Christmas Countdown #4: RedBear Design

I'm loving the bold colors in this Joy Cross Stitch pattern by RedBear Design. There are loads of lovely Christmas and holiday patterns and kits in this shop - if you're looking for a sweet small project for the holidays, you might like to visit the RedBear Design shop!

Review: DMC Stitchable Mesh and Pattern giveaway

Hello all! Today I am reviewing the new DMC Stitchable Mesh - and for all of you who follow me on Instagram, this post comes as no surprise, as you already saw "sneak peeks" of my thoughts and progress while working with it. Thank you, first of all, to DMC for sending me the stitchable mesh to work with - it was a treat!

The stitchable mesh is thin enough to put in a regular embroidery hoop - I fit all of mine in an 8 inch hoop. The mesh is very sheer (as you see above), and has two sides - one with a silver-white finish, and one with a gold finish. I chose the gold finish for my project - and it has a very nice sheen.

The edges of the mesh, once cut, unravel very quickly. One of the most important parts of your project, when working with this fabric, will be to secure the edges. If I had it to do again, I would do a quick running stitch around the edges. The raw edges feel like tulle, and are scratchy on the hands, so you may also want to line them with bias tape, if possible.

I initially tried tracing my design using a fine-tipped black marker - don't repeat my mistake. :) Instead, try a permanent ink marker, or you will literally have a bit of a mess on your hands. :)

Also, be aware as you stitch that the luster is quite fragile - if you pick out your stitches, you'll be able to see where exactly you did that. Squint at the photo above and you'll see where I picked out my stitches. There's a ghostly line, where the gold luster was removed from unpicking.

Another thing to consider as you stitch is that once you remove your fabric from the hoop, it will be stretched and bent - as above. So I'd suggest leaving your project in the hoop, or avoiding a hoop, if you don't want this issue.

As I mentioned before, the mesh is very transparent, and will reveal whatever is behind it. I think this is a plus, though - as it gives you an extra dimension to play with in your stitching!

By layering a taupe fabric underneath, I achieved a really lovely 3-D effect, which made it look like the stitches were floating on top of the fabric:

Cool, huh? Now, onto my experiences with stitching on the mesh...

I really enjoyed stitching on this fabric! I won't lie, I was intimidated when I saw it, but once I pulled the needle through, I found that it stitched the same as your average Aida cloth. For some reason, I actually found it easier to stitch French knots on this surface. But I used all of the same stitches I normally use - split, chain, knots, woven wheel, and couching, and I never had any issue - see above for a sampling.

Here's another closeup of that nice mesh surface.

Here is my finished project - a lovely wedding hoop:

Overall, I found this new stitchable mesh very enjoyable. If you keep in mind the caveats I listed above, and plan your project carefully, I'm sure you can achieve some really lovely and unique results with this fabric. Thank you again to DMC for sending this to me, to try!

Free Custom Pattern Giveaway!

Now, I always like to do a giveaway when I do a review, but this time I thought I'd do something a little different, since I don't have any extra mesh to give away... How about a free pattern? I'll create a free customized pattern with the names you supply!

To enter this custom pattern giveaway, leave a comment on this post, and tell me who you'd like to stitch this pattern for, and why. Please leave a comment on this post by Friday, Dec. 9, at 9 PM US CST, when I'll draw 2 winners!

Christmas Countdown #3: Lolli And Grace

These wonderful Sewing Ornaments by Lolli and Grace certainly merited a feature. The best thing about crafting ornaments for the holidays is that if you run out of time for this year's tree, you can simply pack them up and be ready early for next year's crafting!

Christmas Countdown #2: Larissa Holland

How exquisite is this 8 Maids A-Milking pattern by Larissa Holland? The pattern is part of a gradually released series of patterns, based on the 12 Days of Christmas song, here are all 8 patterns so far:

  

  

  

  

It's no secret that I love Larissa Holland's patterns - every year at Thanksgiving I pull out her beautiful Snow bird pattern, and make ornaments to give away to friends and family for the holidays. I know from experience that Larissa's patterns are extremely detailed and well-made, and I highly recommend a visit to Larissa Holland's shop for truly wonderful holiday inspiration!

Friday Instagram Finds No. 81 with Tramp Gramma

Can you believe it's already December? 2016 seems to have flown by! Today we're taking a look at the Instagram feed @trampgramma by Maria. I fell in love with Maria's embroidery the first time I saw it! How many other Hocus Pocus fans are there out there? Isn't her above hoop of the Sanderson sisters awesome?! In addition to her Instagram account, you can also find her on Facebook. Take a look below at more of my favorites from Maria's feed.

Arrumando o cabelinho 🌸

A photo posted by Tramp Gramma (@trampgramma) on Sep 8, 2016 at 9:34am PDT

She's a femme fatale ❤️🍌

A photo posted by Tramp Gramma (@trampgramma) on Oct 27, 2016 at 5:55am PDT

Saudades da série Botânica ❤️ Faz um tempão que não bordo minhas flores

A photo posted by Tramp Gramma (@trampgramma) on Nov 17, 2016 at 4:31am PST

Christmas Countdown #1: Threadhoney's Shop

Happy Holidays pattern - Threadhoney shop

Hi all! It's been a rough year, hasn't it? It's December and I thought we might all need some Christmas cheer. So I'll be counting down the days to Christmas - our wonderful friend Pam did our countdown in years past, and I'll be doing it in her honor this year.

