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| Nordic Redwork Trio, $7 on Etsy |
So what is everyone else up to this week? I hope it's treating you well!
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Nordic Redwork
I have a new pattern posted, guys. Phew! This was a very big project! But I really like it and I hope you'll enjoy it too.
It's so pretty and classic, and would make a lovely addition to your home this Christmas. If I wasn't so busy making new patterns, I would definitely make myself a full set of those placemats. They're awesome!
So what is everyone else up to this week? I hope it's treating you well!
So what is everyone else up to this week? I hope it's treating you well!
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Canvas Tip: Dark on Light
If you're anything like me, the back of your plastic canvas work tends to be pretty messy. Lots of colors, lots of strings stretching over sections of another color, stopping and starting strings in sections of another color. That's fine. After all, you don't see the back of your piece most of the time.
There is one case where it is a problem, though. When you're working a dark pattern on a light background. In that case, you can usually see the dark strings quite clearly through the white, and it makes the light color look dingy and the piece look less polished overall.
I'm working on a pattern right now that's dark red on a white background and I've been having to really restrain myself while stitching, so I figured it would be a perfect time to get some pictures of how I do it.
Here's a picture of the front of the finished piece:
If you look closely, you can see a couple of spots where the red shows through the white where I was less careful (for instance, around the top of the bottom star). If you're very sloppy with your yarn, you'll have that all over instead of in just a couple of small places.
And here is the back without the white so you can see what I did with the red.
Basically I kept it as compact as possible. Avoid skipping over to other sections as much as possible. Finish up a block of color before moving on to another block of color. Travel under stitches as much as possible to keep the traveling thread from escaping into the unstitched area. If you're going a long distance between blocks of color, secure the thread and cut it, then start it up again in the new spot.
I think it works better if you work the light color first and then do the dark color. The piece I'm working on uses a lot of cross stitching, and I like to lay those down before adding other stitches because it looks more consistent, otherwise I would have tried putting the white down first.
So I hope this tip helped you out a little! Does anyone else have any tips on how to stitch dark on light? Or tips on anything else they're working on right now?
There is one case where it is a problem, though. When you're working a dark pattern on a light background. In that case, you can usually see the dark strings quite clearly through the white, and it makes the light color look dingy and the piece look less polished overall.
I'm working on a pattern right now that's dark red on a white background and I've been having to really restrain myself while stitching, so I figured it would be a perfect time to get some pictures of how I do it.
Here's a picture of the front of the finished piece:
If you look closely, you can see a couple of spots where the red shows through the white where I was less careful (for instance, around the top of the bottom star). If you're very sloppy with your yarn, you'll have that all over instead of in just a couple of small places.
And here is the back without the white so you can see what I did with the red.
Basically I kept it as compact as possible. Avoid skipping over to other sections as much as possible. Finish up a block of color before moving on to another block of color. Travel under stitches as much as possible to keep the traveling thread from escaping into the unstitched area. If you're going a long distance between blocks of color, secure the thread and cut it, then start it up again in the new spot.
I think it works better if you work the light color first and then do the dark color. The piece I'm working on uses a lot of cross stitching, and I like to lay those down before adding other stitches because it looks more consistent, otherwise I would have tried putting the white down first.
So I hope this tip helped you out a little! Does anyone else have any tips on how to stitch dark on light? Or tips on anything else they're working on right now?
Friday, October 21, 2016
Free Friday: Gingham Pincushion
Today's free pattern is another addition to the gingham sewing set, this time a lovely little pincushion. I really like the way the blue gingham turned out, but like all the other patterns, you can change out the colors to make any color of gingham you want to match your sewing room.
Click the image above to see it larger. You may share this pattern however you please as long as you don't alter it or claim it as your own. You may sell items made from this pattern. However, you may not sell this pattern.
I have one more piece planned for this set, so keep tuned! I don't think I'll post it next week though. I think I want to do something fall or Thanksgiving themed.
Hope you're all doing well this week!
Gingham Pincushion
Skill Level:
BeginnerMaterials:
- 7-count plastic canvas
- Red Heart Super Saver yarn in colors listed in key
- 9-inch piece of white fabric
- Small amount of poly fiber fill
- White thread
- Metal regular mouth canning lid
- Hot or craft glue
- #16 plastic canvas needle
- Sewing needle
Instructions:
- Cut plastic canvas according to graphs. Leaving red section unfinished, stitch pincushion side. Once finished, hold the two narrow ends together, overlapping red sections, and finish stitching.
- Using Light Periwinkle yarn, whipstitch bottom piece to side piece. Overcast the unfinished edge.
- Cut white fabric into a 9-inch circle. Using white thread and sewing needle, baste ½ inch from the edge all the way around. Hold both ends of thread and pull tight. Before closing piece, firmly stuff with fiber fill to create a ball. Tie or stitch the ball closed.
- Insert canning lid into the bottom of stitched pincushion. Place the stuffed fabric ball in next, with stitches facing down. Carefully add hot or craft glue around the inside edges of the pincushion to secure. ♥
Click the image above to see it larger. You may share this pattern however you please as long as you don't alter it or claim it as your own. You may sell items made from this pattern. However, you may not sell this pattern.
I have one more piece planned for this set, so keep tuned! I don't think I'll post it next week though. I think I want to do something fall or Thanksgiving themed.
Hope you're all doing well this week!
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Canvas Tip: Shaving Your Finished Project
That title sounds a little weird, doesn't it? Like I'm about to tell you I'm some kind of weirdo that likes shaving things, lol. Well I am weird, but not without reason! (And no, small furry creatures don't have to worry about me sneaking up on them and shaving them.)
