June Stitchalong: Last week

Is it possible? The June Stitchalong is officially over, but we saw lots of cool projects stitched from free patterns this month...

We saw 2 nice versions of the pillowcases:

Stitched by buitenlander25


Stitched by MommyBownds

A vegetable clothespin bag (with free pattern):

Stitched by BohoIslandBaby

Knitting mushrooms:

Stitched by ~ PixieFey ~

Cute unicorns on printed fabric:

Stitched by lynnefloor

Waving cat:

Stitched by mrs. breadpony

Lovely butterfly:

Stitched by Troublet42

And, as for my project - stitching Carina's free pattern on paper, it's coming along - here's my latest photograph:

(my June Stitchalong progress)

Thanks to everyone who took part in the stitchalong! And even if you haven't finished, be sure to tag your progress and add it to the pool and maybe we can help inspire you to finish! I'll be doing a post later on my own blog when I finish my projects.

Stay tuned for the July Stitchalong, coming up very soon! :)

Patterns: Gil Elvgren

Gil Elvgren pin-up from Sublime Stitching - stitched wonderfully by Giddy99

Sometimes I see a pattern that's been around for a while, pop up on the Flickr pool and the stitcher has done such a wonderful job with it, it makes me appreciate the pattern in a whole new light. Giddy99's Gil Elvgren pin-up, from one of the Sublime Stitching artist series sheets, was one such example, I love how Giddy has used a running stitch to help emphasise the pin-up's curves. Thanks Giddy for reminding us that such a great pattern sheet is out there!

Pearl and the Beard Giveaway!

I am always up for a good giveaway, how about you guys? So when I was contacted about giving away the newest CD from a Brooklyn-based band called Pearl and the Beard, it only took my brain a second to say "okay!" But hey, I am pretty picky about my music, so I did some Youtube and internet research first, and I must say, I really like their sound.

Here's a free download of one of the tracks off their album, it's called "Reverend":
http://thefamilyrecordsstore.s3.amazonaws.com/patb-ktd/Reverend.mp3

But of course, what really fascinated me about this CD was... the three person sweater, on the cover- hand-knitted by one of the band members. To prove that this is an actual sweater, and not Photoshop, here's Jocelyn, taking you through her studio and the construction of the sweater:



Aren't the colors she picked for it amazing? I wish I had those skills! Anyway, these guys are pretty adorable, and one of you lucky peeps can get their latest CD, Killing the Darlings.

All you gotta do is leave a comment here by Monday morning, 9 AM (US) Central time. And what I'd like to know in your comment is - what's the weirdest knitted item / sweater you've ever seen / made? Extra points of course, if you link to a photo and extra-extra points if you made it yourself. :) But either way, it's random, so just give it a try if you want to check out this awesome CD! Thanks, Pearl and the Beard, for sharing this with us!!!

For more on Pearl and the Beard:
www.pearlandthebeard.com
www.facebook.com/PearlandtheBeard
www.twitter.com/PEARLntheBEARD

The X-files: Help a fellow stitcher

Hey ev'rybody! Sometimes people ask questions in the Feeling Stitchy Flickr group, which is great. Usually someone can answer the question, which is also really great! Unfortunately, sometimes that's not the case. So, since you're probably not all checking out the Flickr group discussions, I thought occasionally I'd post some of those.. heh, X-files here. Get it? X-stitch - X-files? Yeah, I crack myself up! ;-) Anyway...

Here's a recent one from Caroline /miocaro:

This is a long shot, but I'm taking it! I have a bought a number of vintage unused embroidery kits--stamped fabric usually, with the instructions and floss or wool thread. I have one kit that I started work on and then lost the instructions! It's pretty complicated and while I could finish it without the instructions, part of the pull for me is following them!
The kit is Bucilla #2799 "Autumn Scene". It's from the late 40s.
The scene is a little cottage in the woods.

