Stitchy Snippets - Cable Treasures

Bella May Leonard creates vibrant, sculptural embroidery using common electrical wires, other found cables and textile assortments. The firm yet malleable properties of the cable add a tremendous 3D effect to her embroidery and allow the viewer to see a different perspective to embroidery. Bella explains that 'The sculptural aspect of textile art for me is intriguing; three-dimensional, interweaving threads that build up structure with colour and texture is exciting'

The wires and textiles are often stitched and entwined onto a clear, perspex surface juxtaposing her use of colour and transparency. Bella's love of cables initiated when she discovered a pile of discarded, electrical cable in a junkyard as a young girl. The excitement for it's creative possibilities continues and her experimentation with this medium.

Bella refers to her work as a 'collaging technique' and her creative process is led intuitively: 'Making decisions with colour combinations, scale and shape are made intuitively as I work until I feel a piece is resolved and balanced.'

Bella completed a residency in Mexico at the end of last year and has started to showcase this new work. To find out more about Bella Leonard's work and upcoming exhibitions see her website here.

Friday Instagram Finds No. 54 with Victoria Matthewson

Happy Friday, Stitchers! Here in the United States, this is Memorial Day Weekend which, for many, means a three day weekend. Memorial Day, which is Monday, May 30th, is a day in which we remember the people who have died while serving in the armed forces. It's traditional for family and friends to get together and have picnics, cookouts, and enjoy time together.

On today's Friday Instagram Finds we're going to take a look at Victoria Matthewson's Instagram feed. She used #feelingstitchyig, and boy am I glad she did! WOW - Victoria's work is intricately detailed and beautiful! Take a look below. (In order to go right to each picture on Instagram, just click either the account name in the top left-hand corner of each photo, or the bottom border of each picture.)

@vkmatthewson

A photo posted by Victoria Matthewson (@vkmatthewson) on May 17, 2016 at 5:00am PDT

A photo posted by Victoria Matthewson (@vkmatthewson) on May 23, 2016 at 5:52am PDT

A photo posted by Victoria Matthewson (@vkmatthewson) on Apr 21, 2016 at 5:07am PDT

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 Victoria's work at @vkmatthewson 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!

Wonderful Wednesday #2: Crafty Like a Fox

Awesome Alpacas Kit by Crafty Like a Fox

Today I'm featuring this adorable Alpacas cross stitch kit on Etsy by Crafty Like a Fox. I love all the little details in this kit, from the bag to the adorable fox floss sorter. It's almost too cute to use up!

If you only want the cross stitch pattern, that is available, too:

Awesome Alpacas pattern by Crafty Like a Fox

Tutorial Tuesday: Internet round-up

There's a sweet new Perler Bead Embroidery tutorial by Eva Monleon on Handmade Charlotte. I love her whimsical, adorable details.

This Pom Pom basket tutorial on Hello Splendid is a great way to display your favorite embroidery floss colors (that you haven't stitched with yet)! Floss hoarders, I'm looking at you. :)

This lovely Bullion Knot tutorial can be found on Red Brolly.

Kristen is doing a lovely embroidery series on Craftsy, and her 4 Decorative Stitches for Hand-Embroidered Letters is definitely worth a visit.

Lastly, I am loving these gorgeous free Illustrated floss bobbins on Freubelweb:

Friday Instagram Finds No. 53 with Marg Dier Embroidery

Happy Friday, Stitchy Friends! I hope you've had a week filled with stitching and a fun weekend planned. I've had some problems with my ulnar nerve in my left hand and am a bit sidelined from stitching at the moment, but I've been hatching all kinds of plans for when my hand feels better.

@margdierembroidery
Today we're taking a look at Marg Dier Embroidery's Instagram account @margdierembroidery. I just love all of the ribbon embroidery she creates! And her floral necklaces are delicate and intricate, and oh so beautiful - take a look! (In order to go right to each picture on Instagram, just click either the account name in the top left-hand corner of each photo, or the bottom border of each picture.)

A photo posted by Marg Dier Embroidery (@margdierembroidery) on May 13, 2016 at 9:34am PDT

A photo posted by Marg Dier Embroidery (@margdierembroidery) on May 8, 2016 at 10:30am PDT

A photo posted by Marg Dier Embroidery (@margdierembroidery) on Mar 17, 2016 at 7:53am PDT

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 Marg's work at @margdierembroidery 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!

Wonderful Wednesday #1: Sarah K. Benning

May Flowers PDF Pattern by Sarah K. Benning

Hello all! Today, I thought I'd start a new series called Wonderful Wednesday, that features wonderful patterns and kits I find on Etsy and the web.

First up is talented artist Sarah K. Benning, who just listed a lovely May Flowers PDF Pattern in her Etsy shop. In addition to her talented stitching, I love her unique embroidered style and her beautiful choice of botanical colors.

