May Stitchalong Wrap-up

Oh no!  Some of you may have seen this post accidentally go live in its draft status a few days ago.  My apologies to all of the talented stitchers whose work below didn't get a "proper" post.

If you're like me, you've been amazed by all of the amazing pieces being done this month as part of the June stitch-along.  Although it's a bit late, I wanted to look back to the May stitch-along and quickly wrap up with some of the great projects that have been added to our Flickr pool.

As a refresher, we offered up June Jessie of isewcute's adorable A Little Curtsy Goes a Long Way embroidery pattern.  In addition to stitching along, I challenged everyone to incorporate their stitchery into a finished good.  Previously, we saw Gemmabelle's corduroy tote bag and Aimee's pillowcase skirt.

A quick search of the MayStitchalong2012 tag in the Flickr group returned a bunch more projects that are sure to appeal to your sweet tooth!

First up is Jennifer of AllThingsBelle's coin purse with an Alice in Wonderland vibe.  In her blog post, Jennifer links to the tutorial that she used to make the zippered pouch.  Check it out if you'd like to make one of your own!

Pouch by Jennifer

Amandine (Grow_Wild) also made a pouch to hold her fabric.  I love how she used a patterned fabric to achieve a bit of shabby chic style.  And check out those fill stitches ... WOW!

Fabric Bag by Amandine

In the "what a perfect use of this pattern" category comes Ella of LaWhimsy's adorable little curtsy doll.  She describes more about her inspiration and her process on her blog, May I Leave in Stitches.  Are you as inspired as I am to make one of these for a little girl in your life?

Doll / Pillow by LaWhimsy

You've just got to love the look of stitching on natural linen, and Heidi (HeidiMakesStuff) used it to perfection when making her little heat pack, which she filled with lavender and rice.

Heat Pack by Heidi

And finally, I wanted to share two completed pieces that incorporated fabric coloring to really bring our little girl to life.  Take a peek at how Eve-Marie gave her striped socks and a patterned apron -- I love to see the customization!

Stitched by Eve-Marie

And Kensie took the pattern to the next level by stitching a background and creating an entire scene.

Stitched by Lovely Kensie

Thanks to everyone for sharing your wonderful work with us.  Just because May is over doesn't mean you can't still stitch up this cute pattern -- and when you do, be sure to add your photos to the Embroidery Flickr group.

May Stitch-Along: Week 1

Happy May Day, everyone!  As we kick of the start of the new month, we also kick off a new stitch-along here at Feeling Stitchy.  I'm excited to share an original embroidery pattern by June Jessie, a very talented artist and embroidery designer also known as isewcute on Flickr.

"A Little Curtsy Goes a Long Way" is a precious little pattern that reminds us all not to forget our manners.  This pattern was originally published in Fat Quarterly, the popular e-zine for the modern quilting and crafting community.  We're so excited that both June and the Fat Quarterly team are happily making this pattern available for all Feeling Stitchy readers.

Click on the image above to access the pattern in Flickr, where you can download and print it in a variety of sizes.

While this pattern would look adorable simply framed in a hoop for hanging, I also can't help but think of its many other possibilities -- imagine it stitched onto a little girl's skirt, a tote bag for carrying ballet slippers, a nursery pillow, or a doll quilt.  Let's challenge ourselves this month to not only stitch the pattern up, but to use it in a finished product.  What do you have in mind?

Don't forget to tag your photos MayStitchalong2012 and add them to the Embroidery group over on Flickr.  In-progress shots are OK!  We'd love to see them, and I'll be featuring your photos throughout the month.

To see more of June's original embroidery patterns, be sure to check out her Etsy shop.  Now let's get stitching!

--

About the artist


We are so pleased to offer this adorable hand embroidery pattern designed by June Jessie, aka isewcute to her Flickr and Craftster friends. June is a prolific crafter, embroidery artist, and jewelry designer. Be sure to visit June's Etsy shop where she not only sells the 'cutest' resin jewelry, but also some of the most amazing original hand embroidery designs we've seen. June even offers custom listings where she'll recreate any photo into a useable pattern for you to stitch up! June welcomes custom requests and guarantees that her customers will be pleased with the results.


June also blogs at isewcute.blogspot.com, where she chronicles her other crafty pursuits, from kids' crafts to cooking recipes. And when she's not on Crafster, you're sure to find her spreading the good word about the platform -- she's a major Craftster fan!


You can find June and her awesome handmade goods in one of her many online outlets.
Blog: isewcute.blogspot.com/
Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/isewcute

September Stitch-along | Week 2

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 dappleapple09

Photo by ~ PixieFey ~

Photo by ~ PixieFey ~

Photo by Savage Pink

Photo by Savage Pink

Photo by Savage Pink

September Stitch-along

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

August Stitch-along | Week 4

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!

August Stitch-Along | Week 3

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!

August Stitch-Along | Week 2

I'm excited to see so many enthusiastic stitchers joining me for the August stitch-along. For week 1 I asked you to simply find a piece of inspirational fabric that's just screaming to be embellished with stitches, and there were some GREAT photos added to our Flickr pool. Here are a few from some fellow stitchers:

Some fun chunky birds with black and white flowers, submitted by daisyeyes.

sewjenaissance also chose a print featuring a bird with some fun scroll-like detail to embellish.

knitsaholic posted this amazing shot of a work-in-progress that achieves exactly what we're shooting for this month! The design, the colors, the stitching ... perfect!

I think it's becoming abundantly clear that people love to stitch both flora & fauna -- and especially birds! -- as evidenced by the 2 fabric selections being considered by Savage Pink (above), and the hummingbird print seen below (by BohoIslandBaby).

Some folks haven't decided yet on their fabric.~PixieFey~ is still choosing between the Kate Spain print on the left and the fun & funky coral number on the right.

And Fiber Fairy has narrowed it down to the three prints below:

What do you think? Click on over and let them know which one you think they should choose!

The bold, rich colors of the floral pattern above (selected by amyhood21) are just perfect for this project. In contrast, milly and tilly is starting with a black and white print and adding soft colors with her floss selection.

Here's a beautiful color selection (and another bird!) from dixieniche:

I can't wait to see what Thread Wizard does with this amazing fabric selection!

And there are more! Unfortunately, due to permission restrictions, I wasn't able to post some of the photos here, but I've compiled them all in a Flickr gallery created especially for the stitch-along and that I invite you to check out.

It's certainly not too late to join in. (Shoot, I haven't even had a minute to make my first stitch!) Simply take a picture of your fabric and floss selection or your work-in-progress and add it to our Flickr pool. Be sure to tag your photos with "AugustStitchalong" to make it easy to find them all.

Next week: let's focus on starting our embellishment with some simple stitches. Think backstitching for outlines, seed stitching for fills, and maybe some French knots for flourish. I can't wait to see what you do with your fabric!