The dog ate my clothes! - Embroidery repair

Lets just gloss over the fact I have a cheeky pup that likes to chew clothes and focus on the fact that said chewed item of clothing is a favourite summer jackety type thing of my 10 year old. Immediate repair was required!

The fantastic part about all of this is that my daughter loves (and coveted) this jacket because of the gorgeous embroidered design on the front. This was VERY handy because I really had no other idea about piecing the chewed parts together and disguising the damage other than using embroidery!

I thought I'd share a little step by step below incase you too should find yourself in a similar 'dog chewed' scenario! :)

I cut a bit of cotton fabric big enough to cover the damage and used a glue stick to rearrange the chewed fabric bits into position.This was to hold everything together and gives me something 'solid' to embroider onto. I avoided adding glue to the fastener and planned to trim the cotton fabric as I embroidered. 

Rummaging through my threads lo and behold I managed to find some pretty spot on matching colours! Yes!

I drew on a flower design which vaguely mimicked the already existing design. The main point here was to make sure that the parts where the fabric had been ripped apart would be stitched over completely using Satin stitch. I added the extra leafy stem to the left  of the flowers to balance out the design and make it a bit more believable that embroidery is 'meant' to be there!

Stitching and trimming begins......

The rescue repair job is complete!!....

When I showed Skye the finished jacket she gave a thumbs up followed by a double take and a delayed 'oh wowww'  after it dawned on her the added embroidery had not actually always been there!

 My work here is done :)

All we need now is a pic of my daughter in her jacket and the dog ....however that sounds far to much like tempting fate!!

Winter woodland decorations and new website

I have just discovered how life can be gently and comfortably lilting along then suddenly wham bam...the christmas chaos begins! Perhaps I should have been a little more prepared...but in business you can only really go on previous experience and a large pinch of guess-timation.

Safe to say my guess-timates have been way out and I have been soooo busy assembling kits & wrapping orders that everything else has fallen by the wayside ....well apart from feeding the kids but that's only because they have the ability to moan loudly :)

 So I never actually shared the launching of my new shiny website which happened very quietly a few weeks ago. There are still a couple of glitches which I need to fix (when things slow down on the order front) but  I am DELIGHTED with the way it has turned out. It has been a very slow work in progress with lots of challenges overcome so I am VERY proud of my e-baby! ( Yes, I do believe it actually took 9 months to make) 
My fave part is the Beginners page, to gently assist and encourage those scaredy newbies :)
I have lost count of the amount of people I meet that say they have always wanted to try embroidery but already decided they'd be no good at it...or were too scared to try. This is for you lovely lot xx

I'll also be moving this blog over there as soon a time permits, keep everything under the same roof. I'll  not just disappear without letting let you know though!

I have also just released a new pdf pattern for these sweeeet little winter woodland wonders. I think they would look perfect on a christmas tree, or any other suitable dangling place. You could create multiples and string them on ribbon to make some bunting, or change up the colours for more earthy tones and have them as decorations for all year around.

                                               

Winter woodland decorations pdf pattern available here

I made a batch myself which I am going to take along to our little community late night shopping tomorrow. It may be all I will have to fill my table as my kits are almost sold out...crazy!

We've had our first decent flurry of snow here, and now that it's officially December I feel permission is granted to prance around singing 'Deck the Halls'.

Falalalala to you! xxx   

Bumble bee and moth embroidered wall art

 I have just added these 2 little textile 'beastie beauties' to my etsy shop.

It was really lovely to brush the cobwebs off my machine (wee jeanie), and get her involved in the creating. 

Just a quick share today..my girls have returned to school after the October break and I have a LOT of things to catch up on. Next time I will return with some fascinating bee facts to tantalise you with along with the textiles! :)

How I add lovely lettering to personalise a hand embroidery design (a great way to get around messy handwriting!)

I recently created an embroidered wedding gift which I personalised with the names of the bride and groom and the wedding date. Rather than using my own scruffy and childlike handwriting I devised a quick and easy way of adding a professional looking font to my design. 
*I spent days making a video which inadvertently wouldn't edit because of my rickety laptop, and then spent ages creating this post...only to realise that perhaps I shouldn't offer this out to the world at all, as what I am offering could (even if only in the least likeliest sense) damage your computer....and I really don't want any irate tutorial followers wanting to sue my backside!

But given I'm 100% behind seeing little tips and tricks that artists and makers share, I am going to offer this post as a "share" rather than a "tutorial". 

