Modern and Traditional Embroidery Dress

Wow, is it September already? Here in North Carolina, it still feels very much like summer ... but September signals the beginnings of Autumn and our beloved fall and winter holiday season. First up, of course, is Halloween, and this month's free stitch-along pattern should help get us all into the spooky spirit.



September's pattern, Hallowe'en Trio, was designed by the talented Cathy Gaubert. Cathy is a mom, a stitcher, a quilter, and an all-around wonderful person, and she blogs about it all at handmade...cathygaubert. Cathy also designs some really great embroidery patterns (as evidenced below), and you can find more in her Etsy shop.

I'm excited to see so many enthusiastic stitchers joining me for the August stitch-along. For week 1 I asked you to simply find a piece of inspirational fabric that's just screaming to be embellished with stitches, and there were some GREAT photos added to our Flickr pool. Here are a few from some fellow stitchers:

Welcome to the August stitch-along here on the Feeling Stitchy blog. Due in large part to my undying love of fabric, I've decided to take the stitch-along in a slightly different direction this month. Rather than selecting an embroidery pattern for us all to stitch together, I'd like to lead us in a month of embellishing patterned fabric with floss and stitches. It's a technique I first mentioned in this post from a few weeks back.

Week 3 of the July Stitchalong is a bit delayed (will post it tomorrow).

In the meantime, maybe you would let us know what you think of the stitchalongs we've been doing the past few months..?

You can do so in two ways:

1: Take the poll over in the sidebar (it's only about the frequency of the stitchalongs)
2: Leave a comment with your thoughts (let us know anything that comes to mind regarding the stitchalongs.)

You're absolutely welcome to do both. Thanks! :-)

Are you ready for July's Stitchalong? Love gnomes? Then this one's for you! And even if you don't like gnomes so much, maybe this guy will persuade you! We have a pattern from the über-talented and inspiring MimiLove!

Tom Gnome - isn't he awesome? And now you can stitch your very own version! Isn't that also very awesome?!

You can see the original in the photos and do get inspired by that, but take it and run with it: make the gnome your own! :-)

Thank you ever so much to Ms. MimiLove for letting us use this pattern (it's for personal use etc and so on). Oh and do check out the MimiLove blog for more stitchy inspiration!

Click on the drawing below to download the pattern - it's a pdf file with no less than 3 sizes of the gnome. Don't forget to tag your Flickr photos with "JulyStitchalong" so we can find it in the Flickr pool. You can also download the pattern by clicking this link, but it's more fun to click on an image. Or maybe that's just me. ;-)

Alrighty - stitch up a storm of gnomes! :-)

How about another stitchalong? Hmmmm? :)

This month's pattern was brought to us by the super-talented Cate Anevski - we've featured her wonderful embroidery patterns often here, and we're so honored that she created something special for Feeling Stitchy readers!



That's right, you're looking at a fully customizable PB + J pattern! Maybe you want to stitch just the PB + J?

Or maybe you want your sandwich to say:


Or maybe, you want your sandwich to say a phrase of your very own? Well, we got you:


I love how Cate's design echoes the quirky, cute kitschiness of vintage patterns, combined with her own, unique feel. This is gonna be a fun one, guys, I can feel it!

And... there's a prize this month!

For a little added inspiration, and as a thank you to all of you for making our first-ever stitchalongs such a hit - Cate will choose one winner who'll receive one free embroidery pattern  from her store (choose your favorite) and a little bundle of floss and fabric from yours truly. Sound awesome? I hope so!

And, since we started this stitchalong a bit late, just know that you'll have until June 7 to complete your stitching. On that day, we'll collect all the entries and Cate will choose our winner.

Wanna take part? Just tag your stitching "MayStitchalong" and add it to our pool!

P.s. to those of you with questions about how or where to start, I'll be checking in this weekend with my progress and links to cool tutorials, etc. See you then! :)

Well it's the final week of the Vintage Pattern Stitchalong and I am all done! I popped in a cheesy movie this morning and put the final touches on my second pillowcase.

