Stitchy Snippets- Edgy Embroidery

Happy Halloween everyone. I hope you are all feeling spooked! :)

Take a look at this fantastic collection of decorative embroidered skulls and bones by Moonrise Whims. I love the combination of the dark and gruesome with colourful, floral motifs. Renee Rominger, the great mind behind Moonrise Whims, has also published a book full of designs called 'Edgy Embroidery'. You can find out more here.

(Editor's note: By the way, the link above is an Amazon Affiliate link - clicking through the link and buying is one way to support our volunteer reviews - we use funds in our Amazon account for new giveaways and reviews. Would you like us to review this book on Feeling Stitchy? Leave a note in the comments if so!)

Spooky Saturday!

Hi all - in this last Saturday before the big spooky day, I am re-sharing another gem from a past stitchalong! This Spooky Halloween pattern by Cathy Gaubert is a super adorable.

Here's a roundup of all the different ways this wonderful little pattern was stitched, for inspiration: http://www.feelingstitchy.com/2011/10/september-stitch-along-wrap-up.html.

Cathy's blog has since gone on hiatus, but she was happy to hear from us, and happy that her pattern has been shared and loved and stitched so many times. Thank you, Cathy!

I'd like to follow up with a special plea - do you see that sweet little pup in our sidebar? We are still raising money for Amy's sweet dog Sid, who is going through cancer treatment. If you have ever downloaded a free pattern from Feeling Stitchy, won a giveaway, or enjoyed a tutorial or article, we'd be so tickled if you contribute a little something to Amy's fund, no matter how small.

We'd love to let Amy know how important her voice has been here, and online. I know there are so many demands on your income and time, but just a dollar or two from many people adds up! Feeling Stitchy has always been free, we don't advertise, save for doing reviews and features of items we hope you'll like, and we're all volunteers. So please take a minute to support one of our wonderful volunteers, Amy!

Feeling Random Friday #2 with Spincushions

Welcome Back, Stitchy Friends! As promised in my last post, which was also my first Feeling Random Friday, this weekly post will explore all kinds of crafts that use a needle. Today let's take a look at Spincushions. I have followed Shelley on Instagram for a few years. She started out posting about hand embroidery, which later moved into a passion and focus on crochet and knitting. The thing I love best about Shelley's work is how bright and colorful it is with a whole lot of texture thrown in, too.

You can find Shelley on Instagram, her website, and Pinterest.

Free Needles from Tres Chic Stitchery!

Did you know that Tres Chic Stitchery gives out free embroidery needles? We previously featured one of their beautiful Sajou kits for a giveaway, and we were super-excited to learn about their free needles promotion!

Visit their site to learn more - thanks for letting us know, Tres Chic!

http://treschicstitchery.com/free-package-of-embroidery-needles/

Wonderful Wednesday #54: MLM XOXO

What gorgeous Fall Leaf Embroidery Kits these are by MLM XOXO on Etsy! You may choose from a red leaf duo, acorns, or a dark chestnut leaf and the kits contain: a 4” wood hoop, design drawn on fabric, embroidery floss & needle, grosgrain ribbon, and card stock. I am loving the gorgeous, deep colors used on these!

Feeling Random Friday #1 with Embroidology

Hello Stitchy Friends!

I know I've been gone for a while...I've had some great and not so great events happen in my life, and I needed to take some time to sort my life out. I am so lucky to have an Editor like Floresita who is understanding and supportive.

I was getting a bit burned out on Friday Instagram Finds, and wanted to try my hand at something new. I tossed around some ideas with Floresita and my husband, and it became clear that I wanted to expand from solely focusing on embroiderers and cross stitchers to ANY art/craft with a needle. I also wanted to honor the Feeling Stitchy and my blog's name, Random Acts of Amy, somehow into the title, and thus, Feeling Random Friday was born!

In Feeling Random Fridays, I'll focus on embroiderers, cross stitchers, quilters, sewers, knitters, crocheters (I know it's a hook, but needles are sometimes used.), tattooers, you name it - any art or craft that uses a needle. The world is big and varied, so why not try to see as much of it as we can?! If you come across an artist who uses a needle, tag #feelingrandomfriday for me so I can take a look!

