Join our creative community on Instagram by using our September hashtag

It's September and I have that back to school feeling. After a glorious Summer, there are hints of Autumn in the air. Perfect for getting cosy and getting your craft on. Do you have any creative projects planned for September? Join our creative community and share your craft projects on Instagram with the hashtag #craftingismytherapy_september

Looking back over the previous month, #craftingismytherapy_august turned out to be a bright and colourful month of crafting. We welcomed a number of new contributors, which is always lovely...the more the merrier. Despite the school holidays being in full swing, we all managed to carve out some time for crafting.

I always enjoy seeing the wide variety of crafts tagged. I love being part of this creative community and thank you to everyone who joins in each month. If you would like to find out more about the hashtag and see the story behind it, please follow this link.

What are your creative plans for September? I am planning to add quite a few more rows to my Rainbow Granny Stripe blanket. It's destined to warm up my daughter's bed, should be nice and cosy once it's finished. I also want to start displaying more on my embroidery pieces around the house.

I would love to see your images added to the feed. Simply add the #craftingismytherapy_september tag over on Instagram to your creative posts. All crafts more than welcome and you can tag as many images as you like.

At the end of the month, I will choose a selection of images that have caught my eye and put together a round-up post over on Instagram and here on my blog. You can find my Instagram here. I also share as many of your images in my Insta stories as I can throughout September.

Please follow this link to see a small selection of the creative images tagged throughout August Aren't they beautiful? There are so many talented makers out there. It gets harder and harder to choose just nine images in my monthly round-up grids. Head over to the #craftingismytherapy_august feed to see all the contributions.

Please feel free to pin the image below and help spread the word about our creative hashtag...

– Please share the love and comment on images added to the #craftingismytherapy_september feed.
– If you tag your images and use the hashtag #craftingismytherapy_september on any social media channels that would be great. This will help me to grow the community. I will retweet all your posts via Twitter if you mention me @pouchvintage
– And finally, if you would like to follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, you’re more than welcome!

Follow me on Pinterest to see blog posts, tutorials and much more...

Share your craft projects on Instagram with the August hashtag

The weather has remained scorching hot here in the UK throughout July. We are officially in the midst of a heatwave. I have to admit the hot weather has put me off making my chunky wool crochet blanket, but I'm still stitching. Do you have any creative projects planned for August? Join our creative community and share your craft projects on Instagram with the August hashtag #craftingismytherapy_august

Looking back over the previous month, #craftingismytherapy_july turned out to be our busiest month yet. We welcomed a number of new contributors, which is always nice to see.

I always enjoy seeing the wide variety of crafts tagged. I love being part of this creative community and thank you to everyone who joins in each month. If you would like to find out more about the hashtag and see the story behind it, please follow this link.

What are your creative plans for August? I would love to see your images added to the feed. Simply add the #craftingismytherapy_august tag over on Instagram to your creative posts. All crafts more than welcome and you can tag as many images as you like.

At the end of the month, I will choose a selection of images that have caught my eye and put together a round-up post over on Instagram and here on my blog. You can find my Instagram here. I also share as many of your images in my Insta stories as I can throughout August.

Last month we welcomed Lucy from @lucyludreams as guest co-host. She did a fantastic job and I loved seeing her favourite makes popping up in her stories. Lucy has kindly written a #craftingismytherapy_july round-up post over on her blog, click here to head over and have a read....

Above is a small selection of the creative images tagged throughout July. Aren't they beautiful? There are so many talented makers out there. It gets harder and harder to choose just nine images in my monthly round-up grids. This image represents a small snapshot of the creative projects shared, please visit the July feed to see everyone’s contributions to the hashtag.

You can find out who the makers are behind the images by following this link

– Please share the love and comment on images added to the #craftingismytherapy_august feed.
– If you tag your images and use the hashtag #craftingismytherapy_august on any social media channels that would be great. This will help me to grow the community. I will retweet all your posts via Twitter if you mention me @pouchvintage
– And finally, if you would like to follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, you’re more than welcome!

Follow me on Pinterest to see blog posts, tutorials and much more...

Join our creative instagram community in April

I'm a little late posting my March round-up. We've been busy enjoying ourselves over the Easter holidays. The Spring Term started yesterday, so I'm catching up with my blog.

