Stitching Love, Mushrooms and Strippers!

I thought I would share my recent-ish embroidery projects with you today. I really love embroidery, I find it the perfect way to relax.  I have taken the true love heart and the fan dancer from Embroidered Effects by Jenn Hart, if you are new to embroidery this book is amazing, not only does it teach you lots of the basic stitches but it also has loads of iron on transfers to play with. The little mushroom is based on a drawing from a graphics book I borrowed from the library. I copied the design onto my fabric using some grease proof paper and my Sulky iron on transfer pen.  

My next embroidery project involves stitching some place mats, I bought 6 for £1 from this little antique shop I stumbled upon the other week. I need to decide on a theme, at the moment I am thinking pin ups and vegetables. Who wouldn't want to eat their dinner off a placemat with those two things on?!

Hope you are having a great week <3

xkx

Xmas Stitching...

I picked up some Xmas cards today. They are rather lovely but I developed a stitching itch this evening and couldn't resist giving one of the cards a little bit of a festive make over. The  card is pretty good quality (for my standards), it is quite thick and sturdy which made the stitching a bit easier. But when I put my tree on the front it was a tugging match to get the thread through the card and the foil decoration.

It is so easy to yule pimp your cards as long as you keep to one rule, keep it minimal! I am the queen of over complicating designs but I have found that if you try to do too much detail, too close together the card will get those veins from where you have bend the card too much, and you don't want your holes too close together because they are likely to rip in between.

Once you have decided what your embroidered touches are going to be, put your card on a thick cushion and poke your needle through to create your holes. When all your holes are stabbed through start stitching like you normally would using the holes to guide your stitches. It is like a stitchy dot-to-dot. Because this is thick card I found it a bit tough to pull the needle through, but I found if I pulled the needle through nearly all of the way and then turned it like a clock hand would turn, it eased the hole a little bit bigger so I could safely get the thread through. 

I was a total rebel stitching these cards because I knotted the thread AND didn't worry about the backs of the stitches on show!!! I like leaving them peeking around the back of the card, I think it adds a gorgeous homemade touch. I am over the moon with how this card turned out, I think it just adds that personal hint that makes Xmas just that little piece more special. 

Hope you are surviving this festive season without too much stress <3

My Embroidery Bike Ride.

It was Ed's birthday last week and whilst I was tidying up today I found some wrapping paper strewn on the table. I thought this paper was super cute and decided to have a little embroidery bike ride, which is a very good way to spend a rainy evening I think. I stuck the wrapping paper onto some good quality sketch paper, with some thin double sided tape, to give it some more stability and off I went. This was just a few hours stitching, I think next time I might use this technique to make some cards. And I am very pleased that my french knots are finally starting to look decent, it has been a difficult road mastering that stitch!

Dipping my toe into the Waters of Embroidery.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had bought Embroidered Effects by Jenny Hart after seeing her on a Threadbanger video. I have never tried embroidery in my life and I was a little bit scared of it, but this book makes it so straightforward. The only thing I had to remember was to hold a mirror up to the diagrams because I am left handed.  

This has become one of my favourite crafts at the moment.

I didn't plan this design out, I was originally just going to do rows of stitches but then a row went a bit wonky and looked a bit too much like a toadstool stem for me to resist. Then I just worked around that trying out different stitches along the way.

I love the fern stitch, it is probably my favourite stitch because it just looks so cute! I have to admit I did have to look up how to do a french knot on youtube because my lefty brain was struggling with the diagram even with a mirror.

I tried three different versions of the satin stitch here, I liked the first one better, I think that one was the 'padded version', It just seemed to work out the smoothest.

I need way more practise with the stem stitch, as you can see on the left hand of this toadstool, it is all a little bit wonky. The frill just under the lid was added later when I realised the stem and lid would never be connected otherwise. But that is one of the things that is so great about embroidery, it is so versatile and you can turn your mistakes into features.

Twinkle stitches are also one of my favourites! They are so fun and quick to do, I would love to add some sequins or crystals to this kind of stitch. The back stitch, whilst maybe a little boring, can create some lovely shapes as well.

I love, love, love embroidery! I have started another piece on paper this time for a little present for Ed, it is nearly finished so I will be posting that up when it is. I would really recommend the book, Embroidery Effects it breaks all the stitches into simple steps and I have found it really inspiring.