2014 - What did I embroider??

Happy New Year!

Looking back at 2014, I was surprised at my lack of embroidery. Just from reviewing this blog, my posts went down from 50 total posts in 2013 to a mere 18 total posts in 2014!!

So one of my goals for 2015 is to amp up my stitching and post much more on the blog. 

But just for my own amusement, let's look at some 2014 embroidery highlights anyways.

* The most viewed blog post from 2014 was my Furry Nice Embroidery Class Review.

This class was amazing. I also stitched a cute beetle from the techniques I learned from the class.

* The second most viewed post was the Take a Stitch Tuesday # 15 French Knot . 

I did my best to continue with the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge - although sadly, I only completed 3 new stitches the entire year. I do enjoy this challenge and plan on continuing it this year. 

* I participated in one swap - The Bestiary Swap - from the website Weave (previously the swap from the Phat Quarter Flickr embroidery group)

My goals for 2015 in embroidery:

- stumpwork

- continue with TAST

- review some embroidery books

Ok, enough. I should start stitching...

Little Tree Drawing Mini Embroidery

My nine year old niece drew me a cute little tree and I wanted to embroider it.

I thought it would be fun to take her drawing, stitch it, frame it, and give it to her as a little gift.

Here is a photo of the original drawing.

Here it is transferred onto the fabric ready to stitch.

I used all stem stitch, since it's my favorite.

A long time ago I bought these little canvases with frames at a craft store which I thought would be perfect to finish the tree.

I stapled the fabric to the canvas (which I have written about previously here – it is my favorite way to finish my embroidery now).

Staple around all edges - pulling the fabric tight around the canvas.

Staple the corners - similiar to wrapping a present and staple.

All stapled!

Here it is all finished inside the frame and ready to send in the mail!

Another Little Sheep

I really like stitching these little sheep with french knots. This is from a Floss Box pattern I posted about here.

This time I created my own border around it.

This was a birthday gift for a new friend who loves to knit, so I thought stitching a little sheep would be fun and fitting - you know, sheep make wool, wool makes yarn.... :)

Blinded by Science Embroidery Swap

I am so excited to receive my swap piece for the Phat Quarter's Blinded by Science embroidery swap from Wallflower Arts.

I absolutely love it! She did such a great job. Her idea of a pinup inspired anatomical drawing is just awesome.

This swap was so fun. I will definitely participate in future swaps.

If you want to check out my embroidery for the Blinded by Science swap, check out my previous post here.

WIP Wednesday

My latest work in progress. I've started on my third Erro tribute embroidery.

I've started on the black outline of the eyes.

Erro is one of my favorite artists. My previous Erro embroidery I posted about here  and my first can be seen on my Flickr set here.

Something Old - Redwork Ladies

Another one of my older embroidery projects in my Flickr photos.  

I can't remember where I found the patterns on the internet but I loved their pinup look. 

I framed them in little frames I found at a garage sale.

work in progress shot

Something Old - Dave's Design

I was looking through my Flickr photos and found this embroidery I did back in 2009. It's a drawing my husband did that I embroidered for fun - well, actually I gave it to him for an anniversary gift.

I always liked how this turned out - although he thinks I should have filled in the teeth white... I suppose I could do that someday...

Floss Love Vol. 4: Bobbins!

Lots -o- bobbins.

My MIL found these containers of bobbins at, I think, a garage sale and gave them to me a long time ago. 

Whoever these belonged to took the time organize them so nicely - even wrote the color numbers on each bobbin.

How to: Finish Back of Embroidery Hoop

Here is how I finished my little sheep embroidery.

I found a hoop just the right size.

Front View

Back View

Trim the fabric around the hoop.

Next, start to glue the fabric to the inside edge of the hoop.

Apply the glue to the inside edge and fold over the fabric...

Continue to glue the fabric around the whole hoop...

Let it dry!

Then, you will need something to cover the back. You could use cardboard or any type of paper. I always use brown paper bags. I like the look of the brown paper.

Trace your hoop and cut your circle.

Next, put some glue around the edge so you can attach the paper circle to the back of the hoop...

Place the paper circle on the hoop and lay it down with some pressure to hold it in place and allow to dry. I used a couple pairs of scissors. 

Finished!

Back side

Front Side

** UPDATE: If you have made it this far, I thought I would update this post and let you know I now prefer to finish the back of my hoops using this excellent tutorial. 

Little Sheep + Chain Stitch

This weekend I worked on finishing the little sheep embroidery I started a few weeks ago.

Here's a pic of it halfway done. 

I have read on many stitching sites that french knots are much easier to stitch if you use a milliners needle. So I decided to give it a try with the french knots on the sheep and its the truth! I will only use a milliners needle whenever I stitch french knots.

I also tried a new technique for stitching the chain stitches for the outer circle. I followed the instructions for the easiest chain stitch on Sublime Stitching and as it states  - I will never work a chain stitch the same way again! It is so easy. 

This little embroidery is a gift for someone and will post an update as to how I eventually finish it.

Oh, and this is a Floss Box pattern.

How to: Mounting Embroidery on Canvas

For my Phat Quarter - Blinded by Science swap embroidery, I finished it by stretching it or mounting it on a canvas. I had never done it before so thought I would give it a try. It  was really easy and I think it might be my new favorite way to display embroidery.

What you need:

1. Staple gun

2. any size canvas  

Blank 8x10 canvas

I first  laid my embroidery on top of the canvas and did my best to center it.

Then flip it over and staple the center of each side, pulling the fabric tight.

Work your way around the canvas stapling towards the corners.

To do the corners, I wrapped the each corner like wrapping a present and stapled it down. It is a little bulky in the back, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I am sure the more I do it the better I will get.

Back side finished 

Up close view of the wrapped corner

Finished!

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