Spending the past week at CHA in Anaheim meant meeting tons of new creative contacts, then seeing everyone's awesome business card holders. Everywhere I turned, there was a new crafty person with a unique card storage solution. I think that this embroidered mini business card holder from Jodi at Sew Fearless would have fit right in! Click through the link to see the full tutorial.
This embroidered note valentine from StitchPunk, the Urban Threads blog, is like a fun, grownup version of passing notes in class. Plus, if you've got stitching skills but less-than-pretty handwriting, you can pick up the pattern for their note design right on the site.
More:
Back in September, I posted about the Star Wars stitcheries of Love and Sandwich, and mentioned that the Chewbacca "Laugh it up, fuzzball" was my favorite. I was really excited, then, to see this time lapse of her creating that very piece over on Feeling Stitchy. It's two and a half hours of work shown in two and a half minutes, and gives you a great appreciation of what goes in to making a project like this. Enjoy!
Related:
Star Wars Stitchery
Time-Lapse Video of The Making of a Plushie
Time Lapse Amigurumi
Gremlins Applique
Couching is an embroidery technique that produces smooth curves and textured lines, and is perfect for projects requiring bold lettering or crisp outlines. In this couching tutorial from Kari at The Craftinomicon, you'll learn the basic stitch and find expert tips on making the process go as smoothly as possible.
More:
Want to stitch valentines, but don't know the first thing about making symmetrical embroidered hearts? Check out this stitched heart tutorial from Mollie at Wild Olive to learn the technique, then stick around for the rest of the post to soak up some very pretty ombre inspiration!
Space stitchery has a special place in my heart, so I was thrilled when Hannah shared the work of artist Marta Brysha with me this morning. Marta works in a gorgeous studio in the central highlands of Tasmania and uses stunning hand dyed threads and fabrics to create her embroideries depicting nebulae, galaxies and other icons of astronomy. Check out her blog and portfolio web site to learn more about her space stitcheries and other projects. I can't wait to follow her work.
Related:
Solar System-Inspired Quilts from Jimmy McBride
Rachel Hobson's Incredible Moon Embroidery
Dawn Spacecraft Rendered in Plastic Canvas
How-To: Nebula T-Shirt
Artist Explores Universe Through Solar System Necklaces
This feather stitch embroidery design from Nat at Smallest Forest is a gorgeous piece created using only one family of stitches. Click through the link to see how the piece was created and which stitches were used!
[Via Feeling Stitchy]
Originally posted 2008-10-23 06:52:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
With the renewed interest in free embroidery (embroidery on a on-counted ground or fabric), you can find lots of pretty cool free patterns intended to transfer onto a piece of fabric.
But you can just as easily transfer them onto apiece of needlepoint canvas and use them as a line-drawing for your needlepoint.
Today we are going to talk about what to look for when you want to do this and tomorrow we will begin a step-by-step tutorial on how to go from a free pattern on the Web to a finished needlepoint.
When you look at embroidery transfer designs, what you see are the lines of the design which will be covered with stitching. Most free embroidery of this type relies on the fabric to covey the design and so they have lots of open spaces.
This is good for us as needlepointers because we will fill those areas up with stitches.
Tip #1 Look for designs with open areas which aren’t filled with lots of lines to be covered.
But (isn’t there always a but), in free embroidery other details, like facial expression are conveyed with lines and other details as well.
Here is where you have a problem. When you embroider on cloth you can stick a stitch anywhere, it can be any angle, it can stop or start anyplace. But with needlepoint you are stuck with the grid. The bigger the wholes, the fewer details you can convey. So a design with too many little details will lose them when changed to needlepoint.
It’s like looking at a scene through a screen as opposed to through a window. With the screen you can see everything, yes, but you lose detail. Needlepoint canvas is the screen.
In conclusion I thought today I would share with you some free embroidery sites where you can download new and vintage embroidery patterns.
If you want to play along with the tutorial, check back tomorrow to see the Arts & Crafts design I picked from this site. But you can pick one which suits your style and your mood and stitch away.
Check the designs out at these sites:
Embroidery Patterns – This Flickr album has many charming designs, many looking like children’s book illustrations.
TipNut – has a listing of all kinds of embroidery projects. Click on the link to find the particular project and then look through the article to find the pattern. Many of these are vintage and vintage style.
Meggiecat – has links to lots of great vintage patterns.
Needle n’Thread – Scroll down past the text ads to find many lovely patterns, often in traditional, Victorian, and Arts & Crafts styles.
Doe-c-doe – Every Thursday she showcases vintage embroidery and embroidery patterns. I’ve found lots of good things here.
Vintage Transfer Designs – Lots of great retro and vintage transfers.
Antique Pattern Library – This site is harder to use. It’s a list of vintage embroidery publiations available to download on the Web.
I’m sure you will find something to suit your fancy here. We’ll start the project tomorrow!
Related posts:
Read this article:
Free Embroidery Patterns
Salley Mavor, the talented felt and embroidery artist from Wee Folk Studio, shared her method for making fantastic wrapped wire lettering on her blog. I love how the wrapped wire adds depth to an embroidered piece without taking away attention from the other stitches. It's a great way to make writing stand out while ensuring that it stays easy to read.
"... pull this thread as I walk away." Weezer fans will recognize these as lyrics from "Undone - The Sweater Song," which was the 1994 debut single off of Weezer's self-titled blue album.
This embroidery piece by Flickr user lockedinthepark is a lovely and understated tribute to the song.
[via the Craftster Blog]
