Beeton's Book of Needlework: 154. Sandwich Case Pt. 3

Hullo! The chain-stitching is all done and I have started on the Overcast Stitch. It's my first time to do this stitch to tell you honestly, and as you can see, the lower part of my B came out a little wonky. Oopps.  Otherwise, it was fairly easy and pretty quick to do once the momentum got started.

I ended up using 4 strands for the laid threads and 3 strands for the threads that go over it. Black was the color suggested by Mrs. Beeton, and right she was as it does look lovely with the red, grey and ofcourse the steel beads! The beads are anchored down with 3 strands of black as well.

All in all, it is progressing smoothly and thank you for all your kind comments! Next up will be to finish it all neatly (I HOPE!) with some scallops and get this Sandwich Case all done and ready for use.

Download the PDF.

I hope these instructions can be understood! I will show the assembly on Part 4 so hopefully I can let this pattern make sense. For those who want to make this Sandwich Case, please visit: Part 1 and Part 2 and kindly read the comments as there are so many great inputs from our lovely readers (specially with regards to the "kid" material!). 

Have a wonderful week ahead everyone!

Patterns: Earth

Earth Day by  MadameUgly

Madame Ugly stitched this Wild Olive pattern to celebrate Earth Day recently. I love how Madame Ugly has stitched this pattern on corduroy and I love the different direction fill stitching using variegated thread. 

Right now I can't spot this particular pattern in the Wild Olive store, however Wild Olive's Solar System set is listed and that has an Earth pattern, although viewed from a different angle.

Bunting Bounty Hunt Brings Bountiful Discovery!

A mystery solved! Last month, I blogged about a captivating image of embroidered bunting that floated across my Instagram feed. I contacted Linni, who posted the image, to see if she could tell me who made them. She quickly wrote back that she didn't know -the image was found on tumblr.

So, by saying "I don't know where this image came from but I'd be interested to know" sleuthy stitchers started searching. And the original project has been found!

The photo and project was made by Mary, aka The Vintage Cottage, and originally posted on Flickr. Flor asked Mary about the project:

As for the idea of the bunting, I have enjoyed sewing in all forms for many years now, and had a stash of vintage table linens with all sorts of bad blemishes, but couldn't bear to throw them away. (You know how it is when you have something that will "come in handy one day"). Then I had a eureka moment because my daughter is having a vintage inspired wedding and wanted lots of bunting. So I took my scissors to the embroidered bits and cut the pennants out, then because I like to embellish, thought I would add the ric rac to give an extra vintage twist. Et voila! I could go into business making similar bunting due to the requests I get, but there wouldn't be enough old linens to go round!

Mary credits Jenny, aka The Custards on Flickr, with the idea. And it's clear that Jenny is the source of a lot (a lot) of beautiful bunting. A bounty of bunting. Okay, I'll stop.

Doesn't it feel great when you know you've gotten down to the source of things? Curiosity can't be quelled.

Meet our guest blogger: Jenny

It's truly my pleasure to introduce our guest blogger - Jenny Hart. Her updated embroidery patterns, full-on talent and artistry have inspired an entire generation of new stitchers. Visit her personal blog, Embroidery As Art, for even more inspiration.

A little bit more about Jenny:

Jenny Hart is an artist, designer and author. After first trying embroidery in the summer of 2000, she founded Sublime Stitching "This Ain't Your Gramma's Embroidery" to introduce alternative patterns and resources for stitching. Hart is the author of Embroidered Effects (Chronicle Books) and seven additional titles on embroidery.

Her work has been published and exhibited internationally, most recently with a solo show of embroidery-inspired drawings at Galerie LJ in Paris, France. In 2012, her embroidered work La Llorona will become a part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Collection. After ten years in Austin, Texas, Hart relocated to Los Angeles, California where she plays with her 2 year-old niece every chance she gets.


Look for Jenny when she drops in from time to time, and I promise that every time you'll see something fascinating. It's an honor to have someone with such expertise and experience sharing here! Thanks, Jenny!

