Christmas Countdown #8: Satsuma Street

These exquisite Christmas Baubles cross stitch patterns by Satsuma Street are full of bright, happy color and Christmas cheer! Again, I love the bright, nontraditional colors for a welcome twist on holiday crafting.

Thimblenest Thursdays: Summer/Winter Stitchalong--The Finished Banner

Do you have all of your letters stitched? If not, no worries, autumn doesn't officially begin until September 23, so you have plenty of time! Fall is my favorite season, so I am eagerly awaiting its arrival, although I am actually sorry to see summer go this year!

PATTERN/EMBROIDERY DESIGNS

One more time, here is the pdf with all of the letter/motif designs, as well as enlarged versions of most of the motifs.

MATERIALS

Let's put the bunting/banner together. If you weren't here for Week 1 of the stitchalong, gather the following materials:

• 6* (or more)  9" x 7" (23 cm x 18 cm) fabric rectangles for backing**
• 6* (or more) 8.5" x 6.5" (21.5 cm x 16.5 cm) rectangles of lightweight iron-on interfacing**
• 1 package/3 yards extra wide double-fold bias tape (or make your own)
• scissors
• pins/sewing clips
• sewing machine

*Cut more than 6 if you want to add extra autumn motifs or blank "flags" to your bunting (in addition to the letters).

ATTACH INTERFACING

Affix lightweight interfacing to the wrong side of each quilting cotton rectangle. These will become the backing for your embroidered pieces. Center the interfacing so that there is approximately 1/4" between it and all edges of the fabric.

SEW FRONTS AND FACINGS TOGETHER

With right sides together, sew an interfaced quilting cotton rectangle to the back of each embroidered rectangle using a 1/4" seam allowance. Sew only the sides and bottom. The top edges are left open to turn the embroidery right side out; the raw edges will be enclosed later. To make turning the fabric easier, take the corner stitches at a 45 degree angle, rather than making them square.

TRIM EDGES & CORNERS; TURN TO OUTSIDE; TOPSTITCH

Trim the corners close to stitching. You could trim along the other stitching as well; I opted not to because I felt like the seam allowance was already small enough and I didn't want to compromise the strength of the seam/fabric.

Flip each stitched rectangle right side out. Take your time here--use a turning tool (I use a chopstick) and a hot iron to make sure the edges are straight and the corners as sharp as possible. If needed, roll the edges of the rectangle a little toward the back to keep the quilting cotton from showing from the front.

Once you are happy with the turned edges, topstitch (1/4" from edge) around the sides and bottom to hold everything in place.

Trim any loose threads from the top of each rectangle.

PREPARE BIAS TAPE

Remove bias tape from the package and iron out creases. Find the center of the tape by matching the short edges together; mark with a pin at the center fold.

CENTER & SPACE RECTANGLES; PIN/CLIP

I had an even number of rectangles to sew onto my bunting, thus, the T and the second U needed to be on either side of the center of the bias tape. 

To achieve a 2" space between each rectangle/flag, start by placing the right edge of the T and the left edge of the second U 1" away from the center of the bias tape. 

Sandwich the top of each rectangle inside the bias tape and pin or clip securely in place. Be sure that the shorter edge of the bias tape is on top (on the front of each rectangle) and the longer side is towards the back.

Keeping a space of two inches between the rectangles/flags, continue to work from the center towards the outside edges, sandwiching each new rectangle inside the bias tape and pinning or clipping securely in place.

STITCH

Slowly and carefully, begin stitching at the far left end of the bias tape; with the short side up, stitch through to the back, closing the bias tape as you go. Stitch a continuous seam from the left side of the banner to the right. Each time you reach a rectangle/flag, backstitch a time or two at each edge for added stability. Be sure that the raw edges of each rectangle are fully enclosed within the bias tape.

Your banner/bunting is finished! As you can see, I flipped my two end rectangles around so that the quilting cotton showed on the front side at each end. I'd waited to long to use that Flea Market Fancy to hide all of it in the back!

Thanks for following along this summer as I brought you this stitchalong; I had fun preparing each letter and I'm super excited to hang up my new autumn banner!

As always, we'd love to see this or any other project inspired by a Feeling Stitchy post on Instagram (@feelingstitchyish) or in the Flickr Group!

Thimblenest Thursdays: Summer/Winter Stitchalong, Week 5

And here we are at Week 5 of the Summer/Winter Stitchalong and the letter M! I don't think that mushrooms are necessarily an autumn thing, but I thought they would look cute on the finished banner, so there you go!

Grab this week's pattern for the letter M and let's get started!

I took a quick look back at all of the letters so far, trying to balance the colors and stitch styles so that everything will be cohesive in the final banner. 

Some of my thread skeins are starting to dwindle down, but there are plenty of colors left. Here's what I did:

The M was outlined in chain stitch using DMC 721. The inside of the letter was stitched using the herringbone stitch in DMC 3852. This was the first time I'd tried herringbone, and this video from Nancy Corbett was especially helpful.

The mushrooms were all embroidered in stem stitch using different combinations of DMC 721, 3852, 327, and 350. These little fungi could be stitched in many different ways using a variety of fill stitches. 

I'll be back with the final letter in A-U-T-U-M-N in two weeks. And remember, we're always glad to see your embroidery work on Instagram #feelingstitchy or in the Flickr Group!

Thimblenest Thursdays: Summer/Winter Stitchalong, Week 4

Welcome back to our Summer/Winter Stitchalong. Letter #4 is our second U in the word A-U-T-U-M-N. I've been trying to keep the fall motifs more unique, but I went ahead and included leaves this week, because what's autumn without a few colorful leaves?