Perhaps this may seem a little bit overzealous.....
(DISCLAIMER TIME!) Should you decide to do the same as I outline below and trace from the screen of a computer or any other device, you do so at your own risk. I accept no responsibility for any damage that may be caused.I definitely don't recommend you attempt tracing if you are using a device with a soft screen (not composed of glass).

Materials I used:
*Laptop with hard screen
*tracing paper
*Pen with soft tip
*Embroidery pattern 
*Transfer pencil 


Part 1: I establish area where the text is going
I have created a new embroidery design to use as an example. (You can receive both of the embroidery designs shown above with my newsletter. You can sign up for it in the sidebar to the right).The ribbon is where I wanted to place my text, so I traced out the full design so that I can transfer the design and lettering when finished. 

Alternatively, the photo below shows the area marked out for where I plan to add text to an already embroidered project.

Now I am ready for
Part 2: Creating the lettering

1) I go to www.picmonkey.com 
This is a free online photo editing program which I use a lot. (It has an upgrade option which provides access to more editing effects, but for the purpose of adding lettering it's free.

2)Click on 'Design' (as shown below)
I am creating a new design and not editing or uploading a file or photo.

*By clicking on 'Design' a white blank 'canvas' appears. I want the colour to remain white so click on the green button that says "APPLY" (step 1)
This little white canvas is going to act as a little 'light box' which I will add my lettering onto and then trace for my embroidery. Simple!

3)Click on the Tt button at the right hand side (step 2)
This will bring up a selection of different fonts to choose from. Some of the fonts have a little crown next to them, which means I can only use them if I have paid to upgrade. There are plenty of lovely fancy fonts to choose from which are free.

4)Click on the style of font I like.(step 3)

Once I have chosen my fancy font, I then click on the 'Add text' button (step 4).

A box will appear on the screen (as shown below) which, when clicked on, a cursor bar will appear and I can then write my chosen word.

Phase 3: Editing my text

This is the bit where I want to make sure the lettering I am creating will fit the area I have decided it is going.

It is also why I use thin paper or tracing paper,so that the text is able to shine through.

You can see below that I have placed my traced pattern on top of the computer screen and am able to see how well the name fits within the ribbon.

To get my text to fit into the desire area there are 2 editing buttons that can help..... 'Rotate' the text and alter the text 'size' (indicated below)

I want to add more text, but as my text is going to sit on a curving ribbon, I am adding a new text box for each word. I like to change the fonts I use, which simply requires clicking on a different font and then clicking on 'Add text' again.(see below)

Depending on the space where my text is going to fit, I sometimes choose to add my letters separately rather than words. This works well in fitting around unusual shaped areas. I also like to play around and find that different fonts in varying sizes can create great effects. 

I added another text box and rotated it again to create that curve which fits the ribbon (shown below).

I will keep playing with the text and checking that it fits within the area, and once I'm happy then I'll trace the lettering directly off the screen. Obviously this tracing requires gentle work, I use just a very light hand with a soft tipped pen.I have never had a problem or caused damage to my hard screen laptop doing this. (BUT again the choice and responsibility is entirely yours!)

Now I've traced the lettering and have some lovely looking text already to stitch up. yay!

There is NO way I'd be able to create this style of lettering with my dodgy hand writing, so for me this is such a quick and easy way to add some pretty text. 

All that's required now is to transfer the design onto fabric. I do this by tracing the outline on the BACK of the paper using a transfer pencil. This is then transferred by ironing onto the fabric. 

Alternatively sometimes I may pin the paper to an already embroidery piece and stitch over the top of the paper.(works best if I use tissue paper as it's easier to tear away after stitching)

So that's my share...... :)xx

*Please note: this tutorial has been created with personal projects in mind. If you planned to replicate the fonts from Picmonkey onto items being sold then you would need to check Picmonkey's copyright policy.*

Magical Garden Embroidery. Recent Embroidery Projects

Just poppping in for a quick visit and to share what I've been stitching lately. If I wait until I have something 'official' to share then before I know it the weeks will have flown by, followed by months....!

Do you remember when I made a unicorn? It got commandeered by my eldest and named Legolas. (of course!)

Naturally my youngest took the hump with this,and requested I also make her a unicorn...which I did...or atleast almost did. A year later it is still awaiting some eyes, hair and a horn! Aherm.

Occasionally the 'not quite finished' unicorn has got a mention, followed by a swift excuse. Recently, however, I came up with an idea that would fill the unicorn gaping hole AND satisfy my embroidery urges (alas I'm all out of unicorn making urges at the mo)

Step in cute Bunny No.1.......

Followed by cute Bunny No. 2

Add in some extra flowers, shrubbery and fluttering insects and you get....

A magical garden inspired S for SKYE! Yipee!

