Embroidery 101 {sort of}

In case you haven't noticed, I've been a bit obsessed with embroidery lately. :) And as I've been stitching, I've been thinking about the things I've learned since I first started.

When I was a kid, my grandma taught me the basics of embroidery (both of my grandmas embroidered and sewed, so I like to think I'm helping to carry on the tradition :). She gave me some embroidery floss and a hoop, and I worked on some of those little samplers that have the pattern printed on the fabric, and you just stitch over it. Apparently I didn't fall in love with it then, because I didn't embroider any more until just over two years ago.

You can see my first awkward stitches here. :)

{VW van cross stitch I finished this week. It's tiny- 4 inch hoop- and adorable. :) I've always had a thing for VWs, and I love the rounded vans. You can find the *free* cross stitch pattern here.}

Every once in a while I get emails from blog readers about my embroidery. They usually ask how I learned and if I have any books or websites to recommend. I do, and I'll share them at the bottom of this post. But for now, I give you...

8 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I First Learned Embroidery
{aka, the longest list title ever}

1. Keep things organized.
For a while, all of my floss was jumbled up in a little plastic bag. If you're just starting to embroider and accumulate colorful floss, now is the perfect time to get your supplies organized. If you've been doing this for a while and have stuff scattered everywhere, you have a slightly more daunting task ahead of you. But it's still worth the trouble.

All you really need is a clear plastic craft organizer box and some embroidery floss bobbins. I got mine at Hobby Lobby- the case was about $2 (and probably on sale for even less) and the bobbins are 99 cents for a package of about 25 (I use the plastic ones because they're more durable, but you can make your own out of cardboard).

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a colorful embroidery box is one of the prettiest sights ever.

Note: Always keep your embroidery box closed when you're not using it. Even if it seems to be in a really safe place. I know from experience that when your perfectly coordinated box falls and your beautiful rainbow of colors is scattered across the floor, it's almost enough to make you cry.

2. Take the hoop off your fabric when you're not stitching.
It takes approx. five seconds to do this. I used to think it was such a pain to remove the hoop. I would leave my fabric in there for days until I worked on it again. So my first embroidery projects have permanent hoop markings that no amount of washing or pressing will remove. I learned my lesson and take the fabric out every time I'm finished working on a piece for the time being, even if it's just going to be a few hours before I pick it up again.

3. Always wash your hands before embroidering.
Even when you think your hands aren't dirty. :) It sounds silly, I know, but I honestly think it keeps the fabric cleaner and prevents stains. This, combined with the above tip, will help you avoid hoop marks.

4. Use good fabric.
You're going to be putting hours into most embroidery pieces, so you might as well use nice fabric that will last for a long time. I used to use cheap muslin, which worked okay sometimes but not so great at other times. I've found that Kona cotton works well for solid colors.

5. Keep up with needles.
Maybe this is just a "me" thing, but I have a really bad habit of sticking needles in places and then forgetting about them. Examples: in the hem of my t-shirt, in a crease of my jeans, in the arm of chairs, etc. Confession: I once lost my embroidery needle in the hospital (my brother was having surgery and I took something to work on). I still feel really guilty about that. Of course I had to lose it at the one public place where people actually walk around in sock feet. I have a cute needle book...I don't know why I have such a hard time using it. :)

6. Metallic embroidery floss is not scary.
I always heard such horror stories about metallic floss that I thought I would never use it. Then I tried it, and guess what? It's not scary at all. It does fray and split very easily, which is a little obnoxious, but it just means that you have to slow down and be careful. It can add a really unique look to embroidery.

{Fantastic Mr. Fox}

7. Don't stress out over knots.

The knot in your embroidery floss probably looks a lot worse than it is. A few tugs or a bit of loosening will usually unravel a terrible looking knot. If it doesn't, no big deal. Just cut the floss, either knot or tuck in the loose end, and start again. :) A sharp needle can sometimes help with tight knots.

8. Check the colors you already own before you buy any new floss.

I know how it is when you first start a new project. You see the color list on the pattern and the first thing you want to do is hurry off to the magical floss aisle at Hobby Lobby. :) And floss is only 40 cents a skein, right? But a lot of those skeins add up, and sometimes the pattern will call for a color that you only need a tiny bit of.

So I always look through my embroidery floss before I go to the store, and then write down the colors that I really need. On the Princess Bride cross stitch, the pattern calls for about four different shades of brown. I didn't buy any, because I already have a lot of brown floss. But for Buttercup's dress, for example, I needed that perfect shade of burnt orange, so I bought that specifically for this pattern.

It's less wasteful (and less expensive) to check and see if you already have any colors that might work. :) And you won't accidentally end up with three or four skeins of the exact same color. *cough*

As for resources, I learned to embroider by using Aimee Ray's Doodle Stitching book. (She also has a book of motifs out.) But I also highly recommend Alicia Paulson's Embroidery Companion. They're both equally amazing if you're just starting out, or if you already embroider. But they're two very different styles, really, so you might prefer one over the other.

