Ode on a French Bulldog

crafted by Kaparoff (magda)

OK, I didn't write an actual ode. But I'm sure you'll agree that this embroidery is poetry itself. Great work, Magda!

Hamster Dance

crafted by Kittyzilla

I struggle to think of any ills which cannot be cured by a brief Hamster dance. This, and other internet meme embroideries, can be found on Jennifer's blog, Handmade Stuffs.

Embroidering "Cutter Quilts"

Maybe you have seen the term "cutter quilt" and don't know what that is. A cutter quilt is usually a vintage quilt that has been seriously worn. However, there are pieces of it that are still in great shape and need only a project to keep them around. Here are some good "embroidery" ideas for them.

This was a completely hand-stitched quilt and very fragile, so I re-inforced it by doing a herringbone stitch over each seam. I added an applique with Lite Heat N Bond and then stitched around it and did the embroidery inside. Then I made the piece into a book cover that I can use to document my quilting projects and keep swatches or templates for the future reference. Anything quilt related---but this could be an embroidery book, also.

You can also cut out shapes and use them as your base for your embroidery. The batting acts as a nice anchor for your stitching. Here are some examples of using cutter quilt pieces:

Hope this gives you some inspiration.

I just stitched to say "Hello"

I found Melissa on etsy who made some unique "Hello" embroidery. She uses watercolor to enhance the muslin that she embroiders on. I would suggest an acrylic wash would be more permanent and especially if you ironed it after it dried.


I love her "Hello Critter" as she calls him. The little seed stitches give it a nice dimension and texture. Melissa also does some wonderful watercolors and plush creatures of her own design.

These little stitcheries inspired me to think of a past post on Feeling Stitchy about leaving little embroideries in public places for others to discover. I couldn't find the post, so if you do, will you leave a link in comments?

I googled "how to say hello in different languages" and came up with quite a few reference places, including this one. It would be fun to embroider "hello" in different languages and leave them places....

Here are some " hello's" in other languages: Buon giorno; Konnichiwa; Bonjour; Guten Tag; hej; salut; hallo; aloha; shalom; Yow Wah Gwaan; hei; oi; hoezit; hola; tja; jambo...........



Wouldn't that make your day should you discover one of these little hooped stitcheries in some unexpected place?

Embroidery Diagrams for Lefties

Hey you southpaw stitchers! I've added some diagrams designed for left-handed embroiderers on Sublime Stitching. I plan on adding more, so please let me know if they make sense to you!

Stitching Diagrams for Lefties

Red Riding Hood Tea Cosy

Crafted by elbooga

I'm not sure what I'm adoring more here - the tea cozy itself, or the fact that it's a tea "cosy" with an "s". As a child, one of my favorite books involved a tea cosy. Spelled with an s. :)

Or maybe it's just Red I'm adoring, as she is indeed, quite adorable:

Nice work, Louise!

Madewell Denim After Dark: Valentine's Day Edition

Hey all! Just wanted to invite all peeps in the NYC area to Denim After Dark at Madewell tomorrow (Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009). We'll have supplies on hand to create a denim present with a Valentine's Day theme. But, hey - come even if you hate Valentine's Day - we'll let you create an anti-Valentine's day gift with us. And then you can enter it in this contest.

Here's your chance to de-lurk in person, have a free drink, and do a bit of embroidery with yours truly.

Madewell is located at: 486 Broadway (at Broome), NY NY (Google map)

Sputnik Embroidery

My good friend Mr. Jalopy (who's also a man-broiderer!) sent me this picture of a stitched linen he recently unearthed. It's a Russian teddy bear riding Sputnik! I've never seen this design before- any of you vintage pattern collectors have it?

For Feeling Stitchy readers who live in LA, you simply must visit Mr. J's cute and cool shop in Silver Lake, Coco's Variety -where you can buy my embroidered Mexicana Tea Towels, along with darling dishware, oilcloth, bike parts and inner tubes!

Love ninjas

awesome love ninjas by soraia_bejinhos

I think I can deal with Valentine's Day if it involves ninjas....

Have a Heart......will ya?

This I found on Betsyjean79's flickr.

I know that's Wisconsin talk.....my husband keeps reminding me, it's "you", not "ya", it's "yes" not "yup".......anyway, while freezing here in "Up North", I decided it was time to find some embroidered hearts for that Valentine feeling. Here are some beauties I found on Flickr.

I found this lovely on Creative Breathing's Flickr. What a sweet loving heart! I like everything about it.

I found this lovely on MarieLynn's flickr. She has lots of hearts on her photo pages that are interesting.


This neat little pair I spotted at Heartfelthandmade's flickr. Gosh, she has some lovely things there, too.



So this is from a flickr artist who is called Thinkoutsidethebox2008. There are alot of fun hearts in her flickr collection, too.

Are you inspired yet, for Valentine's Day?

Heart Overload

by Rakka

This is how I feel near Valentine's Day.... This little gem will be at an embroidered art show in NYC called Forget Me Not.

Manbroidery!

