MooshieStitch Monday: Whipped Lazy Daisy

Remember my whipped wheel post from last year?

When  I was searching for more "whipped" stitch ideas, I found this Ribbed Spider Daisy Flower on Needle 'N Thread and had to try it!

First stitch a basic lazy daisy. I used a circle template to mark my flower petals as evenly as possible.

Follow the same directions as the whipped wheel stitch.

One exception: when you start whipping, do not come up through the middle of the daisy, come up in between two of the petals and then start whipping around each petal.

The red daisy petals are #5 perle cotton whipped with DMC floss.

I stitched a couple more daisies in #5 perle cotton to practice.

The blue and white daisies are also whipped with DMC floss.

All three whipped!

 

Hope you try this stitch sometime!

Friday Instagram Finds No. 41 with Bloom and Sew

Hello Stitchers! We're coming to the end of February in a Leap Year, which means we get an extra day on the 29th. What will you do with your extra day this year? It's on a Monday, so I will go to work at the Library as usual, but maybe I'll take a half day off so I can head home after lunch to spend it stitching and planning for the year ahead; 2016 will be over before I know it.

@bloomandsew

Today I'm sharing with you Jenny from @bloomandsew! Jenny is a Scottish textile artist who creates embroidery kits and patterns. Her soft toys are absolutely adorable - I can't get enough of them! You have to head over to her IG feed and blog to check out her Sentimental Stitching. I was sad to see in her last post on IG (at the time I wrote this) that she has to hang up her needle for a bit because of carpal tunnel syndrome. I had carpal tunnel surgery on my left hand back in 2008, and it's no fun. I wish you a speedy recovery! I discovered @bloomandsew because Jenny used #feelingstitchyig. Take a look at Jenny's embroidery and sewing artwork!

A photo posted by Jenny Blair (@bloomandsew) on Feb 19, 2016 at 8:57am PST

A photo posted by Jenny Blair (@bloomandsew) on Feb 18, 2016 at 3:41am PST

A photo posted by Jenny Blair (@bloomandsew) on Feb 12, 2016 at 3:24am PST

A photo posted by Jenny Blair (@bloomandsew) on Jan 31, 2016 at 3:09am PST

That's it for this week's edition of Friday Instagram Finds! Join in the conversation by commenting below. While you're on Instagram checking out Jenny's work at @bloomandsew make sure you follow Feeling Stitchy! We'd love for you to stop by and say hello. You can find Feeling Stitchy on Instagram at the handle @feelingstitchyish. You can find Amy @randomactsofamy on Instagram.

Want to be featured in Friday Instagram Find? Tag your best stitch-related photos with #feelingstitchyig!

Stitchy Snippets - Drips of Thread

Ghada Amer is a multi-media artist based in New York. She expresses her political and feminine views and ideals in a unique style of painting with thread.

Amer studied Fine Art in France in the early nineties and this is where she first developed her unusual approach to embroidery. To create the painted aesthetic, first the canvas is prepared then the composition is stitched, leaving many loose threads which resemble painted drips, in the last stage the entire work is coated with a gel giving the work a painted, gloss finish.

In her collection 'Rainbow Girls' Amer has married imagery with text. Choice quotes rest inconspicuously between the trailing drips of thread. This juxtaposition of strong political messages created with the delicate medium of embroidery makes the art even more compelling.

Friday Instagram Finds No. 40 with @LadyLapsus

Happy Friday, Stitchers! I hope you've had a great week so far, and have a fabulous weekend planned. Today I'm introducing you to Claudia from the Instagram account @ladylapsus and website MeinHood.comhttp://www.meinhood.com/. Claudia lives in Germany, and creates wonderful hand embroidery. I particularly like how she uses patterned fabrics to embroider on, and her designs are very creative.  I discovered Claudia because she used #feelingstitchyig. Take a look!

@ladylapsus

Image by @ladylapsus

Image by @ladylapsus

Image by @ladylapsus

That's it for this week's edition of Friday Instagram Finds! Join in the conversation by commenting below. While you're on Instagram checking out Claudia's work at @ladylapsus make sure you follow Feeling Stitchy! We'd love for you to stop by and say hello. You can find Feeling Stitchy on Instagram at the handle @feelingstitchyish. You can find Amy @randomactsofamy on Instagram.

Want to be featured in Friday Instagram Find? Tag your best stitch-related photos with #feelingstitchyig!

Friday Instagram Finds No. 39 with Katie Kutthroat

Hello Stitchers! Do you have big plans for Valentine's Day? As of today, my husband and I don't have anything planned. I hope I can convince him to make me his delicious eggplant dish that he "invented" for me :)

I'm excited to introduce you to Katie of the Instagram account @katitekutthroat! Katie and I have been social media buddies for quite a long time. Hers was one of the first accounts I followed when I started on Instagram way back when it was first out. Katie is a cross stitcher who stitches funny and sometimes (okay, oftentimes) naughty and subversive sayings. You may have seen her cross stitch pieces on the set of the hit HBO series Girls. When Katie first announced that her pieces could be seen on set, I was so excited for her, and tuned in to spot them. :) Take a look at a snippet of Katie's cross stitches.

