MooshieStitch Monday: Valentine's Stitching Project Ideas

I love searching the Feeling Stitchy archives to find inspiration and project ideas.

Recently I searched the blog for Valentine's Day and found some really great tutorials I thought I would share!

But first - here are a few photos of the heart I stitched.

I traced a heart, worked the outline in stem stitch and added detached chain stitches around it for leaves.

Then added a red flower in the center and french knots around the leaves.

Now here are those tutorials I found...

Up first - this Valentine's Day treat bag with a cool negative space heart.

Tutorial Here

Make your self a Cupid's Arrow pin!

Tutorial Here

I love this silly skunk pattern  - stitch it up with your own personalized Valentine's Day message!

Find It Here

How about stitching a Valentine's Day coffee cup cozy?

Tutorial Here

Or try experimenting with wire! This "All you need is Love" project looks quick and easy - especially if you already know the couching stitch - and could be also be personalized with your own message.

Tutorial Here

Happy Valentine's Stitching!!

Stitch Love Valentine Blog Hop: Silly Skunk!

Hello all - thanks to a lovely Valentine blog hop by Mollie Johanson, in celebration of her new book Stitch Love: Sweet Creatures Big and Small, I'd like to introduce you to a free Silly Skunk pattern!



I used felt for my skunk, and some bits of Mountain Crewel Wool and vintage red DMC floss. A quick stitch, and a perfect quick Valentine hoop for a friend. :)



I also put the skunk into a few little Valentines for my friends, and came up with the skunkiest puns I could think of. Groanworthy, but fun! :)

Here is a list of all the Stitch Love Valentine stops, for your enjoyment:

Monday: Shiny Happy World [http://www.shinyhappyworld.com/] ; Wild Olive [http://wildolive.blogspot.com/]

Tuesday: Little Dear Tracks [http://littledeartracks.blogspot.com/]

Wednesday: Lark Crafts [http://larkcrafts.com/]

Thursday: Hugs Are Fun [http://hugsarefun.com/]

Friday: Feeling Stitchy [http://www.feelingstitchy.com/]

Saturday: Pretty By Hand [http://prettybyhand.com/] ; Wild Olive [http://wildolive.blogspot.com/]

Stay tuned for a lengthier review of Stitch Love: Sweet Creatures Big and Small soon - and thanks, Mollie, for sharing this sweet Valentine pattern with our readers!

Happy V Day!

Photo by prosodialab

Isn't this work in progress by prosodialab adorably gorgeous? The finished work is even more gorgeous!

Hope you all have a wonderful V Day, surrounded by those you love, your hands occupied with the crafty projects you love. Enjoy!

Tutorial Tuesday

Hello everyone!

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and, if you are anything like me, you want to give your loved ones more than just a store-bought card. I decided on embroidering and assembling muslin treat bags to add some handmade love to my Valentine's Day gifts and goodies.

I used negative space embroidery for this treat bag, but I think any little hearts or embellishment would look adorable. 

To make this Valentine's Day treat bag you will need the following supplies: 

- unbleached muslin in two 8x7-inch pieces

- embroidery floss, needles, scissors, and related supplies

- iron and ironing board

- sewing machine and related notions

- scissors

- safety pin

Step One: Transfer a heart shape onto one piece of muslin. I free-handed this heart, but if you prefer to follow a pattern, there are various heart shapes available here. 

Step Two: Use a running stitch to out line the heart with 3-stranded floss. 

Step Three: Using a seed stitch, fill the space outside of the heart. Overlap the stitches close to the heart, and space them out as you move away from the main heart shape. 

Step Four: Press the two pieces of muslin and place them right sides together. Stitch an 1/4-inch seam allowance around the three sides of muslin, leaving one edge unsewn 2-inches from the top.

Step Five: Keeping the treat bag reversed, fold the top down 1/2-inch and press. Fold down another 1/2-inch and press. Sew along the bottom of this fold to create the area for the drawstring. I changed the bobbin thread in my sewing machine to red to create a contrasting stitch once I reverse the bag out. 

Step Six: Turn the bag inside out and tuck the unsewn edge of the drawstring fold into the bag and press. Take six-stranded floss, knot the end, and attach the safety pin to the knot. Use the safety pin to pull the string through the top of the treat bag. 

Step Seven: Knot the end of the string and your treat bag is ready. 

Step Eight: Add treats and goodies and your treat bag is ready for Valentine's Day!

Hope you enjoy and have a great Valentine's Day!

Tutorial Tuesday

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Today's tutorial is for a quick Valentine's Day project. I simply love Valentine's Day and enjoy making a little something to give to my friends each year, even if they roll their eyes at me. This year is no different, and I thought cupid's arrows would be a good way to spread the love.

