind of detail photo.

I think it says "OMG I love stitching SO much!" :-)

Push Stitchery - and a contest!

2011-09-02T00:14:00.008-05:00

Penny Nickels, one of our own here at Feeling Stitchy, has been featured in a brand new book called PUSH Stitchery: 30 Artists Explore the Boundaries of Stitched Art and it looks pretty awesome. To celebrate, she's holding a contest on her blog this month, and she's looking for your most awesome work. Winner gets a signed copy of her book, and will be featured here on Feeling Stitchy and the incredibly awesome MrXStitch. Thanks, Penny!

Get on over there and enter the contest!

September Stitch-along

2011-09-01T12:39:00.004-05:00

Wow, is it September already? Here in North Carolina, it still feels very much like summer ... but September signals the beginnings of Autumn and our beloved fall and winter holiday season. First up, of course, is Halloween, and this month's free stitch-along pattern should help get us all into the spooky spirit.

September's pattern, Hallowe'en Trio, was designed by the talented Cathy Gaubert. Cathy is a mom, a stitcher, a quilter, and an all-around wonderful person, and she blogs about it all at handmade...cathygaubert. Cathy also designs some really great embroidery patterns (as evidenced below), and you can find more in her Etsy shop.

So grab your candy corn (yes, they are already available -- I've checked!), pour yourself a glass of witch's brew, turn on your favorite scary movie and join us in our September stitch-along. Be sure to add your photos to the Feeling Stitchy Embroidery pool, and tag them with "SeptemberStitchAlong". We can't wait to see what you make!

Download PDF

Feel the Wookie Love

2011-08-31T20:48:00.003-05:00

Who doesn't love Star Wars and cute stitching? Over on Craftster, Love and a Sandwich created these adorable Star War Hoops. I am just dying over them!

She is so talented and I loved learning more about these pieces and about her.

Tell me about the piece
I made four embroidery & applique pieces featuring the fuzziest creatures from the Star Wars movies! Two Chewbacca pieces featuring quotes from Han Solo about him. My favorite duo An Ewok just hangin' out on the Forest Moon of Endor, and then a Wampa right after its arm has been cut off, and not looking too happy about it I made these for a Star Wars themed show.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.
My real name is Chelsea Bloxsom but I go behind the name Love & a Sandwich when posting my work. I live in Boston, MA and work from home alongside my concept artist boyfriend and two fantastic pups! I normally make furry plush monsters, but recently I've been really into appliqueing & embroidering on hoops.

What/Who inspires you
Anything/anyone with a great imagination! Studio Ghibli movies, Tim Burton movies (the old ones), and too many fantasy/action movies to list! Some artists that inspire me that also sew are Lana Crooks, Felt Mistress, A Little Stranger, Victor Huang, Becky Gould, and Steff Bomb. All amazing people with totally unique styles.

What are you working on now? Do you have plans for a future project?
Right at this very moment I am working on a Ludo (from the movie Labyrinth) embroidery & applique! I have plans for many more, mostly of my favorite fuzzy creatures from movies/tv.

What would you tell someone who wants to work with felt? Is it hard?
Working with felt is awesome! It's inexpensive, so you don't feel bad if you're using up a lot of it if you redo your design and re-cut it. It also comes in so many wonderful colors! It is definitely easy to work with, it was the first material I started working with when I made plush toys. It's easy to get nice crisp lines on your designs with felt, as long as you have a good pair of scissors

August Stitch-along | Week 4

2011-08-30T20:57:00.003-05:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in the August stitch-along! There were so many great pieces this month -- too many, really, to show them all. I've collected most (if not all) of the photos from the Flickr pool and compiled them in a few Flickr galleries. You can always search Flickr for our tag, "auguststitchalong", to see everyone's pictures.

August Stitch-along | Week 1 Gallery
August Stitch-along | Week 2 Gallery
August Stitch-along | Week 3 Gallery
August Stitch-along | Week 4 Gallery
August Stitch-along | Week 5 Gallery

To close out the month, I wanted to show a few finished pieces and some more works-in-progress. If you're still stitching away, don't worry! We'd still love to see your progress over in Flickr.

Photo by j_q_adams (my piece!)

Photo by sewjenaissance

Photo by daisyeyes

Photo by letscallitlove

Photo by amyhood21

Photo by BohoIslandBaby

Photo by paperseaside

Photo by Savage Pink

Photo by Fiber Fairy

Photo by milly and tilly

Photo by madama

Stay tuned for another fun stitch-along from the Feeling Stitchy crew, coming soon!

Patterns: Ferris Wheel

2011-08-28T05:08:00.002-05:00

Ferris Wheel Embroidery by katbaro

I love this Ferris Wheel embroidery Kat from Just Crafty Enough stitched up as part of the Iron Craft Challenge. Kat very kindly posted the pattern as a personal use only freebie on Just Crafty Enough, which you can find here

The Cat and the Bird & looking for sponsors!

2011-08-26T03:44:00.000-05:00

I guess the cat will literally have to jump through hoops to get to the bird. Love this 'Cat and Bird' series embroidered by Whimsiology!

