Inspiration: Up Hoop

So many people love the Disney movie, Up. At our house, we still use the line, "cone of shame," when we see a pup in a medical cone. QueenNinjaMonkey at Craftster.org created this hoop based on the movie as a treat for herself. I am dying over the clever use of buttons as balloons. The blue felt background is a perfect contrast to the stitching. 

Tutorial Tuesday

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Today I have a round-up of some great tutorials with techniques and stitches that are definitely worth a try! If you are looking to diversify your stitches or exercise your stitching fingers, these tutorials are sure to be of interest.

If you have mastered the chain stitch, how about trying the Hungarian Braided Chain Stitch! Sarah of Rocksea and Sarah has quite a few stitching tutorials for you to browse through, enjoy, and try out!

French knots are always fun and add great texture to an embroidered piece. The Colonial Knot, looks just as good, too! Monika Kinner-Whalen offers a great tutorial for Colonial Knots over at her Sweet Prairie Studio.

Tinting embroidery designs is a great way to add depth without having to layer on too many stitches. Urban Threads offers a fun tutorial for embroidery tinting with crayons!

A really great looking surface embroidery technique is the Casalguidi Stitch, or as they call it over at Needle'n Thread, the Really Raised Stem Stitch. There are quite a few steps involved with this technique, but the end result is phenomenal to admire. 

Hope you enjoy some of these techniques and tutorials and give them a try!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Patterns: Stitch your cares away

Stitch your cares away by Felice Regina

I don't think there's anything much more relaxing than needle and thread, whether that needle is in your hand or attached to a sewing machine, so this pattern is a great reminder of that, a perfect pattern for the sewing room maybe? The pattern is by Felice Regina, aka Sew Scatterbrained on Craftsy and you can find the pattern there!

A Little Inspiration

I am obsessed with miniatures. Tiny little household objects just make me giddy. I was lucky enough to have Lisa from A Cuppa Tea with Me create this beautiful punch needle rug for my new dollhouse. I can not believe how detailed this little gem is! The French knot roses are the icing on the cake. You can read more about this rug and other creations on her blog. 

Patterns: Brick stitch

Brick stitch complete, stitched by Amanda Marksdottir

Amanda stitched this lovely pattern, using brick stitch, from the blog Medieval Arts & Crafts. It's based on a pattern from a 14th Century German embroidered hanging. I think it looks gorgeous and is definitely something I'd like to try. I think stitched like this it would make a great bookmark.

Christmas in July

One of my favorite stitchy people, Wendi Gratz is in cahoots with Deby at So Sew Easy to create this adorable Felt Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer Ornament. You can download the pattern, see step-by-step instructions and even get a video tutorial on making your own little ornament. As a crafty person, I know it's never too early to start planning for the holiday season. Check out both Wendi and Deby's blog post for this and other fab free projects. 

Tutorial Tuesday

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Today's tutorial comes to you courtesy of all the good things summer brings, especially camping, roasting marshmallows around the fire, and pitching tents in the woods. I like to call this the Summertime Campfire Shirt, featuring a free firefly embroidery pattern from the So September blog. Some of you may know Corinne's embroidery patterns from her September House shop.

Not only is today's tutorial good for making your own Summertime Campfire Shirt, it's also good for reviving some older shirts that need a little mending or brightening up. 

To make your own Summertime Campfire Shirt you'll need:

- a shirt that needs some new life

- an 8.5x11-inch piece of muslin or cotton fabric

- quilting ruler or ruler from a rotary cutting mat

- firefly embroidery pattern from So September

- embroidery floss, hoop, scissors, and needles

- water soluble marker or pen

- iron and ironing board

- sewing machine and supplies

Step One: Print out your pattern and transfer to fabric. This particular pattern fits perfectly in a 4-inch hoop.

Step Two: Embroider your pattern. I varied my stitches throughout this pattern with a split stitch for the little branch, stem stitch for the leaves, french knots for the holes on the jar lid, back stitches for the jar, and satin stitch for the fireflies. You can choose any stitches you like and really have fun with it!

Step Three: Using a quilting ruler and cutting mat, measure out one inch away from the design. Use the cutting mat to ensure the line is straight, and mark with a water soluble pen. Repeat on all four sides. 

Step Four: Using the 1-inch line as a guide, measure .5 of an inch below the line you created in the previous step. You'll want to measure inward toward the design, and mark this line. Repeat for all four sides. You'll end up with a grid, that I am hoping you can see in the photo above. 

