Good times for a change

I made the cross stitch you see pictured above to mark a special occasion: my last blog post for Feeling Stitchy. The text is a quote from my favourite '80's band the Smiths. Despite feeling sad about leaving this blog, I think this particular quote shows a positive sentiment too.

I surely loved writing for Feeling Stitchy and hopefully you have enjoyed my weekly posts too. Thank you all for reading them (and particularly for enduring my Dutch-English writing) and for taking the time to leave your comments. I hope my posts (and the Covered in Stitches contest) inspired some embroiderers reading this blog to try new things and to broaden their stitchy horizons!

Bye bye! *Waves fanatically* Oh and if you think you are going to miss me, you know what to do...just Follow the White Bunny!
Love and stitches,
Nicole/Follow the White Bunny

P.S. just to be clear, it's only me leaving, Feeling Stitchy is made by a team of bloggers and will continue to exist!

Patterns: Elsa Mora

(Please excuse the bad light, I finished these today and was so keen to show you guys!)

I was blown away by the detail on these Elsa Mora patterns, which I discovered via Pinterest last year and I knew I had to stitch them. Well, it took me a while, but I am very pleased with the finished effect. You can find the patterns, which are free (thank you Elsa!) on Elsa's blog here. I can thoroughly recommend a good browse of Elsa's blog whilst you're visiting, as she has even more gorgeous art work on there to.

January Stitchalong: covering the backs and hanging

Hi guys! Welcome to week 3 in the January Stitchalong. The theme of our stitchalong is couching and banners, if you'd like, you can tackle both or either one. :)

I'm doing a Happy New Year banner, using the shapes in the free template I provided. Up above, you see me trying to decide how I want this thing to hang - I decided to suspend "new" using white perle cotton from the letters a, p, and p.

Some of you may be wondering about hiding the backside of your work?


Well, I'm not super-neat but I am a bit prim about that, so I cut felt in contrasting colors to hide the back.

I'll just sandwich the perle cotton between the 2 layers of felt:


To attach them, you can stitch them together with a simple running stitch or blanket stitch.

I opted for the easier route: glue. ;) 

I picked it up for cheap at Hobby Lobby. Honestly, its performance is "meh" - it smells super-strong and it's very thick and hard to control, so I'm glad I did a test-run first on some "stunt" felt. :) By the way, let me know if you've had better results with another fabric glue on felt!

I decided the key to it actually sticking is to use lots of glue, but not so much that it seeps through and shows (ew). You can see my previous attempt on the pink side to use small neat dots. That didn't work. :)


I had fun choosing contrasting colors for the backs - so that if they ever flip over, it'll still look cute:



Ok, I'm just gonna admit I went way girly on this one. I think it's because I live in a pink room. It's infecting me! :)

Next step: how to hang your letters. There's a few ways you can do this, including sticking with the ultra-simple mini-clothespins I used above. Maybe even glitter clothespins? :)

Or, you could make ribbon loops, and secure them with stitches to the backs:



I decided to go with felt scraps - to follow along, cut a scrap about this big:



Fold in half:



Secure to the back with stitches, thread some ribbon or yarn through, and it's ready to hang!



So, if you're following along at my speed, we've arrived thus far:



Now, if you're looking at the yellow-orangey felt I used for the letters "new" and wondering to yourself - what was she thinking, you are not alone. :) I'm not 100% sure about that color - at first I thought it was cute and contrasty, but I may change my mind before I'm completely done, next week... :)


Onto your projects! :)

Amy did a banner, but with snowflakes, instead of letters:


I love the way her combinations of floss look like really neat running stitches! :)

Aimee is working on a couched sampler -


I love her combination of variegated yarn and bright green thread!

And finally, I dug up some lovely examples of couching on Flickr, like this beautiful piece by Eleanor:



This stitched piece in progress by Lalania:



And this very delicately stitched labyrinth in progress by fattycrafter:



Amazing stuff, huh? Hope you can join us this week, it's the last week of the January Stitchalong! To join in, add your pics to the embroidery pool and tag them "JanStitchalong.":)

Mary Thomas, continued

I just received this wonderful email and photographs from Barbara, and with her kind permission, I'm sharing it with you here:

Thought you might be interested in the following.

There was another Mary Thomas book called The Mary Thomas Embroidery Book, first published 1936. I bought my copy (seventh impression 1952) in 1953 from Cheshires in Melbourne, Vic, Australia, for 18/9 (eighteen shillings and nine pence for you young ones).

