New projects

I'm still working on my crewel piece but in between, I've begun a couple of other projects.  The mass of pink yarn above exactly matches my new winter coat. So, while it's not exactly ideal for the pattern, I'm using it. The pattern is a teaching pattern designed by my sister-in-law and I'm test driving the instructions.  It's a really fun hat to knit.  It goes all different directions, from a vertical cabled side panel to a side-to-side knit central portion for each half of the hat, finally ribbing.  I've got one half done, to the right on a holding needle. The second half is on the circular needle.

This piece has an interesting history. The materials were collected by a woman I met last spring. Jane was the kind of person I wish I had been able to spend a lot more time with and get to know a lot better. Smart, witty, an artist and art lover, definitely someone to know. Sadly, she passed away shortly after we met. Generous friends sent me some of the gorgeous fabrics she'd collected.

Amongst them was this piece of broiderie persé--applique using existing printed or stitched fabrics, following the contours of the design.  The original embroidery is on silk and the ground is quite fragile. She had basted this piece to the brown velvet ground--there are several other pieces of the embroidery I may use to add on or fill in. 

A young woman who grew up with Jane as a neighbor is getting married this spring and I'm going to complete this applique and make it into a ring bearer's pillow for the wedding.  Afterward, I'm going to disassemble the pillow, which will necessarily be fairly small, and remake it into a larger pillow for a sofa or a chair, as a wedding gift.

It's coming along nicely. I've found threads that match the embroidery pretty well for the applique.  I plan to edge the outline in a metallic thread to finish it off.  The silk ground is so fragile it turns under easily. It also sometimes frays and shatters a bit. Some of the embroidery threads are loose and I'm tacking them down as I go.  I really like projects like this where I feel connected with past stitchers, in this case Jane and the unknown embroiderer who stitched the original silk flowers and leaves.

While they're silk and a bit more formalized, the floral motifs are very reminiscent of the crewel I've been so immersed in lately. 

New Giveaway

This give away is a set of three gently used patterns. I copied the pattern pieces and the giveaway will include all of the cut-out (used) copied pieces plus the intact patterns and instructions. They will make the nine Alice in Wonderland ornaments that I made for friends this Christmas. You can see photos of the ornaments I made from the patterns on my Flickr page. 

The patterns are from Indygo Junction and you can see them here.  You can also purchase an accessories kit for the patterns full of small treasures used to embellish the ornaments.  I did and felt it was well worth it. This was a really fun project and I hope this giveaway will spread the fun.

To enter, comment on this post. I'd love to know which is your favorite character from the book, if you have one.  Anyone, anywhere may enter.  Please include a clear way (e-mail address or link to a blog or webpage with an e-mail address) for me to contact you.  The draw will end on Tuesday, January 17, at noon central time, a week from today. I'll announce the winner that evening. 

Emery winner and a basic tutorial

Random.org picked #1:  so Linda at Lewmew is the winner of the emery.

I plan to do frequent giveaways over the next few weeks. I'll post the next one tomorrow.

To make your own emery:

I purchased strawberry emeries from Hancock's of Paducah.  I think they're filled with silica not emery filings, but they seem to work well.  For a pattern I cut a half circle and then trimmed it a bit so it looked like a broad v with a rounded top.  When I laid the emery on top of the pattern with the pointy ends together, the top of the paper was about 1" longer than the strawberry.  I made sure it went around the berry with enough for a seam. It was pretty-much seat of the pants.

I cut the hanging loop off the emery (it was too short). I added my own loop by a combination of sewing and glue--the purchased emeries had a glued on green top and it was hard to stitch through.

For most covers I cut the pattern shape from fabric, added embroidery, pinned the seam with right sides facing, stitched the side seam and turned it right side out.  I generally poked a bit of batting into the tip and some around the top if needed to fill it out. I pushed the emery inside. I folded in the top edge and gathered it, pulling it tight around my hanging loop.

To disguise the gathers, I added a frill of lace, rickrack, a bunch of ribbon roses, etc. around the base of the hanging loop.

I often added beads or additional stitching at this point.

To make the crazy quilted emeries, I drew the pattern onto muslin and pieced onto that, embroidered it and then finished it like the other. 

You don't want the emery to be overly embellished--it's a tool and you're going to be poking your needle into it to polish and sharpen it.  You don't want to have trouble finding a place to use it. The fun for me was to try and find the perfect fabric and trim for the recipient.

To start from scratch, you can purchase emery powder or filings and make your own emery. Use a very fine cotton or muslin for the inner fabric.  I also have enclosed the emery in the cut-off corner of a plastic bag before inserting it into the inner muslin berry, for extra security.  Sew the top of the muslin tightly closed.  Then make an outer covering as above.  If you make your own you can make them any size and shape.  Generally they are small so you can pass your needle completely through from one side to the other to polish it. 

Crewel Friday and a bit more...

New Year's weekend provided some lovely stitching time.  I completed the acorns, began the main stem, outlined the hills with split stitch and stitched the deer. I feel I'm jumping around a bit but the main stem and hills are the same color family and I want to get them well underway before taking a break for some color with the last two leaves. motivation. I've also just about completed my paper.

Last week I won lovely prize. I'd mentioned I'm participating in a 30-day creativity practice with others, organized by Quinn Creative.  As part of the conversation, she asked us to post our words for 2011. She selected two participants to win these cute inner critic dolls. 

While it's supposed to be used to silence your inner critic, these days the way work has been going, I've been using it to remind me to keep my yap shut when I long to spout off.

The doll came with this awesome card.

The long holiday weekend, along with our monthly support group on Thursday, also allowed me time for Japanese embroidery. I stitched the flat silk foundation for the middle fan blade. It's a deep burgundy color (which some people see as purple, some as brown). The trellis on top is done in two metallics, alternating--gold and a variegated pink. I still need to tie it down at the intersections. I hope to get that done this coming weekend.

Emeries--and a giveaway

This year I made decorated Strawberry emeries for my stitching friends. I had fun customizing each person's design.

Here are some of them.

All of the images are available on my Flickr page here.

I don't know why this last photo is blurry--I took them all at the same time. I made this one for you. It's a giveaway, the first of several I have planned.

This is a simple give away. Please leave a comment on this post, include your name and either an e-mail address or another way to get in touch with you. Anyone, anywhere may comment.  The comments will close at noon central time on Monday, January 9. I'll draw a name that afternoon.

Alice Ornaments

In the fall I found a really cool set of patterns by Indygo Junction with an Alice in Wonderland theme. I was going to make one or two but ended up making all nine and sending them off to a friend and her family. It worked out there was one for each person.  I had a blast making them, very little embroidery, a lot of crafting and assembling. I learned some new doll making techniques.  Here they are.

More photos are available on my Flickr page here.

Happy New Year!