Embroidering Fur: Bustle and Sew Tutorial and Giveaway!

Download the Free PDF Tutorial

Bustle and Sew: Bear in a Hat Pattern and Embroidering Fur Tutorial

Boy, do we have a treat for you all today! Helen and Rosie of Bustle and Sew have written a guest tutorial and free pattern on embroidering fur, for all our Feeling Stitchy readers! And, as a special treat for our readers, they are also doing a giveaway of a copy of their upcoming Bustle and Sew magazine to 1 lucky winner!

The free pattern shares all the stitches and colors you'll need to complete this cute "Bear in a Hat" design. It would make a wonderful ornament if you're looking to get started on your Christmas stitching, or simply a good way to practice stitching fur.

From Helen and Rosie:

I do hope you’ve enjoyed this short tutorial and found it useful. An expanded version, together with another furry pattern - this time for two little sleepy foxes - will appear in the October issue of the Bustle & Sew Magazine.

Giveaway Time!

This giveaway is open to ALL of our Feeling Stitchy readers! To enter to win a free copy of the October Bustle and Sew Magazine - please leave a comment on this post and answer this question: what are you most afraid of stitching? As for me - it's probably fur, hence the question - do you agree, or is there something even "hairier" (pun intended) that you haven't brought yourself to try yet?

I'll leave the comments open until Saturday, September 23, 9 PM CST, after which I will close them and draw 1 random winner. Good luck, and thanks to the wonderful ladies at Bustle and Sew for sharing this tutorial and making this giveaway possible!

Edit 9/24/17: We have our winner! See below in our comments - thanks all for entering the giveaway!!!

Giveaway: Rosie's House Plants Embroidery Kit

We were recently contacted by the lovely ladies at Bustle and Sew, who have a treat to share with our readers - they are giving away 1 free embroidery kit of their newest design called "Rosie's House Plants." If you're not familiar with Bustle and Sew, they have been publishing a digital embroidery magazine for some time now, filled with lots of crafty patterns and tips.

This kit couldn't have come at a more perfect time for me - since I, like many others in the crafting world, have suddenly become crazy for plants.

This embroidery kit contains:

cotton panel pre-printed with the design to fit a 9" hoop
pink, green and black floss
a needle
full instructions for working the design, including stitch diagrams and photographs

How to Win

You'll be happy to know ALL of our readers can enter to win, including our international readers! To win, simply leave a comment on this post, and answer this question: Are you better at embroidering plants, or raising plants? (I know what my answer is, as do my plants. :)

I'll leave the comments open through Saturday, Sept. 9, 9 PM CST, when I will close the comments and choose 1 random winner.

Edit: 9/11/17 - Our winner is Silvia! Congrats, Silvia!

Patterns: Don't Look Back, You're Not Going That Way

Don't Look Back by Helen Dickson

Another lovely pattern from Bustle & Sew. This one is in their September magazine.

Countdown to Christmas Day 9: Woodland Christmas Friends

One of the most important things to me during the holiday season is to make sure that I spend quality time with my friends. These adorable Woodland Christmas Friends by Bustle and Sew are an excellent reminder that the best friends are the quirky ones. I am dying over the rabbit with his ear covers. You can see other patterns for sale, magazines and freebies on Bustle and Sews' website. 

Patterns: Friendly Fox

Friendly Fox by Helen Dickson

You can find this friendly applique fellow in the July issue of the Bustle and Sew magazine. You can find out more about the magazine here.

Patterns: Apple Harvest

Work in progress - Apple Harvest Embroidery, pattern from Bustle & Sew stitched by happytransplant

Sorry, but I couldn't resist another starting work in progress shot this week, this time it's happytransplant starting out on the Apple Harvest Embroidery pattern from Bustle & Sew. I love being nosy and seeing where other people do their embroidery!

The apple harvest pattern is an old pattern, so doesn't seem to be available at the moment on the Bustle & Sew website, but when's that gonna stop me admiring some good stitching ;)

Patterns: Bustle and Sew Magazine

Where shall we adventure? by Bustle & Sew

Bustle & Sew has a monthly ezine full of embroidery patterns and other crafty goodness. I particularly like the two reworked vintage patterns coming up in July's magazine (out 28 June). There's this gorgeous machine embroidered, colourful applique pirate ship and this beautiful seasonal lady.

Summer Lady by Bustle & Sew

And then that's not even starting on the original patterns in store for this month's magazine, too!

Patterns: Monarch Love

Rosie & Bear: Queen for 60 years by Bustle & Sew

This month marks the beginning of the Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Helen from Bustle & Sew is creating a special commemorative quilt, creating this central block plus blocks showing all the countries of the Commonwealth plus a special friendship block to commemorate the friendship between Great Britain and the US during the Queen's reign. You can find out how to get hold of the pattern for the above block plus how to get hold of the rest of the block patterns here.

The Crown by What Delilah Did

If cross stitch is more your thing, how about this gorgeous crown from What Delilah did? As Delilah writes on her blog, she stitched this having watched a lot of The Tudors but she dedicates the design to the Queen considering that it's her Diamond Jubilee year. You can find the pattern here.

Patterns: Royal Wedding - Rosie & Bear

Royal Wedding - Rosie & Bear by Bustle & Sew

I love the idea of being able to stitch things to commemorate certain dates and events and well, a royal wedding is as good an excuse as any, specially when the pattern is this pretty. From Bustle & Sew's Rosie & Bear series, you can buy the pattern here.

Pattern highlights of 2010

1. April Showers , 2. mermaid circle, 3. Kedra's Owl, 4. "From the Depths" FINISHED, 5. Little Tiger's Orangey Celebration embroidery, 6. Queen Bee

I've had a lot of fun highlighting the new (and sometimes vintage) patterns that are out there for Feeling Stitchy this year and the above six are just some of my favourites.

Here's to a stitchingly good 2011, I can't wait to see the new patterns that are going to emerge next year but until then I'm having a quiet Christmas at home. I am lucky enough to live in a very green part of London, so if I can I'll be dragging my family out for a walk, but if I can't I'll be staying in the warm and stitching a little bit more of this.

Work in Progress Christmas pattern by Bustle and Sew, also seen in picture Steampunk Santa - pattern by Urban Threads and map of USA - pattern by Flossbox

Patterns: Rosie and Bear

September, November and December Rosie and Bear patterns by Bustle and Sew

I have to admit I squealed with delight when Bustle and Sew released the first three patterns from the new Rosie and Bear pattern set, I think they're incredibly cute! I had been tempted to try a calendar series for a while now and as these patterns look like something I can happily get my teeth into, I'm really looking forward to sitting down and starting to stitch these, once I've got all my Christmas sewing out of the way first of course (ah the demands of this time of year). I think the fur on Bear looks fun to try and I love the extra details like the filled in apples and the optional doily rain clouds. Plus as usual with Bustle and Sew patterns, they come with comprehensive, detailed instructions. You can purchase the patterns for download here.

Patterns: Fur

1. Bunny & Balloons 1, 2. Forty Winks Fox

There have been two great patterns recently released using fantastic embroidered fur. Both .pdf patterns; Bunny and Balloons by Bustle and Sew and Forty Winks Fox by Follow the White Bunny, come with detailed how-tos to embroider the fur. I think they both look very sweet.