Patterns: Tuesday Bassen and the Sublime Stitching Transfer Pen

Jenny Hart from Sublime Stitching very kindly sent me the new fine tip iron on transfer pen to try. Now I've always been a tracing my patterns with a light box kind of girl and lately I've been using Sulky Solvy, but I've been falling out of love with that. So I was very keen to try a new (for me) method, specially as the pen seemed to be nowhere near as thick as other iron on transfer pens I've seen (the tracing paper in the photo has been in my stash for a long time, as I've always been put off by the thick pens previously).

Now of course to try a Sublime Stitching pen I thought I might as well try it with a Sublime Stitching pattern, now I've got lots in my stash and I had a look through them and some of them are quite simple, like the Heavy Metal Alphabet and some of them are more complicated, with more fine lines, like the Shy Boy and Girl pattern. So I thought I'd pick something a bit more in between to test the pen, so I plumped for the Tuesday Bassen pattern set, which I thought would be perfect for my pre-teen's bedroom.

I was still quite ambitious though, the Tuesday Bassen pattern set it pretty large and I wanted to stitch it almost like a sampler, stitching lots of the designs together. So I transferred the designs I liked onto two sheets of tracing paper and I was already appreciating how much easier that was compared to juggling the patterns and the fabric on a light box. And of course tracing on fabric is always a bit of a nightmare. Also I found that the pen was really nice to use, it has the sort of thin nib you normally find in artist drawing pens and it felt like in handled similarly too.

When ironing on the pattern I hit the normal problems I usually get with iron on transfers, as I find I can struggle a bit with either not ironing it enough or ironing it too much or the pattern shifting and causing double, blurred lines. I got a bit of all three problems when transferring the pattern and I also got a few small scorch marks, oops! But still, I was fairly pleased with the results and the lines were just as thin as I'd expect with a commercially made iron on pattern.

Then it came to stitching it up, which was great fun, Tuesday's pattern is really lovely and for someone who normally tries to embroider with a restricted palette, I used it as an opportunity to go really mad with colours. I didn't really hit any problems with not being able to cover the transfer lines, it does show a tiny bit in places (I, as the stitcher am probably more aware of it than anyone else looking at it) but that was due to the pattern shifting a bit in places when I ironed.

I used two strands of DMC embroidery floss throughout and although I was mainly using back stitch, there's also some satin stitching and french knots.

I will definitely be using the pen again to transfer more patterns, so thank you again Jenny for letting me have a go with the new pens!

Tutorial Tuesday

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

I have a roundup for you all today with some great Autumnal projects. I can't believe how quickly Fall has rolled around, but these projects are excellent for this time of year and sure to help you enjoy the season. 

Casey of Elegant Musings has a wonderful tutorial for embroidery on a cardigan. This is perfect for reviving cardigans or embellishing new ones. 

Jessica and Mandy of Little Birdies, put together this adorable Fall Leaf Pillow tutorial for Make and Takes. It sure to bring Autumn into any room. 

 

If you are looking for Autumnal decor, Kelly of The Lilypad Cottage has this great tutorial for creating a door hanging using an embroidery hoop. 

Does your dining room need a little update? Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching has a fun Upcycled Napkin Ring Tutorial. I absolutely love the resourcefulness of this tutorial, and if you switch up the embroidery patterns, you could have napkin rings for every season!

Hope you enjoy these tutorials and give some of them a try. 

Happy Tuesday!

Tutorial Tuesday

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Today's tutorial is a little homage to the 80's, the 1980's, that is. A time when we would make mixtapes for each other and drink something called, Tab. I bought this Rock 'N Roll embroidery pattern pack from Sublime Stitching a while back, and the cassette has been calling my name ever since. Since I have this new fancy cell phone that needed a case, I figured it couldn't hurt to reminisce about the 80's every time I answer the phone. 

This is a quick and easy tutorial, with no sewing machine involved.  It's completely hand-stitched and protects that expensive little telephone. Because we are stitching on felt, there is no need to use an embroidery hoop, as the fabric maintains its shape while stitching. To make your own cell phone case, you will need the following:

-two pieces of felt cut to 3x5-inch pieces (you may have to adjust sizing to fit your device)

-embroidery pattern 

-embroidery floss

-wax paper 

-a fine tip permanent marker

-a pair of tweezers

-scissors

I am going to show you how I transfer embroidery patterns to felt or dark fabrics. This isn't the only way, and it might not be the right way, but it works for me, and I think it will work for you, too. If you want something a little more sophisticated, visit Sublime Stitching for the How-To on using transfer paper or Future Girl for her tutorial on using tear-away stabilizer. 