The kit came with the fabric, floss and even a frame for the completed project, all in a cardboard box. I have everything but the instruction sheet. :(
I have contacted Bucilla and they do not keep archives of their patterns.

Anyone?
Thanks!
caroline

So, whaddya reckon? Unfortunately, it doesn't look like there's a photo of the kit in question. Take a look at the image below: Anyone who can help Caroline? Or know someone who can? Either leave a comment here or on the original question.

Thanks!

Stitchy and Nice

Stitchy and Nice, a gallery on Flickr.

I have a wee favour to ask you! When you add your stitchy beauties to the Feeling Stitchy Flickr group, would make sure that anyone can blog the photos? Because, you see, I come across a lot of cool stuff there, but often the settings on the photos are such that only a link to it is available.

So if I want to post it, I have to contact the person to get a copy of the image or have them change the settings and such. I don't always have time for that, unfortunately, so I move on to the next photo, which will let me blog it.

It's up to you if you want to allow people to share your photos, of course! I get that there are reasons for not wanting to. All I'm sayin' is: we want to share your work, but sometimes we can't.

In cases where I can't blog a photo here on FS, I've taken to adding them to galleries on Flickr, so I have a "collection" of that I think is stitch and nice. ;-)

I'm going to post those from time to time, so all those stitchy niceries will get a wee bit of a shout out at least. :-)

Edited to add:
In case you do want to allow others to blog your Flickr images you can do so by following this link. :-)

June Stitchalong: Week 2

(my June Stitchalong project in progress)

Yay! We've already had a great response to the June Stitchalong - we've got new projects in the pool, along with some free patterns designed by you guys! Remember that for this stitchalong you are welcome to stitch any free pattern that you like (even one you make yourself) - but please post a link to the pattern you use so we can stitch along with you. :)

For this post, I wanted to show you a great tool freely available in Flickr that you might not know about: Picnik!

Ever take a picture of your stitching and think it's too dark or you wish it reflected the actual colors better?

Here's some stitching from the super-talented lilyvanilli72:



You can tell, without a doubt that this is an amazing work, and the details are nice and sharp, but it's kind of dark and hard to see the actual colors...

Well, here it is after a quick Auto-fix in Picnik:


Isn't that awesome? Thanks, Lily, for letting me share your stitching!

Here's a pic stitched by life is crafty (wonderful stitching, by the way, Jeanne!) for the June Stitchalong:

Before:


After Auto-fix in Picnik:


Nice, huh? The original photo was fine, but Auto-fix added an extra  pop of contrast and tweaked the color temperature to the cool side. I've used this tool a lot, and like any tool, sometimes it works better than others, but it is definitely worth a try.

Here's how to use Picnik (tips from Flickr):
How do I start editing with Picnik


Now, back to the June Stitchalong...
A few of you have already stitched some of the freebies I posted!

How about this cutie stitched from the Wild Olive pattern:

Stitched by Now I'm Found

I love this white stitching on blue:

Stitched by ~ PixieFey ~

And, just in time for this stitchalong, Digital Misfit posted a free pattern on her blog:

Get the pattern

As for my project, I am finishing *cough* last month's stitchalong and stitching Carina's free pattern on paper:


(my progress again)

Can't wait to show you more! Until next week, have fun stitching, guys! :)

Love, Elephant Style

I simply adore this felt elephant. LimeRiot over at Craftster.org not only stitched this up but also did a super easy to follow tutorial on how you can make your own felt embroidery project.

From drawing it up...

To stitching it up...

Her step-by-step guide will help you create your own beautiful, whimsical felt embroidery.

Interview - Katie Kutthroat

Some of you may already have seen this lovely piece in the Feeling Stitchy group. It is pretty awesome, isn't it? It is stitched by Katie Kutthroat, who does lots of cool and colourful stitcheries. Do check them out in her Flickr stream. Not all of it is 'safe for work' as it were, and we can't be held responsible for any reactions to checking it out! ;-)

Right, so we had to know more about this awesome piece! And about Katie, of course, so let's see what she has to say!