Hey people, sorry to have disappeared for a while. Life sorta got in the way. Y'all know what that's like, eh? ;-)

Well, a little while ago I stumbled upon the embroidery (manbroidery!) of one Mr. Xstitch (on Flickr) and he just ticks all the boxes for deserving being in the Feeling Stitchy spotlight: he's a dude, he embroiders, he makes his own patterns of cars, pop culture figures and graffiti (yeah, baby!) I had to know some more so I asked him a few questions. Thank you, Mr Xstitch!

Why did you start doing cross stitch?

It all began with a trip to Canada - I wanted something to do and found myself in a haberdashery shop. I bought a pattern of an art nouveau head, and found it surprisingly enjoyable to do. After I finished that piece I wanted something different to do, but found it hard to source patterns that really tickled my fancy. In the end I settled for the Kiss by Klimt from the Cross Stitch Collectables site. But it sparked off a desire in me to make patterns that I wanted to stitch.


Can you tell us about your subject matter?

I've always been a fan of graffiti and street art, but have never been brave enough or artistic enough to actually do any myself. However, within the pixellated world of cross stitch, things make more sense for me, and having spent some time researching different graffiti pieces I decided to turn some into patterns and have a go at stitching them. The only flaw in my plan is that each of my patterns is about twelve inches wide and takes several months to complete. So periodically I’ll do some smaller pieces – ironic samplers or blackwork – as a way of making things interesting.



What reactions do you get from other people? (being a dude embroidering and all)

People are kinda surprised that I do stitchery, especially as I’m six feet tall with a bald head and look like I should a doorman rather than an embroiderer. But I extol the virtues of needlecraft, how relaxing and contemplative it is, and before long they can understand where I’m coming from. I do like to take small samplers onto the train when I go to work sometimes, just to provoke reactions in people.

This whole “manbroidery” thing is part of the inspiration for my patterns – I want to make patterns with subjects that men can feel comfortable doing. From supercars to superheroes, I want to make cross stitch more palatable for men, so that they can appreciate it as a more relaxing alternative to Gears of War or Halo3. That’s my main aim, and I’m feeling confident!


Where do you find your inspiration?

I spend a lot of time wading through RSS feeds from graffiti and contemporary craft blogs. There’s so much brilliant stuff happening out there, it’s terrific to see. I’m really interested in the political aspect of crafts and how they empower people to fend for themselves – I feel inclined towards more political work as time passes. But there are so many inspirational artists out there, I am humbled. I’m just a pattern maker really, I feel guilty considering myself as anything resembling an artist. I’m just glad to be a part of the craft revolution.

New Year, New Feature Project from Craftster!

Hi All~
I hope 2009 is going well for everyone! Each month, I like to feature a Craftster that really stands out and who's work is amazing. The featured artist is picked by fellow Craftsters by hitting the "this rocks" button. We have had so many amazing pieces of work. This month's featured artist is SnueGliffer. Her Alice in Wonderland piece is amazing! Take a look!




Let's find out more about this amazing talent, shall we...
1. Tell me a little bit about the project.

Previously I'd been using Sublime Stitching transfers to practice stitches,because I'm fairly new to embroidery. I thought the next step in learning would be to experiment with methods of transferring drawings of my own choice onto fabric. I decided to use the Tenniel "Alice'sAdventures In Wonderland" illustrations from a colouring book I'd bought a few years ago. I've always loved the illustrations, & because of this I thought a series of them would be good for a first major project because I wouldn't become bored with stitching Alice & the other characters.



2. Tell me a little about yourself

I'm 39, & I share my flat in Manchester, England with so much stuff I've collected over the years (nun dolls, books, vintage car models, kitsch religious bric-a-brac etc. etc.) which makes housework very difficult. In fact, I rarely do it (good excuse!). I love nature & animals, & dream of one day inheriting a fortune (don't we all?) & buying my own animal sanctuary. I'm very much a night owl. I have terrible insomnia, but I like the nighttime/early morning best. The silence helps me concentrate on my needlework better. I dabble in a variety of crafts, but embroidery & knitting are my favourite.


3. What/who inspires you?

I have a long list of projects I'd like to begin in the future because every day I see a picture, painting, illustration in a book that I'd like to stitch. I'm partial to old illustrations, particularly in children's books & anatomical drawings in early 20th century medical texts (a future project!). Of course the Craftster forums are a source of huge inspiration, as are craft blogs.



4. How long have you been stitching and how did you get started?

I've been embroidering for around seven months now. Before that I was a cross stitcher, but I began to feel cross stitch can be a little bit restricting. I didn't want hard pixelated edges on particular things, such as portraits. I was actually inspired to take up embroidery after looking at the Sublime Stitching forum at Craftster! I bought the book, & sent for some transfers & I was immediately addicted.


6.What's your favorite word and least favorite word....

favourite word: Higgledy-piggledy. (sounds cute & sums up my life & thoughts perfectly )

least favourite word: Mathematics. (summons up the dread of maths classes at school & the near-phobia i have of numbers)

Rocking the Stem Stitch

awesome stem stitching by ~glenda

Isn't Glenda's stem stitch out of this world? Made with Sublime Stitching Pirates Ahoy pattern. And a bottle of rum.

Hi Bears Cross -Stitch Pattern

The minute I saw these cute bears in Penguin and Fish's photostream, I was in love. Now you can stitch them too! The PDF pattern is on sale in the Penguin and Fish shop. Woo-hoo!