Stitchy Snippets: Penguin by Hand

Jenny Hart

A new series of beautifully illustrated books are soon to grace your shelves. Do you recall the Penguin Threads Deluxe Classics that were published in 2011? The set features special embroidered book covers by Jillian Tamaki and Rachell Sumpter.

Jillian Tamaki

Rachell Sumpter

Next month Penguin will publish their latest craft inspired collection: Penguin by Hand which celebrates the work of six prominent, female authors of contemporary fiction. The stunning book cover designs are truly a feast for the eyes. The production includes an array of hand craft techniques: embroidery, paper art, pyrography and string art.

The six contributing artists are: Jenny Hart, Brenda Riddle, Emma Ruth Hughes, Genevieve Dionne, Dominique Falla and Helen Musselwhite.

Art work by: Jenny Hart & Helen Musselwhite

Art work by: Brenda Riddle & Dominique Falla

Art work by: Emma Ruth Hughes, Genevieve Dionne

To emphasise the tactile art work, the sumptuous covers have once again been sculpt embossed. The incredible detail in the embossing plate below illustrates how the intricate elements and fine textures of embroidery have been translated well to paper.

Such appealing covers call out to be handled, re-connecting readers to the tangible experience of thumbing a paper page, where the only concern is spilling coffee onto such a spectacular book cover. Whilst discovering the latest Penguin by Hand range, let’s remind ourselves of the three fantastic book covers that won a prize in the Feeling Stitchy ‘Covered in Stitches’ contest.

The Invisible Mountain by SpidersPaw

Contes des Mille et Une Nuits by Coeurdefreesia

Wynken, Blynken and Nod by Lisa Leggett

agulha não pica giveaway

Olá! Today is a very special day... I've been posting every Thursday since April and for me all Thursdays became special days...

I love the opportunity of researching and sharing Portuguese traditions, I love your kind comments and the mails I've been receiving. And I loved the coincidence of my birthday falling on a Thursday... So I decided to celebrate it properly... And I'll do it sharing my joy with you. I believe that a giveaway is a nice way of doing it. Don't you think?

Let's do it as if you were going shopping. I invite you to visit my agulha não pica ETSY shop. There you can browse my Embroidery Kits, Patterns or children burlap embroidery kits sections (and all the others obviously). Choose your favorite product and write its name on a comment to this post. That way you'll be applying to win it!

You can choose one of my beginner kits inspired by Portuguese traditions, like the ones with a heart or a Japoneira inspired by Viana do Castelo embroidery or the other one with a paisley pattern. All my beginner kits come in beautiful drawstring bags, taleigos.

You may prefer an embroidery kit that comes with all the material and instructions to make your own embroidered pendant that you can use in a necklace or in a keyring.

Or is it better for you to choose a new kit that just arrived in my Etsy shop? Made of Portuguese felted wool, this kit will allow you to make a wonderful book cover embroidered with a Portuguese traditional motif. It comes with all the material needed and step by step instructions.

But if you are more interested in kids craft kids you're welcome too, you'll find there lacing card kits or card decorating kits...

All these products were created by me using Portuguese supplies and inspired by Portuguese traditions that I bring here each week. It's your opportunity to make your own stitches with Portuguese soul.

So... Don't forget to leave  a comment on this post with your favorite product from agulha não pica shop. There will be two lucky winners... And they will receive their favorite product. They will be randomly picked from all the comments.
But if you want to make a general comment about the shop, you'll be applying to a special Christmas gift, too. In that case I will choose my favorite comment.
Write your favorite product and a comment about the shop and you'll be applying to win both gifts!

Comments will be closed on 9 PM Nov.18, U.S. CST and winners will be announced next Thursday.

And to all of those celebrating their anniversary today: PARABÉNS!
(and we have one of "those" among us, here in feeling stitchy, I'm not alone!!!)

Book cover tutorial with Portuguese soul

Olá! As asked by some of you, here you have a tutorial on how I make my book covers! Never forget that I only use Portuguese materials... So try your best to find some materials similar to these.