The internet is full of crafty resources. One of my favorite embroidery blogs is Wild Olive. She has free patterns and projects, an adorable Etsy shop, and an amazing series about embroidery basics. If you're leaning more towards cross stitch, Alicia Paulson has a tutorial here. And lastly, Feeling Stitchy is a blog full of embroidery info and inspiration.

I don't claim to be an expert at embroidery by any means...these are just things I've learned along the way and resources that were helpful to me. :)

{Some embroidery on my wall.}

If anyone has any other helpful embroidery resources, blogs, tips, or anything else, feel free to share in the comments. :)

P.S. I am brainstorming ideas about possibly doing a free embroidery pattern or two and maybe an embroidery-related tutorial here on the blog. And I'm also looking into offering PDF patterns in the Etsy shop, but that would come later. :) Is that something any of you would be interested in?

Until next time,

Flowers and flappers.

I saw this tutorial for an adorable embroidered bookmark (here's the original) and wanted to give it a try...so this is how it turned out.

It's basically two felt circles (the front one embroidered) sewn onto an elastic headband. I just sort of did my own thing instead of going by the tutorial.

I love how it turned out, though it isn't entirely practical. It only fits on certain books. It works best on hardcovers, but the book can't be too large or two small (the elastic gets floppy on small books). I might make a smaller one eventually.

I'm one of those people who usually uses random scraps of paper for bookmarks, so this one is a much prettier option. :)

I also stitched this pair over the weekend. I know I've mentioned it before, but I love the Flapperdoodle shop. :) This is Kate's embroidery pattern: Eloise and Ramona Play Telephone.

They went by really quickly- their flapper bobs were by far the most time consuming part. :) I purposely framed them in the hoops (6 inch hoops) a little sideways, so that they wouldn't have to be hanging evenly on the wall for the line to match up. I wanted one a little higher than the other.

I did split stitch for outlining the hair, long/short stitch and satin stitch for filling the hair, and backstitch for everything else. Except for the dresses, which were just straight stitches.

P.S. Happy leap day! :)

Until next time,

A denim skirt.

I made a denim skirt this past week...my first item of clothing sewn in 2012. I hope to do better and average more than one project every two months, but I'm just now getting motivated about sewing clothes again. :)

I haven't owned a denim skirt since I was probably about 10 years old. I think I have this bad image of faded 90s denim in my head that scarred me from wanting one. Until recently, when I saw this one and realized that it could be practical and even pretty if I used dark denim.

I used McCall's pattern M5431, which is the skirt pattern I always use. I think this is my fifth skirt from that pattern? I've only made two skirts without it. I love the pattern because it has a yoke/waistband and hangs nicely, it's really full, and it's the perfect length (just below the knee on me- I'm around 5'8 and usually have to lengthen skirt patterns by several inches). I can't remember what view I always make, but the size I cut fits perfectly and I've never had to make any adjustments to the pattern.

I really recommend this pattern as a first skirt for any new seamstresses- I've been using it since I started sewing almost 3 1/2 years ago. :) It's pretty straight forward and there's only a little hand sewing involved.

This is a silly thing to get excited about, but it's my favorite part of the skirt:

Pockets! I'm such a nerd, but I love the fact that I have Lucy, Ricky, Ethel, and Fred in my pockets. :)

They're just simple side seam pockets. The pattern has an option for pockets, but they're sewn on the front. I used the pocket pattern from the skirt I attempted earlier in the week. The only problem is that I was sort of guessing at things, so the pockets are about an inch and a half lower than they should be. Still usable, but not as comfortable as they could be.

The pocket fabric is a printed novelty cotton from Schoolhouse Fabrics. The fabric for the skirt is a dark denim with a tiny bit of stretch that I got years ago at Walmart (back when we shopped there- I hate that store now, but that's for another post :) for a couple of dollars a yard. I had used little pieces of it here and there for wallets and things. So even though I theoretically had enough yardage, when I went to lay out the pattern, I almost didn't have enough. Some of my cut pieces had corners of selvage, but everything got hidden when I sewed it together. :)

The zipper is just a centered one set in the back seam. The simplest kind, in my opinion. I don't think about things like this when I'm sewing, so I ended up sewing the hook and eye in the opposite way I usually do. So it's a little tricky to hook, but not bothersome enough to change. :)

A look at the hem and an inside seam- finished with one of the stitches on my machine that's sort of like using a serger. I can't remember what the stitch is called.

