More Bandannas

Here are John's other two bandannas. With the red I did the Herringbone Stitch. The red thread is so close to the fabric colors that it's a little hard to see.






The green is done in a simple running stitch and also closely matches the fabric.












With this I definitely understand having the perfect thread color. For these they work well, because they are on a man's bandanna and shouldn't stand out too much. Although I think in the future I will be working with some color wheel opposites. :)

I loved working on these and miss embroidery, but I have some plans for 2011 to do some more embroidery.

Embroidered Bandannas

I finished two of John’s bandannas about a month ago, the yellow and the blue one. The red and green will be done and sent with their Christmas gifts.
I always love how these look when done. It makes the time and work worth it.


A few different pictures of the blue one, which was done in wheatear stitch.











Then the yellow which was done in closed buttonhole stitch.














I enjoy both of these stitches, but the closed buttonhole is harder to get just right. Part of me wishes I wouldn't have used a color that blended so well. I am hoping to get back into some embroidery lesssons in January.

How do you learn?

So many different types of learners out there. Unique in many ways, similar in others. My type of learning is to pretty much jump head first in and figure things out at I go. I am often too excited to make or do whatever it is that I can't wait to learn. I'll just learn as I go. Sometimes this works wonderfully for me and other times it helps me crash and burn.

In embroidery, it's more of a crash and burn. Not to say all is going badly, as you can see, here is the bandanna stitch I am working on:
Back of the stitch.


Front of the stitch.




It's actually looking quite nice and I like how it looks from both sides.

However, I am so out of practice again that it is going slowly. I did pick a stitch that takes a bit of time, but not only am rusty, but I am still very much a beginner. This also caused problems when I first went into this project, because it took me a few times to find something that was even suitable. This is definitely a discipline that requires more planning, more practice. Something I am going to have to work on because this is not a strong suit of mine at all.

So how do you learn? How do you approach new things or projects? Does this cause you problems in the things you try to achieve?

Sunday Inspirations

~Tubular Cast On - - I am trying to learn more ways to cast on, this tutorial from Romi is good and I intend to try it on my next pair of socks!


~Ashworth Scarf - - Love this scarf from Laura Chau of Cosmicpluto Knits. RAV Link. I love the pleating cable-like design. This is definitely on my to do list.


~Remnant Stitching - - Huge fan of Victoria's stitching. I have posted links to her a few times in the Sunday Inspirations. These are lovely.

Paper Mate Flair Pen Review

I first saw a review of Paper Mate Flair Pens for embroidery in Mary Corbet's post. Sounded nifty and I figured I would get around to trying them some time.

Well, I need a good marking utensil to draw out Little Pea's circles for the Raw Edge Circle Quilt and I didn't want it to leave a mark on the white once all was said and done. The Paper Mate Flair that Mary from Needle 'n Thread tried was the fine tip. The only ones I could find were the bold colors. Still figured it was worth giving a try.

First I cut a small piece of the white and marked a line with each color:

Purple, Blue, Red/Pink, Green, Orange, Yellow





I let it set for 1 hour, then soaked it in some warm water :

The Purple and Blue have faded, the Red is a barbie pink, the Green has almost all washed out, the Orange is now yellow, and the Yellow is gone.





Lastly I tried washing it with a little dish soap :

The Purple is a faint line, the Blue is faint but looks purple, the Red is still a strong pink, the Green is gone, the Orange is still a strong yellow, and the Yellow is still gone.





Overall, interesting experiment. I will be cutting out circles tomorrow in the yellow pen.

Great Sewn Potholder Swap of 2010

My potholders for the Great Sewn Potholder Swap of 2010.

Again the top was sewn with the sewing machine and the back was sewn by hand on and the embroidery was by hand.

Fabric: 100% cotton fabric
Thread: Coats Cotton All purpose thread
Batting: one layer cotton batting, one layer Insul-Bright Thermal Batting, and then another layer of cotton batting.
Pattern: My own creation.
Size: 10" x 10"


The middle square is sewn strips of fabric, a border of black, then the blues that were used in the stripes are used for the second set of borders, and then the greens for the third border. The black edge is part of the back folded over and sewn with an invisible stitching.



This is the Herringbone embroidery I did to secure the layers in the corners and then I sewed in the ditch around the inside of the black border to secure things.



You can see the pattern of the stitching on the back of the potholders.




I had a lot of fun making these. I hope she likes them, the boy thinks they are a little bright, but I am thinking I need to make myself a pair that is similar cause I love them! I kept tumbling through ideas and finally chose one. I need to make more potholders just so I can work out some of the ideas that I have jumbling around. It was nice to sew and such small things make it not too big of a commitment.

LOEP progress

I have made quite a bit of progress even with the learning curve slowing me down. I have a few more lowercase letters to do and then onto the capital letters.







For each stitch now, I am using just two stitches:






This simplifies things and works out better on the felt. Still working on the other sets, will post more soon.

Admitting Defeat or Knowledge?

I was simply going to title this post, Admitting Defeat. My goal to try to applique all the letters with different embroidery stitches is not working. Being new to applique and to embroidery, I did not understand how many stitches would not work well. The stitches either detract from the letter being appliqued or the intricacies of the stitch disappear into the soft felt.

I don't take this negatively though, just a misjudgment from my lack of knowledge. I am still continuing with the alphabet, but using more traditional applique stitches. I will post some pictures tomorrow, as I forgot to take some today.

