October Featured Project and Interview on Craftster

This month's featured project and interview is from Lilyvanilli. It is a wonderful piece of Milhouse from The Simpsons. This piece is amazing! It is all hand stitched. When I first saw it, I squealed with delight. I hope you enjoy it too.

Also, don't forget that the Fall Challenge is going on over on the Needlework Board. Entries are due by October 13th. You could win a $20.00 JoAnn's gift card and a beautiful necklace.

And now, on with Milhouse and the interview.



1. Tell me a little about the project

My boyfriend is just about the biggest Simpsons fan ever and he especially loves Milhouse. He'd been asking me to make him a Milhouse shirt for a long time and he also wanted a zip-up hoodie, so I decided to make him a Milhouse hoodie for his birthday. I found 2 pictures of Milhouse and combined them to make the final design. The fabric is too dark for my Sulky pen to show up, and I don't like carbon paper, so I drew the design on tear away stabilizer, placed that on top of the fabric, stitched the black outline in back stitch, then tore the paper away. Everything else is done in long and short stitch, all with 6 strands of floss. I started it in May and worked on and off until August. Since it was such a huge project it was a little daunting so I procrastinated a bit more than usual.

2. Tell me a little about yourself
I'm 27 years old and I live in Santa Cruz, CA with my boyfriend of 8 years. I manage a video store and watch way too many movies and TV shows. I've been vegetarian for a little over a year now and I really love it, but I do miss cheeseburgers occasionally (and yes, sometimes I have dreams about eating them)! I also knit, crochet (a little), decoupage, and I'm just generally crafty. I have a blog, flickr, and Myspace page if you'd like to know more!

3. What/who inspires you?
A lot of other people on Craftster actually. I like to look at what techniques other Craftsters are using, the colors they choose, the type of designs they're using. I love tattoo art, Lisa Petrucci, Keith Haring, Mark Ryden, almost anything you'd find in Juxtapoz.

4. How long have you been stitching and how did you get started?
I taught myself how to embroider about 3 years ago, but I've only been serious about it for the past 2. I went to the Sublime Stitching How-To and learned a few stitches, made a pillow case, and didn't pick it up again until a year later when I learned a few more stitches and made a couple more pillowcases. I was pretty hooked by then and I haven't stopped since!

5. What would you tell inspiring needleworkers?
Just to go for it. Start with a few basic stitches and practice until you've mastered them, then branch out from there. Don't be afraid to try new things and challenge yourself. Try to pick designs that are unique, or that you don't see around a lot. Also, don't be afraid to work stitches differently than the instructions say to. For instance, I found that working my long and short stitch in vertical rows as opposed to horizontal like the directions I found said to makes it easier for me and it looks better than when I tried horizontal. Just mix it up and have fun with it!