To make a cupid arrow, you will need:

- Felt in red and pink, or any colors of your choosing

- Embroidery floss

- Embroidery needle

- scissors

- safety pin

- Cupid arrow template

Step One: Print out the cupid arrow template and cut out each shape. Use the template to cut two of each shape out of the felt. I used red and pink, but feel free to mix up the colors.

Step Two: Place the two rectangular pieces together and sandwich them between the two pieces of the tail, or fletching, of the arrow. Use a contrasting floss color, run the needle through the center of the felt pieces to hide the knotted end, and stitch down the center of the arrow tail with a running stitch. Make sure to stitch through all the layers of felt. 

Step Three: Use running stitches at an angle along both sides of the tail to make it look like arrow fletching. Again, make sure to stitch through all the layers of felt. As you can see in the photos below, I didn't measure or mark where these stitches would go, and my stitches are a little uneven and crooked. If you prefer straight stitches you can use a water soluble pen to create stitching marks, then dab them away with a wet cloth. When finished, hide the knot at the end of your floss in between the two pieces of felt. 

Step Four: Place the opposite end of the arrow between the two heart-shaped pieces of felt. This will become the arrowhead. Pin this in place to keep it aligned. Pull the thread with floss between the two heart pieces to hide the knot, and use a running stitch along the whole outer edge of the heart to attach them and enclose the rectangle. Hide the knot at the end of the floss in between the pieces of felt. 

*I decided to trim off a bit of the rectangle here, shortening it by about 3/4 of an inch. You can trim it to the length of your liking, or leave as is. 

Your arrow should look something like this.

Step Five: Use floss in a contrasting color, and create a blanket stitch along one long edge of the rectangle between the arrowhead and the tail/fletching. 

Pull the needle through the rectangular pieces and blanket stitch the other side. Hide the knotted end of the floss between the pieces of felt. 

Step Six: Take the safety pin and place it in the middle of the back of the rectangle. Attach the safety pin to the felt by carefully stitching to the back piece of felt. Make sure not to pull the stitch through both layers of felt. 

Step Seven: Your arrow is ready to be pinned to a jacket or shirt.

Hope you enjoy and are able to give this tutorial a try!

Patterns: Valentine's Day

craftmodern.com

Crafty Modern has a lovely typewriter themed free Valentine's Day pattern over on her blog, not too late to stitch up! I love how the pattern is customisable.

And another free Valentine's pattern to watch out for, hopefully later today, is over on Little Miss Crafty's blog, her sneak peak certainly looks tempting!

Little Miss Crafty

Tutorial Tuesday

Happy Tuesday, everyone! It seems Valentine's Day is everywhere I turn. In order to join in on the Valentine's Day prep, I searched for some vintage embroidery patterns perfect for the day o' love and found some fantastic ones at French-Knots. 

Once I had decided on which pattern to stitch, I thought it would be cute for a Valentine's Day coffee/tea cup cozy. I used the lazy daisy pattern of the heart with an arrow through it, which is available here. I scaled the pattern down to 35% and printed it to fit the center front of the cozy.

In order to make a Valentine's Day coffee cup cozy of your own or to gift, you'll need the following supplies:

-fabric for front and back of the cozy (approximately 10x5 inches of each)

-embroidery hoop

-embroidery pattern of choice

-embroidery floss (I used DMC floss No.8 in red 666 and Perle Iris No.8 in 5064)

-batting

-2-inches of elastic 

-one button

-Coffee cup cozy template

-sewing machine

-scissors

-iron

Step One: Transfer and stitch your pattern onto your fabric of choice. I scaled down my pattern of choice to 35%, before printing and transferring it to the fabric. 

Step Two: Once your stitching is complete, take the template and place it over your stitches, making sure the stitching is centered. Using the template, cut one of each of the front, back, and batting.

 

Step Three: Layer the pieces so they can be sewn together starting with the batting, then fabric back right side up, and fabric front with right side down. Take the elastic and form a loop. Place the loop side between the front and back pieces on one of the shorter sides. Pin the three pieces together. Stitch around the edges with a 1/4-inch seam. Make sure to leave a 2-inch space open so you can turn the cozy. 

Step Four: Clip the corners, turn the cozy, and press. 

Step Five: Stitch around the edge of the cozy to finish off the edges and close the space used to turn it right side out. 

Step Six: Place the button on the short edge of the cozy, opposite the side with the elastic, and stitch in place. 

Step Seven: Wrap the cozy around your next coffee or tea cup, and you have instant Valentine's Day flavor.

Hope you enjoy and give this tutorial a try! Have a great day!