pattern

Several different Missoni patterns, from the blog OC Family

I got a question last week asking about how you would turn my Missoni purse pattern into a pillow. If you look at the pattern as charted, you see there is a line of six stitches on one step, followed by three stitches where it moves up or down. A repeat of the pattern goes for the middle of one long step to the middle of the next step that is one the same level.

Missoni patterns, several of which are pictured here make great candidates for creating your own Bargello pattern as well.

You can easily extend any Bargello pattern as long as it repeats.

Here’s how:

First find a pattern where the chart (or picture) has a repeat, so you know how the pattern continues. Most Bargello patterns have repeats, but if you are taking another Bargello-like pattern, it might not. You can check this by using some graph paper and charting the pattern.

If it doesn’t repeat you can still do it as Bargello and extend it by taking some of the pattern and adding it onto itself at either end. I do this on graph paper first to be sure it looks good.

Now that you have a pattern, figure out the color sequence you want. In this case you could use the sequence on the purse or use a picture of another Missoni piece. Write it down, so you have it when you are looking for threads. Sometimes I even print the picture as a reference.

Mark the edges of your pillow on your canvas and find the center and mark it.

Start stitching at the center with the center stitch of the pattern. Stitch to one side, then the other.

Follow the color sequence you wrote down to stitch the other rows.

Missoni patterns are pretty good for this because as clothing or fabric, they do repeat. If the pattern doesn’t it’s harder to extend, since you have to make assumptions about what it will do.

See more here:
Turning a Bargello Purse into a Pillow

Free Embroidery Patterns

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

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!

Read this article:
Free Embroidery Patterns

Project: Angel Collar

by Carla Sinclair

in CRAFT Projects,Fashion,Sewing

By Rachel Faucett

The detachable collar has been all over the runways for the past couple of seasons from Prada to Free People. I made my own version based on a collar my grandmother wore in the '4os. I wear mine as a scarf in colder months and with a plain T-shirt in the summer. I like to wear the collars as an unexpected accessory to any outfit. You will have a great time making the collars and may want to make several in different colors. I went a little bonkers and made them for all of my friends. This project should take about an hour, and you will get faster as you go on. I want to see pictures of your finished product. Please email me - I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Materials

Scissors
1/4 yard fabric, for front of collar
1/4 yard fabric, for back of collar
1/4 yard inner lining fleece
Pattern PDF, see below
Straight pins
1-1/2 yards of ribbon
Sewing machine

Download the Collar Pattern PDF
Right click to save the PDF to your desktop. Directions on downloading PDFs.

Directions

Step 1: Cut fabric for the front and back of collar as well as the inner lining fleece using the downloadable PDF template. Pin together the fabric for the front of the collar, the fabric for the back of the collar, and the inner fleece. Make sure the inner lining fleece is placed on top, and that the two pieces of fabric are facing right sides in.

Step 2: Cut two 20-inch lengths of ribbon. Pin the ribbon between the front and back fabric, inserting both ribbons as noted on the template and pulling through the back of the collar.

Step 3: Machine-sew starting at the back opening of the collar. Use a 3/8" seam allowance.

Step 4: Trim seam allowance to 1/4" and turn the collar right-side out.

Step 5: Machine-sew to close up the opening on the back of the collar.

About the Author:

Rachel Faucett is a design and vintage scout for all things children, sharing her latest finds on her blog Handmade Charlotte. She lives on a farm just outside of Atlanta with her husband and their five children (and ever-changing menagerie of animals).

How to Make a Bargello Luggage Rack

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Luggage straps are an excellent idea for Bargello, and you may find patterns for them in older books.

But it’s also easy to adapt an existing pattern to making luggage straps.

Probably the best way to do this is to find your pattern first. The best luggage straps I’ve seen use ribbon style Bargello lines. These pretty much go only in one direction or fall in two directions from a center point. They don’t have the ups and downs typical of many Bargello lines. Here are some stitched examples of Bargello lines:
http://bargelloneedlepoint.com/day-162-gorgeous-diagonal-bargello-line-design/
http://bargelloneedlepoint.com/day-171-stair-step-bargello-needlepoint-design/
http://bargelloneedlepoint.com/day-240-long-diagonal-curve-bargello-needlepoint-design/

I also have a couple of line patterns in my book, Bargello Revisited which is available through Amazon or directly from me.

Once you’ve found some patterns you like, the next step is to figure out how wide you want the straps to be. That, of course is going to depend on the luggage rack and how many straps you want (usually it’s three). Once you know the width and the mesh you want to use, you can figure out how many mesh the straps will need to be. You’ll also be able to figure out the length, which should be long enough to have the areas that show when the straps are wrapped around covered in stitching.

With his knowledge you should be able to center your pattern and stitch the straps.

