Billions of bullions

stitched by kasienka_krolewna

Have any of our readers attempted the bullion stitch? These beautiful bullions make me almost want to try... There's helpful instructions and a video tutorial on Needle n' Thread if you're so inclined - view the tutorial.

Spring

stitched by Hareanddrum - Her Etsy store

Isn't her work beautiful?

Thanks again to everyone who's been chiming in on the previous post. You have all been super honest, kind, and up front with your opinions - to me, that's what the indie craft movement is all about. Thanks, everybody!

Fancy a cup of tea?

stitched by KnitStorm

Keeps your tea cozy? Sweet!

Floss porn

picture by Whitebutton

I am introducing a new label to our blog (you guessed it) - floss porn. Because I think I'm not the only person who loves to stare at pictures of embroidery floss. And covet them fiercely. :)

Or, am I the only weirdo here? ;)

Free PDF Pattern

Mollie just keeps whipping out the cute free stuff! Visit her blog for a free PDF that walks you through how to create a fabric cover for your sewing basket. Best of all the cute pattern for that smiling sewing machine is included. Woo-hoo! Get the Pattern!

Ring around...

stitched by aurapim

Beautiful!

Chinese acrobat

stitched by glazedangel101

Oh these Chinese acrobats! Awesomely stitched by Angie from the new pattern by Sublime Stitching. Want to try it? Pattern available here.

Earth day freebie

Check out this sweetness from Mollie (wild olive)! 2 freebies in one day... my fingers can't keep up! :)

Felt sachet corsets!

Free pattern from rectangel

Erin is offering this free pattern in our pool - sheesh, thanks Erin! Just looking at these cute corsets makes me want to stitch up a thousand. And boy, do my drawers need it. :)

How I Roll

stitched by pepperstitches

If you squint, you can see your sushi roll is smiling at you...

Penny Leaver-Green

I for one love art, embroidered or otherwise, that tells a story, has lots of interesting details and also is lovely to look at. Penny Leaver-Green definitely ticks all those boxes. She explores diferent topics in a very poetic way. For anyone in those necks of the woods, she will be exhibiting at the Bovey Tracey Contemporary Craft Fair in Devon, England 5-7th June.

Who or what inspires you?
My children, my friends, the news, the fabric and thread

How long have you been stitiching? What got you started?
I was taught to stitch in a very conventional and thorough way at school by a very strict teacher called Miss Lax- I loved it, but only really began to explore it as a medium when I had my first child -7 years ago.

Do you have a favourite stitch? Why?
Not really- I could do with experimenting with many more - although I find that couching stitch makes a bold impression and for that reason use it often.

Tell us about your subject matter...
My subject matter is diverse- I recently produced a body of work which sought to explore our relationship with birds- from the way we exploit them to our admiration and reverance of them- I also often return to children's stories and try to represent moments of danger or dischord within them. I want to make a viewer think about the subject matter and so hope to provoke rather than just satisfy.

What perceptions of embroidery do you encounter?
I use embroidery to create pictures and so consider it an art form- as well as a craft. I like to think of the needle and thread as a brush or pen and line. I have found people increasing receptive.

Why is embroidery worth spending time on?
The process is extremely satisfying - as a piece of work develops and grows the progression happens at a controllable pace- mistakes can be rectified and the end image is invariably a reflection of this process.

Are there any other embroiderers in the group pool that you have noticed?
I love Quinn 68 who uses embroidery in her beautiful dolls and also contemporaryembroidery who has a real handle on the craft.

Imagine

stitched by icedgrandesoylatte

No more wire hangers

stitched by Mrs Gibson's Atelier

I'm telling you, you people are hilarious. It would be just like me to crack up laughing every time I saw that on my wall (if I was fortunate enough to have it on my wall). Truly golden, Mrs. Gibson.

Today's program was brought to you by the letter:

stitched by What Delilah Did

Is it just me or is cross-stitch getting more beautiful?

The sky isn't the limit

"reading the stars", originally uploaded by miniature.rhino.

Not in embroidery anyway. My goodness, these are amazing. I love astronomy, but I never thought of embroidering constellations or other nightly 'creatures'.

