Review + Giveaway: Mr X Stitch Guide to Cross Stitch

I've been a fan of Jamie Chalmer's site MrXStitch since I first discovered it, years ago, so I was really excited to receive The Mr. X Stitch Guide to Cross Stitch for review from the publisher - what a treat!

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 - we use funds in our Amazon account for new giveaways and reviews.

In a nutshell - Jamie's book is perfect for those of you who would like to see cross-stitch through a unique lens - Jamie's book is all about modern, unexpected, and unusual cross stitching. If you're widening your sphere of interest from very feminine or cutesy stuff, this could be a good place to start - this book also has interviews of numerous stitchers to get you inspired to see embroidery and cross stitch in a new way. I think it could also make a great gift for a beginner to embroidery, and particularly a male beginner to embroidery who might enjoy a male perspective on stitching on trains, for example. :)

One of my favorite features of this book was seeing Jamie's decidedly not-female hands getting his embroidery materials together and stitching:

I'm not sure why I got such a kick out of that, but I think it might also help a reluctant male stitcher to see that embroidering isn't merely a girly act - it's about creativity and art form, neither of which need to be manly or feminine, but can take something from both of those tropes.

What's in the book?

This book is divided into 6 large sections (with nicely photographed section titles) which include patterns, tips, and interviews as follows:
Tools and Materials
Colour
Glow in the Dark
More Than a Hobby (embroidery as therapy, craftivism, and art form)
Pattern Design (create your own cross-stitch patterns)
Thinking Outside the Hoop (includes projects stitched on leather, plastic, and metal)

With 23 cross stitch projects and 4 cross stitch alphabet fonts, there is quite a bit of variety to be found here. There are also 5 interviews with embroidery "outliers" Zoe Gilbertson, Kate Blandford, Severija Inčirauskaitė Kriaunevičienė, Lord Libidan, and Les Deuz'Bro.

I really enjoyed the Pattern Design section and how it walks you through all the considerations you might make in terms of stitch count and the number of colors used:

Most impressive is that every example along the way was stitched, so you can compare and contrast. I found it fascinating to see that you don't need a ton of colors and stitches to get the basic idea down, and it's a great argument for approaching one's custom pattern as simply as possible. Plus, the project is a pineapple, and who doesn't like pineapples?

My favorite pattern of all was of course the squirrel pattern. Alas, poor squirrel, I know I'll never finish thee, but it won't stop me from loving thee from afar. :)

Giveaway time!

The publisher has generously offered a free copy of The Mr. X Stitch Guide to Cross Stitch to one of our lucky readers in the US and Canada! To our international readers, just stay tuned - we have some upcoming giveaways that include you, too!

To win a free copy of this book, please leave a comment on this post, and answer the following question - what is the weirdest place you've ever stitched in? As you read above, Jamie is fond of stitching on trains. I'll leave the comments open through next Thursday, Sept. 7, 9 PM US CST, then close the comments and choose 1 random winner.

Edit: 9/11/17 - We have our winner! Thanks all for entering!

Wonderful Wednesday #48: Sweater Doll

I love this Free Adventure Embroidery tutorial on the Sweater Doll blog! If you've been on a summer adventure, this looks like a wonderful way to memorialize it.

Allison, who blogs at Sweater Doll, wrote to us recently to tell us about her new digital magazine, Stitch Cafe:

She was kind enough to send us the first issues to look over, and there are loads of cute projects, recipes and ideas to be found there. Instead of having to subscribe, you can purchase issues one at a time from her shop, and at $6 an issue, there are a quite a few nice projects to be had in there.

There are also many wonderful free resources Allison so kindly provides on her blog, like an Embroidery School series that walks you through a lot of invaluable beginner information. I really enjoyed the first post on materials:

Thank you Allison, for sharing your wonderful talent with us!

Wonderful Wednesday #47: Joelle Gebhardt

Adorable Sushi Roll PDF patterns are now in Joelle Gebhardt's Etsy shop! So cute and so much fun to stitch, and such a great way to practice one's French knots, huh?

Joelle is an artist and illustrator from Berlin, and I was happy to feature her embroidered artwork on on our blog some time ago: http://www.feelingstitchy.com/2015/10/lets-meet-joelle-gebhardt.html

Review: Stitcharama Embroidery Transfers

Hello all, today I have the pleasure of doing a review of Stitcharama embroidery transfers, which you can find at www.stitcharama.com. They were kind enough to send me the embroidery transfer you see, so that I can try it out and report back to you with my findings.

Well, I suppose I can tell you the end at the beginning if you have no time to read this - I was very pleased with my results, and I do recommend them. But let me walk you through my process!

I started off with a regular flour sack tea towel and my transfer pattern. I did a quick read through of the instructions, and I wondered how well it would transfer. It looked just like a regular medium weight sheet of paper, and the lines didn't look particularly thick or dark.