Here are some of my previous skirts from this pattern. The one on the far right was the first skirt I ever sewed. :)

{P.S. I have got to be the most awkward person ever when it comes to posing for outfit pictures. I can't imagine how fashion bloggers casually and effortlessly do this every day. I always seem to choose the coldest and windiest days to get pictures. Plus I have a cold right now and had some weird stomach thing going on yesterday so I'm not quite feeling like myself. So please forgive my awkwardness. This is why I don't do outfit posts, along with my complete lack of fashion sense. :) Thanks to my mom for taking the pictures before church this morning.}

Until next time,

This week, I...

-Listened to my current favorite record repeatedly.
Almost to the point where I should be sick of it, but I'm not. It's Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney, and they sound amazing together. I love all but maybe three songs, which is a pretty rare thing for a record. :) {Sometimes it seems like one record can include a couple of my favorite songs and some really bad ones.} The album is also sort of travel-themed and includes a lot of songs with a Latin/Spanish/I can't think of another way to describe it feel, which I usually don't like. But I'm addicted to this record.

{The album cover is cute except for their driver's license faces. Skin that looks sunburned, surprised and/or blank expressions...I don't know about you, but that's what my license pictures always turn out like.}

-Made an unsuccessful skirt muslin.
I saw this cute skirt and realized that I not only had that pattern, but also a couple of yards of dark denim. I decided that I'd make one like it. I wasn't too sure about the pleats in the skirt, so I decided to make a muslin first...

Thank goodness I did. It looked awful. Pleats and me don't get along. I think it's because I had to lengthen the skirt by about five inches to get it to a length I'm comfortable with (just below the knee). Pleats are pretty, but where the pleats end things get weird. Anytime I leaned forward or moved around in the skirt, the fabric just pooled up below the pleats. Not very flattering.

So I guess you could say the muslin was successful but the pattern wasn't. :) I'm just glad I didn't waste my good fabric. And this was my first time sewing pockets in anything...I loved how they turned out, and I ended up adding pockets to the skirt that I did make this week.

-Made a skirt.
Successfully! After the pleat incident, I just pulled out my reliable favorite skirt pattern to make the denim skirt. It's been so long since I've sewn anything to wear, so now I'm really motivated and excited about sewing clothes again. :) I'll try to have pictures up soon, though it probably won't be until Sunday after church.

-Enjoyed some snow.
And some really warm weather. All in the same week. You can see more photos here.

-Cracked up over a line from the Dick Van Dyke Show.
You know how sometimes something completely random and not incredibly funny will just strike you as hilarious? I was watching season five, the episode called The Ugliest Dog in the World. It's not one of my favorite episodes by any means, but this one line towards the end put me in a laughing fit:

"I'm a freak." (At least you think that's what the man says, until...) "Part French, part Greek. Freek."

It doesn't sound all that funny, I know. Maybe you just had to be there (you can watch the episode here, by the way). Maybe it was just the way he said it...trilling his r's and all. :)

-Watched a French film called Mr. Hulot's Holiday.
I saw it on TCM at my grandparents' house. It was really quirky and I found almost everything about it endearing (I missed the first few minutes).

It's almost silent- one lady speaks in English and the rest of the very scarce dialogue is French with subtitles. It was funny (though at times a bit too over-the-top slapstick) and had a lovely beach setting. And there was this great jazzy background music, including one theme repeated throughout.

It's next on my Netflix queue...if I'm as impressed the second time around, you might see a review here sometime in the next week. :)

-Signed up for Wild Olive's Stitch Swap.

I'm so excited! You stitch something in a 4 inch hoop and send it to someone, and you get one in return (from someone different). I love getting mail, and I love sending it, too. I also love embroidery, so this is an all around awesome thing. :) This is my first swap, though I've admired the goodies in the Craftster swaps for years. If you embroider, too, and want to participate, go here for more details.

Until next time,

Snowy day.

I love snow. And I was starting to think that we weren't going to have any this winter.

Then on Sunday it started...huge flakes like white confetti. The ground was so warm that it wasn't sticking at first, but it kept up all day and by the next morning we had several inches.

I went out early Monday morning and traipsed around for a while, snapping lots of pictures.

{Saturday was in the 60s and I saw people in town wearing capris and flip flops. The next day we had snow. Go figure.}

My goofy brother left this on my car...

Lots of animal tracks.

I promise I didn't make this track. :)

There wasn't enough snow to play in {I love sledding}, but I still had a nice time. There's something magical about snow, anyway, but that morning it was even more beautiful than usual. You know how snow has its own kind of quiet?

Everything was silent and sparkling. The sky was impossibly blue and the woods looked Narnian. It was one of those perfect moments that's sort of bittersweet because they don't come that often, and you never know how long you'll have to wait for the next one.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." - Psalm 19:1

"He does not despise real woods because he has read of enchanted woods: the reading makes all real woods a little enchanted." -C.S. Lewis

P.S. I'm so glad I took the pictures when I did. Because most of the snow had melted by the end of the day. Now everything is drippy and muddy and slushy. But I'm not complaining. :)

Until next time,