Patterns: Follow the White Bunny

Flower and Bird by Follow the White Bunny

I'm sure everyone will be pleased to know that Follow the White Bunny is selling embroidery patterns again, this time as iron on patterns! I particularly love the negative space Flower and Bird design.

Wave goodbye by Follow the White Bunny

And also, if you're quick, you can get 20% off the Wave Goodbye pattern, the offer closes tonight (7th June 2015) at 12pm CET.

Patterns: some sad news - #VATMESS

Wave Goodbye by Nicole (Follow the White Bunny) - 

pattern available here until 30th December 2014

Hands up who's addicted to embroidery .pdfs? I am, there's nothing like a spot of instant pleasure, affordable art and anticipation (of the stitching you plan to do with the pattern), that a good embroidery .pdf can bring. So, I'm very sad to hear that some of my favourite designers have been badly affected by a change in European tax law, that comes in force at the beginning of next year, meaning that, if you're an European designer, selling digital products (such as .pdfs) will suddenly become a hell of a lot more complicated. You can read more about the change in law on this excellent post from What Delilah Did. 

Nobody has ever become rich from selling embroidery and craft .pdfs, in fact even before this some embroidery designers were shutting up shop, the new ruling makes it even more questionable whether selling embroidery .pdfs is worth it. Reading the recent crop of blog posts has been sad and frustrating, that bureaucracy meant to tackle tax avoidance in large multinationals, is instead going to stifle fledgling businesses. Nicole from Follow the White Bunny is no longer going to sell .pdfs from 31st December, however her shop will remain open. Carina from Polka and Bloom thinks she may have to put up her prices to counter the cost of the extra administration. Sami from Teasemade will also stop selling .pdf patterns on 31st December. Laura from Bugs and Fishes will be removing her .pdf patterns from her shop on 22nd December, as well as no longer accepting blog ads (also affected by the new rules), she will be looking for a VAT compliant reseller and selling her .pdfs that way. 

So, if you've been eyeing up that Follow the White Bunny .pdf that you never quite got round to buying (Nicole's latest pattern Wave Goodbye is particularly lovely), want to get in on the action on one of Carina's classes or pattern clubs before prices may rise (I love her new Stitchy Souvenirs pattern club) or fancy wanting to know how Laura makes one of her felt creations, or support any of the other talented European designers out there that are selling digital products, now is the time to do it. 

If anyone knows of any other European designers whose businesses have been negatively affected by this new ruling and I haven't mentioned them, please do leave a comment below.

Patterns: Most Excellent Party Bear

Nicole from Follow the White Bunny has just released a new pattern, yay! I think this one, the Most Excellent Party Bear, would look fantastic on an extra special birthday card!

Tutorial Tuesday

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Today's tutorial features a darling embroidery pattern designed by Nicole over at Follow the White Bunny. I have loved this Apple Tree pattern for quite some time, and stitched it a while ago, but had yet to put it on anything. I decided on turning it into a small clutch that I can grab quickly when I just need to carry my keys, cell phone, and money or a small notebook. I really like the way this handy clutch turned out, and hope you will, too.

Supplies needed for this clutch purse:

- Two exterior pieces of fabric measuring 8.5 by 9-inches

- Two interior/lining pieces of fabric measuring 8.5 by 9-inches

- Two pieces of Interfacing or Batting measuring 8.5 by 9-inches

- A 7-inch zipper

- Embroidery supplies

- Sewing machine

- Scissors

- A jar lid or small plate

- Coordinating sewing thread

Step One: Embroider exterior piece of fabric and clip exterior, interior, and interfacing to 8.5 by 9-inches. Use a jar lid or small plate to create the curved bottom edges of each piece of fabric, interior/lining, and interfacing. I used a jar lid and placed it as close to the bottom and side edge as I could. I traced the bottom curve along the corner of fabric, then clipped the excess fabric off.

Step Two: Place the zipper face down over the exterior piece of fabric, with the furthest edge of the zipper tape along the top edge of the fabric. I have the interfacing underneath this exterior piece of fabric.

Place one interior or lining piece of fabric face down over that and pin in place. Using a zipper foot on a sewing machine, stitch along this top edge. 

When you flip these pieces over to expose the unsewn edge of the zipper, it should look like this.

Step Three: Repeat the instructions from Step Two by placing the zipper face down with the unsewn edge along the top of the exterior piece and the lining face down over that. Again, the interfacing is underneath the exterior piece. You'll have the right sides of the interior/lining facing each other, as shown in the photo below. Pin in place and sew. 

When you turn the fabric out, it should look something like this, with the right sides of the interior/lining and exterior facing out on either side.

Step Four: Top stitch along each side of the zipper, as shown in the photo above.

Step Five: Unzip the zipper about halfway. Take the two exterior pieces and bring them right sides together and pin in place. Pin the interior/lining pieces together as well, marking a 2-inch space to leave unsewn on the interior/lining piece. Sew around these pieces using a 1/2-inch seam allowance. 

