Erica's Stitches

I picked out the threads for this canvas back in December and have been slowly stitching away. It contains cotton, silk and wool threads and many french knots.  I found myself digging out old canvas pieces that I could steal stitches from.  The canvas thread count was low so I had to use diagonal stitches which covered the canvas better.  And for the flowers, lots of french knots. To finish it, I trimmed to 4 threads beyond the stitching and 2 layers of quilt batting and a larger piece of backing fabric behind.  I simply folded the edges around to make a binding. For a hanger, I added a plastic ring and a ribbon to the back and its now hanging on the wall. I have many works in progress and they are all getting done at about the same time.  So, more finishes soon.

Good news - I'm ready for Valentine's Day - next year.  I didn't quite get done in time. For a simple finishing I turned it into a card. First, I made a fringe by trimming to 3/8 inch from the stitched border and removing all but the last thread.  This can make a mess. Next, I took a heavy white thread and sewed it down on a piece of card stock. The running stitches between the stitched border and the remaining thread are nearly invisible. All that's left is to turn it over and sign it. On to the next project!

And now ... the rest of the finishing instructions ... Measure the top of the pincushion and cut squares of quilt patting about the same size or a little smaller. Place the squares in the pincushion and mush them down until they just fit.  You want them to fit tightly, but not too tight. Fold in opposite sides and lace together. Be careful of the tension.  If you pull too tight or not tight enough you will distort the box shape. Repeat with the other two sides making sure that the edges are tucked in.  If you want to add a bead or button to the center, now is the time.  It helps to have a really long needle.  Go up from the bottom and come out of the top center.  Pick up the bead or button and go back down through the center and out the bottom.  Tie the ends together tightly and cut off.  I finish with a drop of nail polish.  (Somehow I missed getting a picture of this step) Next, cut a f...

When I finished my second pincushion I tested the directions I wrote up for the first one.  They were horrible!  So, the second time around I documented my progress.  It's such fun testing my own patterns. The pincushion started out flat, stitched with a square plus sign shape.  It could also be rectangular, as long as the corners are an equal number of threads. First is the creasing - both along the edges of the top of the box and at the bottom.  As you can see in the top photo, I also creased the corners. Now, trim the linen to about an inch to inch and a half past the stitching.  Then, turn the pincushion face up and fold diagonally across the upper left corner. With thread that matches the linen, go through the corner on the front and the back and come up two holes to the right on both sides.  The basting stitches are very important here but can be removed as you go. Keep going along over two and u...

That's a really small victory.  2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches to be exact. It's a small kit I got years ago.  It's by Needlemagic, Inc.  A quick Internet search shows that there were many of these each with different herbs (all for sale).  I picked this kit because of the hummingbird.  Isn't he cute? This was a portable travel project that I started about a month ago.  I'm pleased to say I finished it relatively quickly, cleaned up the messes I made while stitching it and stored off the excess threads. What I like best is my finishing. I fused a piece of coordinating fabric to the back and folded over the fabric and stitched it down, mitering the corners (one with ease and three with great difficulty).  I added a string for hanging and I'm done. For some reason I've started gravitating to simple, easy projects.  I don't feel like doing anything more ambitious right now. However, I can imagine the same hummingbird on linen with a field of ...

I have too many projects going on.  So, I've taken some time off to get some of them done. So far this week I've beaded. And felted.  Now, those two projects are done.  I feel lighter.  The supplies are put away and my work area is clear. So now I'm beading some more. And braiding ... And stitching ... I'll be alternating between these three until they are done.  Then I'll finish some of the other things I've started. My goal is to make it the end of the year or until I run out of projects to finish.  There are other projects calling out to me but I'm going to ignore them for now.

I've been a member of Stitchmap for a while and I finally got to take my first class in Fabric Weaving.  I've written classes and mentored, but this was my first chance to relax and take a class.  And I also won my first challenge (which is detailed in their blog). I went overboard and made 3 different woven fabrics and three journal covers.  I didn't plan on it.  It just happened.  The directions say to use batiks so I started with batiks.  But, there were some prints I liked too, so I decided to do one with a print too. So I started thinking about why we were using batiks.  Probably because they are more tightly woven and shouldn't fray as much and probably the designs on many prints would be lost after the weaving.  Thinking about fraying fabrics reminded me of homespun plaids.  After that, I just had to try one with plaids to see what would happen.  In reality, they frayed as much as the batiks and it wasn't an issue (I did use...