Have you any crafty plans for April? If you share your creative projects over on Instagram, simple add the #craftingismytherapy_april hashtag to join our creative community. All crafts welcome.

Looking back over the previous few weeks, #craftingismytherapy_march turned out to be one of our busiest months. So many beautiful craft projects in our feed, it is always a real struggle to narrow it down to nine images for the grid. I love being part of this creative community and thank you to everyone who joins in each month.

Below is a small selection of the creative images tagged throughout March.

You can find out who the makers are behind the images by following this link

If you enjoy sharing creative images on Instagram, then please feel free to tag as many crafty images with #craftingismytherapy_april throughout the month. At the end of the month, I will choose some of my favourite images and put together a round-up post over on Instagram and here on my blog. You can find my Instagram here

– Please share the love and comment on images added to the #craftingismytherapy_april feed.
– If you tag your images and use the hashtag #craftingismytherapy_april on any social media channels that would be great. This will help me to grow the community. I will retweet all your posts via Twitter if you mention me @pouchvintage
– And finally, if you would like to follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, you’re more than welcome!

Follow me on Pinterest to see blog posts, tutorials and much more...

Join our Instagram crafting community in June

I'm a little late with writing a post for June's hashtag due to the half term holiday.

We'd love to see your crafty makes throughout June over on Instagram.

Just add the tag #craftingismytherapy_june to include your images in our gallery.

We will pick a selection of our favourite images throughout the month.

I'd also like to introduce our new co-host for June - Rosina from Zeens and Roger. Rosina supported our craft-related linky from the beginning and is now a regular contributor to our Instagram community. I'm a big fan of her colourful crochet projects, head over to her Instagram feed to see more...

May was our busiest month yet and our gallery was chock full of gorgeous creative projects.

The grid below shows just a small selection of images from May's hashtag.

I love seeing the wide variety of crafts...so much creativity!

Top row, left to right: Zeens and Roger, The Messy Brunette, shirleyrainbow_tb

Middle row, left to right: Cherry Peg, Crafticland, Making Polly

Bottom row, left to right: Rainbow Vintage Home, ella_makes, Yarn and Blarney

Last month our guest co-host was Maura from The Messy Brunette. She has written a lovely round-up of her time as co-host, head over to her blog to find out more.

The focus of our hashtag is crafting for pleasure, basically taking some ‘me-time’ to unwind in our busy lives. It doesn’t have to be a finished project, we love seeing work in progress, planning posts or tutorials too.

Don't forget to add the #craftingismytherapy_june hashtag to your creative images over the next few weeks, all crafts welcome...

Join our new Instagram crafting community

We're currently taking a break from hosting the "Crafting is my Therapy" blog link-up.

But we're still keeping the creative vibe alive over on Instagram.

Join Jennifer Jain and I over there by tagging your images with #craftingismytherapy_january.

The focus of our new hashtag is crafting for pleasure, basically taking some ‘me-time’ to unwind in our busy lives. It doesn’t have to be a finished project, we love seeing work in progress, planning posts or tutorials too.

Each month the hashtag will change to reflect the month we are currently in. At the end of the month Jennifer Jain and I will feature a selection of our favourite images...

What are you making at the moment? I am currently a bit obsessed with making pom poms. I haven't made one using two pieces of cardboard since I was a child. I had forgotten how much fun they are to make. I love winding the wool around and around and then cutting the yarn to reveal the fluffy pom pom.

Making pom poms is a great way of using up all those spare bits of yarn you may have hanging around. You can experiment with mixing colours, they look great with clashing shades, anything goes!

To make a pom pom using the 'old school' cardboard hoop method, you will need:
* cardboard, cereal packets are ideal
* two circular objects to draw around, one larger than the other. I used a ceramic tea cup and an egg cup to make the 'doughnut' template. Make sure you cut out two 'doughtnuts' to wind the wool around...
* scissors
* wool, any shade and texture, the more colours the better!

They are really simple to make. Just take the two cardboard 'doughtnuts' and start winding the wool around and around. Build up the wool to the thickness you require. The thicker the wool is wound around the cardboard, the denser the pom pom will be. Once you have finished, carefully cut the wool from the cardboard. Be sure to slide the scissors between the two pieces of cardboard when you cut around. Once the edges are all cut, take a piece of yarn and tie the middle part that is between the cardboard doughnuts making sure you have a nice knot. Snip the cardboard doughnuts off.

