Hand Embroidery Class

I'm very excited to announce that my friend Dana and I will be co-teaching an intro to hand embroidery class on November 15, 2009. So if you are in the OKC area, we would love for you to join us!

Class details:

Have you noticed that hand embroidery is everywhere lately? Now's your chance to get in on the fun and learn all the tricks of the trade! Hand embroidery is the perfect way to add new life to all kinds of items such as clothing, tote bags, linens, etc. If you can hoop it, you can stitch it! Not only is this one of the most affordable hobbies you can take up, it's one of the most relaxing. Hand embroidery is officially the yoga of all crafts.

In this class you will learn a variety of basic stitches, different transfer techniques, get tips on embroidering portraits and we will arm you with a great list of embroidery resources for even more inspiration! We are sure you will leave feeling proud and confident of your new found skills. Just in time for the upcoming holiday season! We're totally crushed out on Sublime Stitching, and a variety of their patterns will be available for you to look through and pick out the perfect design for your project!

All materials needed for class will be provided, including embroidery hoops, needles, embroidery floss, embroidery patterns, and the material to transfer your design on to. Students will receive a goodie bag with a tea towel, Sublime Stitching goodies, and a list of resources to continue your stitchy fun after class.

No prior sewing skills are required and experienced stitchers are welcome to join us too!

Class space is limited to 10 people so hurry and buy your spot today. This class is intended for ages 10 and up. Cancellations will only be accepted up to 48 hours in advance of the class.

And just in case you don't read either of our blogs, here are some bios displaying our embroidery history...

Please email me if you have any questions, and I hope to see some of you in class!

Hugs & Stitches,

Amy

New Product and Giveaway!

Good Morning, Stitchers!

Guess what? Sublime Stitching has a new ready to stitch eco tote available on their site! This time, they teamed up with Bonnie Rue of Model Citizen Clothing, and the design is Bonnie's Tiger Lady sketch of Natalie Slater of Bake & Destroy! Oh yeah. Pure awesomeness.


But that's not all. Sublime Stitching is hosting a giveaway and you can win your very own Tiger Lady ready to stitch tote, and more goodies from both Model Citizen and Bake & Destroy! It's a "trifecta of awesome!" as one stitcher already commented on the site. <3

So get your sweet buns over there right now and leave a comment, because the winner will be chosen at random TODAY, 10/01 at 4pm central time.

xoxo
Amy

Sugar Skull Onesie

Thank you all for leaving such sweet words about Harper's arrival. Each one makes my heart swell with even more pride, which I didn't think was possible.

I told you I would share my last embroidery project before having Harper, and here it is!

I decided to stitch the Sugar Skull design from the wonderful new book, Embroidered Effects by Jenny Hart. If you don't have this book yet, get it ASAP! It is amazing and full of inspiration. I'm not kidding when I say I want to stitch everything in the book. And as it turns out, I did stitch 3 projects for the book! I just had to keep it a secret until the book was released. Be on the look out for the Fan Dancer Shower Curtain, the Bird Jeans, and the Tattoo Work Shirt, all stitched by yours truly!

So on to the Sugar Skull! (Which was stitched by my talented friend Floresita, for the book.) I absolutely LOVE this design. I fell in love with it in the preview photos, and I fell in love all over again when I saw the beautiful pictures in the book.

I had some black onesies, and I decided to dress one up by making a felt applique using the Sugar Skull design. Here's how it looks:




Unfortunately, this is a size 3 to 6 months, so Harper won't be able to wear it this year. I'm thinking about listing it in my Etsy shop, since I don't know of any other babies to gift it to at the moment. If any of my readers are interested, just email me and let me know!

Oh! If you haven't seen it already, take a look at my friend Kristi's stitched version of this Sugar Skull. It's BEE-YOO-TIFUL! Her macro embroidery shots are drool worthy.

xoxo
Amy

Brand New Love

Well, I did it! I finally had my baby girl. She was born on 09/23/09 at 10:11pm.

I'd like you to meet Harper Grace:

She is a tiny little bundle of love, weighing in at 5 lbs, 2 oz and 18.5 inches long. But she is strong, healthy and perfect, and we're so glad she's finally here. We are all still amazed at her beautiful dark hair! It will be fun to see if it gets lighter as she grows.