April Stitchalong: week 4

My cupcake is finished! I decided to give my cupcake some bushy brows and put some sprinkles in the background. He's more of a worried cupcake, but I thinks he's suitably crazy and fun-looking as well. :)

I made a last-minute decision to add some stuffing to my cupcake, and I like the smooshy 3d quality it added:


And I have a couple more awesome cupcakes to show you! This one hails from Lauren R - I LOVE the eyes and the contrasty colors she used:



Also in the psychedelic vein is this cool cupcake by MadameUgly:


Well, this post wraps up the April Stitchalong with Love and a Sandwich's awesome Monster Cupcake. Thanks again, Chelsea, for designing something so fun to stitch!

Again, it's never too late to join in, so download your pattern and stitch away if you'd like to stitch your own!


Download the PDF
Week One
Week Two
Week Three

Just tag your photos "AprilStitchalong2012" and add them to the Embroidery group, so we can all see them! Thanks, all for an awesome stitch along, and stay tuned because we've got some fun stuff up our sleeve for our next stitchalongs! :)

Book Review: New Ideas In Goldwork by Tracy Franklin

Over the years I've bought numerous books on goldwork and other metallic thread embroidery, but this is the one I consistently return to time and again. Today I'm going to review it and let you know just what's in store for you between the covers of:

New Ideas in Goldwork by Tracy Franklin

(Published 2008 by B.T. Batsford.)

Tracy Franklin is a graduate of the Royal School of Needlework and her embroidery is , as you'd expect,  a study of beauty and perfection. In New Ideas In Goldwork she not only introduces goldwork at a level for beginners, but follows it through to advanced and experimental stitching, making this a book for all levels. To give you a good feel for what's on offer, I'm going to run through it chapter by chapter.

Chapters One and Two are the expected introduction to tools, threads and materials. Goldwork threads are something quite unique and if you haven't done any before you'll want to spend a bit of time here familiarizing yourself with the shininess. One take home point if you aren't familiar with goldwork is that these threads aren't at all like other embroidery threads and are usually stitched onto the surface of the fabric (couched), not stitched through it. They also have fantastic names such as pearl purl, check purl, imitation Japanese, rococco and flatworm. There are several pages of photos to give side-by-side examples of how the different threads look, and she gives each a quick explanation that gives you a good grip on how they're made. At the back of the book is also included a list of suppliers and although they're all UK based, it's a good starting point for sourcing supplies yourself.

In Chapter Three she goes on to explain the techniques by way of samples. Starting with padding properly, she continues on to couching correctly and plunging the threads, showing with clear photos how to deal with tricky corners or expanding circles. She goes into the various ways of getting the slippery, worm-like purl "threads" couched (trust me, they totally feel like worms when you hold them and it is simultaneously disgusting and awesome) and creating the brightly textured chip work. This chapter is one to come back to again and again, making sure you have the basic techniques down.

Chapter Four is Creative Metalwork Samples and here is where it gets funky. In these pages are the things I've not found in another goldwork book - it's breaking the rules, playing with the unusual characteristics of the threads and being messily creative. Almost twenty pages of awesome experiments for you to try yourself, encouraging you to step out of the traditional goldwork bounds and play with the effects you can create.

Finally Chapters Five and Six go into the creation of entire works: from instructions on how to replicate some designs, to examples of work from both Tracy and other embroiderers, with ideas, thought processes and design stages set out. This is the section for inspiration and the works there range from the beautifully traditional to the conceptually beautiful.

New Ideas In Goldwork is a beautiful, informative and inspiring book which not only teaches you how to perform the traditional art of goldwork, but encourages you to step out of the confines of those same traditional techniques - something you see still too rarely in published books on metal thread embroidery. It's a book which will work for all stages: beginner stitchers to advanced; goldwork newbies to couching queens. A must have addition to any stitching library and I give a rating of 5 out of 5 Gold Needles!

Meet the New Bloggers: Jacinta

I'm really excited to introduce our next new blogger, Jacinta, or as you may know her on Flickr, Stitchalicious.

Jacinta creates graffiti-inspired cross-stitch patterns, and works in string nué, stumpwork, and other embroidery techniques, all within her own unique style. She has an Etsy store called Stitchalicious where she sells her own patterns, and she has written regularly with the fabulous peeps at MrXStitch. In her own words, she has been "funking up embroidery" to suit her style - to see more of her inspired stitching, visit her site: www.stitchalicious.com.