Stitchy Snippets - Scenic View

Iris Hutegger creates beautifully expressive, embellished landscapes.

The landscape photographs are originally captured in colour and then developed, the old fashion way, in black and white to reduce detail. The details and colour are then added with free-hand machine embroidery and a dense and more realistic scene evolves.

At distance the artwork looks like a drawing, painting or coloured photograph. The eye is drawn into the view and upon closer inspection the handwork and embellishment is evident.

Winner of The Hand Stitched Flower Garden

We have our winner for the giveaway of The Hand-Stitched Flower Garden by Yuki Sugashima!

Margo • 7 days ago

I like stitching best in the winter. There is no gardening to do and the Christmas gifts are all done, so I have time to be creative. I take a stitching staycation every January to get my juices flowing for the new year. Margo Brooks

Thank you to everyone for entering our giveaway, to Michelle for her wonderful review, and to the publisher who so generously sent us a copy to review and a copy to give away!

Just so you know, our links to Amazon contain an Amazon Associates code, so if you purchase a book through one of these links, that's another small way to support our blog and future giveaways. Thanks everyone!

MooshieStitch Monday: Kamal Kadai Stitch Flower - Another Version

Back in November when I stitched my first Kamal Kadai flower, I had also traced this pattern with the intention of stitching it right away. 

I kept procrastinating and the little traced flower sat there waiting to be stitched... until now!

(Link to pattern if you are interested - there are a couple patterns posted there)

For a more detailed tutorial on how to stitch - check out my previous post.

I followed the same technique to stitch this blue flower.

Now this pattern has an additional straight stitch on each petal - for a total of seven, instead of six.

Honestly, after I finished this first petal, I think that middle straight stitch was supposed to be the same length as the two stitches directly on each side. I did not know how to weave all the way to the tip of that stitch.

But, I kind of like how it turned out, because it gives the petal more of a pointed look.

All done with the petals.

 The stems/vines are stem stitch and the center of the flower are french knots.

Since I could still see some of my pattern lines, it was a good thing I traced it with a water soluble pen!

Here is my finished flower all cleaned up with the pattern lines gone. 

I thought I would share some links of other Kamal Kadai work I found while searching online:

• Beaded Kamal Kadai Tutorial  (I may have to try this sometime!)

• These beautiful Kamal Kadai flowers (using two colors for the petals)

• Here is another amazing Kamal Kadai stitch tutorial 

Friday Instagram Finds No. 52 with Makiko Art

Happy Friday (The 13th!), Stitchers! I hope you've had a terrific week so far, and are looking forward to a fun-filled weekend wherever you are. The Editor-in-Chief of Feeling Stitchy, Floresita, has created a Pinterest board with all of the Friday Instagram Finds posts, and you can find it here. It was so fun to scroll through and see all of the wonderful stitchers we've featured!

@makikoart
Today we'll take a look at Makiko's Instagram feed @makikoart! Makiko lives in Vienna, Austria and creates the most adorable embroidery, mainly featuring dogs and cats. I'm an animal lover (I have two dogs and one cat), so I especially appreciate her artwork. I get a smile on my face everytime I see her artwork. I especially like the confused pug wearing a tutu! Thank you, Makiko, for using #feelingstitchyig! Take a look at her beautiful work!

A photo posted by Makiko (@makikoart) on Apr 23, 2016 at 11:32am PDT

A photo posted by Makiko (@makikoart) on May 2, 2016 at 8:32am PDT

A photo posted by Makiko (@makikoart) on May 3, 2016 at 2:14pm PDT

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 Makiko's work at @makikoart 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!

Winner of the 10 Year, 10 Item giveaway!

We have a winner in the 10 Year, 10 Item giveaway!

Jill • 5 days ago

I've been reading for about a year, but I can't remember how I found it...I might have been searching for a technique. My favorite tool is an embroidery hoop I inherited from my great-grandmother. It's a perfectly ordinary hoop, but I like knowing that it was hers.

We sent out lots of wonderful prizes to our winner, thank you for all of your comments and for sharing your favorite stitching tools!

The 10 prizes I picked for her were:

Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy

Thread Heaven

2 Gold Plated Steel Scissors

Spring Tension Hoop

DMC Popular Colors Floss Pack

Doodle Stitching Transfer Pack

Art Bin Magnetic Sewing Box

Clover Gold Eye Embroidery Needles

Dritz Disappearing Ink Marking Pen

Thank you everyone, for taking part in our giveaway and for reading us and enjoying our Flickr Embroidery group for the past 10 years!

Book Review: The Hand Stitched Flower Garden (and giveaway!)