Step Five: Using a running stitch, trace the inside line to create a square frame around the main embroidery design. 

Step Six: Using a contrasting floss color, use a running stitch on the outer line to further frame the embroidery design. 

Step Seven: Lightly press around your embroidery to create a flat even surface. Trim around the edges of the fabric to create a 7.5 by 7.5-inch square. 

Step Eight: Fold over the edges of all four sides of the fabric by .5 of an inch and press. Fold this pressed edge over again and press to seal the raw edges. 

Step Nine: Take your shirt, and place the fabric where you like. I need to cover this hole I have above my pocket, so I am going to place the embroidered fabric just along the top edge of the pocket. 

Once you have your fabric where you like it, pin it in place and sew around the edges. 

Step Ten: Clip away the threads, and your Summertime Campfire Shirt is ready for the summer fun!

Hope you enjoy and give this a try!

Portrait of a Young Man and His Hen

Each month on Craftster.org we have a Hoopla Along. There are various themes, prizes given away and we sit around and chat about stitching. It is like a virtual stitchy group! Last month's theme was Altered Images. One of my favorite members, Ludi, created this Young Man with His Hen. I absolutely love the sly look on the fox's face. Is he thinking of dinner or maybe keeping the hen as a pet? Only the fox knows for sure. You can read more about this wonderful piece at here and also participate in the Hoopla Along. Jump in any time! July's theme is Food and the prize is a $25.00 Etsy card. 

Patterns: Friendly Fox

Friendly Fox by Helen Dickson

You can find this friendly applique fellow in the July issue of the Bustle and Sew magazine. You can find out more about the magazine here.

Tutorial Tuesday

Hello Everyone! Happy Tuesday!

We find ourselves close to celebrating the 4th of July in the States this week, and I thought it would be fun to create a tutorial for the commemoration of Independence Day. I think any color felt would look fun with this tutorial, but I stuck to red, white, and blue for this Garden Flag.

This is a good project for beginners, or perhaps young people on summer break who need something to keep their hands busy!

To make this 4th of July Garden Flag you will need:

- One rectangle of red felt (this was precut from the craft store and is 9.5 by 12 inches)

- Smaller squares of felt in white and blue

- One 12-inch long wooden dowel

- embroidery floss in accent colors, embroidery needle, and scissors

- Scissors for cutting felt

- 20-inch piece of embroidery floss or string for hanging

- Pinking shears or decorative scissors for cutting felt and fabric

- Optional: craft glue or a glue gun

As a star template, I used the largest star from the pattern for our Embroidery on Paper tutorial from a few weeks ago, which is available for you here.

Step One: Cut the largest star out of the template and use it to cut various stars out of the white and blue felt. 

Step Two: Keeping the felt rectangle with the long sides vertical, arrange the stars to your liking and pin in place. Try to keep them 2 inches away from the top. 

Step Three: Use different stitches to attach the stars to the felt rectangle. Feel free to play around here and practice your embroidery stitches. I stuck to french knots, running stitches, and split stitches, but you can use any stitch you want for this. 

Note: I didn't put my felt rectangle in a hoop, simply because felt holds its shape and has a stiffness to it that cotton fabrics don't have. If you prefer to put your felt in the hoop, I recommend removing some of the pins from the stars and working a section at a time. 

Step Four: Use the pinking shears to trim around the side and bottom edges of the felt rectangle. 

Step Five: Take a long piece of white embroidery floss and thread your needle. Start at the top of one long side and use a running stitch to create an accent along the three edges of the rectangle. The knots of this floss with be hidden once we fold the top edge over the dowel.

Step Six: Place the wooden dowel about 1.5 inches away from the top edge. Fold the felt over the dowel and pin in place. 

Step Seven: Thread your needle with red floss, and pull it through the middle of the fold of felt to hide your knot, bringing the needle up through to the front of your flag. Use a back stitch to seal this fold and encase the dowel in the felt. When you reach the other edge, hide the knotted end in the fold.

Optional: If you prefer not to backstitch this part, you can use craft glue or hot glue to seal the fold. Please account for drying time before finishing the flag.  

Step Eight: Take the 20-inch piece of floss or string, you can trim this to your liking or create a longer piece, and tie it to each end of the dowel. 

Step Nine: Your garden flag is ready for the sunshine!

Hang your flag on the garden gate or front door and get ready for the celebration!

Hope you enjoy and have a very wonderful Tuesday!