Holiday social activities have begun and I'm finding it challenging to stay productive. Work on my new skirt may have to wait until Saturday.
DB and I will be leaving in a couple of weeks for Milwaukee. This necessitates careful thought go into an Activity Bag. I'm an Activity Bag Gal. Necessary contents include latest book (currently Green Mars), 2 or 3 sewing magazines (Threads and Burda WOF), a copy of the NY Times, iPod (loaded with the latest blog from Trena & Cidell), a crochet project, and a stitching project. Last minute items that are known to find their way in the bag include Sodukus and munchies (yep, eating is a qualified activity). Odds are that I'll read everything, eat everything, and touch either the stitching or the crochet but not both. Taking three times more than I need in the activity department is just how I roll. Anyway, I've got some yarn on the way and plan to practice a scarf pattern. The stitching project is another story.
To date, I have done many cross-stitch projects but ha
ve not tried much else in the realm of embroidery. A few months ago, I came across Feeling Stitchy and became inspired. DB and I are in dire need of wall art. So when I found and fell in love with this fabric at Super Buzzy, I knew I had to create something with it. Isn't it cute? I call it Dutch Farm since it has little windmills throughout. It's a Japanese mid-weight cotton. I got an idea to outline the print on the fabric in various stitches - french knots for the sheep, couching stitches for the fence, outline stitches for the edges of the fields, etc. I'm super excited to start it. It's a lot like coloring, isn't it? To practice a few of the stitches and get a feel for the number of threads I want to use, I began this.
Did you catch the EYE on that bird?! Might just go with 2 threads for peepers in the future. It's still unfinished. The design is from Stitch Idees, vol. 2.In case you haven't yet seen it, Stitch Idees is a Japanese embroidery design book that contains designs, patterns, and lots of inspiration! Yep, everything is in Japanese and nope, I don't understand a single character of Kanji - YET. I have been told that I have excellent pattern recognition, however, and they do have a few words of English with the instructions for each stitch (yay!) so I'm hoping I can work through it. I also covet vol.s5, 4, and 7. I am in lurrve. The designs remind me of Doodle Embroidery which has also captured my imagination lately. How could you not be inspired by this? It's darling, colorful, and brings a smile!
btw, have I mentioned that I heart Super Buzzy? I cannot resist visiting their darling site 3 or 4 times a week. Another great purchase has been this Karisma Fabric Pencil. No need to sharpen, glides on, and erases fairly easily. So far, big thumbs up!
If you're new to embroidery also, and interested in giving it a try, I recommend Primrose Design's Stitch School tutorials. They are just super with great pictures and easy-to-follow instructions. You can locate them on the right side of this page covering the Couching Stitch. Speaking of which, how awesome is this cushion? Might have to give that a try after the New Year..
Going to work on the skirt today. Maybe I should attempt to class this blog up too...
Oh! And I thought I should mention that I am participating in the Pay It Forward I mentioned in my first post. It's a pledge to make something handmade for three people over the coming year. Since I'm just starting, and have virtually no readers at the moment, I figure it might take 365 days to find 3 takers! My plan is to get create a button that will remain on the main page of this blog so that visitors might be attracted to click, read, and participate. I am ill-prepared for any fancy photoshop-ping but will come up with something.
Happy Saturday!
Rachel
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