Then, I crossed my fingers, turned them inside out, and washed them. I usually don't turn my stitching inside out, but I wanted to be extra-careful because I'd done so many French knots...

Voila! I was fortunate and the faint charcoal lines washed right out and the stitches held up perfectly:


I ran out of a couple of colors, so I swapped colors between the two pillowcases, which would make for a good game of "spot the differences," if you are very, very bored. :)


I added some extra french knots around the large flowers in the middle of the design - I used to hate French knots, but once you get the hang of them they are very addictive.

So, here they are washed (ahem: unironed - a girl can only get so much done in time for same-day blog posting) and ready to go:


But, sheesh, next time I choose colors for a blog post to photograph, I think I'll stay away from teals and fushchias! They look so pretty in real life, but it's almost impossible to capture true-to-life shades of pink and blue in photos. I did tons of monkeying around with my camera settings just to get these pics.

But now, on to my favorite part - your stitching! :)

Ninimakes gets double points for creativity by stitching on a shirt she made herself (from a Built by Wendy pattern):


I love how elegant the design looks in one color and it contrasts so well with the subtle pattern in her fabric - gorgeous, Ninimakes!


I love the placement Avrienne chose for her t-shirt stitching, and the pretty autumn palette she used:


Aimee also stitched her design on a t-shirt - I really, really love the details in this progress shot:


Speaking of in-progress, I also love the details in this project by hannita - can't wait to see it finished!


Lisa chose light colors that show up well against her blue fabric:


I love how everybody approaches their stitches in a different way - I love the loose, open stitches and extra French knots in this version by Megan:


Last but certainly not least, 2 of our own bloggers at Feeling Stitchy joined in...

Jo also stitched her design on a pillowcase:


And Carina stitched up her own modified version of the pattern, with lots of lovely pastel colors:


I wish I could have featured every single one of you - but HEY, why don't you help us make a list of everyone that took part? If you joined the stitchalong this month (even if yours is in progress), please leave a link in the comments!

Thank you so much for stitching along with us! I hope you all had fun and were inspired, even if you couldn't join along. This was super fun and inspiring for me - I pulled out embroidery I literally have not touched in years.

Be sure to check back with us for more stitchalongs - I happen to know that there's a really, really, really good one coming up.... :)

Recap of the February Stitchalong:

Download the pattern (thanks, Claudia!)
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3

Hi everyone! I am really loving this stitchalong idea - I love checking into our pool and these comments and seeing all the creative ways you've been interpreting this design. I love how you leave things out, flip the design around, the different colors you choose - this has been so much fun!

So, as you saw last week - I spent most of my time changing my mind and choosing blues to contrast with the bright pinks:


But once I made up my mind on the basic colors I would use, my stitching really took off quickly:


Aside from a simple back stitch in dark turquoise on the stems, I used the same 2 stitches from week 1week 2 - lazy daisy and french knot.

I added extra french knots wherever I wanted to add a little more texture, and before I knew it, I was done!


For the last week of our stitchalong I'll stitch a matching pillowcase, wash and iron my work (and hope it doesn't fall apart), and take a photo for all of you. :)


Here's what you guys have been stitching!

jodycourt used the design to make a pretty embroidered cuff:


Kim thinks her stitching is a bit wonky, but I'm sorry Kim, I have to disagree - look at those beautiful stitches!


I love the tone-on-tone design elliefunkhandmade is doing:


Gorgeous bright colors on this cloth stitched by annalea hart:


ninimakes is stitching her pattern onto a handmade top (love the stripes!)


Allie reinterpreted the design as a heart:


Last but not least, I love the bright contrast daddys_little_hurl used:


So, do we have any takers for our last week in the February stitchalong? Just add your pics to the pool, or leave a link to your blog in the comments and we might feature your work next week! Thanks for stitching along with us, can't wait to see your work!