Step Six: Clip the four curves of the exterior and interior/lining, perpendicular to the seam you just created. Clip as closely to the seam as possible, without cutting the thread. This will allow the curve to lay flat once the bag is turned.

Step Seven: Turn the bag through the unsewn space in the lining and then top stitch this space shut. 

Step Eight: Enjoy a fun clutch bag/purse!

Hope you enjoy and have a very happy Tuesday!

Patterns: My Favourite Blanket

My Favourite Blanket by Follow the White Bunny

Ooh a new pattern from Nicole from Follow the White Bunny! Called My Favourite Blanket, the pattern not only features a Union Jack bed cover but also American Flag and 'folksy' versions. Very cosy!

Patterns: Happy When It Rains

Happy When It Rains by Follow The White Bunny

Feeling Stitchy friend Nicole has created this lovely shading tutorial on her blog for this cheerful little cloud. So head straight over if you've been curious about this embroidery technique!

Patterns: Abel the Stitch Explorer

Abel the Stitch Explorer (detail) by Follow the White Bunny

Nicole from Follow the White Bunny has just released the most adorable sampler pattern in the form of this cute, exploring mouse. The pattern includes lots of different stitches and colours and would make a great prompt to extend your stitching repertoire by trying out some new things and the finished result would look great in a child's bedroom. You can find the pattern here.

Patterns: Sailing polar bears and apples

Sailing Polar Bear by Follow the White Bunny

Nicole from Follow the White Bunny (and Feeling Stitchy, of course) recently stitched up this lovely polar bear, I think he would look great in a kid's bedroom and I would love to know where he's sailing off to. You can buy the pattern here.

Also new this week is a lovely free apple pattern sheet from Sara of The Split Stitch, you can find it here!

Apple tea towel by Sara ~~ thesplitstitch

Patterns: some recent patterns from Feeling Stitchy bloggers

1. Spring Birds - new pattern by Carina at Polka & Bloom,

2. Tales from the Forest by Nicole at Follow the White Bunny,

3. mr. fantastic stitched by Claudia Marchan from Sublime Stitching's Ryan Berkley patterns

The Feeling Stitchy bloggers have been busy over the last few months releasing some lovely new patterns; Carina from Polka & Bloom has released two birdie patterns which I think would look great on a pair of cushions and Nicole from Follow the White Bunny has released Tales from the Forest which I think would look great in a child's bedroom.

Feeling Stitchy guest blogger Jenny Hart from Sublime Stitching has released loads of new patterns over the last few months, it has been particularly great to see some .pdfs for sale of designs that were previously only available on Sublime Stitching's tote bags. Jenny has also released another pattern sheet from her artist collaboration series, transferring Ryan Berkley's gorgeous animal heads to stitch. I love Claudia Marchan's stitching of this pattern, which appeared in the Flickr embroidery pool recently.

And just squeezing in one more pattern from a Feeling Stitchy blogger, Beefranck (Bridget) in collaboration with Mr X Stitch and Julie Jackson from Subversive Cross Stitch released an alternative Royal Wedding sampler at the end of last year for the Independent, admire its gorgeousness here and download for free if you fancy stitching your own memento.

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.

Woodland Sampler Wall Hanging

I'm loving this wall hanging comprised of some of my favorite embroidery patterns. Joely from Australia (aka Flickr user twolittlefishes) combined these woodland-themed stitcheries with a selection of bright, fun quilting fabrics. Notice how she even coordinated her floss selections?

I was so inspired by this project that I'm hoping to create my own quilt blanket version comprised of the embroidered pieces that I'm receiving as part of the Hoop Up swap. More on that soon!

Blogged (with links to all patterns) here.

Friday: Introducing Nicole

Stitched by Follow the White Bunny

Nicole is a wonderful embroiderer and pattern maker whose cute, dreamy, and fairy-tale inspired designs I am sure you are familiar with. I love how her patterns have inspired a close collaboration with stitcher GeorgiaMcDonald, and all the magic they create together. But Nicole is a creative artist and beautiful stitcher in her own right, and we're ecstatic to have her here, blogging Especially Awesome Stitches and Techniques. :)

Here's a mini-interview with Nicole, let's get to know her!

Your favorite DMC floss color?
DMC 807 (it’s blue) is one of my faves as is the retired DMC Winnie the Pooh Gold, and silvery grey colours too.

Your favorite embroidery project?
A new one! But that’s not what you meant probably…
This is a particular awesome one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michelamaxwell/3138379716/
And I’m drawn to Penny Nickels Mythical Stamps too: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pennynickels/3414946713/in/set-72157604273980510/ and I could mention lots more!

Your inspirations? other embroiderers, books, vintage patterns and illustrations, history, everyday life.