Step 1: Transfer the pattern to the wax paper using the fine tip marker.

Step 2: Using a running stitch, attach the wax paper to one piece of felt. This doesn't have to be a beautiful stitch, because you will be removing it later. 

Step 3: Embroider your pattern making sure to pull all the way through the layers of felt and wax paper. Don't make them too tight, but you don't want loose stitches, either. Sometimes your stitch might break the paper, and that's okay. Your stitches are creating the perforations that will make it easy to remove the paper once complete. 

Step 4: Once your embroidery is complete, remove the running stitch and carefully, begin tearing away the wax paper. Use the tweezers to pull the paper out of smaller stitched areas.

Step 5: Take the second piece of felt, and place it directly underneath the piece you just stitched, wrong sides together. Pull the needle and thread in between the pieces of felt in order to hide the knot, and use a blanket stitch to connect the two pieces of felt along three sides. 

Step 6: Slip your phone into the case and enjoy!

Now if only I had a boom box to enjoy real cassettes with...

Hope you enjoy and have a great Tuesday!

Sublime Stitching Floss Palettes - Team review and giveaway!

With the embroidery floss market dominated by so few manufacturers, it's always big news when a new brand of floss arrives, especially when it's from one of our favourite embroidery pattern people, Sublime Stitching!

   

   

We were lucky enough to be able to have a try of the floss a few days before it was launched, the floss arrived in palettes of colour, in cute little packages, like the embroiderer's equivalent of going to the sweet shop. The palettes have cute names such as Frosting, Flowerbox, Breakdance and Parlour, just seeing the names instantly prompts you for the sort of embroidery you could do with them. And within the palettes, the floss itself has cute names (and very cute labels, make sure you read them), with names such as melon ball, fainting couch, leg warmer.

The floss itself is a pleasure to use, six stranded, the individual strands appear to be slightly thinner than the Anchor floss I'm used to, so when I stitched up my flower tea towel I used three strands instead of my usual two. The colours were vibrant and it did make the stitching easier because I could start on the pattern with full confidence that the colours I was using went together.

Tea towel stitched with Sublime Stitching floss using the Sublime Stitching Fantasy Flowers pattern. The flower just peeking out on the left was stitched with the Flowerbox palette and a little bit of the Mingles floss, the flower in the middle was stitched with the Prism palette and the flower on the right was stitched with the Parlour palette.

Probably the most notable thing about the new floss though is that the range also includes a pre-blended palette called Mingles, each floss is three strands of one colour and three strands of another. Now that's going to be useful!

- Jo     

*****

Ok guys - floresita here now - I was also lucky enough to receive the full set of new Sublime Floss, (hence the team post today from Jo and I) and I have to say, "sublime" describes it pretty well....

Last night I took the "Parlour" floss palette for a test drive, and it was perfect for our Kitsch Witch stitchalong pattern.

As you can see from my night photo - the floss has a pretty sheen - it is ever-so-slightly thinner than your average 6 strand floss (I am a DMC girl), and it has a silky feel under my fingertips. I tried a little bit of everything with this floss - 2 strands, 3 strands, 4 strands, and 6 strands, and attempted French knots, stem stitch, split stitch, straight stitch, and chain stitch. 

I love 4 strands for a thick line and 2 strands stitches up marvelously - for some reason, that was my favorite weight.

The slight sheen on these threads lends itself well to blending, and I really liked the look of 2 different threads on this chain stitch:

Here's the "Parlour" floss palette again, this time in daylight, where it looks equally yummy:

To sum up, Sublime floss is lovely - I love the palette concept, as it takes the guesswork out of stitching (choosing harmonious colors is the most taxing part of stitching, in my opinion). The color names are adorable, I love the pithy little remarks on the wrappers, the packaging is clever and sweet, and the floss is all-around delightful.

And now I've got floss coming out of my ears. So peeps, help me out here - would YOU like to try some brand new Sublime floss? To win, pop over to the Sublime Stitching site, have a look at the 9 new palettes, tell us your favorite (or your favorite color name), and tell us what you might stitch with it.

Leave a comment here by 9 PM Oct. 21, U.S. CST. I will be giving out 5 palettes, that's 1 palette each for 5 lucky winners! International winners, no problem. So what's your fave?

- floresita

Patterns: Lucky

Lucky pattern from Sublime Stitching!!! by giddy99

Everyone knows there's a free pattern section over on Sublime Stitching, right? Currently it's the lovely Lucky pattern (stitched so ably here by giddy99) but I don't think it's going to be up there for much longer, as it was a St. Patrick's Day pattern. So, as this pattern could so easily be used all year round I'd hurry over to Sublime Stitching to download it. I wonder what the next free pattern will be?