It's safe to say the unicorn has been forgotten. (*cue audible sigh*)

I've been playing about with other letters and entertaining the idea of creating an alphabet so that you can embroider the initial of your choice.... what do you think? Would you like to embroider a magical garden inspired initial? It would be quite a large undertaking to embroider another 25 letters....and you know how lame I am even when it comes to making 2 unicorns?!

Talking of large undertakings, I've recently turned Maurice the Bear into a PDF pattern. As there is nothing dainty about this handsome bear (he commands some admiration and attention!), the pdf is to create a BIG striking wall piece or cushion cover. It's a substantial project to accompany the coming winter months.Yes!

Oh and I've just snazzed up my acorn embroidery kits by packaging them in a lovely white gift box... it's autumn fruits harvesting time!

Hope you are all flowing with the seasonal changes easily....I tend to drag my heels a bit and resist....at least autumn projects help :)x

Hello again! Summer adventures

Hello hello!
It feels really good to be sitting here writing this post after a long summer away from the blog. 
How the heckadoodle are you all? I'm hoping you are all really well and have enjoyed at least a little bit of time off  holidaying in one form or another?  
I personally have probably had the most relaxed summer yet, which ultimately came down to letting go of ALL the things I had hoped or wanted to achieve, accepting I had no control over the weather, AND  lastly that pj's on till noon is a perfectly acceptable holiday activity! :)

Here is a little montage of what we got up to (when our Pj's were removed prior to noon!)

Funnily enough, (and as is usually the case) after easing back on what I had hoped to get done business and creative wise, what actually transpired was a decent amount!  

I finished a few embroidery projects.....

This is a wedding gift for one of my oldest friends who was marrying her love of many years. She's a scottish girl, he's an english guy and their home is in the French Alps..... seemed like the perfect gift to celebrate :)

I added a bear and bee to my embroidery repertoire too....

 Meet Maurice, the handsome bear....

I also created 3 new embroidery pattern PDF's....... remember Beyonce's "Put a Ring on it"?.....

well I've come up with an embroidery slant on that...when ever in doubt of what to stitch.....

 I stitched up this sweet peterpan collar with ....oh wait....not just one bird, but 2 birds on it!

OR you could always......

Put a stag on it is available here OR

Put a flower on it is available here

Genius don't you think?! :)

I also squeezed in some weaving, which has become a slight addiction and now finds me hacking sawing away on some unsuspecting pieces of wood which Stu has left lying around. (he's a cabinet maker, so there is ALWAYS some piece of wood or another taking up residence in our home) I'll fill you in on a later date as to what comes of that!

Some of my recent weaving adventures.

So there you have a very brief catch up on my summer adventures! I hope you have been enjoying the last few months as much as I have.

It's good to be back :)x

New work in progress - embroidered swallows & bespoke purses

Eeek! time is flying by don't you think?....and the sun has been shining. Yippeeee!
I've been enjoying some sunshine stitching as a welcome change from the kit side of things; marketing, assembling and everything else related.

Ages and ages ago (infact it is documented here on my previous blog, so that IS ages ago!), I set out to embroider a bear inspired by a number of artists that use their thread to "paint" with.
I got as far as this.......(which is a little further than originally shared so I DID attempt to finish off poor ol' bear) 

But even despite those pleading eyes I know nothing can tempt me back to finish off this project...why? Well, because (I realise now) a 10" embroidery hoop is way too ambitious a size to fill with tiny stitches for a first time project, especially when I'm using colours that don't "grab" me. 
Lesson learned.
So when I set about  to embroider this time, I was thinking of a more manageable size...the smaller the better! Something that would captivate me and incorporated some bright colours. After flicking through a vintage bird book my Dad gave me, for inspiration, the swallow jumped out as my perfect subject.....

It was really exciting to see this bird come alive in stitches and colour, and while it's not perfect I'm so happy with how this little fellow turned out

....so much so I turned him into a bespoke purse.....

Another day followed and the sun still shone so my roll continued and I stitched another swallow...

 And turned it into another bespoke purse!
I love the idea of wearable art...not sure you can put a purse in the "wearable art" category but I reckon these purses are worthy of a title something a little bit special..... any ideas?

With the summer holidays fast approaching I'll be confining most of my working time to the evenings, and cutting back so I can give my girls the summer hols I had growing up...so you won't see much of me for a while over here.

BUT! my plan is to keep stitching these little embroideries amidst the summer shenanigans, and turn them into something "wearable" , so by the return to school there will be a wee collection to show. 

I look forward to that ...lets see if I can keep it up (unlike the bear!)

Big hugs to you all  xx