Although, maybe I should, after all there is a constellation named after me. Okay, maybe not, but it does have the same name as me. ;-)

And can I just say again how much I love these? They are (excuse the pun) stellar!

Beautifully covetous

stitched by fieldguided

What happens when you can't afford a dress? Well, if you're the lovely Anabela, you immortalize it on a doily. Thereby making something even lovelier.

Viva Derby!

stitched by Viteen

Kerry is really rocking the fill-in stitches on this one. Bravo!

Key Brooches

stitched by MaMagasin

Lovely, no?

Cross Stitch on Brick

photo by suzie sew

The world needs more graffiti like this.

NLA tower t shirt

NLA tower t shirt, originally uploaded by Tobyboo.

Hey, how cool is this? I love the lines of this piece. It has the rough and ready feel of a blind contour drawing. Plus, it's a building, in stitches. Fab.

It is a building in Croydon (London). You can read more about it here, if you're so inclined.

Working by the pool

stitched by woolly fabulous

I'm loving these chunky stitches and bright colors. If wool didn't make me itch so much, I might have to go out and grab some.

Super Egg Girl

stitched by fric_de_mentol

Found this too late for Easter but it's wonderful all the same.

Leafy

Orla, originally uploaded by erinsy.

This is a beautiful piece. Inspired by the work of Orla Kiely. But lovely inits own right as well. I love the colours.

I suspect this won't be the last we see of erinsy here on Feeling Stitchy.

Happy Easter-Happy Spring

This made me smile and happy today when I saw this on Roxy Creations Flickr.

Happy Easter!

stitched by small::bird

Based on a free embroidery pattern by Badbird: get it here. I love how Jenna simplified the pattern so it wouldn't be so imposing for a beginner - this is her first embroidery. She's off to a very good start, no?

Cross stitch letters

stitched by incywincystitches

This pile of cross stitch letter buttons just fills me with glee.

Business Time

stitched by giddygirlie

Gotta love someone who uses the Flight of the Conchords song "Business Time" as inspiration for embroidery.

Happyscape by Carina

stitched by Carina

Our very own Carina unveiled a new embroidery pattern on her blog this week. She'll be giving away this pattern to one lucky person, see details on her blog.

Beauty to start the day

"wish you could see this too", originally uploaded by miki sato.

Oh my lordy, you must, gotta, have to go check out the work of miki sato!!

They are beautiful illustrations made from textile, and of course with embroidery. So, so lovely!

Interview with Penny Nickels

In her own words, Penny Nickels is 'long winded'. But I don't think we mind? Isn't it great to get to know the embroiderers and what inspires them? I definitely think so! Once you have read the interesting things she has to say, I encourage you to check out her blog as well. She has a shop too (some things NSFW, though).

Who or what inspires you?
When I'm in the conception stage of a project, I try to stay away from looking at other peoples work so that I don't end up overly influenced by them, or worse, subconsciously ripping them off. Mostly I look at traditional regional costumes and textile designs. I have a ka-billion picture books showcasing folk art, clothing, and fiber arts. I look for interesting color combinations and stitches. Right now my favorite books are Kyrgyzstan by Claudia Antipina, which made me jealous that I don't have any history of traditional costumes, and Embroidered Textiles: A World Guide to Traditional Patterns by Sheila Paine. It has a whole chapter on the witchy magic of embroidery. Like how to protect yourself with certain stitches, and how if a man catches you embroidering, you can tangle him up in your thread. Right now I'm into Moroccan Tile design for inspiration. I'm starting an embroidered quilt based on those geometric designs.

How long have you been stitiching? What got you started?
I've been embroidering and hand spinning for about four years, knitting for ten, and weaving on and off since I was twelveish. I was a printmaker for about fifteen years. I worked in mezzotint, aquatint, and relief.

Unfortunately, playing with gouges obsessively really strained my hands and I had to put it aside. In printmaking, particularity in relief printing, you only have a few stops between black and white. So it's like white, light grey, dark grey, black, and it's mostly defined by hatching and implied lines. Because I worked that way for so long, I'm always breaking down any image I think of into those parameters, and I found that it translated really well into the mechanics of embroidery. Most of my embroidery series started out as relief prints.

