Friday Instagram Finds No. 60 with Miss Minianmna

Hello! On today's Friday Instagram Finds we take a look at @missminimanna and her Instagram account. Sam creates fun embroidery projects, many of them stitched onto felt designs. I especially love her summertime brooches, the pineapple in particular! Sam's feed is so bright and cheerful, and her photos are beautifully styled and staged. Here are some of my favorites from her Instagram feed. Sam used #feelingstitchyig, and I'm glad she did so I could discover her beautiful work.

While you're on Instagram checking out Sam's work at @missminimanna make sure you follow Feeling Stitchy! We'd love for you to stop by and say hello. You can find Feeling Stitchy on Instagram at the handle @feelingstitchyish. You can find Amy @randomactsofamy on Instagram.

Want to be featured in Friday Instagram Find? Tag your best stitch-related photos with #feelingstitchyig!

@missminimanna

Does anyone else sometimes find IG removes captions & tags? Grrr! Today's stitching is sunny! 😎🏝🏖🍭🍦

A photo posted by Sam Minimanna (@missminimanna) on Jun 21, 2016 at 4:10am PDT

Camp fire loveliness for your sofa 🔥 #minimanna #handmade #handmadecushions #handmadeisbetter #makersgonnamake #applique #campfire #camping #happycampers #outdoors #explore #seekadventure #giftsforhim #abmlifeissweet #flashesofdelight #pursuepretty #livesimply #shopsmall #indiemaker #maker #craftsposure #makeitsewcial

A photo posted by Sam Minimanna (@missminimanna) on Jul 5, 2016 at 3:56am PDT

Cute fried eggs for your lapels. Link in bio! 😉 #minimanna #handmade #friedegg #egg #badge #brooch #broach #broochoftheday #pin #pingame #pingamestrong #handmadeisbetter #makersgonnamake #abmlifeiscolorful #livecolourfully #colourpop #colorcolourlovers #quirkybrooch #etsy #etsyuk #craftsposure #eggy #sunnysideup #cute #sweet #quirky

A photo posted by Sam Minimanna (@missminimanna) on Jul 2, 2016 at 9:08am PDT

MooshieStitch Monday: Little Felt Peeps

If you are a reader in the States, you are well aware it is currently the season of Peeps.

They are in every store for Easter right now.

Although I am not a fan of eating Peeps, I wanted to include them somehow in a simple embroidery project, especially after I found this free Peeps pattern.

Here is what I did:

I traced the pattern onto freezer paper (onto the non-shiny side).

Place the freezer paper Peeps (shiny side down) onto felt and hold your iron over the pattern for about 5 seconds.

I used basic craft felt and set my iron to the Acrylic/Silk (no steam) setting. The freezer paper will adhere to the felt just long enough for you to cut them and the paper will peel right off.

I have never used freezer paper like this before and it works great! I will definitely use this method again.

Then I whip stitched each Peep onto my fabric.

Yellow Peep...

Pink Peep...

Purple Peep...

I stitched french knots for the eyes and nose.

I thought it needed something extra so I added some flowers.

Per the Peeps wiki page, it says they are sold in Canada also (you lucky Canadians!), so I am curious if any readers out there know if they are sold anywhere else in the world!

I hope you liked this little Peeps project. If you decide to use the pattern for an embroidery project or anything else, let me know. I would love to see!

Also, have you ever used freezer paper for tracing patterns??

Friday Instagram Finds No.18 with Sewn by the Beach

This is the last Friday in August, and for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it means that summer is coming to a close. (Does this mean that winter is coming to a close in the Southern Hemisphere?) This makes me unbelievably sad, because I adore warm weather - the hotter, the better! Today, let's take a look at Lauren of the Instagram account @sewn_by_the_beach so that we can extend the summer feeling :)

@sewn_by_the_beach
I found Lauren's account because she tagged some of her photos with #feelingstitchyig. Lauren creates beautiful embroidered pieces and needle felted artwork. Take a look!

These coral necklaces are so unique in these neat pocket watch pendants! The blue felt background is vibrant, and reminds me of the water near Clearwater, Florida. The red of the coral really pops against it.

Image By Lauren Beach

Lauren's toucan is a beautiful piece of art. I have a lot of respect for embroidery artists who fill in all of their work with stitches. I do it sometimes, but not often. When you look at Lauren's feed, you'll see that she fills in most of her subjects.

Image By Lauren Beach

Lauren's ribbon embroidered sunflower is awesome! I enjoy how she used different shades of brown to form the center of the sunflower. By only showing a part of the sunflower, it makes this necklace very visually appealing.

Image By Lauren Beach

How adorable is this fawn?!? Lauren's felted art is stunning. I've never tried felting, don't even know the first thing about it, but it looks like painting with felt instead of paints. The detail that Lauren's able to achieve are stunning.

Image By Lauren Beach

That's it for this week's edition of Friday Instagram Finds! Join in the conversation by commenting below. While you're on Instagram checking out Lauren's work at @sewn_by_the_beach, make sure you follow Feeling Stitchy! We'd love for you to stop by and say hello. You can find Feeling Stitchy on Instagram at the handle @feelingstitchyish. You can find Amy @randomactsofamy on Instagram.

Want to be featured in Friday Instagram Find? Tag your best stitch-related photos with #feelingstitchyig!

Patterns: mmmcrafts

Photos from mmmcrafts Flickr

You know how certain things always seem to pop up on your Pinterest? Well the little bird on the left (a bookmark) has popped up so many times on the boards of people I follow on Pinterest, over the last week or so, I just had to investigate who this brilliant designer was further!

It turns out that the bookmark was made by the creative spark behind mmmcrafts and although the bookmark doesn't seem to be a pattern, you can find loads of other mmmcrafts patterns here and here. I particularly like the Flora needle book and the snow bird  patterns. Flor, the editorial brains behind Feeling Stitchy, also really likes the snow bird pattern, she's made loads!

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!