Utilizing her own extensive stitch book library, Jacinta will review books on embroidery technique - look for her here on the last Friday of the month. Jacinta, it's an honor to have someone so talented join us - thank you! :)

My stitches have Portuguese soul

Olá! Last week I introduced you to Portugal and to our lovely stitches. Today I invite you to come and get to know my own “pontos*”. I’ll try to show why do I say they have a Portuguese soul, “alma Portuguesa”.

When I started to create my embroidery kits I was sure that would not suffer from lack of inspiration if I kept myself true to our traditions. And by traditions I don’t meant to narrow my inspiration to embroidery only… We have so many other inspiring features in our culture. Other crafts like pottery, tilling, basketry, jewelry, instruments making, lace work, weaving… Many genuine materials like cork, marble, linen and wool. And I could go on… And I will one of these days.

My first pattern was this Portuguese heart inspired by traditional Viana embroidery where the red and blue are the most usual colors and hearts a very common motif. So I reinvented it to make it easier for beginners… Some time after, I began embroidering the Portuguese heart using unlikely fabrics and floss colors. Do you think I’ve betrayed tradition? Even if I did it I kept myself true to Portuguese soul, and trust me, it is a very colourful one…

Traditional Viana embroidery, photo by Virgína Otten

Portuguese heart pattern by agulha não pica 

Creating embroidery kits for children was a big challenge… We all know that children love animals. It did not take me long to remember the most famous Portuguese animal: the rooster of Barcelos. Considered by many as our national symbol, I assure you that no visitor leaves our country without knowing it. The rooster that crowed after being dead is stamped on our fabrics, on old and new cloth, on modern accessories, on our walls and it is always present in our humour. Often bought as a souvenir, the ceramic painted rooster is not a good luck gift as many claim, but I confess I felt lucky with this pattern choice. Children can get to know our culture better and parents feel like they have a story to tell while children learn their first stitches. So here you have stitches inspired by ceramic and oral tradition… Do you agree this is an unexpected source of embroidery inspiration?

Ceramic roosters of Barcelos, photo by Afton Halloran

Burlap embroidery kit by agulha não pica

Last but not the least… When choosing the supplies for my kits I always have a strict principle: “Portuguese first”. It makes my work harder but I’m often surprised by my discoveries as happened with fantastic cotton floss, great wool yarn and very beautiful fabrics (I’ll talk about them in another post). Otherwise I would have to replace these products by foreign brands. Caught up in these findings I heard about burel, a 100% wool Portuguese fabric resembling felt, but more rustic. Burel, unlike felt, is a woven fabric and that makes it more resistant. It was used by mountain people and shepherds in capuchas, wool hoods that protected them from the cold. Recently I began working with burel to create “capuchas” for books and mugs. In other words, book covers and mug cozies kits. A piece of advice: embroidering on burel soon becomes an addiction…

Capucha made of burel, photo by frproart

Book cover kit made of burel, by agulha não pica

I hope my words showed you that I walk the talk when I say that my stitches have Portuguese soul…

Once again you’ve learned some Portuguese words… “Pontos” means stitches… “Alma portuguesa” means Portuguese soul… So you’ll have “pontos com alma portuguesa” for “stitches with Portuguese soul”…

Way Back Wednesday

Sewclever knows her way to my heart. Vintage image + embroidery + cocktails = A stitchy trifecta. I love the ice trio hanging out on the side of the martini glass. Be sure to check out her blog to see her other amazing pieces. Oh how she makes me swoon!

Beeton's Book of Needlework: 154. Sandwich Case Pt. 2

Happy Monday everyone, hope you all had a restful weekend. We are now on Part 2 of the Mrs. Beeton Sandwich Case. As much as I love happy, candy colors, it is best that I stick as close to the colors described in the book to better see Mrs. Beeton's vision.

The original materials stated were: Strip of grey kid; strip of oil silk; 1 skein black silk; 1 skein red purse silk; 1 hank steel beads; steel button.