I am so excited because today we get to take a look at The Hand-Stitched Flower Garden: 40 Beautiful Floral Designs to Embroider, Plus 20 Great Project Ideas by Yuki Sugashima! We received a free copy of the book from the publisher and will be giving away 1 copy at the end of this post!

Just so you know, the book link above is an Amazon Affiliate link - clicking through the link and buying is one way to support our volunteer reviews on Feeling Stitchy.

The Hand-Stitched Flower Garden is a beautiful book of nature inspired embroidery motifs and 20 awesome projects including an egg cozy, a cell phone cover, and jewelry (just to name a few).

The first thing that caught my attention (other than all the gorgeous photos) was that the embroidery designs and projects are organized by season - Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter - so you can stitch something all year long!

Here are floral examples from the "Summer" section.

I especially like how the book not only includes surface stitches, but also dimensional stitches, and beading.

Each of the 20 projects includes:

- suggested color palettes with DMC floss #'s
- list of embroidery stitches used
- list of all materials needed
- detailed step-by-step instructions with photos

The book also includes: a stitch directory with photos, 7 pages of actual size templates, and a tools and techniques section.

Since we are currently enjoying Spring here in my neck of the woods, I chose something from the "Spring" projects to stitch - a cute little butterfly pin cushion (as seen in an earlier photo above).

I knew immediately I wanted to stitch the pin cushion because it includes two techniques on my list to learn: the long and short stitch and dimensional stitching (those wired wings on the butterfly).

The project instructions were so easy to follow and guided me step by step from stitching to assembly.

I referenced the stitch directory to learn the long and short stitch for the butterfly and the "Techniques" section of the book showed me how to stitch the wired wings.

I love how my butterfly turned out and am already trying to decide what to complete next from the book!


The Hand Stitched Flower Garden is for any stitcher who loves floral inspired embroidery. There are designs and projects for all levels of experience - with motifs that can be stitched with a few easy stitches for the beginner to dimensional stitching for someone who wants to take their stitching to the next level!


Check out Yuki's blog for more of her beautiful stitching: https://yhandmade.wordpress.com


Giveaway time!!

To win a free copy of  The Hand-Stitched Flower Garden - please leave a comment on this post by 9 PM US CST,  May 13, 2016 and please tell us: What season (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter) is your favorite time to stitch and why?

** This giveaway is open to US and Canada only! **

Friday Instagram Finds on the Mollie Makes Blog

Here's a little something extra for you today - Friday Instagram Finds was featured on the Mollie Makes blog! I was contacted by Editor Karen Dunn about #feelingstitchyig we use on Instagram. She was writing an article on the hashtags stitchers used on social media and saw that ours was quite popular. I was pretty excited since Mollie Makes is one of the premier crafting magazines out there.

#feelingstitchyig is the first hashtag mentioned, and you can read the post here.

Friday Instagram Finds No. 51 with Forest Chorus Studio

Happy May, Stitchers! The weather is slowly getting nicer here in the Midwest, and I've been finding all kinds of inspiration from nature. Unfortunately, I'm not able to stitch for a while per doctor's orders. I injured some tendons in my left hand and have to rest it for a couple of weeks - ugh!

On today's Friday Instagram Finds we're featuring Beth of @forestchorusstudio. I just love Beth's work! It's beautiful and colorful and so precise. You can tell that Beth takes great care in her embroidery. The way that Beth stages her pictures is lovely, too. She uses creative props to make her embroidery the star of every picture. Take a look!

@forestchorusstudio

A photo posted by Beth Stackhouse (@forestchorusstudio) on May 4, 2016 at 3:00pm PDT

A photo posted by Beth Stackhouse (@forestchorusstudio) on May 1, 2016 at 1:59pm PDT

A photo posted by Beth Stackhouse (@forestchorusstudio) on Apr 28, 2016 at 7:14am PDT

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 Beth's work at @forestchorusstudio 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!

10 Year Giveaway Update

Just in case you missed it, we are doing a 10 item giveaway, in honor of the Flickr Embroidery group turning 10 years old in April!

Items will be reader's choice, based on your comments - up above are just a few of the many items that have been suggested so far. To enter the giveaway, please visit our post!

Stitchy Snippets - Timeless

Amsterdam based embroiderer Alexandra Drenth creates vibrant and mystical textile collages. Taking inspiration from music lyrics and poetry, Alexandra combines old and new to create timeless pieces.

Re-cyling and re-working is often the starting point for her work; many pieces are appliqued with old, vintage fabrics adorned with embroidered line drawings and detailed cross stitch designs.

Drenth says she often retells stories of childhood memories, expressing themes of love and relationships entwined and enriched with elements inspired by nature such as flowers and birds. Her work takes one on 'a journey through time where no sense of time exists'.