Modern and Traditional Embroidery Dress

With the anniversary of the tragic events on 9/11 ten years ago in mind, I thought today I'd post something positive and inspiring. Stitched by Disobedient Child on a vintage (looking) hankie. I like the idea of stitching messages on a hankie so you can carry your inspirational quote with you... (or even better: give it to someone you love!)

This Tuesday I will be telling you everything you need to know about our fabulous Feeling Stitchy Embroidery Contest. Amazing Prizes? Strict Rules? Fantastic Theme?  We've got you covered!

I guess the cat will literally have to jump through hoops to get to the bird. Love this  'Cat and Bird' series embroidered by Whimsiology!

Last week I announced that the Feeling Stitchy team is planning to do a contest soon. Remember last years Rainbow of Stitches contest? That was fun right? At the moment we are looking for sponsors to be able to give the winner(s) of this years contest some neat prizes. Think supplies, books, magazines...If you are interested in sponsoring our contest, you can contact me on followthewhitebunny AT e-tropolis DOT nl  

I was so excited to find this wonderful embroidery made by Judith Pudden in the Embroidery Group on Flickr. The detail in this work is amazing and I especially love the silver skirt. This embroidery is based on an Edward Gorey illustration. His outstanding work translates well to embroidery as I found out myself recently.  I actually have another one in the (or rather a) hoop at the moment. Check out Judith's other embroidery work here (impressive satin stitching!).

Now... I was wondering if you all would like another Feeling Stitchy contest? I hope so, because we have one planned in about a months time! Actually, I just realised that today's featured work would fit the contest rather well. Are you curious yet what the theme is?

These dotted butterflies are part of the Power Animal series designed by Amy (aka GirlFlamant). I absolutely love each and every pattern of that series! All animal silhouettes have their own pattern and include a fleur-de-lis owl and an houndstooth patterned Jackalope.  I'm about to start stitching a tartan Loch Ness monster! Find all Power animals (and other patterns as well) in her Etsy shop.




If you have not tried Counted Cross Stitch before (I'm very much a newbie myself) do check out the wonderful (and free!) downloadable Cross Stitch guides by Sophie of What Delilah Did. And don't forget to have a look in her shop with many gorgeous kits and patterns as well!

I wrote about the wonderful Embroidery Swap in the Phat Quarter Group on Flickr a little while ago here on Feeling Stitchy and last week I was the lucky recipient of this absolutely awesome piece made for me by Lisa!  The embroidery is based on an illustration by Sheilah Beckett and depicts the poem about Wynken, Blynken & Nod. Lisa is a very talented embroiderer and her attention to detail is amazing. Click on the photos to see all the gorgeous details!

Look at all the tiny and precise stitches and I love the use of metallic thread on the fishes!

The tinting of the fabric really adds to this piece and the variety of stitches used is impressive. Thank you Lisa for making such an inspired and lovely embroidery for me!

On display in my living room!

This exceptional piece was made by Valerie Roybal. I love everything about it: the texture, the colours and the different shapes. But most of all I like the organic feel it has. Like it started in one place and grew and grew, all by itself. I feel very inspired to start my own organic piece now! You can buy some of Valerie's other embroidered pieces here and do check out her other artwork, like this collage.

Compass embroidery by Joanna aka Thingshandmade

I am a left-handed stitcher. And I assume that I'm not the only 'southpaw' that learns new stitches only  from books and the internet. Many of the books and video tutorials show how to perform stitches for right handed stitchers. For some stitches I'm able to 'translate' the diagrams to my own left-handed version but it's not always easy. So I'm always delighted when I find publications especially for left-handed stitchers.

Last year Yvette Stanton released the Left-Handed Embroiderer's Companion. An extensive stitch dictionary with a lot of stitches and photos of how to perform them.  On the Sublime Stitching site you can find  how-to's for lefties of a couple of the most basic stitches. And Feeling Stitchy's own Carina has not forgotten about us sinister handed stitchers either. Find her e-books for lefties here. If you already have a book with right-handed diagrams that you want to use, you can make your own left-handed version by scanning the image and flipping it horizontally in an image editing program (tip found here).

