April 18, 2012

Meet the Bloggers: Pam

Okay, Pam is not a new blogger, but that doesn't make her any less awesome. In fact, I'm not sure how she could get any more awesome - Pam has been my crafty idol since my early Craftster days, and she is still a Needlework moderator there, and star of their Craftster Quickies series.

Sunny Buick French Girl
Sunny Buick French Girl, stitched by Pam

Pam's blog, Faster Kittykill is your source for everything from dog pics, drink recipes, movie suggestions, vintage patterns and (of course) awesome stitching. Pam helps moderate our Facebook page and the Embroidery group on Flickr. But more than that, she's been an awesome stitching friend, and it's an honor to have her here.


Look for Pam here on Wednesdays -she'll be posting vintage inspiration and projects on Way Back Wednesdays. I know you didn't go anywhere, but welcome back, Pam! :)

Hi, I'm floresita, editor of Feeling Stitchy. I'm an avid stitcher, knitter, and crafter. You can see more of my stitching on Instagram and my blog. My vintage transfer collection is on Vintage Transfer Finds.

Feel free to email me with any ideas for the blog!

Marilyn redwork

Marilyn redwork
Stitched by mega4beth

All I can say is wow. Gorgeous work here by mega4beth.

Hi, I'm floresita, editor of Feeling Stitchy. I'm an avid stitcher, knitter, and crafter. You can see more of my stitching on Instagram and my blog. My vintage transfer collection is on Vintage Transfer Finds.

Feel free to email me with any ideas for the blog!

April 17, 2012

Tutorial Tuesday

Hi there! Bobbypin Bandit (a.k.a. Kristen) here. I am very excited to be joining the Feeling Stitchy crew in bringing some fun tutorials to share with you all. I love to embroider, but often find myself searching for what to do with the finished item once it's been stitched. I am here to share some ideas with you about what I do with the things I embroider, because even though the throw pillows and wall hangings are fantastic, it's always nice to mix things up a bit.

This week, I decided to share a quick and easy tutorial for a coffee press cozy (or is it coozie?). Either way, it helps keep the coffee warm while it's in a coffee press.


I used a few different patterns from Jenny Hart's Sublime Stitching Hundreds of Hip Embroidery Patterns and How-To book and put it on this panel of fabric a while back and knew I wanted it to be a feature piece somewhere in my kitchen, but just didn't know what to turn it into. One day, when I was particularly bummed that my coffee hadn't stayed warm long enough, I decided it should become a coffee press cozy.


One of my friends taught me how to make a reusable coffee sleeve for cups from a coffee shop so we decrease the use of cardboard sleeves. I used the same process on a larger scale for the coffee press cozy. This will require the use of a sewing machine, but it's only to stitch the fabric together and add a finishing stitch along the outside.

If you are a serial crafter like me, you might already have these things in your supply closet, but if not, here's what you need to get started:
-Embroidered panel of your choice, 1 back panel, 1 piece of batting, and 2 pieces of heat resistant fabric cut to 15 x 5.5 inches
- 1/8" braided Elastic cut into two 6 inch long pieces
-Two buttons
-Thread in color of your choice
Note: Heat resistant fabric is also called ironing board fabric. You can eliminate the heat resistant fabric if you have interfacing/batting intended specifically for lunchboxes or potholders.


Step 1: Cut all the fabric and batting, if you haven't already, to 15 by 5.5 inches.


Step 2: Begin layering the fabric so that you can run it through the sewing machine. Start with a piece of the heat resistant fabric, then place the main panel face up. Fold the pieces of elastic in half and place them on one shorter end of the cozy. I placed them 2 inches away from the top and bottom. Continue layering the fabric over this with the back panel face down, a piece of heat resistant fabric, and the batting.


Step 3: Stitch around the entire piece and through each layer, making sure to leave an opening around 2 inches big, so you can flip it. I used a 1/4" seam allowance, although, my batting got a little crooked as I stitched it. Clip the corners and flip.


Step 4: After you flip the entire piece, stitch along the edge. This will seal the opening that you used to flip it.



Step 5: Place your buttons on the side opposite to that of the elastic. Stitch them in place.



Step 6: Wrap your coffee press and enjoy warm coffee for a bit longer.



I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. It's pretty quick to put together and really does help keep the coffee warm.


Happy coffee time!

Hi, I'm Kristen! I am a lover of all things stitchy and crafty. I have been sewing for as long as I can remember. My grandmother taught me how to sew Barbie clothes when I was young and I have been sewing ever since.

You can find me at Bobbypin Bandit, on Instagram, and my Etsy shop.

Meet the New Bloggers: Kristen

Next up on our new bloggers to introduce is Kristen! She blogs bright and colorful tutorials, vintage stitching, and more on her blog, Bobby Pin Bandit. It's so wonderful to have her on Feeling Stitchy!