Making a book cover in burel or in cork skin (cork leather or cork fabric) is very simple ... Burel and cork skin, 100% Portuguese, are very beautiful and easy to work with because there is no need to finish edges since they won't unravel. This is very important, make sure you’ll use a fabric like these, so no sewing is needed!!!

You should start by defining the size of the cover. From my “reviews” I found that the best dimensions are 34cm (13 1/3”) wide if you measure the cover when open and 24cm (9 1/2”) height. I tried many books and almost all fit this size. But maybe in other countries publishers use different book dimensions…

I advise you not only to see the photos but also click the links, they will help you and show you different solutions...

Everything you need to make your book cover

What will you need:
- a piece of fabric that does not unravel of 50cm (20”) wide by 24cm (9 1/2”) height;
- two more pieces of fabric that does not unravel: one piece of 11cm (4 1/3”) squared and another of 11cm by 8cm (3 1/7”) (if you are working with inches, you may try to find a similar size easier to measure…)
- 50 cm (20”) of suede cord (or another type, as you prefer);
- a needle;
- wool thread or cotton floss, depending on the fabric you’ll be using;
- tracing paper and a pattern;
- a pair of scissors with sharp points.

And that’s all!! Let’s begin…

1. Fold over the two outer edges of burel or cork skin to the required size and baste (two or three stitches will be enough) the four corners of the book cover, making two side pockets.

Fold over two outer edges to the required size

2. Use blanket stitch to hold the outer edges and to finish the whole cover. Instead of blanket stitch sometimes I use whipped running stitch and I believe that running stitch would be great, too.

Use blanket stitch to finish the whole cover and hold the outer edges.

3. Use the square piece of fabric to embroider a motif that will decorate your book cover. With this kind of fabrics transferring the motif it’s never the easiest part… I use tracing paper with the pattern and I hold paper and fabric together embroidering through both. Believe me it works better than you would think! At least, if you keep your patterns simple. I’ve already shown some photos in a previous post…

After embroidering the motif you must centre it on the front of the cover and use an appropriate stitch, like blanket stitch, running stitch or back stitch, to attach it to the cover. You can use the fabric without embroidering it, too. If you left the top open, you’ll have a pocket in your cover!!

An embroidered cork fabric book cover.

4. Your book cover could be ready to go, but I love to add a book marker to it. Use the small piece of fabric left and choose a shape to your bookmark. You can embroider it or keep it simple… In order to finish the book marker, you must perforate the top of the book marker with a sharp-pointed scissors. Or, even more simple, punch holes at the top and bottom with a hole punch.  Then pass the two ends of the suede through the hole and, if necessary, pull them with the tip of the needle. Tie a knot with the two ends together to hold the cord to the piece of fabric. On the other side you will attach the suede cord to the book cover. Fold the cover in half and choose a point at the top to make a small hole with the scissors.

Perforating the book cover to attach the book marker.

Tie a knot so that the marker is secured to the cover as in the photo.

Attaching the book marker.

Your book cover is finished! These is a very simple way of doing it but the possibilities are almost infinite... They will depend on the fabrics, the threads, the colors... And, above all, it will depend on your imagination...

I love this book cover made of burel...

"Burel" and cork, beautiful together...

I believe that when you are working with great materials, like burel and cork, they should be the stars and keeping it simple is always the best choice to make… Look here  and here to look at an even simpler way of doing it - a "four stitches" book cover... More simple is not possible!

You already know these words in Portuguese, but I don't mind repeating them... "Cortiça" for cork and "burel" - no translation available :)

Cork fabric book cover

Olá! Some weeks ago I made available a free pattern in my weekly post . It was a Japoneira, a traditional Portuguese pattern commonly used in Viana do Castelo typical embroidery.

At the time I embroidered that pattern on cork skin (cork fabric or cork leather), a Portuguese great eco-friendly material. I promised I would show the final work using that piece of embroidery and that's what I'll do today.