I'll put my Wonderful Wednesday posts on pause for the month of December, so I can feature a new inspiring shop every day until Christmas. Whether you're in the market for a new pattern or not, I hope these images will inspire you!

So, first up, is Threadhoney's shop on Etsy - I love the simple style in the Happy Holidays pattern above, and the wintery blue palette.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas pattern - Threadhoney shop

But if red and green are where it's at for you, this We Wish You A Merry Christmas pattern has got you covered. Is there a shop you love that you'd like me to feature? Leave a comment below!

Wonderful Wednesday #29: Brighter Industries

This sweet Christmas A to Z cross stitch pattern by Brighter Industries looks just adorable. And if the shop name Brighter Industries is new to you, as any loyal reader of Feeling Stitchy, the name Jo should be very familiar, indeed.

Jo Stafferton was a wonderful contributor to our blog for quite some time, featuring new Etsy patterns and online shops in a weekly Sunday feature. So it is such a pleasure to feature her brand new Etsy shop and pattern on this Wonderful Wednesday!

Stitchy Snippets - The Material Of Cloth

Whilst queuing politely on the escalator down to the London Tube and recalling that 'I need to mind the gap!', I was struck by the beautiful embroideries by U.S.A based artist Lauren DiCioccio. Commissioned to promote Royal Ascot, a prestigious, annual horse racing event in the U.K., Lauren had created detailed embroideries exhibiting her vibrant and distinctive style.

I particularly enjoy her collections exploring the 'tangible beauty of commonplace mass-produced media-objects' such as newspapers, plastic bags and bottles. They highlight the brevity of everyday objects and capture their essence. 'These media are becoming obsolete, replaced by the invisible efficiency of various technologies. In some cases, this transition is a good thing- faster transmission and distribution of information, streamlined systems, openness to user input, less waste. But a hole is left behind by the disappearance of these everyday objects. What will happen when we no longer touch information? When newsprint does not rub off onto our fingertips? When we no longer write longhand?'

Drawing from her fine art education and experience Lauren's embroidery resembles a lush oil painting.

Discussing her passion for textiles and its power to evoke emotion, Lauren comments: 'We have a similarly strong emotional response to the material of cloth and to the recognition of time, labor, and care found in a hand-sewn object. Cloth is one of the only textures our body touches and feels so intimately twenty-four hours a day. Its specific tactility and ability to provoke an emotional response is extraordinary, and I have found it an extremely effective and rewarding material to use in my art practice.'

Some of her latest work includes intuitive textile sculptures which she has been exhibiting in her collection 'Familiars'. To find out more about Lauren DiCioccio take a gander at her website here.

MooshieStitch Monday: Puffy Couching (and Stitchable Cork!)

Have you ever heard of puffy couching? 

I was looking through one of my embroidery stitch books (The Embroiderer's Handbook by Margie Bauer) and saw it in the couching techniques section.

Essentially, a bundle of threads is puffed up between each couching stitch. 

To practice: I cut three 12 inch lengths of DMC floss and then pulled apart all 6 strands to create my bundle of threads below.

Smooth out the bundle of threads as best as you can. Fold the bundle in half and secure it to the fabric with a straight stitch.

Bring your first couching thread up and over the thread bundle.

Use your needle to lift and puff the thread bundle section.

Continue to couch down the thread bundle and lifting each section to desired puffiness.

To finish, bring your thread bundle through to the back of the fabric and secure. 

Here is the finished puffy couching.

DMC sent me a sample of their new stitchable cork fabric, so I decided to stitch a puffy couching project with it.

To give it a little different look, instead of bringing my thread bundle through to the back of the fabric to finish each color,  I left a little tassel on the end.

You can see my puffy couching has gaps in my thread bundle sections. I think it is because I didn't take as much time to smooth out my thread bundles, compared to above when practicing with the red thread.

So, it is important to get the bundles as smooth as possible. (But I still think they turned out ok!)

I liked stitching on the cork - it has a cool texture and it is similar to stitching on a thicker fabric.

I used the natural cork fabric for this project, but they also have a gold flecked cork.

Have you ever heard of puffy couching? It's definitely an easy stitch to give dimension to your embroidery. The tassels and puffy couching could be a good technique for stitching hair ... it reminds me of pony tails! :)


Thanks again to DMC for sending the stitchable cork!!

FYI - if you are interested in purchasing the book Michelle mentioned, here is an affiliate link to Amazon: The Embroiderer's Handbook. Clicking through this link to buy a book on Amazon is one way to support Feeling Stitchy and keep our all-volunteer work going. We use funds in our Amazon account to do new reviews and giveaways!