Tag: embroidery

New Year’s Day Activities

I’ve signed on to Stonesoup recipes again. I need someone else to pick out things for me to eat, plus there was a half-price sale. Jules has revamped her program to better onboard new people into regularly cooking. I didn’t need that, but was glad to partake in her class about seasoning things. I listened to it while I traced my next embroidery pattern as part of the #YearofStitch from Badass Cross Stitch.

Here we did some adding of things to tomato puree. It was fun to see how it changed the flavors.

Finished Kiriki Sampler: Knit Sweater

I love Kiriki’s different samplers and especially love this knit sweater one. I bought the kit with my birthday money. And now I have finished it.

It didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted it to. That cretan stitch was hard, as was the spider stitch. I learned that I should practice new stitches elsewhere before I stitch them on the main event.

Here’s what it should have looked like:

Moon Phase Napkins

I sewed together my moon phase napkins this weekend, completing that project.

By the end, (I think I finished with the full moon) I wished I hadn’t made it such a starry, starry night. Just a starry night, like I did with the third quarter moon, would have been fine.

These napkins are made from an old sheet of Matt’s that I cut up. They are very soft.

Sewing Chores Done

I bought four pairs of pants in September and I have finally accomplished hemming them. (I marked them up the first weekend I had them, so it was getting out the sewing machine that was the impediment.)

I also sewed up the cloth napkins I embroidered. I learned that it’s best not to embroider into the corner, like I did with the green, because sewing the top and bottom halves of the napkin together will make another border and it won’t match the one I’ve embroidered. At least not with my freehand method.

This was me practicing a blanket stitch and a blanket stitch wheel.

First Dropcloth Sampler Completed

I used an Etsy gift card to purchase three Dropcloth Samplers. Rebecca has a lot of fun samplers. The problem with samplers is that I haven’t quite figured out what to do with them once I’m done.

I’m very happy with how the colors turned out. Worrying about colors was one of the things that has kept me from embroidery. But thanks to the six different combos I put together using Stitch Palettes’s color combos, I think things look good.

Little Dear Floral Bouquet Sampler Finished

Et voila! This was fun. New to me were the whipped wheel (needs some work) the feather stitch, the buttonhole wheel, button knots, and couching. I used the Little Dear summer colors again, though I needed to add extra colors. I chose orange, to no one’s surprise. Also some purple.

I pricked my finger (that needle is sharp!) and so there was a bit of blood on the embroidery. You can see it by the purple satin stitched flower and on the green stem below it.

So I added a bit of stitching to cover it up.

I really enjoyed the button knots. For something that looks a bit like vermin, they did pretty up into a flower-like substance.

And I enjoyed couching so much that I carried on into the whipped stem stitch without even noticing.

Another great embroidery from Little Dear!

Little Dear Embroidery Now Coasters

I sewed my Little Dear mandala embroidery pieces into coasters. I enjoy how they turned out, but next time when I’m feeling too lazy to get out the sewing machine (or even if I do) I will trace a circle before I start sewing the layers together. A freehand, hand-sewn circle is not a skillset I have, at this moment.

I also used my grandfather’s overalls as backing. My plan was to have the worn side show so the bits of paint would be visible. You can see that I was successful one out of two times at this task. It’s because you have to put the outsides on the inside and I tend to get confused at that point.

I’m excited I found a use for my hard work.

Second LittleDear Embroidery

Here’s my second Mini Mandala pattern from LitteDear. I like how it turned out, though looking at the example in Aimee’s shop, I’m amused at our different approaches.

For instance, I viewed that center part as an open circle, whereas she has made it the center of a flower. My initial satin stiches were horizontal, while hers were vertical

Still, I’m pleased with this, though I need to find something to do with it.

Stiches I enjoy: French knots, chain stitch, daisy stitch, straight stitch.

Stitch that needs work: satin.

An Embroidery Report

I finished my first sampler from LittleDear. I really love it. The “spring” colors Aimee sent me in the sewing kit are just my type, and I enjoyed doing the stiches. I think the sampler looks pretty, too. I need to work on my satin stich and the fishbone stich was mostly a disaster. But look how pretty that woven spider’s wheel turned out!

This is also from LittleDear. It’s the first of two mandala-inspired patterns. I thought the colors looked great here too!

Now, whatsoever shall I do with these?