I hope this post has been helpful for some of my fellow left-handed stitchers. If you have more tips for left-handed stitching please share them in the comments!

Goodness me! Today we're featuring an awesomely cool (and pretty crazy!) project from Lauren, aka giddy99. She is embroidering a duvet cover. And not just a single duvet cover either - it's a queen-size one! Imagine that, that's huge, and rather cumbersome to work on, so this is a pretty brave project in my book!

She is using an amazing range of different patterns, new and old. You should check out her Duvet Project Flickr set where she's documenting the progress of the project - there are notes about each pattern used as well. And if you click on the images in this post, you'll be transported over to Flickr where you can read more about them.

We can't wait to see the finished project! If you're doing a large scale embroidery project too, do let us know about it! You can email me, Carina (carinascraftblog[AT]gmail[DOT]com) or Nicole (followthewhitebunny[AT]e-tropolis[DOT]nl) to tell us all about it.

And speaking of Nicole; we had to know more about this Duvet Project, so Nicole has done a wee interview with Lauren - read on!

How long have you been embroidering?
I began embroidering in January of 2005. I'd tried cross-stitching in high school, but I couldn't get it to hold my attention. I've tried various hobbies, but none have held my attention for long… Embroidery was love at first sight for me, and I love it still.

Who taught you to embroider?
Someone tried to teach me as a child, but I vaguely remember that it didn't stick, for some reason. I really learned from the instructions in Sublime Stitching. I still have my first receipt from there, date January 16, 2005, too! I worked SO hard to get my split stitches to look like the ones in the diagram, but somehow deviated to the chain stitch, which I pull tight to make it LOOK like a split stitch (I realize that's ridiculous, but it's my fave stitch, STILL).

Where and when do you embroider?
I embroider whenever I get the chance, which is either just before bed (when I'm at home). I travel for work, and will take the pillow shams or other small projects with me to embroider while on planes, in airports or in hotels.

Who is your embroidery hero? 
I owe my love for embroidery to Sublime Stitching, so I have to say Jenny Hart. She made hand embroidery look fun and interesting with designs I could use with my existing décor.

What made you start a huge project like your Duvet cover project?
 I spent five years embroidering the edges of LOTS of pillowcases and a couple of tea towels, and want to branch out. I love embroidery (it grounds me), but I needed something different. I liked the idea of an embroidered quilt, but I didn't want to piece or sew anything – I just wanted to do the embroidery, right? It then occurred to me… a duvet is just a giant "pillowcase" (of sorts). A GIANT blank space, that I could fill however I pleased!

What is your favourite bit of the whole project so far?
Oh, my… it would be difficult to pick one favorite design; I like most of them all so much!

What is your least favourite bit?
 I've a couple of pieces that I'm not sure what to do about. One of them is the very first image I embroidered on the quilt. I was a bit nervous about mucking up a perfectly good duvet, and timidly embroidered a rather small image in one corner. It's very plain, outline stitches only (i.e. no fill), and SMALL. It now pales against the bigger pieces I've since done (the images I pick keep getting bigger and more elaborate). My husband says I can't remove and replace it, though, because the Starting Point is important in the whole, big picture. (… but, is it really?)

What is on your ‘wish list’ to embroider for this project? 
 I would have to embroider three duvets to get everything I want on there – I may have to use the reverse side of this one (wouldn't THAT be something)? I've SO many patterns "queued up," but I'm easily distracted by a contest, a swap, a fundraiser, a "gift" pattern… but I plod along, and return to the file drawer

Will you be using your Duvet cover? 
Yes, but it will be on the guest bed, where my two cats won't be able to shred my labor of love. The smallest cat, Bella, has some freakish issue with things that sparkle… she attacks the Bigfoot embroidery (it has some beadwork) whenever she gets the chance (eeek)!