Any doubts about how to make a pom pom? Take a look at this WikiHow tutorial for more images

Have fun! Be warned, making pom poms can become addictive :)

If you'd like to see more, head over to the Me, You and Magoo Instagram account to see more of my craft projects.

– Please share the love and comment on other people who join in with the hashtag.

– If you share an image please use the hashtag #craftingismytherapy_january on any social media channels, this will help us to grow the community. We will retweet all your posts via Twitter if you mention us @pouchvintage or @JenniferJain

– And finally, if you would like to follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, you’re more than welcome! Jennifer Jain’s links are here too: Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.

Crafting is my Therapy #10

Welcome to the tenth “Crafting is my Therapy” blog link-up.
I hope you’ve had a wonderful month or making and creating.

We enjoyed reading all your blog posts from the October link-up. Welcome to all our new linkers, including Hillview Embroidery and Growing Family who joined us for the first time last month.

This month I have been using vintage fabric as a template for my embroidery stitches. I find the bold, floral patterns of fabrics from the 1960s and 1970s lend themselves perfectly to hand embroidery. It offers me a lovely template to work with and the only limit is my imagination. What have you created recently? We'd love to see your crafty blog posts...

I wanted to help spread the word about Mind's upcoming Crafternoon event. The idea is to gather friends and family together to raise money and awareness of Mind's important work with mental health issues. Here at "Crafting is my Therapy" we support the idea that creativity can help to promote happiness and wellbeing. As this quote from the Mind website illustrates, crafts can absorb and distract us:

"Crafting gives me a huge sense of satisfaction. It helps me feel productive and also acts as a distraction when needed. All of which is really important for my mental wellbeing"

Hosting a Crafternoon sounds like a fun way to help support Mind, I have applied for my fundraising pack and I'm hoping to hold my own crafty afternoon very soon. I will of course blog about the event. My late-father suffered with clinical depression, so Mind's work is very close to my heart. Mental health issues affect one in four of us, it's important everyone experiencing a mental health problem gets support and respect.

If you are interested in supporting this fantastic initiative, please head over the Mind website for further info...

Have you created anything crafty this month? Sewing, knitting, crochet, painting or pottery…please join in and share your blog posts.

The focus of our blog link-up is crafting for pleasure, basically taking some ‘me-time’ to unwind in our busy lives. It doesn’t have to be a finished project, we love seeing work in progress, planning posts or tutorials too.

Grab the Crafting is my Therapy badge:

<div align="center">
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://library.vu.edu.pk/cgi-bin/nph-proxy.cgi/000100A/http/www.meyouandmagoo.co.uk" title="Me You and Magoo"><img alt="Me You and Magoo" src="http://library.vu.edu.pk/cgi-bin/nph-proxy.cgi/000100A/http/i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t474/pouchbags/crafting_is_my_therapy_blog_badge_ONE_zpszefd7734.jpg" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I co-host Crafting is my Therapy with Jennifer Jain. She writes the popular craft blog Jennifers Little World
Jennifer hosts our Pinterest group board. Would you like your blog posts to be seen by over 700K followers? Craft Bloggers linking to #craftingismytherapy are welcome to join our board. It's a great way for your posts to reach a wider audience...

The “Crafting is my Therapy” linky will open on 4th November at 7pm (GMT) and stay open for the whole month – giving you plenty of time to get involved.
– You can link up with maximum of three posts per month, old or new.
– The focus of the linky is crafting for pleasure, so please don’t link up with posts promoting handmade items for sale.
– Grab the linky badge or link back to our blogs on your post.
– Please share the love and comment on other people’s posts.
– If you could share your post and the linky (using the hashtag #craftingismytherapy) on any social media channels that would be great. This will help us to grow the community. We will retweet all your posts via Twitter if you mention us (@pouchvintage/@JenniferJain )
– And finally, if you would like to follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, you’re more than welcome! Jennifer Jain’s links are here too: Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.