Last year when I was on a Christmas craft show I was asked many and many times if I was selling bookcovers. And I wasn't!! I said to myself that the next time I couldn't have no as an answer. A few months later I created embroidered book cover kits made of burel, another Portuguese traditional material, and I can say they were the winter season success!

When I finished the Japoneira pattern I thought that it would be great to apply it in a bookcover made of cork fabric. I remember seeing many book covers made of leather in "old times." A friend told me that many years ago it was not common to see someone reading a book that was not protected by a bookcover and usually they were made of leather. I confess that a cork bookcover reminded me of those old bookcovers and I loved the idea.

One of these days I'll make a tutorial on how I make my embroidered bookcovers. It's very easy but I only use fabrics that don't unravel.. That's my secret...

Embroidered bookcover made of cork fabric

I always add a bookmark to my bookcovers and I can assure you that it is very useful. 

Although they are not "universal", the measures I usually use make the bookcover adaptable to almost all books.

If you want you can take a look inside...

Take a look inside the cork fabric bookcover...

I'm happy with the final result. But I confess myself desperately in love with cork... So I'm suspicious...

This one I offered to a friend. But I've already made two more. And one of those was for me... My holidays would not have been the same without it.

If you want to try this pattern it is still available and free... You may download it here.

And to end with our Portuguese lesson let me tell you how we say "book", it's "livro", one of my favorite words... 

My stitches have Portuguese soul

Olá! Last week I introduced you to Portugal and to our lovely stitches. Today I invite you to come and get to know my own “pontos*”. I’ll try to show why do I say they have a Portuguese soul, “alma Portuguesa”.

When I started to create my embroidery kits I was sure that would not suffer from lack of inspiration if I kept myself true to our traditions. And by traditions I don’t meant to narrow my inspiration to embroidery only… We have so many other inspiring features in our culture. Other crafts like pottery, tilling, basketry, jewelry, instruments making, lace work, weaving… Many genuine materials like cork, marble, linen and wool. And I could go on… And I will one of these days.

My first pattern was this Portuguese heart inspired by traditional Viana embroidery where the red and blue are the most usual colors and hearts a very common motif. So I reinvented it to make it easier for beginners… Some time after, I began embroidering the Portuguese heart using unlikely fabrics and floss colors. Do you think I’ve betrayed tradition? Even if I did it I kept myself true to Portuguese soul, and trust me, it is a very colourful one…

Traditional Viana embroidery, photo by Virgína Otten

Portuguese heart pattern by agulha não pica 

Creating embroidery kits for children was a big challenge… We all know that children love animals. It did not take me long to remember the most famous Portuguese animal: the rooster of Barcelos. Considered by many as our national symbol, I assure you that no visitor leaves our country without knowing it. The rooster that crowed after being dead is stamped on our fabrics, on old and new cloth, on modern accessories, on our walls and it is always present in our humour. Often bought as a souvenir, the ceramic painted rooster is not a good luck gift as many claim, but I confess I felt lucky with this pattern choice. Children can get to know our culture better and parents feel like they have a story to tell while children learn their first stitches. So here you have stitches inspired by ceramic and oral tradition… Do you agree this is an unexpected source of embroidery inspiration?

Ceramic roosters of Barcelos, photo by Afton Halloran

Burlap embroidery kit by agulha não pica

Last but not the least… When choosing the supplies for my kits I always have a strict principle: “Portuguese first”. It makes my work harder but I’m often surprised by my discoveries as happened with fantastic cotton floss, great wool yarn and very beautiful fabrics (I’ll talk about them in another post). Otherwise I would have to replace these products by foreign brands. Caught up in these findings I heard about burel, a 100% wool Portuguese fabric resembling felt, but more rustic. Burel, unlike felt, is a woven fabric and that makes it more resistant. It was used by mountain people and shepherds in capuchas, wool hoods that protected them from the cold. Recently I began working with burel to create “capuchas” for books and mugs. In other words, book covers and mug cozies kits. A piece of advice: embroidering on burel soon becomes an addiction…

Capucha made of burel, photo by frproart

Book cover kit made of burel, by agulha não pica

I hope my words showed you that I walk the talk when I say that my stitches have Portuguese soul…

Once again you’ve learned some Portuguese words… “Pontos” means stitches… “Alma portuguesa” means Portuguese soul… So you’ll have “pontos com alma portuguesa” for “stitches with Portuguese soul”…

More Embroidered Book Covers to look forward to...