Our first feature is @Embroidology! Steph is an ex-neuroscience student turned science embroidery artist. I follow her on Instagram, and love to see her science related works of art. The picture above is the anatomy of a flower, and some of her other pieces are closeups of plant cells, root vascular cells, and microglial cells. I recommend you check out her Instagram feed.

I will see you next week when I'll feature...another amazing needle artist!

Wonderful Wednesday #53: And Other Adventures

Now here's a lovely treat you could stitch up in time for Halloween - this simple and elegant Halloween Bat by And Other Adventures on Etsy! It really has a very graceful simplicity going on, and is classy and spooky. You cloud also reverse the image with white thread on a dark background, or maybe glow in the dark thread for a spooky door sign.

Stitchy Snippets - Quirky Curiosities

With Halloween approaching, it's time for some peculiar curiosities of the textile kind. Take a look at these creepy but also charming, little creatures crafted by Annie Montgomerie.

The figures are skillfully constructed by hand using a combination of textiles including muslin, 100% wool felt, ‘up-cycled’ garments, velvet, leather and cotton.

Freebie Friday: Kitsch Witch and Kitsch Witch, Too!

Right click and save or Download here

Over the years, we enjoyed having so many wonderful patterns designed as free patterns for our stitchalongs.

This adorable Kitsch Witch pattern was designed by Bridgeen Gillespie - among other things, Bridgeen has written for MrXStitch and Craftsy, as well as designing her own patterns over the years.

I had a lot of fun stitching the Kitsch Witch, using a lovely floss palette from Sublime Stitching called Parlour.

When I checked in with Bridgeen this month, to ask if I could re-share her lovely pattern, she responded by designing another free pattern for Feeling Stitchy!

So here's a new free pattern by Bridgeen, in honor of Halloweens past on Feeling Stitchy, called Kitsch Witch Too!

Kitsch Witch Too Pattern

Right click and save or Download here

Kitsch Witch Too Color Guide

Here's a complimentary color guide by Bridgeen, but she invites you to stitch up the Kitsch Witch in any combination of skin tone and color that you see fit!

Thank you so much Bridgeen!

Wonderful Wednesday #52: Satsuma Street

I am absolutely charmed by this witchy Halloween Cat Cross Stitch Pattern by Satsuma Street. And I apologize, because there's probably no way (unless you went on a total stitching bender) that you could have this done by Halloween. But you could just grab the pattern and be all set for next year!

Twitter Tuesday: Claire Buckley

Textile artist Claire Buckley has been sharing some absolutely phenomenal stitching on Twitter this year, in her 1 year of stitches project. If you're craving some daily embroidered inspiration on Twitter, I highly recommend a follow of her beautiful feed!

Would you like to be featured in our Twitter Tuesday series? Then follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/feelingstitchy and tag your embroidery photos with #embroidery or #feelingstitchy so we can find you!

Please help Sidney! Fundraiser for Amy's sweet pup

For many of our long time readers, you know Amy from her wonderful Friday Instagram Finds posts on the blog. Some of you first found your way to Feeling Stitchy via her posts on Instagram as well! Well, Amy and her sweet chihuahua Sidney are now in need, and I wanted to ask that if anyone can help, even just a little bit, to please help!

In addition to being an awesome crafter, embroiderer and maker, Amy and her husband are very dedicated to animal rescue, both by adopting rescues like Sidney and volunteering and donating to animal rescues and shelters. They have helped so many, in the crafting and animal world, and now they need some help.

Sidney is a sweet chihuahua who is in treatment for lung cancer - everyone knows that cancer treatment is no picnic, but imagine how difficult it is for such a tiny being, or to be the owner who has to watch over your little pup enduring these treatments.

If all you can offer is prayers, I believe those are helpful, too! But if you can at all help, even just a bit, it will go a long way to helping a couple who have already given so much of themselves to the crafting world and the animal world!

Wonderful Wednesday #51: Samantha Purdy Textile

What a delightful, unique little pattern by Samantha Purdy Textile on Etsy! I was immediately enamored with this charming, simple Raking Leaves pattern, from the fall colors and the leaves, to the cute acorn hat.