Now I am not sure what kind of fabric "kid" could be, unless it really could be from that of a ruminant?  I tried to search it, but to no luck, so do let us know if you find the answer to this. Oil silk is apparently silk painted with oil to make it waterproof, pretty much like our oilcloth of present day I would presume. (UPDATE: Thank you to Lemon Tree Tami and Jacinta for the explanation of "kid" fabric as can be read in the comments section. Much appreciated!)

So keeping those colors in mind and the stitches as stated in Part 1, I went ahead and worked on the design unto a more common grey linen fabric. And since I have no access to luxurious silk skeins, I am working the stitches in 3-strands of polyester sewing machine threads (this is purely a personal preference as I love working with these threads instead of embroidery floss).

Here are the scrolls being worked in red chain stitches:

Next Monday we will tackle the Overcast Stitch, embroidering steel beads and giving a pattern for those tedious side scallops :-)

Till next time, wishing you all a stitchy week ahead!

Meet the Bloggers: Jo

Next on our list of bloggers to re-introduce to you is Jo - and to get an idea of how special she is - you need to visit her blog. She is a constant embroiderer - she is always making something, as the following image makes abundantly clear:



That image represents ONLY the month of March for Jo! I'm super-inspired by her enthusiasm for crafting and her passion for discovering new patterns. I love that Jo works in every style and that she's fearless in taking on new projects and trying new techniques. I can't imagine a better person to feature new patterns, and we're really fortunate to have her blogging with us.

A little bit more about Jo:

On her personal blog, Lacer’s Life, Jo blogs about craft, food (growing it as well as eating it), books, and her family. She contributed the "Microbe Hankies" project in Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery and she has a fledgling shop called Mrs. Lacer’s Attic where she sells hand embroidered pieces.



Look for Jo on Sundays, when she blogs about new patterns! Welcome back, Jo! :)

'Patterns': Buttons

Embroidered buttons by vvvanessa

Not so much a pattern this week, as more a kit. Vanessa embroidered these extremely cute buttons using a kit from Tako Fibers. It looks like Tako Fibers are on vacation right now, but definitely worth checking back on them when they return I think.

Blog love: Interview with Jamie and Bridget of MrXStitch

MrXStitch has been one of my blog faves for years, or more specifically, since 2008 when Jamie and Bridget (aka Beefranck) started blogging together. What I love about MrXStitch as a site and community is that you can find every kind of embroidery there: cute, sweet, edgy, weird, technical, traditional, snarky and racy. It's a taste of everything (and I do mean everything) in the contemporary needlework scene - but all carefully curated to make you think and show you something new.

Jamie and Bridget are both cross-stitchers who take a very traditional art and turn it around so that it perfectly reflects their humor, talent, and let's face it, oddness. :) Oh, and did I mention? Jamie and Bridget are hilarious. Their awesomely offbeat humor takes a front seat in their podcast, Stitching n Junk, where you can find interviews, shout-outs, stitching anecdotes, and Jamie pronouncing words in a British-y fashion while Bridget snickers. :)

Enough of me jabbering on about how much I love these these two, without further ado, here's a few questions for Jamie and Bridget of MrXStitch!




If someone told you 5 years ago that today you’d be writing for a modern cross stitch and embroidery blog and have thousands of worldwide fans, would you have believed them?

Jamie: Probably not – let’s face it, it’s a pretty bonkers story. I’m still convinced that this is an elaborate ruse in a Truman Show style, and that my Mum is pretending to be thousands of people from the inter webs. But seriously, it’s a huge honour to have had the success we have had, and to be able to showcase such fantastic stitcheries from around the world. There’s a real momentum with this stitchy malarkey at the moment and I think there’s plenty of mileage left. It’s exciting! I should point out that both Bridget and I take stitching seriously, but not too seriously.

Bridget: Nope. I had never even picked up a needle before 2008, even though I had admired embroidery and cross stitch for a long time. Thanks to Julie Jackson's Subversive Cross Stitch patterns, I gave it a try and was absolutely hooked. The Subversive Cross Stitch Flickr group was my first introduction to other stitchers like me. Then I ran across work by artists like Penny Nickels and Bascom Hogue and I became absolutely fascinated by embroidery. There was no going back after that. It's funny to think that 5 years ago I knew nothing about the thing that would be such a big part of my future.