An InLinkz Link-up

Crafting in October: embellishing vintage fabric with stitches

As someone with a huge collection of vintage fabric scraps and offcuts, it makes sense to use them in my crafting. I have been making and selling handmade homewares on Etsy since 2007 and I've always used retro fabrics. I have amassed heaps of pretty scraps and I never know what to do with them. Until I have time to sew an enormous vintage fabric quilt, I will make do with using some of it for embroidery practice.

I find the bold, floral patterns of fabrics from the 1960s and 1970s lend themselves perfectly to hand embroidery. It offers me a lovely template to work with and the only limit is your imagination. It's also a no-stress project that you can pick up and put down whenever you want. So far I have added chain stitch around the flower and a little circle of French Knots in the middle. Over time I can add more or move onto another flower on the fabric and create new effects with different stitches.

As ever, I find hand sewing relaxing, even though I have less time than I've ever had with starting a college course in September. I also have lots of ideas for handmade Christmas gifts, but I have no idea where I will find the time. I don't like the conflict in my brain when I have ideas but no time to complete them. But it's something I hear from lots of other crafters, so I know I'm not alone. If I could find a way to go into a parallel craft universe, that would be amazing. Until then, I grab some stitching time as and when I can...

One of the things that has caught my eye on Social Media this month are the "Crafternoon" events to raise awareness of Mind and mental health issues. I will write more about this on my Crafting is my Therapy blog post, which will go live tomorrow (Friday 4th November). You can read about organising a "Crafternoon" by following this link

I am linking up to November's 'Crafting is my Therapy' with this blog post. If you blog about crafts, we'd love to have you on board. The linky will open on 4th November at 7pm (GMT) and stays open for the whole month – giving you plenty of time to get involved.

Do you pin? I would love to connect with you over on Pinterest...

Crafting is my Therapy #9

Welcome to the ninth “Crafting is my Therapy” blog link-up.

I hope you’ve had a wonderful month or making and creating.

September saw our busiest month yet on the ‘Crafting is my Therapy” linky. Welcome to all our new crafters, including Elsie Pop, Relentlessly Purple, Crafty Linby and Knitting and So On who joined us for the first time in September.

This month I have been practising some new embroidery stitches. I’ve always wanted to try the Lazy Daisy stitch. It’s a classic stitch and a great one for creating texture on a piece. I have also attempted Ribbed Web Stitch. It’s quite an unusual one, a mixture of sewing and weaving. Head over to my post to see how I got on…

Last month we also held a Posca Pen giveaway. There were 15 posts (not including the hosts) added to our link-up in September. Using the random number generator, I can tell you that the winner is…Relentlessly Purple! A pack of Posca Pens will be heading her way shortly...

Have you created anything crafty this month? Sewing, knitting, crochet, painting or pottery…please join in and share your blog posts.

The focus of this linky is crafting for pleasure, basically taking some ‘me-time’ to unwind in our busy lives. It doesn’t have to be a finished project, we love seeing work in progress, planning posts or tutorials too.

Please grab the Crafting is my Therapy badge:

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.meyouandmagoo.co.uk" rel="nofollow" title="Me You and Magoo"><img src="http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t474/pouchbags/crafting_is_my_therapy_blog_badge_ONE_zpszefd7734.jpg" alt="Me You and Magoo" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I co-host Crafting is my Therapy with Jennifer Jain. She writes the popular craft blog Jennifers Little World

Jennifer hosts our Pinterest group board. Would you like your blog posts to be seen by over 700K followers? Craft Bloggers linking to #craftingismytherapy are welcome to join our board. It's a great way for your posts to reach a wider audience...

The “Crafting is my Therapy” linky will open on 7th October at 7pm (GMT) and stays open for the whole month – giving you plenty of time to get involved.
– You can link up with maximum of three posts per month, old or new.
– The focus of the linky is crafting for pleasure, so please don’t link up with posts promoting handmade items for sale.
– Grab the linky badge or link back to our blogs on your post.
– Please share the love and comment on other people’s posts.
– If you could share your post and the linky (using the hashtag #craftingismytherapy) on any social media channels that would be great. This will help us to grow the community. We will retweet all your posts via Twitter if you mention us (@pouchvintage/@JenniferJain )
– And finally, if you would like to follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, you’re more than welcome! Jennifer Jain’s links are here too: Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.

An InLinkz Link-up

Crafting in September: learning ribbed web and lazy daisy stitch

At the start of the year I decided to embrace my creativity and try and reignite my sewing mojo. I wanted to try and create a piece of hand embroidery for every month of the year. I also wanted to push myself and learn some new stitches.