Your shop url? www.followthewhitebunny.com


One word answer:
Freehand or pattern? Pattern
Messy or neat? Neat
Cute or edgy? Cute (with an edge but in a cute way) :) Sorry I’m also not very good at following rules!

Don't follow the rules? We hear you, Nicole! :) Welcome!

Follow the White Bunny - interview

We have previously featured some embroideries from designs by Nicole of Follow the White Bunny so I thought it was time we got to know who is behind those cute designs. Psst, Nicole has a shop too.

Who/what inspires you?
I draw inspiration from lots of things. Fairy tales, European folk tales, history and literature are important sources of inspiration. As are vintage Children’s book illustrations. Sometimes everyday stuff around me can inspire me in my embroidery work. Like my grandmothers Danish tea cup. A perfect way of transport for a hedgehog, don’t you think? Or, when I lived in Norway in a house made of wood it inspired me to use a wood grain effect in my embroideries.

I adore Jenny Hart, as she is practically the Godmother of alternative and hip embroidery, very successful too and the Sublime Stitching Patterns are awesome. Emily Martin (the Black Apple) makes things so odd and cute it makes me want to squeal! Recently I discovered Rob Ryan’s paper cutting designs, fantastic.

How long have you been stitching? What got you started?
I haven’t been stitching for very long at all. First of all I started sewing about two years ago. That got me involved in Flickr where I spotted Georgia Mc Donald's wonderful embroidery work. Soon after that I bought some Wee Wonderful Patterns and the book ‘Doodle Stitching’ by Aimee Ray. From that moment on I was seriously hooked on embroidery.

What perceptions of embroidery do you meet?
Well often it’s regarded as an old ladies thing isn’t it? And let’s be honest the majority of the patterns out there contribute to that perception. Luckily embroiderers nowadays can choose from a wide variety of patterns to suit their own style, anything from sweet vintage patterns to subversive patterns.

Tell us about your subject matter...
It seems I want to tell a little story with each embroidery design. I also like to add something ‘extra’ or ‘different’ to my designs. Take the Princess and the Pea for example. Everyone knows that in the story of the Princess and the Pea, she sleeps (or rather doesn’t sleep) on 20 mattresses (and a pea). Not 5, not 10 (as I saw in other embroidery patterns) but 20 mattresses. While I was drawing all those 20 mattresses I got the idea that it would make an excellent sampler piece, each mattress a different stitch. I have not finished mine yet by the way. Every couple of months or so I add a few more mattresses. I also like to play with texture. Apart from the fact that embroidering a wood grain pattern is totally relaxing it also gives a texture that is soft and luscious to touch.

Do you have a favourite stitch? Why?
For a long time I used the split stitch as my main weapon of choice so to say. Now I often use the back stitch or stem stitch for the more basic shapes. I’m also a total fan of fill stitches of all sorts: satin, long short, a normal straight stitch and the split stitch makes an excellent fill stitch too by the way. Ooh and I adore the French knot. I found it almost impossible to master at first and now I think it’s a joy to make them. I try to incorporate them in most of my projects! I always want to learn more stitches but I must admit that I’m not a very quick learner, maybe because I am left handed. Recently I purchased Jacqueline Enthoven’s ‘Creative Embroidery’. A book from the sixties with a wealth of interesting stitches to learn from.

Why is embroidery worthwhile?
It’s so enjoyable to do! For me personally it’s less about the finished product than the process itself. I enjoy the whole process from thinking about a pattern to choosing the colours and stitches to actually sitting down and do the embroidering. I have lots of embroideries I did that aren’t on display or anything, tucked away in a cupboard but that’s ok too. On the other hand I love ‘embroidering with a purpose’ too, like the pillowcases I did. And while I found it hard to embroider on a t-shirt, I’m very happy with the result and proud to be wearing my own embroidery work. :-)

Any advice for "newbie" embroiderers?
Start on simple patterns, learn the most basic stitches and try to build on that. Don’t start on t-shirts or difficult fabrics either. Do not try to embroider too hastily, it will show in your work and most of all enjoy yourself! As I did not know anyone who embroidered (except my mum but she does cross stitch) when I started out, I found many answers to even the most basic questions and lots of support on Flickr. There are several groups dedicated to Embroidery with many very helpful members!

Are there any other embroiderers in the group/pool that you have noticed?
Oh there are so many, so I hope no one feels left out here. I have to mention my online-buddy Georgia McDonald of course, she always brings out the best of any pattern and her stitches are perfect. Same goes for Amy Bindel (EarlyBirdSpecial). I love Amanda Panda Pants embroidery work, as bubbly and fun as I’m sure she is herself. And Penny Nickels work is great too. Really too many awesome stitchers to mention!

Princess on the stitches

Princess complete!, originally uploaded by sew'nquilt.

Oh my goodness, will you just take a look at that! Seriously, go over to the photo's page on Flickr and click to see the large image! Each mattress etc is stitched with a different kind of stitch. Isn't that an inspired way to use lots of stitches? And impeccably done, too!