See the original post here:
How to Make a Bargello Luggage Rack

How to Build Up a Darning Pattern

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

I just love pattern darning. It creates such lovely flat look to your needlepoint that makes it just perfect for smooth or flat things. It also makes an outstanding background, as you can see from the picture here. (It’s from my Art Needlepoint class on this canvas.)

Another great thing about pattern darning is that it’s made from the most basic of stitches, the Running Stitch. And Mary Corbett shows us in this delightful post how a darning pattern is built from lines of Running Stitch, even if everything else about the project is wrong.

Just goes to show that even when you start out wrong the end result can be beautiful.

Thanks to Denise at Craft Gossip for pointing this out.

See the original post:
How to Build Up a Darning Pattern

Backgrounds: The Finishing Touch – book review

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Originally posted 2003-09-19 06:38:51. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

BACKGROUNDS: THE FINISHING TOUCH by Ann Strite-Kurz

The choice of a background which is both appropriate for the design and beautiful is a decision which often perplexes stitchers. But all stitchers agree that the right choice can really make the design.

Ann Strite-Kurz’s teaching projects project packs and stitching are well known for their wonderful open backgrounds. No matter what the design, you will find innovative open backgrounds enhancing her work.

In this book Ann has taken canvases (of her own and by many others) and used them as the basis for a book about open background techniques. It is comprehensive and dense with information.

The first chapter opens with a short history of needlepoint and then has what I think of as the heart of the book. Well over 100 canvases are pictured and the backgrounds are analyzed. Each design is pictured in black and white in the book and then in color on the accompanying CD. A second picture of a detail section of the background is also on the CD. Each canvas is analyzed and information is given about how the background was developed or why it is an appropriate choice. In the section Ann classifies the different types of backgrounds into classes such as mat backgrounds, painted backgrounds or partial backgrounds.

Following this chapter are six chapters of techniques which show you how to do many of the techniques seen in the pictured canvases. The second chapter covers planning and execution of open backgrounds including detailed suggestions for starting and stopping threads so they won’t show and how to plan a background to work with the design.

The remaining chapters are all devoted to specific techniques. In each chapter there is an explanation on how to work the technique (if needed) and then the patterns are discussed. Anyone who has read Ann’s previous books knows how thorough her diagrams and explanations are, and this book is no exception. For example, Pattern 11, Diamond Outlines in Tied Oblong Crosses has a large diagram of the over all pattern, a detailed explanation of the pattern and when to use it (it is a large scale pattern with oblique stitches, so it needs to be planned carefully). then there is another explanation with diagrams of how to stitch the pattern. The section ends with some suggestions (accompanied by diagrams) on how to make the pattern more dense.

Because the book is packed densely with information it is a book to be savored and read over and over again. Pick a canvas, page through the CD to find ideas, then through the book to find a background you like, everything you need to know to make these open patterns an asset to your canvas is there.

We are so lucky to have Ann and her wonderful way of analyzing patterns available to us.

Read this article:
Backgrounds: The Finishing Touch – book review

Pattern: Becoming Jane Sweater

by Carla Sinclair

in Crochet,Patterns

Whether or not you're a Jane Austen fan, here's a free crochet pattern for this elegant Becoming Jane Sweater that is excerpted from the book, Austentatious Crochet: 36 Contemporary Designs from the World of Jane Austen. Alice from Future Girl also reviews the book, which she says not only contains crochet patterns, but is also filled with quotes from Austen's books, as well as other "Austen-y goodness."

Pattern: Becoming Jane Sweater

by Carla Sinclair

in Crochet,Patterns

Your Scrapbook Layout Ideas

in Scrapbooking

A scrapbook layout ideas is an old art. Most people have been doing this for a number of years, which is a lot more fun when compared with putting every thing inside a picture book. he difference from a scrapbook and a record is that the amateur can adjust their pattern and design. These models can vary for each page and there’s no limit to what can be done to really make your scrapbook look remarkable.

Follow this link:
Your Scrapbook Layout Ideas

Gingerbread in Needlepoint – Free Pattern

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

DMC recently published these four charming gingerbread ornaments to stitch. The charts represent the icing on these decorated “cookies,” you add the cookie by either your stitching or your ground.

If you don’t want to stitch the ground, think about using perforated paper in ecru, brown evenweave fabric, or ecru canvas. If you want to use canvas, but want it darker think about painting or coloring it.

If you want to stitch the background, look for cookie colors in floss, Mandarin Floss, or stranded silk. You’ll want something matte because cooked cookies aren’t shiny.

Then pick more shiny threads for the icing. The models from DMC (pictured here) are stitched just in white, but you could also use colors. Think about a thread with some glitz such as Neon Rays, Satin Floss, Silk Lame, or even some metallics.

If you stitch them on perforated paper you finish them by cutting them out. How’s that for quick and easy?

See more here:
Gingerbread in Needlepoint – Free Pattern

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