Daisychain Sampler: Ambitious embroidery

Embroidery and cross stitch seem to be my ‘new thing’ at the moment. It’s great to have another craft I can do in front of a film besides knitting and crochet – I love sewing, but my machine takes a little while to set up, which tends to put me off.

These new hobbies are also really helpful when I have RSI, as it’s usually my left hand which plays up, so I can still stitch, as long as I rest my arm on a pillow.

Until I tried embroidery again, after not doing it since infant school, I didn’t ‘get it’ at all. While I could appreciate the skill involved, and the end product, I couldn’t possibly see how it could be enjoyable at all. Ha! What do I know?!

This Daisychain Sampler by Alicia Paulson is my biggest project to date. I meticulously traced the design with an iron-n transfer pencil, using the ‘tape it to the window on a sunny day’ technique, which worked great (although I had to turn the heating off as the radiator under the window -it was sunny, but freezing cold – was griddling my tum!)

I didn’t do such a brilliant job of transferring the pattern from the tracing paper onto the cloth –  a few of the letters got blurred where I pulled the fabric when I moved the iron. But it’s probably not bad for a first attempt, and I can stitch over the double lines I think.

I’m using some lovely lilac linen and embroidery thread, rather than crewel wool, as I wanted the finish to be quite smooth and sheeny. It’ll go in Storm’s bedroom when it’s done. I plan to make it a present for when she starts school in September (eep!) to help her with her ABCs.

So I need to stitch a letter a week I think. Let’s see how that goes! Just ignore my track record on unfinished objects please. Ahem.

I have made quite a few of Alicia’s projects, so there’s a little Posie Gets Cozy archive here, if you like her stuff. Personally, I think she’s fab!

Experiments in stitching: Blackwork

OK, so I am a little obsessed now. I may just be transferring my passion because I’m on a yarn diet, but I think it runs deeper than that.

Emboldened by finishing my first ‘proper’ cross stitch sampler last week I’ve embarked on something more ambitious – blackwork embroidery.

Blackwork was made popular in Tudor times and if you look at paintings of wealthy people from that era, you can see it all over their clothes.

Having done only a smidgeon (the work of several evenings) I’m now rather in awe when I see it in that context, like in this portrait of Elizabeth I. Just imagine how long all those flowers would have taken…

Anyway, here’s a close up of my somewhat feeble attempt by comparison…

Once again, it’s a project from Alicia Paulson‘s lovely book, the Embroidery Companion. It was immediately my favourite design when I was given the book, but seemed a bit much for my first ever project!

I like that it looks modern, but is actually very old. When I sit working on it, I feel a strange connection to all those women throughout history who sat and stitched by candle light (although my preference is a strong reading lamp and new Danish series Borgen for company).

Storm has been keen to join in whenever I’ve taken it out of the rather unceremonious blue market carrier it’s residing in, so it’s a strictly evenings only project. I suppose I’ve only got myself to blame after getting her interested in sewing recently.

If you’re experienced in embroidery you’ll probably be slightly concerned that I’m stitching so close to the edge of the fabric (28 count evenweave) – that’s because this was all I had left after my last project. I am very definitely breaking the ‘rules’ but hopefully I’ll be finished before the embroidery police come get me!

Tying up old threads

Is that a phrase? Anyway, it seems suitable. After starting this counted cross stitch sampler way back in April last year (!) it lay, like many of my projects, almost finished bar a couple of evenings work for ooo, eight months…

Happily a recent foray into sewing with Storm reminded me that I really do like embroidery, (which surprised me when I first tried it again after a 30 year break since giant cross stitch in infant school). So out of the bag it came, and yep, a couple of evenings and it was done.

The design is from Alicia Paulson’s lovely book The Embroidery Companion and the finished piece will go in Storm’s room. She’s got a thing about rabbits and her room is blue, so that’s perfect. An Easter present perhaps?

I enjoyed finishing it so much I started another project from the same book immediately. It’s in blackwork, a style of embroidery made popular by Catherine of Aragon.

I’ll show that to you soon, but in the meantime, I need to toddle off and press and frame this piece of loveliness before it languishes in a bag for another year!

Homemade tree ornaments: The Mitten

I love making Christmas decorations. Last year our tree got three lovely sparkly pine cones, which Storm made at playgroup. So sweet!

You just spread a dab of PVA glue on your pinecone, sprinkle it with glitter and leave to dry on a radiator, before tying a bit of ribbon on for hanging it up with.

This year I’m having a go at some of Alicia Paulson’s lovely felt ornaments. Alicia is the author of Posie Gets Cozy, one of a handful of blogs I read religiously. She’s not exactly a secret on the interwebs, but if you’ve never looked at her blog before, I urge you to check out her stunning photographs, and delightful patterns for cross stitch, quilts, crochet, knitting and, well, these.

The mitten is part of her Snow Day ornament set. I bought the PDF pattern, not the kit, as it seemed a bit crazy to have teeny bits of felt flown half way round the world (and it was way cheaper!).

You baste some waste canvas to a piece of grey felt, stitch the design and then soak the piece, which will soften the canvas and allow you to tweezer it out, strand by strand, leaving the grey felt adorned with the neat cross stitches. (This is the back, by the way!)

I spent all my evenings at the weekend stitching the snowflake ‘front’ of the mitt. The other side is simpler and I’m hoping will be done in a couple of evenings.

I’ve also made the polar bear. He’s a bit harder to photograph, due to being bright white (my lens isn’t good enough to go closer) but you hopefully get the idea! I particularly love his mini knitted scarf.

If you’re making Christmas ornaments do tell! I’d love to see what you’re up to…

Bitchin’ stitchin’

I’m not necessarily a fan of the phrase ‘stitch ‘n’ bitch‘, but its association with knitting and crafts did somehow help to make all these things ‘trendy’, and I can’t complain about that.

Debbie Stoller isn’t directly responsible for amazing fabric and fabulous yarn being so readily available, but she certainly helped.

So when someone at work recently said to me: ‘Wow, you really are a stitching bitch’ after they spotted the quilt in progress tucked under my desk I tried to take it as a compliment.

Thanks to a recent flare up of RSI (oh so perfectly timed for my new job) my left arm is suffering a bit, so I’m on a self imposed knitting ban, probably for a good (bad) month.

Even using the sewing machine niggles after a while, so I’ve stopped machine piecing my new quilt and am trying out cross stitch instead. My left hand just has to hold the hoop while the right does all the work.