@katiekutthroat

Image by @katiekutthroat

Image by @katiekutthroat

Image by @katiekutthroat

That's it for this week's edition of Friday Instagram Finds! Join in the conversation by commenting below. While you're on Instagram checking out Katie's work at @katiekutthroat make sure you follow Feeling Stitchy! We'd love for you to stop by and say hello. You can find Feeling Stitchy on Instagram at the handle @feelingstitchyish. You can find Amy @randomactsofamy on Instagram.

Want to be featured in Friday Instagram Find? Tag your best stitch-related photos with #feelingstitchyig!

Stitchy Snippets - Embroidered Minatures

The contemporary embroiderer, Sophia Narrett, is currently in residence at Lux Art Institute in Encinitas which will conclude in an exhibition. 'The show will consist of new work made on site, as well as some of the embroideries I have created over the past few years.' says Narrett.

For many years Narrett focused on painting and she found her preference for embroidery by serendipity. 'I just love working with the material' Narrett explains. 'I began making art as an oil painter. I struggled because I was always more interested in the idea of an image rather than in physically working with the paint.'

Narrett finds much inspiration in pop culture and her most recent work was influenced by her favorite TV shows, which are a constant influx as she sits before them and works on her embroideries: 'I watch a lot of TV — or listen to it while I sew. I love long-form narratives. Reality shows or dramas that go on for a while.' 'This Meant Nothing' is a four-part sequence inspired by the popular TV series 'The Bachelor'. Sophia adopts the means of a film set and re-creates real TV characters to illustrate her own fantasy narrative. Her childhood affection for doll play is ever present and is led into an adult world through erotic themes.

The layers and interplay of thread in the embroideries add even more detail to Narrett's incredibly complex compositions. The embroideries are hung inches away from the wall creating natural shadows and the pieces are each given an organic, formed frame with threads that cascade and dance drawing the viewer in.

MooshieStitch Monday: Woven Picot Stitch

Are you looking to add some dimension to your embroidery? Then let's learn the woven picot stitch!

I was first intimidated by this stitch. It looked like it had to be difficult. But you know what, it really isn't that hard! 

Better yet, if you already know the woven trellis stitch, the woven picot will be even easier since you follow the same weaving method.

Let's begin!

Take a pin and stick it in your fabric.

Come up from the back of the fabric on the left side of the pin with your needle and thread (how far away from the pin will depend on how wide you want your woven picot to be) and then wrap the thread around the back of the pin top.

(Please excuse the blue circle drawn on the fabric in the photos below. I know, it looks strange. It is my guide for building my flower with the woven picots - so hopefully it isn't too confusing and will make more sense later in the post.)

Bring the needle down through the fabric on the right side of the pin about the same distance as the left side.

Bring the needle up through the back of the fabric just to the left of the pin and wrap around the pin top again.

Now you will begin weaving.

First row weave from the right to left: under / over / under.

Next row weave from left to right doing the opposite: over / under / over.

Continue this process until you reach the bottom.

All done weaving.

Pull out the pin and you are finished!

Here are a few pics of what it looks with pin removed and the woven picot lifted away from the fabric to give you an idea of the dimension.

Pretty cool, huh?

I am using a #5 perle cotton thread. I hardly ever stitch with perle cotton but I read that the woven picot looks best when stitched with a thread that has a good twist to it (like a perle cotton).

I continued to stitch more woven picots around my blue circle to create my flower petals.

Then, I added french knots for the flower center with yellow DMC floss (all six strands).

Here are some more photos just to show the dimension of the stitch.

Have you ever tried the woven picot? Post your photos in the Flickr Embroidery Group!


P.S. I learned the woven picot from watching Mary Corbet's video tutorial. Check it out!

Friday Instagram Finds No. 38 with @naive_needle

Hello Stitchers! It's Friday - hooray! I'm excited because in two days I'll be headed to sunny Florida with my son to visit my parents. It will be nice to leave the colder temps in Chicagoland for the sunshine of Orlando!

Today I'm introducing you to Anna of the Instagram account @naive_needle. Anna creates pretty hand embroidery, and what strikes me most about her pieces is that she often uses satin stitch or needle painting to fill spaces in her work. The results are beautifully composed embroidery pieces that are colorful and pretty. Her "flower flamingo" is particularly clever. I came across Anna's work because she tagged some of her pictures with #feelingstitchyig.Take a look!

@naive_needle

Image by @naive_needle

Image by @naive_needle

Image by @naive_needle

I hope you enjoyed this week's edition of Friday Instagram Finds! Join in the conversation by commenting below. While you're on Instagram checking out Anna's work at @naive_needle make sure you follow Feeling Stitchy! We'd love for you to stop by and say hello. You can find Feeling Stitchy on Instagram at the handle @feelingstitchyish. You can find Amy @randomactsofamy on Instagram.

Want to be featured in Friday Instagram Find? Tag your best stitch-related photos with #feelingstitchyig!