My Shamrock Sampler is complete.  I used a beautiful green over dyed silk.  For the red/brown color I used 2 different silks randomly to create the illusion of an over dye.  The top is mostly the lighter color and the bottom is mostly the darker color. To make the sampler look more faded and older, I wanted to tea dye it.  Unfortunately, I didn't know what to expect from the silks.  The green specifically stated that it might not be colorfast and I had no idea about the reds. So, I staged a test.   I wet a paper towel and rolled in some snippets of each thread.  No bleeding of the color!  Next, I poured on some tea and still no bleeding! So, I dribbled tea all over the sampler, more on the bottom then the top and hoped.  The silks still didn't bleed!  I love the antique look.  I wonder how it will fade over time. At the same time I got the chart, years ago, a friend inherited a bag of tie scraps and I took some to make a ...

It's that time of the year again - the white elephant sale. Besides the usual donations there were a lot of really big donations. Bins and bins of patterns. Boxes of books. Yards of fabric, threads and yarns.  Notions.  This and that.  From one stash to another.  Yes, I brought some home with me. There must have been hundreds of charts.  Each chart represents a potential - a project that someone wanted to do but never did.  I like the ones that were started and abandoned.  I get a sense of accomplishment from finishing, even if I didn't start. Imagine all the hours of potential labor represented in those boxes?  Even worse, imagine if every chart ever made were stitched.  How much wall space would be necessary to display it all? Hmm, wonder what I should work on next?

Isn't this cute?  I found the free pattern last year and planned on stitching it sometime this year.  I finished just in time. You can find the pattern here .  You have to scroll down a bit.  I couldn't figure out how to link directly.  The site is in Russian. When it was time to finish, I withdrew threads so that the border would be even.  I liked the look and wove red threads into the withdrawn area.  Now it looks even better and the red lines made it easier to center.  I'll have to remember that finishing technique. It is finished with a simple felt back and a ribbon scrap. Merry Christmas!

It seems like I can't stop making ornaments this season. This is a crewel kit from Erica Wilson I purchased at Goodwill.  At first, I hesitated to call it a vintage kit, but then, I looked up vintage.  There is general agreement that something is vintage when it's at least 30 years old. The date stamp on the fabric clinches it - the kit is vintage.  It's kind of scary when something from when you were growing up is now vintage. I also wonder about what the kit has been doing all these years.  Did it have one owner or dozens?  Was it a spur of the moment purchase which was forgotten in a drawer?  Was it a well meaning gift to the wrong person?  Was it going to be started "next week"? I'll never know - but I'll try my best to get it finished.  The result will be 3 felt birds covered with metallic stitches and sequins - how fun!

Twisted Cording is a great way to finish stitched items.  But sometimes the cord can be too much. The center cord is made from about 6 lengths of floss.  The rest are made of individual strands of floss. The reddish ones one the left are 3 strands of red floss, 2 strands of green, 1 strand of pink and one strand of blending filament.  The skinny green one was probably made of only 3 strands. I like the delicate look of the mini twisted cords.  And I like the subtle color when using different colors of floss. And it makes a great finishing touch for an ornament.

This is a halloween ornament from September/October 2010 Just Cross Stitch.  The ornament in the magazine is done in black and orange and consists of four squares in different  color configurations.  I changed the colors to red and green and turned it into a Christmas ornament.  I only stitched one of the four squares for my ornament.  After the first one I simplified it further by leaving off the border. I'm continually tring different finishing techniques.  For this ornament I sewed the ornament onto felt.  The backing is simply fabric fused to heavyweight interfacing.  I whipstitched the two layers together.  By using a coordinating floss, I didn't have to worry about making the stitches perfect. To stitch the ornament, I used DMC Variagated Floss.  The color changes slower than it does in Sampler Threads.  So, after the first ornament I used only the light parts for one ornament and the dark parts for another....

I'm creating bags out of the sheets of fused plasitc bags I made earlier . But first, I had to try stitching on the plastic. Yes, I can with a really sharp needle.  The plastic fabric is not like I expected.  It is surprisingly strong and doesn't tear.  It is supple, yet not as pliable as normal fabric.  That makes it harder to stitch on in the center of a big sheet.  But along the edge its easier. Also, once you stick the needle in there is a hole, whether you wanted it there or not.  So, I had to be very careful.  I ended up using the running stitch exclusively and used simple designs.  But, sometimes the stitched lines are not as straight as I would have liked. I added some sequins and spangles. The straps of the bags are the seams of some old black jeans. For one of the uglier pieces I simply added as zipper and sewed up the seams to make a bag.  Actually, it was my first zipper so I shouldn't say "simply".  I di...