Tag Archives: embroidery

Embroidery on a Snow Day in Alabama

When I walked into my apartment after a rather insane day of snow and ice in Alabama, I put on comfortable clothes, made some tea and pulled out the embroidery floss. My snow day was going to be a relaxing one.

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“Come Thou Fount” might be my favorite song of all time. After finding this fabric amongst my scraps, this verse instantly came to mind.

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Since I used a smaller hoop (only 6 inches in diameter), I have to use smaller text to make it all fit. I made “Hello Friend” a couple of months ago and decided to mimic its font for this hoop.

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The finish touch to all this is a piece of felt to cover the back. I added the heart just because I wanted to, but I’m thinking it might be a nice signature touch for all of my future projects. Maybe it could turn into some sort of logo.

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Personalized Moleskin Journal

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With a new job comes the need for a brand new note pad. Oh the joys! After receiving a Barnes & Noble gift card for graduation, I invested in a few Moleskins. And though I do love a good Moleskin journal, they truly are very plain. So I decided to liven them up a bit with some simple embroidery.

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My grandmother gave me some wool embroidery floss a few years ago. Since I do not have enough to use on a major project, I like it pull it out for smaller projects like this. But the basic cotton embroidery floss works great too. Along with the thread, you’ll need the journals, embroidery needles, scissors, a ruler and a pencil.

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I started out by tracing a few lines on the inside front cover to act as a guide for my stitches. (It’s always important to stitch straight.)

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Sewing through the cover is really easy. As you can see from the picture, the stitches do reveal some strain in the cardboard, but it is only noticeable close up. Most of the stitches I used were very simple, but for one row, I used a French knot.

Creating a perfect French knot might take some practice, but it is simple to remember once you get the hang of it.

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Start by bringing the thread up into the space where the knot will be displayed.

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Next, you take the thread and wrap it around the needle. I always wrap it three times.

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Then, insert the needle back through the cover. Do not put it back through the original hole. But you want the second hole to be near the first.

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Before you pull the needle through, tighten the thread to make a knot. Then keeping the thread taunt, pull the needle through to the other side.

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In completely these steps, you have created a French knot.

IMG_2758Again, the other stitches are super easy because they are all straight lines. I was able to complete the project in the time it took to watch a movie. Though I took this one to work, I have a feeling I will pull this idea out again when I am in need of a good gift.

Up for a Ride

Last spring, I had an idea to create a hot air balloon on canvas. Instead of taking the easy route and using paint, I decided I wanted to embroider the entire thing. Goodness, if only I knew then how long this project would take me.

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Nine month later, I am happy to say the project is finally complete.

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For the balloon, I did not use a special technique. I simply threaded a needle and took in and out, over and over again. I choose the colors one layer at a time. The selection was completely random, and if you notice, some colors repeat often and some are only used once.

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I love how the wrong side of the canvas really shows off all of the work put into the piece. It took a lot of thread.

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The final touch was stitching the basket. I was nervous about this detail, worried that would take away from the overall look of the ballon, but I am happy with how it turned out. I wanted to basket to have more of a textured look, so I used a darning stitch to make it look weaved.

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Embroidery from the Heart

I stumbled across this quote in a conversation one day with my Mom. I naturally wrote it down, saving it for a raining day, and then 2 weeks ago, I found myself during a lazy evening picking out fabric and embroidery floss. The whole thing is really simple. I uses an embroidery ring, but as you can see, I made the mistake of not having the fabric tight enough. And I added some simple felt hearts to bring it all together.

And then, to mount the finished piece, I took a canvas that had been lying around for awhile and stapled it all in place.

And there, you did it!

Look to the Stars: Constellations Embroidery

I worked at a camp this summer that opened my eyes to the different, cultural stories about the constellations in the night’s sky, and I quickly became obsessed. This idea of embroidering a constellation has been floating around my  head for awhile now, and it took a simple swatch of navy blue fabric in the clearance bin at Hobby Lobby to put my thoughts into action.

Gemini (The Twins)

Orion (The Warrior)

Pegasus (The Winged Horse)

I cut out navy blue felt to cover the back side of the embroidery and added the name to the constellation for any clarification that might be needed. I love how simple this project was, and after I get some nails in the wall, it’s going to look adorable in my green bedroom.

For a cozier passport

You really can make anything out of felt. My sister-in-law’s birthday was this week, and my parents knew they wanted to give her money but they wanted to add little something to go with it. That’s when the idea for a felt passport holder popped in my head. Now, if I could make it again, I would make some changes, but for a project that took me a few hours to make, I was super happy with the results.

I took my passport and a leather passport holder that I already owned as a stencil. I used a disappearing ink pen for dark fabrics to make the outline.

Though I took this picture right before I sewed it all together, it shows the steps that led me up to this point. I cut out fabric for the left and right sleeves. Then I top stitched the edges. (Plus I added a little personalized touch with an embroidered name.)

I used felt to cut out the tree, and I simply hand sewed it down. For the flowers, I cut out a little felt circle then embroidered a dot at the center at each one.

After pinning everything in place, I sewed everything together. It didn’t turn out perfect, but I like that it looked obviously homemade.

Inspiration on a Lazy Day

Many of my projects are started on lazy days. Two nights ago, my dad was watching the Falcon’s game and my mom was upstairs knitting, so I looked into my craft box to see what would inspire me.

If you don’t have a craft box, I highly suggest pulling one together. Though mine is rather small and incredibly messy, it’s a place where I keep majority of my supplies.

I also keep a folder on my computer’s desktop where I keep pictures that inspire me – things I find on blogs or even Etsy.

It was this picture that inspired me to stitch the dress. The rest just came together on it’s own.

It’s not perfect, but hey, I put it together while watching the Falcon’s game (plus it cost less than $3). It doesn’t have to be.