This month I had an idea in my mind for embellishing a piece of vintage fabric with embroidery stitches. I thought the ribbed web stitch would look great in the middle of a retro flower. Having never sewn this stitch before I turned to Youtube to hunt down some tutorials. I particularly liked the one posted by Mary Corbett and watched it a few times to get the gist of the stitch.

It's a mix between sewing and weaving and it creates a striking web effect on the fabric. I really like it but got in a complete muddle with my first attempt. You can see it below (brown and red thread). I kept messing up the wrapping around and moving along the 'spokes'. Easily confused you see...

My second attempt turned out better, see below. But I still had some uncovered spokes, which isn't quite right...

Third time lucky...I think I've cracked it. I still need to practise, but understand what I need to do now. It's a soothing stitch because the weaving motion is relaxing. It's also nice seeing the thread build up on the fabric into a web pattern.

In between the web stitch I also attempted the lazy daisy stitch. I found it hard to keep the 'petals' even, but I'm sure that's just down to practice. Again I really love this stitch and it's useful for creating detail on a piece - a classic stitch which I really wanted to master. If you're interested in learning lazy daisy or detached chain stitch yourself, head over to Mary Corbett's Youtube tutorial

If you enjoy crafting for relaxation, you may like my blog link-up...

The focus of the linky is crafting for pleasure, basically taking some ‘me-time’ to unwind in our busy lives. It doesn’t have to be a finished project, we love seeing work in progress, planning posts or tutorials too. You can find out more about "Crafting is my Therapy" by clicking on this link

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.meyouandmagoo.co.uk" rel="nofollow" title="Me You and Magoo"><img src="http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t474/pouchbags/crafting_is_my_therapy_blog_badge_ONE_zpszefd7734.jpg" alt="Me You and Magoo" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

If you'd like to see a selection of post previously published on my blog, you can visit my Pinterest account here - I'm always happy to connect with other Pinterest fans...

Crafting is my Therapy #8 + Posca Pen Giveaway

Welcome to the eighth “Crafting is my Therapy” blog link-up. A big thank you to everyone who linked up in August - I know it can be a busy month with holidays, days out and making the most of the sunshine...

I have to hold my hands up and say I haven’t sewn a single stitch in August. I had all sorts of plans and ideas, but the school holidays defeated me on the sewing front. Not that I’m complaining, we’ve had a great time. Lots of trips to the beach, playing in the park, picking fruit and veg at the allotment, sunny (yes, sunny) camping trips…I just haven’t had a moment to sit down and stitch!

Having said that, we’ve still had a crafty Summer with lots of colouring, painting and drawing. One thing we have loved is crafting with our Posca Pens. They draw on pretty much any surface you can think of…glass, stone, wood and plastic to name just a few. We put our Posca Pens through their paces and you can see my review post here.

Posca have also kindly offered us a set of their pens to giveaway this month. Simply link up with a craft related blog post and you could be in with a chance of winning...

Have you created anything crafty this month? If you sew, knit, crochet, paint, work with ceramics…please join in and share your blog posts.

The focus of this linky is crafting for pleasure, basically taking some ‘me-time’ to unwind in our busy lives. It doesn’t have to be a finished project, we love seeing work in progress, planning posts or tutorials too.

Grab the Crafting is my Therapy badge:

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.meyouandmagoo.co.uk" rel="nofollow" title="Me You and Magoo"><img src="http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t474/pouchbags/crafting_is_my_therapy_blog_badge_ONE_zpszefd7734.jpg" alt="Me You and Magoo" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I co-host Crafting is my Therapy with Jennifer Jain. She writes the popular craft blog Jennifers Little World

Jennifer hosts our Pinterest group board. Would you like your blog posts to be seen by over 700K followers? Craft Bloggers linking to #craftingismytherapy are welcome to join our board. It's a great way for your posts to reach a wider audience...