When I was working on my Fall Welcome Wall Hanging a couple of weeks ago, I noticed an interesting problem. Because the piece is so big, I was rubbing the yarn a lot as I worked, and it started to create pills and piles of fuzz. Normally a piece made with acrylic yarn gets kind of fuzzy as you work on it simply because the yarn is soft, but it's not usually a problem if it's a small piece. But this big piece I worked on clearly had some issues.
It really looked bad. I like to present my work as professionally as I can, and I just wasn't happy about those ugly fuzzies. So I thought, well, what can I do? The only thing I could think of was to get out my husband's electric shaver.
I used the straight clipper attachment and gently ran it over the piece. If you're doing this, don't push down! You don't want to cut the yarn, just clip the fuzzies on the surface.
As you can see, I actually got a good amount of fuzz off the piece.
And now it looks pretty darn good! The picture doesn't really do it justice, but it's a huge improvement.
So there you go! If you have problems with fuzz or pilling with your project, just shave it!
When I was working on my Fall Welcome Wall Hanging a couple of weeks ago, I noticed an interesting problem. Because the piece is so big, I was rubbing the yarn a lot as I worked, and it started to create pills and piles of fuzz. Normally a piece made with acrylic yarn gets kind of fuzzy as you work on it simply because the yarn is soft, but it's not usually a problem if it's a small piece. But this big piece I worked on clearly had some issues.
 |
| The pilling was especially bad on the dark red section. |
I used the straight clipper attachment and gently ran it over the piece. If you're doing this, don't push down! You don't want to cut the yarn, just clip the fuzzies on the surface.
As you can see, I actually got a good amount of fuzz off the piece.
And now it looks pretty darn good! The picture doesn't really do it justice, but it's a huge improvement.
So there you go! If you have problems with fuzz or pilling with your project, just shave it!
Monday, October 17, 2016
Cheery Spool Sewing Accessories
Argh! I've been typing that all morning.... Cheery Spool Sewing Accessories. There's something about that that's really hard to type fast!
Anyway, the reason I've been typing it all morning is because I finished another cool pattern, and it's up in my Etsy shop!
This cute set would be perfect for any sewing room. I'm going to give the model set to my niece for Christmas because I think it would make a great present! The pattern includes a needle book, a pincushion, and a thread catcher.
The pattern will also be available on Craftsy sometime soon, I hope. Has anyone else noticed lots of annoying issues with Craftsy lately? I know they're updating the site, but they seem to be having some serious issues lately.
Anyway, I hope you're all having a lovely day today!
Anyway, the reason I've been typing it all morning is because I finished another cool pattern, and it's up in my Etsy shop!
 |
| Cheery Spool Sewing Accessories, $4 |
The pattern will also be available on Craftsy sometime soon, I hope. Has anyone else noticed lots of annoying issues with Craftsy lately? I know they're updating the site, but they seem to be having some serious issues lately.
Anyway, I hope you're all having a lovely day today!
Friday, October 14, 2016
Free Friday: Pumpkin Clip
I don't have kids of my own, but I'm an aunt. I have three nieces that are either grown or older teens, an 8-year old nephew, and a 3 year old great nephew (yep, I'm a 32 year old great aunt!). That means I get to do all the cool stuff with kids and none of the hard stuff!
That's what inspired this week's pattern. Every year, I make up a special bag of Halloween treats for my nephews and nieces. Usually I buy store bought treat bags, but this year I had a fun idea. Why not buy some cheap lunch bags and make a cute clip for it? This idea can be used for all kinds of holidays! I totally love the brown paper look, so I really love this project. Plus, it lets me use up some of my plastic canvas scraps.
Click the image above to see it larger. You may share this pattern however you please as long as you don't alter it or claim it as your own. You may sell items made from this pattern. However, you may not sell this pattern.
So this concludes my Halloween patterns! I'll be sharing another pattern from the gingham sewing set next week, this time a pin cushion. So stay tuned!
That's what inspired this week's pattern. Every year, I make up a special bag of Halloween treats for my nephews and nieces. Usually I buy store bought treat bags, but this year I had a fun idea. Why not buy some cheap lunch bags and make a cute clip for it? This idea can be used for all kinds of holidays! I totally love the brown paper look, so I really love this project. Plus, it lets me use up some of my plastic canvas scraps.
Pumpkin Clip
Skill Level:
BeginnerMaterials:
- 7-count plastic canvas
- Yarns in colors listed in key
- Wooden clothespin
- Hot glue
- #16 plastic canvas needle
Instructions:
- Cut and stitch plastic canvas according to graph.
- Overcast stem with brown yarn. Overcast the rest of the pumpkin with orange yarn.
- Use hot glue to attach pumpkin to clothespin so that the bottom of the pumpkin is near the opening of the clothespin. ♥
So this concludes my Halloween patterns! I'll be sharing another pattern from the gingham sewing set next week, this time a pin cushion. So stay tuned!
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Halloween Sale!
Halloween is just around the corner, so I figured what better time to have a sale on my Halloween patterns! All my spooky Halloween patterns are 50% off at my Etsy shop right now, all are $2 or less. Here's what's available!
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| Gravestone Magnets, $1 |
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| Candy Corn Tissue Box Cover, $2 |
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| Candy Corn Coasters, $2 |
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| Halloween Luminaries, $2 |
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| The Witch Is In Wall Hanging, $2 |
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| Eat, Drink, and Be Scary Wall Hanging, $2 |
This sale will go on until November 1, 2016. If you get them now, you should be able to get some cool decor made before Halloween gets here! And if not, you'll have the patterns for next year. Happy Haunting!
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