Needless to say, blogging and stitching might be put on the back burner for a while, until I get the hang of juggling 2 kids. Luckily I managed to finish one last embroidery project before having Harper, and I hope to share that with you tomorrow. Stay tuned!

xoxo,
Amy

Dolly All Done

Over the weekend, Darcy and I were invited to a birthday party for my good friend Susan's little girl, Ava. It was Ava's 3rd birthday, so I wanted to give her something extra special. The first plan was to go to Target and pick out a toy that I thought might appeal to her, but decided to make her something instead.

After brainstorming, I settled on making The Black Apple doll, pattern found here. I have been wanting to do this pattern since I saw Emily's appearance on the Martha Stewart show last year. I'm still pretty new to making dolls and softies, and this is a great pattern for beginners like me.

Knowing me, I just had to incorporate some sort of fancy pants stitching on the doll, and what better place to showcase stitches than the hair! I love stitching hair.

*Dearest Readers: Please don't unsubscribe to my blog after seeing the not so pretty pictures of my project. My camera is officially dead to me, so I had to use my phone to take pictures of this awesome project. Don't judge me.*

So on with the hair! This added a little bit of extra work time to the doll, but I really like how it turned out.

Time to sew and stuff!

When I looked at the pictures above online, I kept getting ideas of more details that I wanted to add. (The details are the best part, you know.) I did add a little skirt to my doll's body, giving it little pleats and topped it with the black lace. I've had those sparkly buttons in my collection for a few years, and I think this was the perfect project for them. See honey? It does make sense for me to horde a bunch of craft stuff for years at a time!!

After adding more details, like a black peter pan collar, fancy mary janes, and pigtails, and finally embroidering her face, she was finished!





I was so nervous about doing her little face, because I loved everything else so much. I guess that's why I put it off as the very last thing. I decided the safest and best option was to use the Cute Little Heads pattern. (So glad I did.) I just picked one of the faces in the pattern pack, and cut out each facial feature separately and placed them accordingly on the doll's face. I wondered if I needed to enlarge the features a bit, but honestly, I think it worked with the size they are.

The birthday girl and her Mama loved the doll, so I was very happy.

Darcy loved the doll too, and kept asking if she could snuggle her. I felt bad limiting her snuggle time with "Dolly", (that's what Darcy kept calling her) so I promised I would make one for her too. Her birthday is in October, so that gives me a little bit of time. But since Darcy is more of an animal lover, I'm thinking I will make her the Molly Monkey doll! Isn't she adorable?

I also have plans for a Little Red Riding Hood doll brewing in my head. Oh the cuteness!

xoxo
Amy

Chi Chi Love

My good friend Laura told me that last weekend was her Grandma's birthday. Grandma loves chihuahuas, so I had the perfect project for her.

I know I've used the Chi Chi Fever patterns several times before, but I always enjoy recreating the design. Plus, I haven't made a pillow in a long time, so there.



Honestly, I love the way this turned out. I didn't expect to fall in love with it as much as I did. After embroidering the basic design of the dog and the hearts, I cut it out in the shape of an oval, and attached it to the fabric. (The fabric is an Alexander Henry print called "Calyx".)

I didn't have any fusible webbing, and going to the store wasn't an option at the time, so I just pinned it in place. Yes, I was worried about the fray factor, but luckily didn't have an issue. I put the fabric in the hoop, and anchored the image in place with a green split stitch all along the border. One just wasn't enough, so I added another round of green split stitch, giving it a nice cameo effect.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also added a piece of quilt batting in between the embroidery and the fabric, to give it a slightly quilted look, and also to hide my travel stitches a bit.

It was looking nice after adding the double rounds of split stitch, but it still needed more. So I started freehanding the stitches in white, and added the sequins for the final, but perfect touch. Isn't she purdy?

Hugs & Stitches,
Amy

The Stag

I stitched this beautiful design a couple of weeks ago, and wanted to share it with you today.






I've had these patterns for a while now, and I'm not really sure why it took me so long to embroider this particular design. I'm glad I did though, because it's one of my favorites.

Want to make your own stag? Invite the Forest Friends to your place and cozy it up.

TGIF,
Amy