The “Crafting is my Therapy” linky will open on 5th September and stay open for the whole month – giving you plenty of time to get involved.
– You can link up with maximum of three posts per month, old or new.
– Grab the linky badge or link back to our blogs on your post.
– Please share the love and comment on other people’s posts.
– If you could share your post and the linky (using the hashtag #craftingismytherapy) on any social media channels that would be great. This will help us to grow the community. We will retweet all your posts via Twitter if you mention us (@pouchvintage/@JenniferJain )
– And finally, if you would like to follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, you’re more than welcome! Jennifer Jain’s links are here too: Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.

An InLinkz Link-up

Giveaway Entry Rules:
– One winner will receive a pack of Posca Pens described above.
– The winner will be chosen at random from eligible entries to the linky this month.
– In order for an entry to be eligible it must be a relevant post, it must mention the "Crafting is my Therapy" linky either by text link or using the badge. It must link back to one of the hosts. The linky will remain open until 11.55pm (GMT) on Friday 30th September 2016.
– If the winner does not respond within 28 days we will redraw and reallocate the prize. There is no cash alternative. Invalid entries will be discounted.

Crafting is my Therapy #7

Welcome to the Seventh “Crafting is my Therapy” blog link-up.

I hope you’ve had a wonderful month or making and creating.

It was nice to see new craft bloggers getting involved in July. We loved seeing everything you’ve created. I particularly liked Deborah Champion’s post about sewing a tiny suit for her doll. Plus it was her first time linking up to Crafting is my Therapy.

This month I have linked up with my latest hand sewn hoop featuring a pretty butterfly motif. I attempted Satin Stitch for the first time in many years...

I also wanted to mention it's National Stitch Day on 6th August. The National Celebration of Stitch is designed to raise awareness of the Embroiderers’ Guild, demonstrating the delights of stitching, textiles and embroidery. Events will be taking place across the country and this event at Bristol Museum sounds particularly lovely and I'm going to try and go along...

Last month we also held a Sugru giveaway. There were 6 posts (not including the hosts) added to our link-up in July. Using the random number generator, I can tell you that the winner is…Zeens and Roger! A selection of Sugru packs will be heading her way shortly.

Have you created anything crafty this month? If you sew, knit, crochet, paint, work with ceramics…please join in and share your blog posts.

The focus of this blog link-up is crafting for pleasure, basically taking some ‘me-time’ to unwind in our busy lives. It doesn’t have to be a finished project, we love seeing work in progress, planning posts or tutorials too.

Grab the Crafting is my Therapy badge:

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.meyouandmagoo.co.uk" rel="nofollow" title="Me You and Magoo"><img src="http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t474/pouchbags/crafting_is_my_therapy_blog_badge_ONE_zpszefd7734.jpg" alt="Me You and Magoo" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I co-host Crafting is my Therapy with Jennifer Jain. She writes the popular craft blog Jennifers Little World

Jennifer hosts our Pinterest group board. Would you like your blog posts to be seen by over 700K followers? Craft Bloggers linking to #craftingismytherapy are welcome to join our board. It's a great way for your posts to reach a wider audience...

The “Crafting is my Therapy” link-up will open on 1st August and stay open for the whole month – giving you plenty of time to get involved.
* You can link up with maximum of three posts per month, old or new.
* Grab the link-up badge or link back to our blogs on your post.
* Please share the love and comment on other people’s posts.
* If you could share your post and the link-up (using the hashtag #craftingismytherapy) on any social media channels that would be great. This will help us to grow the community. We will retweet all your posts via Twitter if you mention us (@pouchvintage/@JenniferJain )
* And finally, if you would like to follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, you’re more than welcome! Jennifer Jain’s links are here too: Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.

An InLinkz Link-up

Crafting in July: hand embroidered butterfly hoop

"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you" - Nathaniel Hawthorne

At the start of July I decided to create a piece of embroidery featuring a butterfly motif. I'd recently watched Butterflies: A Very British Obsession over on BBC4 and I was inspired to stitch one of these beautiful creatures.

I downloaded a free template from the web and transferred the image onto a piece of linen. I chose this particular motif because it would give me the opportunity to try out a number of stitches. In particular I wanted to attempt satin stitch which I haven't tried for many years...

I started by outlining the wings in backstitch using a lovely teal thread.

I moved onto filling in the lower wings with satin stitch. Like I say, I haven't attempted this stitch for a long time. I looked at a number of tutorials online and then took the plunge. At first I wasn't happy with the way it turned out. To me, the stitches looked messy and uneven. I had recently read the satin stitch tutorial over on the Sublime Stitching site.