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!

Covered in Stitches a Feeling Stitchy Embroidery Contest!

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!

<a href="http://www.feelingstitchy.com/2011/09/covered-in-stitches-feeling-stitchy.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvkhAcud5uz0fVFHwgXk3D3oPzQrdYR1lQutpgTBiHI0ak9OkvVZwqVaSm4yj2_8PQdd67N8MfncsZmxJShnoMEc3LLDE_KoJ9V3NkY6o3Zhd9kNi1sChSW_cgHX8ofs9b93nAm_VMwX8/s1600/FSBOOKsmall.png" alt="Covered in Stitches - A Feeling Stitchy Contest" /></a>

Something to look forward to...

Absolutely breathtaking are the three 'embroidered' book covers Jillian Tamaki designed for Penguin Threads Deluxe Classics. Take a look at her website to see the Jane Austen and Secret Garden covers too. The books with Jillian's designs aren't available yet but we'll be sure to let you know when they will be published. Actually Jillian's designs have inspired the Feeling Stitchy Team a lot and we just might have something fun in store for you later this year...

Oxford Reading Tree

Stitched Reading Scheme - embroidered by Paperseaside

Now I'm not sure if the Oxford Reading Tree is just a UK thing (a quick google and I see it's been translated in over 120 countries) but I think there's a good chance that these embroideries by Paperseaside will bring a smile to the face of anyone who has learnt to read or has been a parent of anyone learning to read in the past 25 years.

I think Paperseaside has captured the charm of Alex Brychta's illustrations perfectly. Read more about her sweet reasoning behind stitching these covers and her plans to create more on her blog here.

Cranky for You

I spent a great deal of time browsing the Flickr account and Etsy account of Gracierei
also known as Jacqueline Yeo who lives in Singapore. I want to post all of her work as it is so inspiring and free spirited, but I will have to limit what I show you here. But trust me, all of it is noteworthy, including the little two year old who inspired this wonderful sachet.

There is something charming to a mother of five children--(speaking of me) about a lavender filled sachet that states loudly "Cranky for You". Since lavender is known for its soothing/calming abilities. There is a great deal of creative inspiration that comes from observing the antics of toddlers and teenagers.....For years I carried around a notebook ready to jot down the little wisdom quips that popped out of them unaware.....

The other sachet that caught my eye was this one:


Need I say more?

What I really liked about Jacqueline's work was the profoundness and simplicity of it. Hmmmmmm, is there another way to state this? I think of the words: quiet-loudness. Huh. That probably doesn't make sense to you either. There is a lot in her little pieces, they aren't loud about it, it helps to have the heart to feel it.

One of the projects she is so good at is book covers. This happens to be a bible cover and I was drawn by the little stitched word, "praise". There is a lot of words in a bible, and to figure out which one sums it all up----that is what spoke to me.




In her last post on her blog she tackled the issue what constitutes "original design". Being an architect, she wrestled with all the people who have input into one design---who's is it then?

Being an artist/crafter, if you use one element of someone else's, does that negate the originality? She used for example, an applique that you may have purchased to add to your original design.....does that keep it from being original, once it is applied? It's a very thought provoking post and worth reading for the creative person.

Here is a stunning example of her bookcovers available in her store.



Here is a stunning example of her cozies also available in her store.



I don't know about you, but I have been inspired by all the beautiful cheery colors and simple blanket stitching and patchwork. Oh, I must show you one more piece.......


Jacqueline called this "Love Cloud" and said the green stitching was the silver lining. See what I mean about quiet-loudness? Be sure to look at all her Flickr embroideries.