Anything else you want to share?
I love how this project has stretched my embroidery as a hobby. I've gotten past the dread of a "big" or "too detailed" image, and now seek out the bigger projects – I look forward to the challenge.

When I noticed this embroidery by Fiona Bearclaw my first thought was: "I wish I had made that!" I mean: what is not to love about an accordion playing Porcupine with a shiny top hat? I can almost hear the melancholic tones of his accordion and I bet he sometimes sings along in a raspy voice. The use of the stitches in different lengths and shades in the quills is sublime and the detail of the pattern on the accordion is just gorgeous. Can you tell that I love this porcupine portrait A LOT?

Absolutely breathtaking are the three 'embroidered' book covers Jillian Tamaki designed for Penguin Threads Deluxe Classics. Take a look at her website to see the Jane Austen and Secret Garden covers too. The books with Jillian's designs aren't available yet but we'll be sure to let you know when they will be published. Actually Jillian's designs have inspired the Feeling Stitchy Team a lot and we just might have something fun in store for you later this year...

Me too! But sometimes I forget how much fun it is to read. I probably should stitch this pattern and hang it on the wall as a gentle reminder to spend less time with my computer and  more time reading! Pattern is from a rather wonderful and just released pattern set called 'Booksmart' by Corinne of  Septemberhouse.

I just found out last week that the stitch I have been using for a while now actually already existed and has a name: the Granito Stitch. It looks a bit similar to the Satin Stitch. You can find out how to make one here, it's really easy! Often the Granito Stitch is used for flower petals, like in the wonderful example in the photo, embroidered by Ana.

I frequently use the Granito Stitch,  sometimes in a somewhat rounder form, to embroider eyes on furry creatures instead of using a more bulky French knot. Like here on a White Rabbit.

...like a Woven Spider Wheel stitch, performed here beautifully by Olisa! Olisa made this awesome turntable embroidery for a recent Phat Quarter swap. For the volume knob she used lots of layers of the new-to-me Woven Spider Wheel Stitch. I found a tutorial for this stitch here and here.



The record is made with back stitches and looks so shiny that I almost miss my old LP records.

There's not much I can add to this statement stitched by Kwgronau! Except maybe that I recently started a Flickr Group dedicated especially to Embroidery Stitches. It's called the Embroidery Stitch Gallery and you can check it out here. It focuses on stitches and techniques rather than finished pieces. Viva la Stitch would have been a great name for that group.

In the near future I intend to write a post (or maybe several) about fill stitching.  Not just about the 'traditional' fill stitches (like the satin stitch) but also semi-fill stitches (like the seed stitch) and creative use of filling your embroidered piece like the one I showcased last week.  So if you have a wonderful photo posted in the Embroidery Group please tag it with FillStitch so I will be able to find it easily. I may get in touch with you to ask you about your techniques. Thanks in advance! Viva la Fill Stitch!

I was rather intrigued with this particular bit of embroidery by Nat (Smallest Forest on Flickr) when I spotted it in the Flick Embroidery Group. It looked to me somewhat like a Jacobean Couching Stitch, somewhat like a bunch of stacked cross stitches and somewhat like the fabric of a coat I used to have. But not exactly like anything I had seen before! Anyway, Nat was kind of enough to share her technique with us of what she calls  a  Wonky Cross Stitch.

Nat:"I drew a grid (freehand) with an erasable pen, and then worked a cross stitch into the grid with 3 strands, in a middle blue colour. I thought the first layer looked a bit 'thin', so then I worked a second layer of cross stitches, at 45 degrees to the first, in 2 strands of very pale shade of  ice blue. Coverage was good by this point, but the colors were washed out, and as this is meant to be a rich blue piece, I used a single strand of dark blue thread to work a grid (using back stitches) over everything. I just looked for a naturally occurring grid in the cross stitches, and picked that out with the final thread."




Can't wait to see this piece finished. Inspiring stuff, thank you Nat!