There are so many unique and gorgeous little Fall and Winter themed patterns in this shop, that I thought I'd treat you to a few more peeks:

Fall Day

Apple Cider

Stitchy Snippets - Applique Art

This beautiful and charming textile art is by illustration artist Mika Hirasa. Combining a collection of antique cloths with decorative embroidery, Mika Hirasa creates playful characters and stories in her art work. Much of her art work is commissioned for advertising and magazines and book covers. Talking about her art, Mika Hirasa states that her 'fabric art gives off a warmth that can only be felt from hand-made works'.

Book Review and giveaway: The Embroidered Garden by Kazuko Aoki

Today I have the pleasure of reviewing The Embroidered Garden: Stitching through the Seasons of a Flower Garden, a beautiful book by embroidery artist Kazuko Aoki. Overall, this book is a wonderful advanced addition to your embroidery library - if you are a beginner, this book is a great way to expand your skills and hone your attention to detail.

Just so you know, the book link above is an Amazon Affiliate link - clicking through the link and buying is one way to support our volunteer reviews - we use funds in our Amazon account for new giveaways and reviews.

This book review has been long in the making, as any of you who follow me on Instagram have seen. I am embarassed to say I received this book more than a year ago from the publisher, stitched up my project, then life took over and I never posted my review. Well, this is a beautiful book, so not another fall will go by without me posting my review!

What's in the book

As a gardener, Kazuko Aoki has created wonderfully organic designs incorporating the flowers that inspire her into each season - Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. There are 4 large wreath designs for each season, and 4 smaller band-size designs, as well as a series of small projects for each season - about 29 patterns total.

You will quickly learn that nothing in this book can be categorized as "easy", every line counts - and what looks simple has an underlying attention to detail that results in something quite extraordinary.

Here's a brief peek through the book:

Spring pattern

Garden diary project

Butterfly brooches

Summer wreath

Autumn wreath

Winter wreath

This tips and techniques section is very helpful - but you may need to whip out your magnifying glass - the pictures and text are teeny-tiny!

The pattern pages are very complex, and depending on the stitcher, somewhat overwhelming. They are scaled smaller than the finished project, which will necessitate a trip to the copier. My approach to the patterns was to use them as a general guide to stitches and color, but not to follow them too religiously.

My Project

Tip: If you trace directly over the wreath pattern image it will fit perfectly into an 8 inch embroidery hoop.

I had a wedding to go to, and I wanted to have a present that was unique and extraordinary - I found just that in the Winter Wreath pattern.

Although the pattern was undeniably gorgeous as is, I really wanted to approach this in a unique way, and tailor the project to the bride's wedding colors, which were navy blue and gold.

I was very fortunate to find some beautiful navy blue linen in my mother's fabric stash, and chose that as my background. Of course the dark fabric produced a series of challenges - I initially used white carbon paper to transfer the image, and yellow chalk pencil to refine the lines.

When those lines faded, I traced the image, and stitched directly onto the tracing paper:

Both techniques worked well, and both had their drawbacks - my advice if you are stitching on dark fabric is to be open to trying out a new technique, and see what works best for you!

I used as many types of floss as I could handle for my piece:

6 strand DMC embroidery floss, vintage floss, gold metallic floss and thread, white DMC pearlescent effects floss, and rayon floss. Everything worked out really well and added to the overall sheen of the piece.

What I loved about this project was all the new things I learned - like using split stitch to fill an entire shape. I had never thought of doing that before, and I loved the organic texture it created. I also found myself relying on (and developing) my drawing and tracing skills. Visit my personal blog if you'd like to see even more process photos!

In patterns as complex as these, you must ultimately accept that reproducing it exactly is neither possible nor advisable - the magic of these patterns is what you bring to them yourself.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to lovers of Japanese craft books, and stitchers looking for an added challenge, but there are projects suitable for beginners as well.

Giveaway!

I enjoyed this book so much that we are doing a giveaway from our own small funds, so I will need to limit the giveaway to US only - so sorry!

Please leave a comment on this post to enter - and tell me - what is your favorite season and why? I'll leave comments open through Saturday, October 7, when I'll choose one random winner!

Edit: 10/9/17 - We have our winner! Sarah posted the random winning comment, please see below! Thank you all for joining in! :)