Patterns: Epic Alphabet Sampler

Stitched by handmade is heartmade

Samplers of all sizes and shapes are gorgeous but I particularly love this one as it's so modern. Stitched very ably by handmade is heartmade, from a pattern showcasing typefaces by House Industries over at Sublime Stitching.

Sublime Winner!

Hi guys! Looks like we have a winner! Karen is the lucky commenter who'll be getting a whole lot of Sublime Stitching goodness. I've already emailed you Karen - just respond back with your info please. :)

And, 344 comments!!! You guys really love your Sublime Stitching - thanks for all your awesome comments and ideas. I know you inspired me! :)

Karen said...
I could do alot with this bundle, but first I would make a mid-century style pillow cover using the Vintage Lamp transfers with accents of the metallic thread. I've yet to try the metallic thread, so that would be especially interesting.

Sublime giveaway!

Guess who's helping us celebrate Feeling Stitchy's birthday this month?! That would be Jenny from Sublime Stitching, who is offering up an extra-special birthday bundle to one of you lucky peeps. Jenny guest blogs on Feeling Stitchy and has shown us tons of neat stuff over the years, and it's extra-sweet of her to show us a little birthday love!

If you keep up with the Sublime Stitching blog, you may have seen Jenny's cool post on how to make an Epic Sampler. Maybe you were thinking - hey, I'd love to do that - but then you got distracted by work, laundry, a tuna sandwich, or kitten videos. Well, you know what - the winner will get everything you need to make an Epic Sampler!


Here's what one lucky winner will receive:
Fridge Magnets
Epic Alphabet
Tattoo Your Towels
Vintage Lamps
A special sample mix of Glow-in-the-Dark & Metallic threads (put together by Stephanie)

Woo-hoo! To win, leave a comment on this post and tell us one project you would make with your bundle. Please include your email address too! All Feeling Stitchy readers are welcome, including our international peeps. You have until Sunday, March 25, 9 PM Central Time to comment, after which comments will be closed and one winner will be announced on Monday. Ready guys? Let's hear some ideas! :)

Patterns: Valentine Round Up

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!

Patterns: Halloween

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!

Patterns: Gil Elvgren

Gil Elvgren pin-up from Sublime Stitching - stitched wonderfully by Giddy99

Sometimes I see a pattern that's been around for a while, pop up on the Flickr pool and the stitcher has done such a wonderful job with it, it makes me appreciate the pattern in a whole new light. Giddy99's Gil Elvgren pin-up, from one of the Sublime Stitching artist series sheets, was one such example, I love how Giddy has used a running stitch to help emphasise the pin-up's curves. Thanks Giddy for reminding us that such a great pattern sheet is out there!

The Duvet Project by giddy99

Goodness me! Today we're featuring an awesomely cool (and pretty crazy!) project from Lauren, aka giddy99. She is embroidering a duvet cover. And not just a single duvet cover either - it's a queen-size one! Imagine that, that's huge, and rather cumbersome to work on, so this is a pretty brave project in my book!

She is using an amazing range of different patterns, new and old. You should check out her Duvet Project Flickr set where she's documenting the progress of the project - there are notes about each pattern used as well. And if you click on the images in this post, you'll be transported over to Flickr where you can read more about them.

We can't wait to see the finished project! If you're doing a large scale embroidery project too, do let us know about it! You can email me, Carina (carinascraftblog[AT]gmail[DOT]com) or Nicole (followthewhitebunny[AT]e-tropolis[DOT]nl) to tell us all about it.

And speaking of Nicole; we had to know more about this Duvet Project, so Nicole has done a wee interview with Lauren - read on!

How long have you been embroidering?
I began embroidering in January of 2005. I'd tried cross-stitching in high school, but I couldn't get it to hold my attention. I've tried various hobbies, but none have held my attention for long… Embroidery was love at first sight for me, and I love it still.

Who taught you to embroider?
Someone tried to teach me as a child, but I vaguely remember that it didn't stick, for some reason. I really learned from the instructions in Sublime Stitching. I still have my first receipt from there, date January 16, 2005, too! I worked SO hard to get my split stitches to look like the ones in the diagram, but somehow deviated to the chain stitch, which I pull tight to make it LOOK like a split stitch (I realize that's ridiculous, but it's my fave stitch, STILL).

Where and when do you embroider?
I embroider whenever I get the chance, which is either just before bed (when I'm at home). I travel for work, and will take the pillow shams or other small projects with me to embroider while on planes, in airports or in hotels.

Who is your embroidery hero? 
I owe my love for embroidery to Sublime Stitching, so I have to say Jenny Hart. She made hand embroidery look fun and interesting with designs I could use with my existing décor.