Spam stitch by Jamie

How did you two meet? Did you hit it off from the start? 

Jamie: I blame Joss Whedon. I’d gotten to know Bridget through Craftster and we’d chatted on a few different social media. Bridget created the All the Birds pattern and I asked her for a copy. And the rest was history. One day we’ll do a Wikipedia page about it. It wasn’t long before our relationship evolved to the state it’s at now – sibling rivalry. She’s my sister from an American mister and I love her to bits.

Bridget: Jamie and I met via Flickr and Craftster - I can't remember which came first. We became friends when Jamie asked to do a swap for my Dr. Horrible blackwork. I had already sold it, but I emailed him the pattern. We started emailing back and forth and the rest is history! We did hit it off right away. I believe that there are certain people that we're supposed to be friends with - it's almost as though you are already friends and you are just waiting to meet them. It was like that with Jamie. I knew he was my brother from a European mother right away.



Parliament lyrics, stitched by Beefranck

Have you ever hung out in real life? Was it weird?

Jamie: I popped over to Chicago to meet Bridget in 2011 for a marvellous ten days of meat filled madness. We drank cocktails with friends on the 96th floor of the Hancock Tower. We visited some great stitchery shops in the Chicago suburbs. We watched crap telly and stitched together. It was just grand! It was a bit strange meeting at first as I’d never seen more than Bridget’s head and was pleasantly relieved to see she had a torso and legs. I was also unprepared for how fantastic she smelled.

Bridget: Jamie came to visit in August of 2010 and it was a really great time. Because of the time difference we often have to schedule times to talk so we keep in touch, so it was really nice to be able to hang out and talk about whatever. Friends came in from out of town so them could meet and hang out with him, too, and we had an awesome stitchy outing in downtown Chicago. It was kind of weird at first, but only for a couple minutes. We were friends for two years without ever seeing each other, so hearing his voice come out of a person rather than a computer was a little unsettling at first.

PUSH Stitchery by Jamie Chalmers - 30 Artists Explore the Boundaries of Stitched Art


What’s the dumbest interview question you’ve ever been asked?

Jamie: That’s a hard question to answer. I’m still waiting for someone to ask: “If I said you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me?” I’m sure that we’ve asked far more dumb questions on Stitching n Junk than we’re ever likely to receive.

Bridget: I've been lucky, the interviews I've been a part of have been pretty awesome. :) One thing that has come up quite a lot when I'm being interviewed by someone who doesn't understand embroidery is "What do you do with the finished project? Put it on a pillow?" I always frame my finished stitches, but people often think I make pillows out of them. :)





Jamie - what’s your favorite piece that Bridget's stitched? Bridget - same question for you. :)

Jamie: I’m always telling people about Bridget’s “Dog in Heat” piece, because it is a terrific example of the form. The combination of traditional sampler patterns and a snarky slogan is encapsulated perfectly in this piece and it’s one of the many many reasons why I refer to Bridget as the Queen of Ironic Stitching. Most people don’t realise how fine Bridget’s work is, but she has mastered the use of high count fabric and linens – her work is truly magnificent and I’m proud to have a few pieces in my collection.

Bridget: I CAN'T PICK JUST ONE. Jamie's first recycled cross stitch is my favorite piece he's made. It's so clever and unexpected. It has a sense of humor as well as a sense of style, just like the big lug himself. The other piece I absolutely love is one of his spam stitches. I call it word salad. It's a bunch of random words in different colors meant to represent spam emails he has received. One of the words is Franckobubble, one of his many nicknames for me.

*****

Thank you, Bridget and Jamie for keeping the embroidery community so awesome and highlighting amazing stuff on MrXStitch. If you'd like to stitch one of their patterns, do visit the MrXStitch store.