Do you have a favourite stitch? Why?
I have a love hate relationship with french knots. They remind me of stippling or the marks you get with a mezzotint rocker. I always end up using hundreds of them, and they start to exhaust me.

Tell us about your subject matter...
Wowza. I'm trying to organize my brain for this one.
Okay, every house I lived in growing up had a dedicated library, and really extensive collection of books. The first book I remember my father reading me was The Odyssey. So most of my pieces definitely have a mythic/story telling element to them. I feel like they're more like thinly veiled illustrations. I also think the thing that defines Humans as Humans as opposed to Deer or Dolphins or Grasshoppers is our ability to tell stories. That's why advertising is effective, it's why we like scandals and love songs and archetypes, because they appeal to our storytelling instincts, and I think that's ultimately that's what all forms of art serves to do. It provides the illustration to the story that the artist, dancer, musician, or even cave painter is trying to relay.

I'm also fascinated with the modern concept of celebrity. I think it's funny that we think Britney Spears and Paris Hilton are famous when we compare them to characters like Medusa or people like William Tell or Ivan the Terrible. The former are truly famous because their stories have persisted in our minds. That's where the idea for my series of commemorative stamps sprung from. I wanted to explore characters and stories that resonate with us, despite being antiquated. And obviously, following the thread of a story, spinning a tale.... you get the idea. :)
Stamp design also appeals to my printmaking background. I feature a lot of them on pillows and quilts, because I like the idea of turning fine art into something practical.

What perceptions of embroidery do you encounter?
I think that a lot of people who don't embroider think it's kitschy or quaint, or at worst, a fad. These are people to be avoided and pitied. On the other hand, people I've encountered who have an appreciation for craftsmanship, a critical eye, or are creative themselves tend be enthusiastic and interested in the process and product.

Why is embroidery worth spending time on?
I think that embroidery demands diligence and patience, and requires the artist to be open to exploring new ideas, whether it's unfamiliar stitches or fabric, or seeing the beauty in vintage and traditional patterns. To that end it's an amazing door opener for encouraging people to try their hand at other things that they may have thought was too intimidating or time consuming to try before.

Are there any other embroiderers in the group pool that you have noticed?
BadBird is amazing. I just want to walk into her works and spend some time getting to know her characters. She's an amazing storyteller.

I feel the same way about Porterness. There's kind of a smooth simplicity to her work that draws me in, while being throughly unique. Looking at her work feels like a waking dream.

I've been stalking Bascom Hogue on Flickr for awhile too. His red work feels crisp and confrontational in it's starkness, and absolutely elegant.

And I've got to give a shout out to my husband, Johnny Murder! He has Tourette's syndrome and a black sense of humor which oozes out of his stitches and makes you sick to your stomach. He gets extra gold stars for being able to wield a needle despite his ticks and twitches, and for grabbing up all the guys and starting the Manbroidery group.

Bird Hoops

stitched by melissastanley727

I've seen a lot of embroidered hoop art but I must say these bird branches have to be the cutest thing yet. The backs are lovely, too. Adorable!

Outrageous cuteness

stitched by Danielle Thompson

As you may have heard last week, Danielle Thompson of Kitschy Digitals has new embroidery patterns for sale. I love the bright, vivid, candy-toned colors she uses, and her delicious photography skills. Just about every pic I'm seeing is making me squeal. Check out the patterns!

We Have a Winner!

Congratulations Hannahbelle, you're the winner of The Kitchen Linens Book! Please email me your info at unafloresita AT gmail DOT com. I'll be mailing you the book, a blank tea towel, and 5 bright floss colors to get you started stitching.

Did everyone have as much fun as I did reading through all these comments? I don't get a lot of feedback over at my vintage transfers blog, so it was really wonderful to read all these stories and warm memories you guys have associated with vintage embroidery.

Also, if you didn't win this time, there's good news - EllynAnne tells me there's a giveaway on her site too. Drop by her blog for details. Thanks to everyone who responded!!!

Talking to Totally Severe

Did you see the Milhouse embroidery on the blog recently? Otherwise go take a look! Here is some more from Sarah of Totally Severe. Although, I totally think she's should change the name to Totally Cool, because that is exactly what she is! And it goes to show that you don't need to know a lot of stitches (in fact she says she only knows one!) to do work that has a lot of impact. Check it you!