What made you start a huge project like your Duvet cover project?
 I spent five years embroidering the edges of LOTS of pillowcases and a couple of tea towels, and want to branch out. I love embroidery (it grounds me), but I needed something different. I liked the idea of an embroidered quilt, but I didn't want to piece or sew anything – I just wanted to do the embroidery, right? It then occurred to me… a duvet is just a giant "pillowcase" (of sorts). A GIANT blank space, that I could fill however I pleased!

What is your favourite bit of the whole project so far?
Oh, my… it would be difficult to pick one favorite design; I like most of them all so much!

What is your least favourite bit?
 I've a couple of pieces that I'm not sure what to do about. One of them is the very first image I embroidered on the quilt. I was a bit nervous about mucking up a perfectly good duvet, and timidly embroidered a rather small image in one corner. It's very plain, outline stitches only (i.e. no fill), and SMALL. It now pales against the bigger pieces I've since done (the images I pick keep getting bigger and more elaborate). My husband says I can't remove and replace it, though, because the Starting Point is important in the whole, big picture. (… but, is it really?)

What is on your ‘wish list’ to embroider for this project? 
 I would have to embroider three duvets to get everything I want on there – I may have to use the reverse side of this one (wouldn't THAT be something)? I've SO many patterns "queued up," but I'm easily distracted by a contest, a swap, a fundraiser, a "gift" pattern… but I plod along, and return to the file drawer

Will you be using your Duvet cover? 
Yes, but it will be on the guest bed, where my two cats won't be able to shred my labor of love. The smallest cat, Bella, has some freakish issue with things that sparkle… she attacks the Bigfoot embroidery (it has some beadwork) whenever she gets the chance (eeek)!

Anything else you want to share?
I love how this project has stretched my embroidery as a hobby. I've gotten past the dread of a "big" or "too detailed" image, and now seek out the bigger projects – I look forward to the challenge.

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: Ingalls

Things are a little quiet in new pattern creation over on Flickr this week (although if you head on over to Sublime Stitching I notice they have a new free redwork pattern).

So instead I thought I'd mention a new set of patterns from the 1886 Ingalls Pattern Book that have been cleaned up and reposted by Flickr user Jeninemd from patterns originally posted by the Embroiderist. Clicking on the link above will take you to the whole set but I particularly love this design of a spider web and roses.

1886 Ingalls Spiderweb in Roses

Rebekah's Stitchette Quilt

Happy Tuesday, stitchers!

As I mentioned in my self-introductory post, sewing & quilting was my "gateway drug" into the online crafty world. In fact, my first experiences with discovering and reading blogs was when I stumbled upon some wonderfully inspirational quilting sites like Amanda Jean's (now, sadly, defunct) Crazy Mom Quilts site and modern quilter Jacquie's Tallgrass Prairie Studio site.

But there was one blog that I was drawn back to again and again because of this crafter's beautiful aesthetic and her plentitude of amazing projects: Rebekah's blog, dontcallmebecky.

Rebekah is a jack-of-all-trades crafter -- at once a sewer, quilter, embroiderer, and knitter ... the girl can do it all. And she does it all with impeccable taste and an enviable sense of style. Case in point: check out this quilt that, because of its simple beauty, convinced me that quilting was something I could actually attempt. Oh, and it also prompted my first purchase of Denyse Schmidt fabrics. I hope to make a quilt just like this one day ...

Handkerchief Corners Quilt courtesy of jrcraft

But I digress. Since this is an embroidery blog, I wanted to share a favorite project of mine from Rebekah's collection. Take a look at this quilt featuring all 16 of the "Four Season Stitchette" patterns by Wee Wonderfuls. I love how Rebekah used a basic quilt square to really feature her amazing stitching, and selected a bright palette of fabrics that really complements the tone of the illustrations.

Stitchette Quilt courtesy of jrcraft

This project really opened my eyes to the endless creative possibilities that can happen when you combine embroidery and quilting. Isn't it an amazing creation?

Stitchette Quilt courtesy of jrcraft

You can read more about this quilt here.

Oh, and speaking of firsts, this pillow (made by Rebekah for her sister) was my first ever exposure to the world of Sublime Stitching ... and, after seeing this, I promptly placed my first order! It's been downhill ever since ...

Kurt Halsey Pillow courtesy of jrcraft

I just wanted to feature it because I love it so much!

Here's a link to all of Rebekah's embroidery posts from her blog -- she's got so many other amazing projects that I could go on & on ... but too much to feature in just one post.

Go take a quick visit to see what Rebekah's up to over at dontcallmebecky ... and tell her I said "hi"!