A little bit more about Kristen:
Hi, I’m Kristen. I am a lover of all things stitchy and crafty. I have been sewing for as long as I can remember. My grandmother taught me how to sew Barbie clothes when I was real young and I have been sewing ever since. I started embroidering about eight years ago when I wanted to fix an embroidered blouse I bought in Mexico. When I am not sewing, stitching or crafting, I am working on my dissertation or spending time with Douglas, a quirky comedian of a miniature pinscher.

Kristen will be bringing us tutorials on Tuesdays - or, Tutorial Tuesdays.  Thanks for joining us Kristen! :)

Hi, I'm floresita, editor of Feeling Stitchy. I'm an avid stitcher, knitter, and crafter. You can see more of my stitching on Instagram and my blog. My vintage transfer collection is on Vintage Transfer Finds.

Feel free to email me with any ideas for the blog!

April 16, 2012

Dreams Come to Pass

What an unusual find! I could not pass up this wonderful piece for my collection. A Hungarian, hand-embroidered pillow that says "Dreams Come to Pass". I love how the girls are mirror-images of each other -it's a bit surreal. I wonder where the pattern is from? Have any ideas? I've been trying to find it...will report back if I do!

Beeton's Book of Needlework: 154. Sandwich Case Pt.1

Hullo! My name is Lia from SummerdayStudio blog and I am so excited and happy to be blogging for Feeling Stitchy this year. Best of all, I get to share with all of you my love for Public Domain Embroidery books and all the little projects and patterns that they have to offer.

This week I am sharing with you a cute little project from Beeton's Book of Needlework. It is a sandwich case, which the book describes as "...very useful on the occasion of a journey or picnic, as it can be carried in the pocket without any inconvenience."


For the edges, it is suggested that the Scallop Stitch be used.


It is important to note that in assembling the final piece, the scallops on both sides are joined together and then worked in a scalloped button-hole stitch, like so:


The book states that the words "Bon appetit" are worked over in Overcast Stitch with black purse silk and steel beads (for a better sample, check out Stitch School's Overcast Stitch):

The scroll pattern is worked in Chain Stitch with red silk.

Since most of the patterns and projects found in public domain books are small and not to scale, and oftentimes hard to decipher, I have taken the liberty to vectorize them to the best of my ability, eyesight and judgement. My only hope is that I can give justice to these lovely little marvels and that you may find something you would enjoy to embroider one of these days.


Hope you all have a wonderful week ahead and enjoy meeting more new bloggers for the site.  I will be back next week with my work in progress for Part 2 of this entry :-) Feel free to post your photos in the Embroidery group in Flickr should you also be so inclined to make yourselves a nifty lil' sandwich case too :-) 

Thank you again to Floresita, Feeling Stitchy and all the wonderful readers of this blog for the lovely welcome!

Meet the New Bloggers: Lia

All this week I'll be introducing our wonderful new bloggers on Feeling Stitchy! We received many responses from many extremely talented peeps, and it's an honor to be able to blog with so many extraordinary people.

First up on our new blogger list is Lia, you may recognize her from her personal blog Summerday Studio where she blogs on all sorts of topics like crafting, food, art, and clothing.

A little bit more about Lia:
Lia runs a farm during the day and crafts into the wee hours of the night. She was going to be a lawyer, but ended up in art school. She continues to hone her craft in embroidery and other needlework by spending copious amounts of time deciphering old books that she finds in second-hand bookstores and online.


You may also recognize her as the winner of last year's May stitch along contest- she stitched a perfect, tiny version of Cate Anevski's pattern on a Blythe dress:
Mr. Toast detail

Look for Lia on Mondays when she'll be sharing projects from Public Domain Embroidery books. Welcome, Lia! :)

Hi, I'm floresita, editor of Feeling Stitchy. I'm an avid stitcher, knitter, and crafter. You can see more of my stitching on Instagram and my blog. My vintage transfer collection is on Vintage Transfer Finds.

Feel free to email me with any ideas for the blog!

April 15, 2012

Patterns: Abel the Stitch Explorer

Abel the Stitch Explorer (detail) by Follow the White Bunny

Nicole from Follow the White Bunny has just released the most adorable sampler pattern in the form of this cute, exploring mouse. The pattern includes lots of different stitches and colours and would make a great prompt to extend your stitching repertoire by trying out some new things and the finished result would look great in a child's bedroom. You can find the pattern here.

Hi, I'm Jo - I feature new embroidery patterns Sundays on Feeling Stitchy. I also post on our Twitter and Pinterest.

Is there a new pattern you'd like us feature? Email me!