Who or what inspires you?
I am inspired by antique photographs, floral patterns, overly saturated colors, and lousy daytime television.

Dr. Phil & Rachael Ray bake cookies

How long have you been stitching? What got you started?
I started doing embroideries in July 08, when it became increasingly difficult for me to find freelance design work. I found myself with a lot of free time, and I'm not the kind of person who is good at sitting still. I always have to be busy doing something productive, so for some reason I decided on embroidery. Lucky for me, it's a very affordable hobby.

Do you have a favourite stitch? Why?
I use the satin stitch because that's really the only stitch I know. I just improvise as I go along.

Napoleon's Little Pony embroidery

Tell us about your subject matter...
The more ridiculous things are, the better. I think there's something wonderfully strange about the mixture of modern pop culture and an old-fashioned medium like embroidery. If you had told me two years ago that in the future I'd be sewing images of Jerry Stiller and Dr. Phil, I probably wouldn't have believed you. I refuse to let embroidery be serious, so I like to incorporate humor and very bright colors.

Mademoiselle embroidery

What perceptions of embroidery do you encounter?
I think embroidery is still perceived as being kind of stuffy, but it's only stuffy if you want it to be. Mostly when I show people my works they're amazed that I possess the kind of patience needed to make them.

Lucky in Love

Why is embroidery worth spending time on?
I've been doing graphic designs for years, but there's always a disconnect between what I'm drawing on a screen and an actual tangible product. I like embroidery because it's a creative process and I get something to hang on my wall at the end of it.

Dapper Gentleman embroidery

Are there any other embroiderers in the group pool that you have noticed?
Oh, too many to mention. Every time I look in through it it makes me want to try new techniques. I'm drawn mostly to redwork and portraits.

Thanks for interviewing me! It's been fun!
-Sarah

Week of Freebies: Kitchen Linens Book giveaway!

frouffy free pattern from me to you - print and enjoy!

As you all probably know, I'm a huge fan of vintage embroidery transfers - if you haven't seen my vintage transfer blog, go check it out - there's tons of freebies I've scanned for you over the years.

So, ahem, I recently received a copy of The Kitchen Linens Book from author EllynAnne Geisel, and rather than just keep it all for myself (which I was very tempted to do) I thought I'd share it with one lucky Feeling Stitchy reader to top off this week of freebies!

There are so many levels to enjoy this book on: if you love vintage transfers, vintage linens, cooking, recipes, stories and nostalgia, this book scores on every point. I really enjoyed the tone of the book and EllynAnne's humor and friendliness.

Also, I'm loving how our fascination with all things vintage is helping us return to a "greener" way of life: instead of buying 3,000 rolls of boring paper towels, embroidering, buying, and using real dish towels helps us embrace a less "disposable" lifestyle. This book celebrates that, and the idea of treasuring vintage linens by using them.

Also, included in the back of the book is a sheet of vintage iron-on transfers! They feature dancing pots, plates, saucers, and cutlery. You know it took all the force of my will to part with them - but just leave a comment on this post, and if I draw your name at random this Monday morning - you win! I'll also include a new blank towel to embroider on, and 5 bright floss colors to get you started!

Do you have any stories or memories associated with vintage linens? A favorite old tea towel, hankie, or tablecloth? It can be weird, bizarre, or silly, we dig all of that here. Or, just tell us what your favorite transfer motifs are (I'm all about the animated dishware, particularly the kind that wears shoes and hats.) Chime in before Monday morning, and this book could be yours!

Spring bird

♥ the singer - 2, originally uploaded by ♥•*anita*•♥.

Oh look! Don't these colours just say 'spring' to you? So happy. I bet that is what the birdie is singing about!

I love this coq

LeCoq after, originally uploaded by mimilove forever.

Well, I hope you don't mind another one from mimilove. How amazing is this coq? ;-)

This combiation of colourful painting with ditto stitiches is just so beautiful.

Love the LoveBot

LoveBot, originally uploaded by rachelmckay.

How cute is that?! And check out the satin stitches. Perfection!