Beetle Stitching

Finally finished stitching this beetle.

This pattern was an extra pattern we received from the Furry Nice Embroidery Class that Nicole from Follow the White Bunny offers.

I decided to stitch it with 2 strands of floss - instead of the one strand of floss we used in the class.

It is a small little pattern so it stitched up faily quick. I am starting to really like stitching smaller sized projects now.

Furry Nice Embroidery Class Review

Back in April, I began the Furry Nice Embroidery class offered by Nicole at Follow the White Bunny and it was awesome!

I am so glad I did it. It really took me out of my comfort zone with my embroidery - which is exactly what I was hoping it would do. 

First of all, the class was worth every penny. Nicole did an excellent job with her tutorials and weekly lessons. We had a private Flickr group to post photos and ask questions - which Nicole was quick to answer those questions and offer advice to us students.

I loved the structure of the class also. There was a private blog just for the class where each week for 7 weeks a new lesson was posted to download and work at our own pace. The lessons were very detailed and easy to understand. 

The class taught us how to create depth in our embroidery and how to do basic shading - which I have always wanted to learn. I have been a follower of Nicole's blog for some time now and love her stitching techniques. When I found out that she was offering a class to share some of her tips and tricks - I knew I should not pass up the chance to learn! :)

Here are some progress photos of my polar bear project from the class - along with a few things I learned.

* Use a standard pencil to trace your pattern!

Ok - this may not be a huge deal to a lot of stitchers out there - but I have been doing embroidery now   for over 8 years and never once thought to use a pencil to trace my pattern onto the fabric. I've used heat transfer pens and pencils, transfer paper, disappearing ink pens, water soluable pens - but never once used a basic pencil. It worked perfect. 

*Use one strand of floss to stitch 

This took me way out my comfort zone. I have never used only one strand of floss to stitch before. Two strands but never just one. I first had trouble with needle size. The holes were too big in my fabric (which is another story - I would choose a different fabric if I were to stitch this bear again). I ended up using a size 10 needle and that seemed to work the best. 

*Furry Stitching! Learning the use of colors for shading.

Here the fur is complete.

Finished the scarf. This was done in satin stitch.

My favorite thing I learned was to use the satin stitch for the flowers. I love how they look. No more only using lazy daisy stitches for my flowers. (Although I did do just one flower with the lazy daisy stitch... just because..)

All done! Up close.

Finished! 

I would definitely recommend this class to anyone who is looking to add a new skill to their embroidery. For more information on the class check it out here! Sign up for the newsletter so you will know when the next class becomes available!

Merchant & Mills Scissors and Floss Love

I love embroidery scissors. I buy myself a new pair of scissors every so often as a treat for myself.

I've shared about my scissors in a previous post here.

So when I found these cute little Baby Bow Scissors, I just had to get them.

Maybe I live under a rock, but have you ever heard of Merchant & Mills before? I had not. So I took a look at their website. I love all they have to offer!

Look at the cute little "M" stamped on the scissors.

Just to give you an idea of how small these are - here is a photo next to "normal" sized embroidery scissors.

Now that I have discovered Merchant & Mills, I keep looking at their shop and want to buy everything! 

I mean, how awesome is their pin selection!?!

In other new, it's been a long time since I did a "Floss Love" post so thought these photos would be great for one! 

I am taking the Furry Nice Embroidery class that Nicole from Follow the White Bunny is teaching and our assignment was to gather our floss for the project. 

Here are my floss colors I have chosen. I will definitely post more about the embroidery projects once we start stitching. I am really excited about this class!

Please let me know if you are familiar with Merchant & Mills! Have you bought anything from their shop?