I pinned the transfer into place and started ironing. After a few passes with a hot, dry iron, I pulled the transfer back to peek and I did indeed see some very faint lines appearing...

And after a few more passes with the iron I began to see darker lines appearing.

And voila! After working at the fainter lines for a bit, I was rewarded with a very nice transfer, and nice clean lines - not too thick or inky. I really like that the pattern is still clearly visible on the paper, which could be really handy if you wanted to re-trace the pattern to use it again.

I was curious to see if the ink had passed through the tea towel fabric, as the directions warned me it might, so I flipped over the fabric...

Indeed, I did see a very ghostly image on the back, but it did not transfer to my ironing board, which was nice.

In summary, I am really happy with the transfer, as I mentioned above. When purchasing a transfer pattern, you also receive a nice PDF with a finished image and stitch and color guide. I like how Stitcharama promotes the work of many artists through its patterns and credits them. Just FYI, this particular Kasia Jacquot pattern is no longer available.

But there are many lovely patterns and kits still up for grabs on the Stitcharama site (including some really cute Mollie Johanson patterns). Here are a few of the latest patterns that I think are adorable:

I wholeheartedly recommend the transfer option for your lighter colored fabrics, and the PDF pattern option if you'd like to do your own transfer method.

Thank you Stitcharama, for sharing this lovely pattern with us. For more on Stitcharama, you can follow them on Instagram @stitcharamacraft, or visit their site: www.stitcharama.com.

Find Kindness

Find Kindness pattern by Sarah K. Benning

I had a post planned and scheduled for today, but in light of all that has happened in the US as of this morning, it just didn't cover what I was feeling. I have re-scheduled that Wonderful Wednesday feature for next week, and my apologies to the wonderful artist I was featuring.

I am not going to lie, I am discouraged. I am deeply ashamed of the fact that white nationalists march in our country again. There is nothing good or right about their march, and I find nothing to support in their evil views. Their words and actions are truly evil, and I cannot believe we are here again, as if the pages of the history of our country have been flipped back, some 50 years, some 100 years, or more. I am ashamed and discouraged that all the progress we have made seems like it was reversed overnight.

So all I can do is one thing - and this pattern by Sarah K Benning puts it best for me: Find Kindness. Find Kindness in myself, and find kindness in the world.

Here's where I find kindness and hope: In the faces of all the clergy and religious leaders who were willing to risk their lives and safety to stand in the face of evil, and pray.

In the account of one of the witnesses who stood in their midst, they were spat on, insulted, and subjected to tear gas. Yet still they were present and did not lose hope. If they didn't lose hope, neither can I. I find hope in all of those who peacefully protested that day, willing to stand against evil, willing to give their very life to stand against evil.

My prayer for all of us today is that we find kindness, and when we do not find it in this world, that we put it there, ourselves, with God's help.

Wonderful Wednesday #46: Urbann Nest

I adore this Floral Mandala pattern by Urbann Nest on Etsy, and how just a few colors can create such a lovely, robust design.

You can find more of Urbann Nest's embroidered creations on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urbannnest/.

Wonderful Wednesday #45: Threadfolk

What a gorgeous Beetles and Moths PDF embroidery pattern this is - a wonderful artist series collaboration between Threadfolk and Oh Baby Bird. The stitching on this piece, and the colors are just delicious. I am itching to get my hands on this pattern - if only one could also buy the time needed to complete all my projects as well!!! :)

Update: I loved this pattern so much, I did buy it, and started stitching right away - and I love how it turned out!

I chose a deep navy blue thread and a pale silvery, almost white thread for contrast. The teal fabric you might recognize from my Vote pattern. :) I like revisiting and re-purposing the same fabric in different ways. And, it's thrifty. :)

Actually having the pattern in hand I can speak to its beauty - there are plenty of detailed instructions on how to approach your embroidery. I used my go-to red Aunt Martha's transfer pencil (which I've sworn to use until it wears out) and plain tracing paper to transfer. The lines were very light, so I traced over them with a disappearing ink pen.

I had never used satin stitch in this way before, and it's not one of my favorite stitches. I was intimidated by how small the shapes were (and the beetle I chose is particularly small) but it stitched up very quickly and looked surprisingly neat. Beginners, do plan to rip it out a few times if it's not to your liking - but I was ok with imperfection on my part.

I emailed Libby asking for her advice on stitching the flowers - if you purchase the pattern, note that the white flowers are stitched first, and the satin stitch around them. I wasn't sure how it would work, but it actually came out great!

I used a straight stitch outline on the inside of the beetle's wings, because I wasn't totally confident of the line my satin stitch made. Overall, this was a quick stitch and so much fun. I can thoroughly recommend this pattern, and I'd love to break it into small pieces, so I can slowly appreciate each shape. Thanks, Libby, for your prompt reply to my question, and thank you for designing such an inspiring pattern!