Thanks, Katie!

Please tell us a wee bit about yourself
Well my name is Katie (Kutthroat) the nickname isn't nearly as exciting or violent as it sounds! I was born in South Alabama and raised in Alabama and Florida. I am currently living in the Metro-Detroit area and going back to college, studying the Culinary Arts. On the side I sell my crafts @katiekutthroat.etsy.com to help pay for school.

How long have you been stitching? What got you started?
I have technically been "stitching" since I was 14, I started cross stitching then.. which is my first love in needlework. I didn't fall into embroidery until I rekindled my love for crafts and picked cross stitching back up a few years ago. I guess I felt sorta limited by the boxed designs and wanted to branch out. At first I was really intimidated so I tried out a few Sublime Stitching Patterns. A few failed attempts and a few not so impressive pieces I was sorta getting the hang of it and I really enjoyed the freedom of embroidery. I then started stitching Sailor Jerry styled pin up girls and those really took off.

Tell us a little bit about this wonderful piece.
This piece is a fine example of how you can start out totally unsure of what you are doing and eventually it can lead to evolving with the craft. The design is by an upcoming tattoo artist, Don Chuck Carvalho. You may not have heard of him because he is still going through his apprenticeship. He resides in Brazil and is so very talented, if you want to check out his stuff:www.facebook.com/donchuckcarvalho But please respect the artist, I have received permission to use some of his designs. When I came across this particular design I thought what a positive message, "Your Ruin, My Gain." I wanted to stitch something as beautiful as the saying truly is.

Do you have a favourite stitch? Why?
My favorite stitch is the satin stitch, it is the most addictive stitch I have learned to this day. I think the kid in me loves coloring things in still :) I like bringing life to the pieces with really bright colors.

Any advice for "newbie" embroiderers?
My advice for newbies to the world of embroidery is "Don't give up!!" Seriously, it takes time and mistakes to really learn the swing of things! Don't get discouraged if you mess up the first 10 times, I promise you aren't alone. The more you practice, just with anything, the better you will get. I am still learning as I go and it is a really fun experience!

Patterns: Happy Apple Child

Happy Apple Child stitched by Joey Ramone, vintage pattern provided by doe-c-doe

Joey (who you may remember stitched the wonderful tiger which won the Feeling Stitchy colour competition last year) has continued to be busy and she's just stitched this wonderful Happy Apple Child from a vintage pattern provided by doe-c-doe (here), for the New Embroidery with Vintage Patterns June 2011 stitch-along. I love how crisp and bright the stitching is.

You can still join in with the New Embroidery with Vintage Patterns stitch-along, their theme is summer fruits and/or picnics. You can find the group, full of stitchy, vintage goodness here.

Winner of the May Stitchalong!

It wasn't enough for the winner of the May Stitchalong just to stitch up a version of the pattern. She decided to stitch a teensy-tiny version of the May pattern. On a dress. For a Blythe doll. That she crayon tinted. And she made herself.

Seriously, can it get any more amazing? Look at those stitches!


No, really, look at those stitches - she even made a little diagram to show you exactly what she did:


So congratulations, Lia of Summerday Studio, your stitching is incredible, and you won a free pattern from Cate Anevski's store and a bundle of floss and fabric from me. :)

But, you know what? Cate loved everyone's stitching so much that she's sending one free pattern to every person who took part in the May Stitchalong! Yup, everyone who stitched the pattern last month and added their picture to our pool won a pattern! Isn't that incredibly sweet of her? Cate, you are so wonderful - thank you so much for designing such a wonderful pattern, being so generous, and inspiring us all. Thanks everybody! Is anyone working on the June Stitchalong yet? I'll be checking in with you guys later this week with a special post for that one! :)

Download the pattern (PDF)
week 1
week 2
week 3-4