For more on Jamie, visit:
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrxstitch/sets/72157624246256265/
Stitching n Junk podcast: http://www.mrxstitch.com/stitching-n-junk/

For more on Bridget, visit:
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beefranck/
Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/beefranck
Tumblr: http://beefranck.tumblr.com/
Emergency Pants podcast: http://emergency-pants.net/

April Stitchalong: week 3

Today I am submitting photographic proof (with my new sheets as a backdrop) that I am working on my cupcake, albeit slowly....



He's all cut out and ready to stitch, I just haven't sewed him down yet. Hey, I can't help it - you guys keep posting such fun cupcakes to the pool and I keep getting distracted by them!

For instance, I'm really loving the look of alarm on this cupcake and cherry:


This cute little guy by kafka89 looks chocolate-y and delicious:


Look at this adorable guy stitched by Leilani:


I love how you've all been playing with the placement of the eyes, as that really changes Monster cupcake's whole expression, and you're not afraid to do some fun fabric combinations!

Want to join us? You have one more week to stitch a cupcake and add it to the pool!




Download the PDF
Week One
Week Two

Dont forget to tag your photos "AprilStitchalong2012" and add them to the Embroidery group, so we can all see them!

Stitches with Portuguese soul

Olá! My name is Gabriela (but you can call me Gabi) and I have a story to tell. A story made of history, culture and tradition, made of many stitches with Portuguese soul.

Map of Portugal embroidered
in flag colors by Soraia

I come from Portugal, “a little spot planted by the seashore”, the most western country of Europe. A really small country, but independent since the 12th century and claiming to be the oldest European nation-state.

Our history is a story telling of what we now call globalization. We were occupied by Celts, Romans, Visigoths - only to name some… And we started an age of adventures sailing through Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America. It’s cool to think we were the pioneers of globalization…

Maybe you’re wondering what this has to do with embroidery stitches… Someone explained it better than me: “What may seem like a simple piece of decorated fabric is, in reality, a summary of a fertile culture that has a million stories to tell, all born from its rich and colorful history.”(1)

I invite you to come this year round and get to be familiar with the stitches of this “melting pot” country. Stitches that claim to have a Portuguese soul, though I cannot assure that this soul is more Visigothic, Moorish or Indian...

Our stitches can be popular and colorful…

Embroidered typical costumes by Rosino

Charming and sober…

Madeira embroidery by Madeira Islands Tourism

Or sophisticated and silky…

My own piece of Castelo Branco embroidery - a wedding gift

Share and enjoy this journey with me and I’ll try to show you old time and modern stitches… Proving that we can be inspired by tradition and still be fresh and original as long as we remain true to our soul… In my case, a true Portuguese soul…

Did you notice? I started this post teaching you what might have been your first word in Portuguese, “olá”, meaning “hello” in English... You can step by every Thursday and I’ll teach you many more. You’ll have a whole year to learn Portuguese...

Meet the New Bloggers: Gabriela

The most fascinating thing about our embroidery community is just how wide it is - embroidery is an art that has been practiced by almost every culture and country, all over the world. So I'm really excited that this year we have a chance to explore a regional embroidery style with a very long and honored history - Portuguese embroidery!

Gabriela (or Gabi for short) is a talented stitcher who will be sharing her take on Portuguese embroidery - a mix of modern and old, with a generous dash of friendliness, and maybe even a Portuguese lesson or two...

A little bit more about Gabi:

Gabi learned to embroider as a child. Later, she asked her daughter if she wanted to learn. Her daughter replied: "The needle pricks!” This fear of learning was familiar to her - as a university professor for many years, she taught complex formulas that were difficult to learn. She strongly believes that we can teach ourselves to face our fear… with needles as with complex formulas… when used with the head and the heart, the needle doesn’t prick!

Gabi's shops agulha não pica and worldonlap were born from this motivation. Her shop name, agulha não pica, literally means: "the needle doesn’t prick." Her embroidery kits, craft products, and her posts are all inspired by Portuguese traditions.


Look for Gabi here on Thursdays, when she'll be blogging Stitches With Portuguese Soul. So great to have you here, Gabi! :)

Way Back Wednesday

This circus panel from I am Susie's grandmother makes me happy. It is so whimsical! Her grandmother embroidered it for Susie's mother when she was a little girl. How wonderful that it still exists and is in the family.