I taught myself to embroider from this book. First was a couple of very ordinary dinner mats which I no longer have but in 1953 I made a shadow work "throw" from the book. I forget what the correct name for them was but after you set a tea table or supper table in advance you would cover the food with a nice flimsy throwover.





Isn't Barbara's shadow work beautiful?

Thank you so much for sharing this with us, and giving me yet another technique I'd love to try! If any of you have stitched from or own either of the Mary Thomas books, we'd love to see your pics in the embroidery pool! :)

Mary Thomas, chapter 1

stitched by KittyStitch

I was on the hunt for all things couching for my next January stitchalong post when I found this amazing gem, stitched by KittyStitch. It seems she rendered all the stitches in chapter 1 of Mary Thomas's Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches. I am in awe of her color choices and the lovely precision with which she carried this out. Challenge: can you spot the couching? :)

I was really curious about the book, which I'd never heard of - it seems the original title was published in 1934, and looked like this (I love that sturdy 1930's typography):


photo courtesy of Savage Pink

A bit of googling led me to this helpful review of the book by savage pink and a nice review on Needle n'Thread. It seems the book is back in print and available on Amazon, and the updated photography in the preview looks amazing.

Does anyone own the updated or original versions of this book? I'd love to hear what you think of them! :)

Patterns: &Stitches

Feeling Stitchy bloggers Carina and Nicole have just launched an exciting new e-zine called &Stitches. A quarterly e-zine, each issue has a theme and for the first issue their theme is colour, so cue lovely, bright embroidery patterns from Nicole, Carina and for this issue, their guest embroidery designer is none other than Corinne from SeptemberHouse, with a brilliant fish design.

As well as three fantastic embroidery patterns (as well Corinne's fish, Nicole has designed a lovely text based Spring pattern and Carina has designed a very cheerful felt applique bird), there are articles on finding colour inspiration from objects around you and colour theory, which I think will be very useful for that all important first step (colour selection) in embroidery projects. There are also interviews, book reviews and a how to for an embroidery stitch that I've certainly never heard of and I'm always up for learning new stitches.

All this and great photography to, I certainly enjoyed reading this issue of &Stitches and will be eagerly looking forward to future issues. If you would like to check out &Stitches, Nicole and Carina are very kindly offering a discount to Feeling Stitchy readers, you can find the &Stitches shop here, just enter the code ORANGE at checkout to get 15% off! This offer is available till Wednesday 18th January (CET).

Because bears have thoughts too...

Naturally bears don't use words to express their thoughts, but their thoughts might just take the shape of a dark cloud... I am absolutely smitten with Cate Anevski's new pattern set called 'Animal Expressions'. The set includes seven animals, with all kinds of thoughts. You can purchase both the patterns and the finished art work in Cate's shop.

Patterns: Choose Your Own Rebellion

Radical Cross Stitch stitched by Nicole from Follow the White Bunny, pattern by Radical Cross Stitch

Fellow Feeling Stitchy blogger Nicole has been getting really into cross stitch recently and I love this piece she's stitched up from Radical Cross Stitch. I definitely recommend checking out Radical Cross Stitch's other cool patterns to.

Doilies, not just for crocheters

faux doily nearly done, originally uploaded by Smallest Forest.

I love this piece by Smallest Forest. Absolutely beautiful.

The combination of stitches is just right and it's just so very doily-ish!

Read more about it on the Smallest Forest blog. :-)

January Stitchalong: Couching 101

Last week I started off the January stitchalong and I promised you some details of my first attempt at couching. So, without further ado, here we go!

Step 1: Trace your letter onto paper, cut out, and place on your felt

Step 2: Loop your yarn to form the first part of your "h"

I chose a chunky weight yarn, but experiment with whatever yarn you have on hand. Every yarn has a different "drape" so try a few and see what you like!

Step 3: Add a few stitches to keep your yarn in place, and trim (I made my "h" with 2 pieces of yarn)

Step 4: Lay down the second piece of yarn, add a few stitches to keep it in place, and trim

Step 5: Use sharp scissors to clip into the paper carefully (without clipping your yarn!) :)

Step 6: Tug the paper out very carefully

This is the trickiest step - don't panic if your stitches come loose - just have your needle ready to re-stitch as necessary.

Step 7: Briefly admire your work :)

I'm not kidding! It looks pretty nice so far, eh? :) I kind of liked it as is, but I added more stitches just in case...

Step 8: Add remaining stitches

Stitch as much or as little as you like. Also, experiment with thread color vs. yarn color - I chose a combo that would show up nice and contrast-y for these pics. :) My advice in terms of color (since I am usually stumped) is keep it simple - I used three shades of felt I had on hand and 1 shade of floss.