April 13, 2012

April Stitchalong: week 2

Preparing to make a monster cupcake
photo by Animerae

Well I was super-excited to see so much progress on April's stitchalong - Love and a Sandwich's Monster cupcake! I've got my pieces all cut out, but I think I'll start by showing you all the gems that have been uploaded in the pool so far...

First up is Animerae's fierce little purple cupcake:
Sprinkle's!!!! Nom nom nom


I love how LaWhimsy sketches out her ideas and includes her drawings in her pictures:
AprilStitchalong2012 ~ Happy Monster Cupcake and Sketch
I'm glad she stitched out of her comfort zone and made this cute little cupcake her own. :)


Look at this cutie stitched by Luciana!
happy cupcake
He looks sort of like a happy little gnome cupcake, and I love the shiny bead sprinkles.


Little Red Emo Hood stitched an adorable version on pink gingham:
Cupcake applique


And I love the pillow pinkaleen made with her cupcake pattern:
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Is all of this inspiring you to stitch your own cupcake? I don't know about you but I'm hungry for more cupcakes!
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You can also use Chelsea's drawing as a guide to arrange your pieces:
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Download the PDF
Week One

Dont forget to tag your photos "AprilStitchalong2012" and add them to the Embroidery group, so we can all see them!

Oh, and yes, your eyes do not fool you - we've finally taken the plunge and are using Disqus for our comments. Some of you have had a hard time commenting since Blogger changed their system, and Disqus offers lots of cool options to keep a conversation going. I'm hoping this will make it even easier for you to share your thoughts with us! Any comments made before today are temporarily invisible while they migrate into Disqus - but everything should be synced up within a week, I hope. Any new comments should show up right away, so feel free to give us a test comment today!

Hi, I'm floresita, editor of Feeling Stitchy. I'm an avid stitcher, knitter, and crafter. You can see more of my stitching on Instagram and my blog. My vintage transfer collection is on Vintage Transfer Finds.

Feel free to email me with any ideas for the blog!

April 12, 2012

The Shining embroidery

Come play with us for ever and ever and ever
Stitched by Drop Dead Quirky

If you've seen The Shining, you know exactly who these little girls are. Amy did an awesome job stitching this up - I love that she left the girls faceless, for an added creepy touch. Great work!

Hi, I'm floresita, editor of Feeling Stitchy. I'm an avid stitcher, knitter, and crafter. You can see more of my stitching on Instagram and my blog. My vintage transfer collection is on Vintage Transfer Finds.

Feel free to email me with any ideas for the blog!

April 11, 2012

Way Back Wednesday

The rotten apple
I love when people take vintage patterns and update them. Lacerslife created this rotten apple embroidery and it is FAB! I love how all the other apples are happy and having a good time and of course, it takes one bad apple to ruin it for everyone. I think he has the right idea, how happy would you be if you were about to be turned into a pie?

April 10, 2012

Interview with Nguyen Le of Knit Knit

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Today I have the honor of interviewing Nguyen Le, an artist and Etsy seller who creates delicate jewelry in many forms - knit, needle felting, and embroidery, all under the name Knit Knit.

In particular, I am fascinated by her hand-embroidered totem animals, which are incredible in their tiny detail. Everyone, let's meet Nguyen!

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I am in love with your miniature embroideries - what inspired you to create them? May I ask how long it takes to stitch one?

Why thank you! I like combining materials, and especially fiber with things that they're not normally paired with, such as metal. I was making very simple stitched embroidered pendants, and one day a friend suggested I embroider animals. I love woodland creatures and also doing detailed embroidery - it was a great fit! I came up with a series of embroidered power/totem/spirit animals.Since the embroideries are so tiny, it's hard draw out the image on felt. What I usually do is make dots where the eyes should be and eyeball it from there. Each animal is different, so the embroidery time varies for each piece.


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I adore the tiny-ness of your work! What do you think inspires you to create on this scale?

I wanted to make embroidered jewelry, so I knew the pieces couldn't be too big. There is something special about tiny work that I love too - it's the delicateness.


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How long have you been stitching?

On and off since I was in junior high. My mom used to sew and embroider a lot when I was a kid, and I picked it up.


What is your first crafting memory?

I remember sponge painting in kindergarten and getting scolded for mixing up the sponges in the wrong color. I guess it made an impression because I haven't done it since!


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Where in the world are you? 

Brooklyn, NY!


Do you have an art background - if so (or if not), how do you think this has affected your work?

I have a photography degree. The composition of a photograph is very important to making your statement, and I think that's helped me in the composition of my jewelry pieces. I'll move things around until I feel it flow together, much like looking at a subject from different angles before photographing it.


As a former New Yorker, I know it's tough to find a craft store in the city - do you have any favorites?

I love Brooklyn General, Purl Soho, and my neighborhood craft store, Fiber Notion.


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Do you like to craft with friends or are you more of a solo crafter?