Since I am still learning, I am taking it all in stride. Though this does really make me want to start crazy quilting so I can do some work with these stitches. I think once I am done with my LOEP projects, I will immediately begin crazy quilting.

I also have another project I finished to share with you tomorrow. It's still soaking in the dye though. :)

TAST Week 6

TAST 2 - Week 6:

Buttonhole Eyelet Flower.

I will admit, at first I really thought I was going to dislike this one. I don't do well with the whole coordination needed for these knot type stitches.


My first one is all over the place. I could not for the life of me get the bullion stitches to just lay flat.



So, I tacked them down. You can't really tell that I did so. I like it.


So I tried again, this time I got closer. They weren't as crazy, but the won't lay down nicely either.



And then it clicked, from all the practice and these worked out wonderfully. After it worked on this one, I wanted to make more and more. If I didn't have so many things to do right now, I would have practiced this some more. I definitely see this one showing up in some eventual crazy quilting.






TAST 1 - Week 6:

Algerian Eye Stitch.

This one looks deceptively simple in the instructions. By simple, I mean ordinary.

As I started working with it, I like the amount of variation you could get from something so simple. As suggested, using a hoop helped immensely.


This one turned out lovely. This stitch will definitely be used again.




Overall, really loved both stitches this week!

LOEP work

Well, I kind of got lost in the craft room today. Which is good, because I have a bunch of things I need to accomplish.

Any who, I did some work for the LOEP.

The number sets are all suppose to be the same, as they don't want the children learning the number because it corresponds to a specific color.

My embroidered number 2, I did the Whipped Chain Stitch.


Number 1, Whipped Chain Stitch.


I cut all 21 back squares for the Number set and painted on the spelled out numbers.


I cut out the other 24 squares I needed for the lower case alphabet side.


I cut out the two squares of each color, for the Color set.


I cut out the rest of the Capital Letters for the Alphabet set. Writing the letters backward, correctly sized, and cutting them out is probably the most tedious and difficult part of this project.


I also cut out the rest of the Lower Case letter for the Alphabet set. You can't see the black k and r.

TAST - Week 5 & LOEP

This week for TAST 2, we had the Knotted Buttonhole Stitch :


I tried different heights, numbers, and alternating sides. I really liked this stitch. A lot of possibility even though it appears simple.


I wanted to see how it looked around a shape. It did very nicely. Will probably use this one in my alphabet set.





Lakshmi from Hand Embroidery from Sadalas mentioned in her post how the German Buttonhole Stitch was similar.

It is basically the same stitch, except here you go through the front of the two stitches which just wraps the stitches snugly. In the Knotted Buttonhole Stitch you go through the back, which creates a knot.

This stitch was easier when it came to tension, but didn't do was well shapes. I liked this one too.





In TAST 1, Week 5, we had the Chevron Stitch:

Loved this stitch, but since it is the Herringbone realm, I am not surprised.


It also works lovely in a curve.





I decided to also go back and do one of the family stitches of the Detached Chain Stitch, the Whipped Chain Stitch:

Honestly, this is a great stitch! I have decided that instead of couching, I am using this stitch to do the Numbers set. So incredibly easy and it looks great!









I also got some Alphabet work done today:


Here is my lower case a: I used Open Cretan Stitch for this. It was a bit of a pain doing it, but I think it worked nicely.



For my Capital B, I used the Chevron Stitch. This was more difficult that I thought it would be. It took me about 50 minutes to do this one. It was all about the spacing.

Starting and continuing

So, I have decided to just jump in and be adventurous. I have plenty of time to be so right now. So, with the Liberia Orphan Education Project I have decided to up my ante. After all, I really do need to fill my time better.

Now, my goal is to do:
1 Alphabet set, including drawstring bag
1 Number set (0-20), including drawstring bag
1 Shape set, including drawstring bag
1 Color set, including drawstring bag

The Alphabet set will be felt bags with appliqued letters. On one side will be the capital version of the letter and the other side will have the small version of the letter. I will use TAST embroidery stitches to applique the letters on.

The Number set, I am thinking about couching yarn onto felt bags into the shape of each number. Then on the back using fabric paint to spell out the word.

The Shape set, I am going to use felt again to make the shapes. I think I will spell out the names in fabric paint.

The Color set, again felt bags in the appropriate colors. I am unsure whether I want to paint the names on the bags or embroider them.

I really wish I had some time and money to do some of them with fabric dyeing. Oh well, another project.


So, here is my first letter, the capital A:

I used buttonhole stitch because I have never appliqued before and this seemed like a good place to start. I decided to use black thread since everything else is so colorful. It wasn't too bad for my first try, but this will be an interesting experience.





As for my sock projects, I am still working on them:


Since these are being made for my feet in particular the progress seems a little slow. I have tried a couple things, tore some things out, but am still happy with the progress I am making.





With Tribute I have moved past the heel & gusset and am now working on the foot. The more I knit on it, the more I am disappointed these won't be mine.

TAST Week 4

TAST 2 - Week 4

Portuguese Border Stitch

I really liked this stitch. I like how in a small circle, the braid has sharp points. A lot of versatility with this stitch.








TAST 1 - Week 4

Cretan Stitch

This stitch takes a lot of patience for me. How close the stitches are suppose to be placed together was a bit frustrating for me. It makes a lovely leaf. I think the Portuguese Border Stitch would look lovely around the outside of the leaf.





Open Cretan Stitch

This I enjoyed much more. Lots of options and lots of life. This one will work really well with the future crazy quilting.