One down, 4 to go! :)

For all of you who are just now tuning in - welcome to the January Stitchalong! Last week I shared a free template with you that has a nice script alphabet, two template shapes, and ideas for a banner layout:

From your comments, you guys are interested in a range of things, so feel free to experiment with couching, use the banner templates, use just the alphabet, or whatever you like!

To join in, just add your photo to the embroidery group and tag it "JanStitchalong"!


Some of you joined in right away - I love tamaratamara's elegant take on this stitchalong!

And one of you already has a banner ready to go! Bravo, kghawkes, for your first try at couching!!!

So, what do you say? I think we need to see some more stitching! :) I'll be back soon with more updates!!!

365 Lucky Days

The Artist herself: a young Lucky

Last September Lucky Jackson started a remarkable project called 365 Lucky Days. For one year she creates a new work of stitched art, each day. Within the 365 days Lucky does 'mini-series', pieces connected by a theme from portraits of family members to mug shots of celebrities to new years resolutions. My favourite might just be the 'I think I love you but I'm only a preteen and my mum says it just hormones' week. Lucky just past the '100 days of Stitching' mark so it's about time we got to know the talented lady behind the challenge a bit better!

Steve McQueen. Notice the 'jail suit' stripes in the background.

Who is Lucky Jackson?
Hmmm. I'm a mother of two gorgeous girls (4 and 6) and wife of the world's greatest husband. I am a self taught artist that loves everything vintage. I am an extremely optimistic person. I like to think I am a pretty funny gal (the jury is out on if I actually am)

Where do you find inspiration?
I have always been a bit of a recluse and have found company in books, music, movies and visual arts. I am a culture vulture. I think that is where I draw a lot of my inspiration from. I also collect a lot of vintage dresses, boots, cameras...and of course fabric. These items inspire me daily. I just kind of look around at the things I have and the things I have seen and the stories I have heard. I like to think my art is a combination of the two.

Bombshell: Marilyn Monroe

Any specific artist(s) that influence your work?
I love, graphic novelist Adrian Tomine. Luke Haynes blows me away with every new quilt he does. And I love the work of Children's book illustrator Oliver Jeffers. We collect all his books and the girls are always having to retrieve his books from my studio.

What inspired you to make a stitched work of art every day?
I keep journals of all my ideas and I kept thinking..when are you going to make them? You can spend a few hours surfing the web or you can make something.

Blog crush: Erin of www.calivintage.com 

You use some awesome fabrics in your pieces, where do you find them?
Value Village, Vinnie's (local thrift shop) my friend My Girl Thursday just gave me a huge bag of the most fabulous fabrics ever! People know what I do and there has been bags of fabric left on my door step with kind notes of encouragement. I live in the best town (Peterborough, Ontario) ever!

Richie Tenenbaum

In your 365 days project you work with different 'themes', do you have enough ideas to last you until day 365?
I have lots of ideas. What I need is more time! (ed. luckily 2012 is a leap your so this just might turn into a 366 days project!)

Family portraits

What is your personal favourite of all the pieces you made so far?
I like the portraits I did of my family. Ben and I as kids and my kids dressed up like super heroes.

What good has the project brought you so far?
I am so grateful for the press the project has received. People are so super supportive and encouraging. It blows me away. The most surprising thing about the project is how happy it makes me! I really love making something new every day.

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You can follow Lucky's progress on her 365 Lucky days blog. Some of her 365 days artwork is available in her shop.

Patterns: Jacobean Leaves

Jacobean Leaves cushion by Kel Fletcher

Ooh I love it when pattern designers I haven't noticed before post to the Embroidery Flickr pool, so it was a real treat when I checked in this morning to find this beauty. Jacobean Leaves cushion by Kelly Fletcher is a Jacobean crewel work pattern, the pattern also includes instructions on how to make the piece up into a cushion. I love crewel work patterns and there aren't that many out there, so it's a pleasure to discover a new source. You can find the pattern here, also check out Kelly Fletcher's other beautiful patterns, I particularly like the Celtic Leaves pattern. Kelly Fletcher's patterns range from beginner to advanced (Jacobean Leaves is listed as intermediate) and include crewel work, applique and beading. Some of the pieces are intended for framing but as with Jacobean Leaves, those that are intended to be made into something, Kelly gives instructions on how to make the item to.

Kelly also publishes a quarterly hand embroidery digital magazine featuring what look like lovely embroidery patterns, you can find further details about the magazine, called The Stitch and Thimble, here.