Both - I work from home, so I craft alone a lot. I get more done when I'm crafting alone, but it's nice to craft with company. It brings new energy and ideas - always refreshing!


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Name one project of yours that you LOVE.

I love all of my pieces, but I really love my embroidered deer brooch. The deer is my power animal, so this has a special place in my heart.


5 movies you LOVE

Amelie, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Everything Is Illuminated, Breakfast At Tiffany's, and The Fountain.

*****

Thank you, Nguyen, for taking time to share a few thoughts and words with us! All images in this post are used courtesy of her shop and site. You can find Nguyen's wonderful totem animals here.

For more on Nguyen, visit:

Her site: http://knitknitknits.com/
Her shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/KnitKnit
Her blog: http://www.knitknitknits.blogspot.com/

Hi, I'm floresita, editor of Feeling Stitchy. I'm an avid stitcher, knitter, and crafter. You can see more of my stitching on Instagram and my blog. My vintage transfer collection is on Vintage Transfer Finds.

Feel free to email me with any ideas for the blog!

April 8, 2012

Patterns: Kitchsy Fruit Crewel Embroidery

Crewel embroidery: fruit (front)
Crewel Embroidery: Fruit (front) stitched by Allspiceabounds

This is Carolyn's (Allspiceabounds) first attempt at crewel embroidery, isn't it perfect? The pattern is from June Craft and is so bright and springlike. June Craft is also worth checking out for this gorgeous crewel bird pattern, as well as some gorgeous prints and make your own softies.

Crewel embroidery may seem a little daunting but it's very similar to normal embroidery and June Craft's pattern .pdfs come complete with comprehensive stitch instructions. If you would like to stitch these patterns but don't want to do them in crewel wool or just simply can't get hold of it, the .pdfs also come with the same design, sized for both embroidery thread and tapestry wool, so no excuse!

Hi, I'm Jo - I feature new embroidery patterns Sundays on Feeling Stitchy. I also post on our Twitter and Pinterest.

Is there a new pattern you'd like us feature? Email me!

April 7, 2012

April Stitchalong: Love and a Sandwich



This month's stitchalong pattern was created by the incredibly awesome Chelsea of Love and a Sandwich. From monsters to robots to cupcakes, she embroiders it all. She also does a series of posts on MrXStitch called Plush Love (and a Sandwich). Her style is bright, colorful, and crazy fun. If you read Feeling Stitchy, you've seen her work before - we featured a time lapse of her embroidery process, and we interviewed her here.

Here's Chelsea's monster cupcake tutorial, from start to finish!

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Step 1: Original sketch, I just traced the hoop I wanted to use and drew inside it to create my pattern.
(If you're working from the template, use your embroidery hoop as a guide and enlarge or shrink your cupcake accordingly.)


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Step 2: Materials - you'll need:
embroidery hoop
felt
cotton fabric
tiny plastic beads (for cherry's eyes)
black and white embroidery floss
sewing thread
pins
needle


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Step 3: Cut out the pattern pieces!
I left a little extra on the ends of the smaller pieces that needed to go underneath the bigger pieces so they were easier to sew down.


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Step 4: Applique!
I purposely didn't sew down certain parts, like the brown parts of the eyes, and the bottom of the white on the cupcake, to make it look more 3D.


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Step 5: Used embroidery thread to make the lines in the cupcake holder, and the little cherry's mouth. Used tiny plastic beads for their eyes, but doing little french knots would work too! I drew out lightly with pen where I wanted the lines to go before I used the thread.


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Step 6: Cut the Sprinkles!
I purposely chose colors that were already in my hoop, plus the green & yellow because they were bright.


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Step 7: Carefully arranged and appliqued the sprinkles, only used 2 stitches on each one. Tacky glue would work as well.


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Step 8: Traced the hoop on felt to use as a backing. Hot glued down all the fabric edges (watch her video for an example of this), and then glued down the red felt with my little label.


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Finished cupcake!

Thank you Chelsea! Are you guys ready to join in? I bet you are! I traced over Chelsea's drawing, to make a template:
finishedparts4


Feel free to use Chelsea's drawing as a guide to arrange all your pieces:
tempfinished6

Download the PDF

Remember, this is your cupcake, so stitch it exactly as you like - leave things off, add things, change the colors, with or without sprinkles - get creative!

As you stitch, be sure to snap photos, tag them "AprilStitchalong2012" and add them to the Embroidery group. I'll be checking in with you guys this month, and sharing your work (and mine!)

Hi, I'm floresita, editor of Feeling Stitchy. I'm an avid stitcher, knitter, and crafter. You can see more of my stitching on Instagram and my blog. My vintage transfer collection is on Vintage Transfer Finds.

Feel free to email me with any ideas for the blog!

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