Hanging Hearts

This is another one of those projects I talked about on my first post of the year, it's took me a while to get round to getting some pictures taken!

For our 5th wedding Anniversary (Sept 2011) Kevin bought me 

this lovely little string of hanging hearts

One heart for every year and in keeping with the theme of wood 

(we like to follow the themes for fun :)

I started this new year with a little project, 

and finally got around to putting something nice in them

inspired by a book Kevin bought me last year for Christmas 

The New Crewel Work > see it here

here is a close up of the little stitcheries

I traced the size of the aperture of the hearts into my sketchbook

 and after choosing which patterns to use I sketched them into the squares,

  transferred my sketched images onto a little scrap of white fabric using an embroidery transfer pencil.

I put the fabric into a hoop and stitched them all with embroidery thread rather than wool.

 The finished embroideries were ironed onto fusible buckram,

 trimmed to size and put into the heart frames.

Another little 'to do' job done :)

I'm off to the E.G. Airdrie branch tonight
Last time I was there everyone was making name badges to be finished  to wear for next time

 This is mine worked in Satin stitch, French knots and Double knots on hand dyed and frayed fabric
I wrapped it round a piece of card and slip stitched the back of it and added a brooch bar.
I think we will be starting new projects tonight
I'm looking forward to it :)

Little stitches

Working on my A~Z tags has really got me itching to make more use of all these lovely stitches that I am working my way through ... of all the things I do,

 I still find hand embroidery the most enjoyable, satisfying and rewarding,

little glimpses of what I'm working on at the moment

dwelling

living

 growing

 there is something quite unique in that feeling of watching the thread run its way through the fabric taking its place in order with the next ....

Tag Tuesday A~Z D is for ...

This weeks Tag Tuesday's letter is 'D'

Daisy

in Drizzle stitch (petals)

Double knot (stem)

and Double Cast On (leaves)

 3 new stitches to add to my repertoire! 

I have really enjoyed learning how to work these very tactile stitches,

I'm sure I will be using them again :)

Pentagon sewing box

This is a little pentagon shaped sewing box which I have been working on for a few weeks

I started on this in October when I joined Airdrie branch of Embroiderers Guild with my sister Theresa

I'm delighted to have finally finished it.

 I enjoyed making it, making a box like this has been on my to do list for a long time,

but it's a very time consuming project very precise in the construction. I adapted a lot of the construction from gluing pieces together to stitching,  I'm not a fan of glue as a permanent hold in fabric.
I like the shape of it and there is plenty of storage space inside for little things.

the little thread holder is a length of willow covered in the fabric,
the instructions called for using a pencil to hold a reel of thread

but I wanted to make use of these metal spools which I used with old sewing machines, I no longer have,
 so they are a nice little reminder, also means I can store more thread colours in there ;)

 I bought the fabric a while ago because I liked it but with no special project in mind
 I think it perfect for the box,  I love the colours and the pattern.

There is a tiny crystal stitched to each point on the lid and a bead tassel to the top

The lid is padded with wadding, so it can be used as a pincushion too.
another project complete!

C is for .....

Cup of Cocoa

in  

Couching (cup)

Cable stitch (cocoa)

Cast on (steam)

also featuring

Cross, Cloud, Cretan, Chevron, Coral, Chain 

and Chequered Chain.

I'm really quite glad I started this little project

with so many lovely stitches to work my way through.

B is for....

Blushing Blooms

in Bullion knots & Backstitch

Butterfly Girl Bag

A T-Shirt to Bag How To
I couldn't find another tutorial on the Internet when I was looking to make this so hopefully it will be useful to all those mums out there with little girls who don't like to let go of that favourite t-shirt.
This is Charlotte's favourite T-shirt of all time! 

she got it for her 2nd birthday

 and when it got too short

I added a bit from another outgrown t-shirt onto the bottom,
stitched in place with a few French knots....

..and she wore it for another few months....she grows very slowly

Now its just too tight,  so she has finally agreed that its too small

but just the perfect size for a little bag don't you think?

First of all I cut the body section off just below the arms and
the cap sleeves away from the upper body and long thinner part of the sleeves

from some old blue sheeting I cut a piece for the inner bag

I have not used any measurements its just all guesswork

 joined the cap sleeves together

pin onto one side of inner 

and stitch in place

 cut double length folded piece of fabric roughly the size of the other side

 make a pocket by stitching on 3 sides

insert interfacing

should look like this

 pin to other side folded unstitched edge at the top

stitch both pockets in place on 3 sides to create inner pockets

stabiliser on the back makes stitching tshirt fabric much easier
fold inner section in half and stitch along the bottom and up the side to make the inner bag

next take shirt body and turn inside out this will be the outer

 machine along the bottom

 stitch across each of the corners

 turn outer right side out

 put inner inside outer and fold edge in and pin, sew together

sew strips of the fabric from the arms together to make a long strap
I also used a decorative stitch along the length,
 and hand stitch to each side of the bag

 all done!

perfect size for her new dolls pushchair
I hope you find this tutorial useful and would love to see one if you make it.
Yvonne x

New Year New Things

So its a new year and as usual it takes me a while to get that first post up and running! that's not to say I haven't been busy, in fact I have been doing lots of stitching and have worked on five, yes five different projects over the past three weeks.

This is the first one I want to share, 2 tags for the new theme of A~Z over at Tag Tuesday
I'm going to use this new A~Z theme to build a little stitchery tag book, to remind me that there are other stitches out there other than the two or three favourite ones that I use, perhaps by doing this I will incorporate a better variety of stitches into my work,

this is last weeks tag

A for Algerian Eye stitch here it is used in the flowers

and this weeks

B for Bullion knots and Back stitch

The letter monograms are about an inch tall and from a vintage iron on transfer sheet
which my Mother gave me it was a free gift from the 'Woman' magazine, which reads

 "Woman" The National Home Weekly - NoW.360.A 

I have no idea how old it is but I'm looking forward to stitching through the alphabet. 

There is something quite satisfying about doing a little bit of neat and traditional stitching now and again.
more pictures of more stitching to follow....
Hope you are all starting the new year full of new things, plans and projects x