Last week I announced that the Feeling Stitchy team is planning to do a contest soon. Remember last years Rainbow of Stitches contest? That was fun right? At the moment we are looking for sponsors to be able to give the winner(s) of this years contest some neat prizes. Think supplies, books, magazines...If you are interested in sponsoring our contest, you can contact me on followthewhitebunny AT e-tropolis DOT nl

Sixteen candles embroidery

2011-08-25T00:48:00.001-05:00

Stitched by mindboggld

Just thought you had to see this (I could recognize Molly Ringwald even from the thumbnail). Seriously, Kandra? You are awesome. :)

Patterns:Hardly Bear

2011-08-21T03:07:00.002-05:00

Hardly Bear by Penelope Waits

Awwww, isn't this sweet? Essie from Penelope Waits has created this lovely customisable cross stitch pattern. On the chart the word sweet has been left blank and Essie has provided charts for a number of other useful adjectives (awesome, silly, clever etc.), as well as an alphabet so that you can make up your own words. You can find the pattern, as well as other cool cross stitch stuff (I love her Woodland Sampler to) here.

August Stitch-Along | Week 3

2011-08-20T07:00:00.005-05:00

I am SO glad to see so many wonderful (and diverse) contributions showing up in the Embroidery Flickr pool as part of our August stitch-along. I'm a bit relieved, too -- I wasn't sure if anyone would be as excited about this idea as I was. But it looks like you guys were excited, judging from both the number and quality of the embellished fabric projects that y'all are sharing.

Want to see some of the contributions? I thought so!

I absolutely love the bright and happy colors of the piece above, by Mom Walds Place. I love how she chose floss colors that are not present in the fabric itself for contrast.

bySaraLynn has made so much wonderful progress on her piece above. Her color palette is beautiful and her use of that contrasting bright pink really adds a new element to the fabric that wasn't there without it.

"Wow" is about all I can say about this fairy fabric embellishment, stitched by sewjenaissance. I can tell just by looking at it that it's a true labour of love.

I'm glad that so many of you are simply having fun with this project -- and nothing's more fun than the piece above. You've just gotta love these robots, stitched by fav_orite.things.

As of our last post, Savage Pink hadn't yet decided on a fabric. Well, she ultimately chose my vote, the animal print above, and has selected her floss colors. Can't wait to see this one come to life!

These birds, stitched by daisyeyes, are just adorable. I love the satin stitched detail on the red bird above!

Here are three more great starts -- and one impressive finished piece! -- submitted by (clockwise from top left): letscallitlove, Read the Book, DetroitMommy, and bob&be.

amyhood21 really understood and embraced this month's challenge, as evidenced by her gorgeous work-in-progress (above).

Finally, check out the fun direction in which Beadgirlj has taken her project. She started with the dotted fabric above -- a great choice for embellishment, really -- and thought way beyond just using floss.

She has completed four individual circle designs so far, which are shown in greater detail below.

I couldn't include all of the amazing pictures but have been collecting them in some Flickr galleries. Check out the links below to see all of the beautiful submissions thus far:

Week 1 Gallery
Week 2 Gallery
Week 3 Gallery

For next week's update I hope to start sharing some finished project ideas. Will you be framing yours in a hoop for hanging? Making it into a pillow? Quilt square? However you decide to finish your project, please let us know!

Muy caliente!

2011-08-19T17:32:00.001-05:00

Photo by Aimee Ray

There's a cute free pattern over on the Lark site, designed by Aimee Ray! And you know I can't resist a little embroidered Spanish: Free Potholder Project. :)

Especially Awesome

2011-08-19T10:49:00.001-05:00

I was so excited to find this wonderful embroidery made by Judith Pudden in the Embroidery Group on Flickr. The detail in this work is amazing and I especially love the silver skirt. This embroidery is based on an Edward Gorey illustration. His outstanding work translates well to embroidery as I found out myself recently. I actually have another one in the (or rather a) hoop at the moment. Check out Judith's other embroidery work here (impressive satin stitching!).

Now... I was wondering if you all would like another Feeling Stitchy contest? I hope so, because we have one planned in about a months time! Actually, I just realised that today's featured work would fit the contest rather well. Are you curious yet what the theme is?

If you only knew the power of the Dark Side

2011-08-18T04:45:00.002-05:00

Darth Vader embroidery, originally uploaded by color and pattern.

I love a nice bit of Star Wars stitch-geekery.

You do too, right? ;-)

Patterns: Smile for the camera (again)

2011-08-14T03:38:00.003-05:00

Embroidered Diana Camera Skirt stitched by Sew Lovely

I don't know about anyone else but personally I struggle sometimes with what to do with my embroidery, my pieces usually end up on cushions and I think my husband would say that we now have way too many cushions! So I love this idea by Sew Lovely of making this gorgeous camera embroidery into a skirt pocket so much that I thought it was worth blogging about the Smile for the Camera pattern sheet again (originally blogged about here). I think if you know your way round a sewing machine reasonably well, this would be quite easy to do and would be a lovely way to personalise a skirt!

Cross Cross Cross Dot Dot Dot

2011-08-12T08:04:00.001-05:00

These dotted butterflies are part of the Power Animal series designed by Amy (aka GirlFlamant). I absolutely love each and every pattern of that series! All animal silhouettes have their own pattern and include a fleur-de-lis owl and an houndstooth patterned Jackalope. I'm about to start stitching a tartan Loch Ness monster! Find all Power animals (and other patterns as well) in her Etsy shop.

If you have not tried Counted Cross Stitch before (I'm very much a newbie myself) do check out the wonderful (and free!) downloadable Cross Stitch guides by Sophie of What Delilah Did. And don't forget to have a look in her shop with many gorgeous kits and patterns as well!