As with all of the other letters, this U is outlined with chain stitch. The fill stitch (grouped running stitch) took some concentration and sometimes my eyes went a little buggy. To make the letter look more balanced I opted to add just two rows of the running stitch to the right hand sides of both legs of the U. Getting the curves to look balanced was a little tricky, too.

Here are the pattern, color, and stitch details all in one spot:

Embroidery Design for U #2
U Outline: DMC 728 (yellow), chain stitch
U fill: DMC 779  (brown), grouped running stitch (according to pg. 5 of Anchor Needlework Book #1)

Leaves: DMC 350 (peach/pink), 327 (purple), 721 (orange), back stitch

Just two more letters to embroider! In the meantime, if you're stitching along share your photos in the Flickr Group or on Instagram with #feelingstitchy!

Tutorial Tuesday

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

There's something I love about the shades of green and shamrocks that St. Patrick's Day brings. I'm in the middle of a move right now, so my St. Patrick's decor is trapped in a box that has been tetris-ed into the most difficult spot to reach. Instead, I made my own mini banner to add some green for the upcoming celebration and I am sharing it with you!

If you recall our tutorial from around this time last year, the shamrock pattern I used then, worked for this banner, as well. All I did was scale the image to fit the entire page in my print options, and it was instantly larger.

To make your own St. Patrick's Day banner, you will need:

-embroidery supplies (hoop, floss, scissors, needles)

-30x20-inch piece of muslin or cotton (there will be leftovers)

-rotary cutter and mat

-60-inches of twine or string

-pinking shears 

-sewing machine and supplies (optional)

-craft glue or glue gun (optional)

-Letter pattern 

-Shamrock pattern

Step 1: Print the letter and Shamrock patterns. For the Shamrock pattern, my printer gave me the option to scale it to fit the page, if your printer does not have that option, enlarge the pattern 190% and it should work. Transfer your pattern to the fabric, spacing them out 3-inches or more away from each other. 

Step 2: Stitch the letters and shamrock with green embroidery floss. I used a split stitch for the letters and a stem stitch for the shamrock, but feel free to experiment with your stitches. I then filled the shamrock with scattered french knots. 

Step 3: Using a rotary cutter, trim the stitched fabric into four separate triangles so that each letter and shamrock is on it's own separate pennant. The top of the triangle should measure 5-inches and the length between the top center and bottom point is 8-inches. 

Step 4: Using pinking shears, trim just along the sides of each pennant. 

Step 5: Turn all the pennants face down and place the twine or string along the top edge. Fold the fabric 1/2 an inch over the twine. Trim the top edges on the side that stick out. This is where you have the option to sew or glue the fold down. I sewed this together, but glue works just as well. Repeat for all pennants. 

Step 6: Trim your twine to your length of choice and hang for instant St. Patty's Day festivity. 

Hope you enjoy today's tutorial and have a chance to give it a try!

Cesto da Roupa...

Olá! The first weeks of this year I'll be showing some more works from Portuguese embroiderers. I believe it is a great way of beginning the year... isn't it?

And let's begin with Isabel Jardim and her blog "cesto da roupa"... I would translate it as clothes basket... Because I believe she did not mean laundry basket... but maybe the real problem is with my English. :)

I got to know her work three years ago and I loved the originality and freshness of how she worked with fabrics... so different from what I usually see. But I only discovered embroidery on her work very recently...

Some years ago Isabel begun publishing beautiful painted  laundry bags and bed sheets but soon her charming bed covers became a success and I believe that was when she started showing her embroidery stitches... soon delicate stitches began embellishing many of Isabel's works. And she brought them from the bed to the table. Later, her doll lavender bags with cute embroidered faces were the confirmation that embroidery was there to stay. :)

Today I bring you some photos of more recent pieces of work with embroidered details that make them so special and unique... 

Photos from Cesto da Roupa

Photo from Cesto da Roupa

Isabel's bunting banners and this beautiful bag embroidered with little birds show her inspiration from vintage motifs...

Photos from Cesto da Roupa

 And this toilet bag surely shows Isabel's preference for floral patterns...

Photo from Cesto da Roupa

Lately, Isabel has been dedicating some of her stitches to our little friends... and she embroidered a beautiful collection of pillows for pets...

But I will leave the best for last... so don't forget to pass by next week. I'll show you my favorite works from "cesto da roupa" and you'll learn a little more about Isabel and her relation to embroidery.

Countdown to Christmas: Gingerbread!

Stitched by gingermelon

These felt gingerbread houses by Shelly are adorable! Makes me want to whip out my felt and scissors and string a few together myself. Fabulous work!

January Stitchalong: hang it up and enjoy!

Can it be? We've finally arrived at week 4 of the January Stitchalong, and we're done! Or at least, I'm done - last week I walked you through possibilities for covering the backs of your letters and hanging them.

I chose to go with little felt loops that I secured with a tiny little x-stitch:


Here's some more:


As for "new" - I dangled those letters with white perle embroidery thread from the top row of letters:


I used thin white ribbon to hang them, and tied them onto simple tacks:


Just 4 tacks, some ribbon, and some wallspace, and we're done!


On to your projects!

It looks like Aimee finished her family sampler using couched letters:

Isn't it nice? Gorgeous work! :)

Kleas gave us a tantalizing preview of some of her couching - knowing her - it's going to be great!


And here's a cute peppermint-looking design by sisbabestitches:


Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the January Stitchalong! If you'd still like to give it a try, remember you can always join in - here's the free template - just add your pics to the pool and tag them "JanStitchalong".

Here's a list of the previous weeks:
Week 1: Pattern
Week 2: Couching 101
Week 3: Covering the backs and hanging

Is there anything you'd like to see in this year's stitchalongs? I'd love to hear it! :)

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.":)