I love Jenny Hart's laid back attitude to embroidery. She makes you feel that you don't have to get too hung up about it all...her attitude towards Satin Stitch is summed up here: "It will probably look really terrible to you. Stop looking at it. Set it down, forget about it, and then pick it up again later. I bet you will be surprised by how nice it looks"

So I've tried to take her advice and not stress about it too much. I need to practice more, but I think the overall effect now the piece is finished is good. I'm not a sewing machine, it's impossible to make every stitch uniform...it is handmade after all.

I really enjoyed sewing this butterfly and I feel more confident with using Satin Stitch. If you are interested in creating the same butterfly motif, you can find it here on Mary Corbet's Needle and Thread website

With the school holidays in full swing, it's harder to find the time to sit down and sew. I need to think of a new project for August and it will probably involve a quote. I dyed some linen fabric a sunny yellow colour a few weeks back, so I'd like to incorporate it into my next crafting project...

I am linking up to August's "Crafting is my Therapy" with my butterfly hoop.

The focus of this link-up is crafting for pleasure, basically taking some ‘me-time’ to unwind in our busy lives. It doesn’t have to be a finished project, we love seeing work in progress, planning posts or tutorials too. If you'd like to find out more about Crafting is my Therapy, please head over to this blog post.

This week I am also linking up with these lovely blogs:

HomeEtc over on www.thetwinklediaries.co.uk and mummyofboygirltwins.com

Vintage embroidery transfers and my first piece of embroidery

I went up in the loft the other day looking for suitcases. As is often the way when venturing into our loft, I got sidetracked by boxes of nostalgia. Whilst rummaging through one craft box, I was bowled over to find my first ever piece of embroidery. I think it was stitched when I was about eight or nine. The white cotton hankie given to me by my Mum 'to practise on' was still in the embroidery hoop. Exactly as I left it over thirty years ago.

I must've tucked it away when I left home to go to university. It has followed me around several house moves and it was lovely to see it again. Alongside my childhood attempts at embroidery were the vintage transfer sheets I'd used. These were my Mum's from when she first started to sew, so they date from late 1950s to early 1960s. Most of them were free gifts inside magazines, which my Mum must've carefully saved.

I grew up watching my Mum sew and she always encouraged me to have a go. I remember her showing me the 'Mazurka' piece she had sewn as a young teenager. It combined embroidery stitches and applique, I thought it looked beautiful. She made the appliqued piece of linen into a cushion cover and it sat pride of place in my childhood bedroom for many years. I don't know what ever happened to it, which is a shame.

I was in awe of her sewing skills and I must've badgered her to let me have a go. She gave me free rein to search through her delicate embroidery transfers. I was drawn to the flower posy and she ironed the image onto a hankerchief for me. She also gave me the embroidery threads from her childhood, which in turn had belonged to my late-grandmother. I blogged about the tin here.

In hindsight I bit off more than I could chew for a first project and I must've lost interest after a while. It has remained unfinished for over thirty years. I wonder if I could attempt it again now? Even as an adult it looks a bit daunting. Even though it's not complete, I do remember enjoying sewing my wonky satin stitch. As a child I felt relaxed by the repetition of pushing the needle in and out of the fabric. I enjoyed seeing the colour build up on the fabric.

It's something I still enjoy to this day and I have my Mum and Grandmother to thank for instilling a love of sewing at such a young age. When sitting with some embroidery, my own daughter occasionally watches over my shoulder. She is starting to take an interest in sewing. She can even identify some stitches and comments on 'my lovely sewing'...which makes me smile. I hope she will be inspired to be creative with thread too...

I've linked up with July's Crafting is my Therapy with this post. I co-host #craftingismytherapy with Jennifer Jain. The focus of this linky is crafting for pleasure, basically taking some ‘me-time’ to unwind in our busy lives. It doesn’t have to be a finished project, we love seeing work in progress, planning posts or tutorials too.

This week I am linking up with these lovely blogs:

Craft Frenzy Friday over on craftdictator.com

Share The Joy over on thejoychaser.com and contentmum.com

HomeEtc over on mummyofboygirltwins.com

Pick 'n Mix over on www.acornishmum.com

Blogger Club UK over on www.cuddlefairy.com