Cross-stitch and Embroidery – Page 8

On the second day of Craftmas…

December 8, 2015July 29, 2018 wittychild

…my true love gave to me a parliament of owls for the tree!

(You just know I’ve been waiting for a chance to use one of those esoteric collective nouns.)

My Rules for Mailing are pretty simple: any items being sent by post should be easily replaced i.e. not one-of-a-kind or otherwise difficult to produce or procure, fairly inexpensive, and as small and light as possible to keep postage costs down. With these criteria in mind, it was decided that my friend Jeanette would be getting a coordinating set of felt owl ornaments for Christmas.

I followed the tutorial found here, with a few tweaks: I replaced the button pupils with black fabric paint, and dispensed altogether with the rick-rack tummy feathers. And although I’m normally loath to use colour palettes that are too trendy and risk dating themselves, I must admit that choosing these four complementary colours of felt made it easy to make a matched set but keep each individual owl just a little bit different.

They took a moment to pause for a picture in the cedar tree in my backyard before settling into a bubble envelope for their cross-border trip. 🙂

craftmas, General Sewing

On the first day of Craftmas…

November 29, 2015July 28, 2018 wittychild

Hard to believe that November is almost over, isn’t it? I had the brilliant idea that everyone on my Christmas list should get at least something handmade (No, this isn’t stressful in the least! Yes, that was sarcasm! – Ed.), and decided to post the results here.

First up, a handmade stocking for my newly single friend to decorate his bachelor pad. We had been at Fabricland this summer when he saw the reindeer flanellette and decided he liked it, and this seemed like the perfect project for it.

This is the same pattern I used to make my Star Trek stocking last year – which, I’m pleased to report, the recipient is super-excited about hanging up at his desk again this year.

I used a sumptuous red satin – formerly a queen-sized sheet – for the lining, and I love the luxurious look and feel it lends to the whole operation.

So, that’s one down….

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Summertime and the living is easy

July 19, 2015July 28, 2018 wittychild

Sorry for the clickbait: this isn’t a summery post per se, but bear with me, because there is a connection.

But first, a brief discourse on why you ought to Support Your Local ~~Sheriff~~ ~~Gunfighter~~ Stitching Shop.

A few years ago, I was out Christmas shopping with my dad, and we stopped into my favourite stitch shop for a quick purchase. Naturally, I couldn’t leave without browsing at least a little bit, and that was when I saw The Kit. It was a gorgeous picture of a calico cat resting on a piano and surrounded by oodles of music paraphernalia. (I’ve always had a soft spot for calicos.)

“Oooh,” I breathed, picking it up to examine it more closely. “Look at it, it….oh, wait, it’s not cross-stitch; it’s needlepoint. Rats.”

“You’ve been stitching for a long time. So what if this is a slightly different technique? I’m sure you’d be able to figure it out.”

I squinted at the cover picture. “Well, it does kind of look like half cross-stitch. [Note: It’s actually called Continental Stitch.] But I’ll leave it for today. I’m not here to shop for myself.” I set it back, planning to return sometime after the holidays.

My dad, in a rare moment of Acute Human Observation, promptly sent my mom to the shop the following week to buy it for me for Christmas. She’s not a stitcher, but he gave her a description of the picture, and where in the store to find it. She managed to locate the kit, and in the course of paying for it, struck up a conversation with the shop owner who quickly figured out who she was, and who the kit was for. And actually tried to stop her.

“This is needlepoint. The Witty Child doesn’t do needlepoint; she cross-stitches.”

My mom had to explain that all involved parties were aware of the technique used, and that I’d be willing and able to cut my teeth on something new. And she left with the kit, which I unwrapped a week or so later.

But can you believe that? The small business owner would rather have lost a sale than saddle a customer with an unsuitable item. Does Michael’s, or Wal-Mart, or the discount crafty website do that, or offer that level of personalized service? Support Your Local Stitching Shop! I can’t stress that enough.

The kit (called “Gershwin”…and there’s your connection!) took me a few years of needling away at it. I rarely stitch for myself, so my progress was forever being interrupted by birthday cards, birth announcements, Christmas ornaments…

I managed to finish it a couple of months back, and of course I had to return to my local shop to have it framed:

Didn’t she do a fantastic job?! There’s no way I could have framed it half as nicely. The framing complements the picture without detracting from it, and makes it look like a painting from a distance.

Support Your Local Stitching Shop.

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Another Mother’s Day, another hedgehog…

May 19, 2015July 28, 2018 wittychild

When I first saw the issue of The World of Cross Stitching with a free Margaret Sherry card kit attached – featuring a hedgehog, no less! – there was really no doubt as to whether I’d buy it. I try to cross stitch a card for Mother’s Day every year, and the hedgehog factor was just the icing on the cake. (Since hedgehogs aren’t indigenous to the region, their likeness can be difficult to find in stores.)

Despite a slow start, this came together much more quickly than I expected. And the backstitch really makes his prickles stand out! It made a cute addition to my mom’s gift.

Thanks for looking! 🙂

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Urban Wildlife

April 5, 2015July 28, 2018 wittychild

I rarely stitch for myself, but when Cross Stitcher included cover kits of a fox and a raccoon a couple of years back, I held onto them, planning to do them “someday”. These were bold, simple patterns that used only a handful of colours, meaning they’d be the perfect intermission stitch when large projects were making me crazy. And – and this may be what promoted them from “maybe” to “yes!” – they came with a precut felt frame right in the kit, making the whole affair rather self-contained and all the more appealing. All I’d have to do is add a hanger of some sort, and heaven knows I have enough different ribbons in my stash.

And so, eventually…in between large projects, Christmas gifts, quick cards…they somehow got finished. The completed stitching was tucked away along with the frame inside the original packaging until I had a reason to assemble them. Wonder of wonders, my cubicle wall (fun fact: the proper term for “cubicle wall” is “baffle”. Who knew?) was painfully bare and in desperate need of a little brightening up!

To add some interest to the frames, I added a bit of decorative running stitch with my sewing machine. This wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had; felt does not pivot as nicely as normal fabric does to ensure a smooth curve, and I had to keep stopping to defuzz my needle and bobbin area. But they’re done, and give my cube a much-needed splash of colour.

Happy Easter!

baking, Cross-stitch and Embroidery, Other Crafts

Pink cake and orange cat

February 15, 2015July 28, 2018 wittychild

Hello there!

My mom had her birthday at the end of January, but due to work scheduling, I wound up having to make her cake the weekend before. I saw the basic idea in an old issue of Woman’s World, which is a magazine that I would generally never, ever buy – except that this issue had featured adorable Hello Kitty cupcakes on the front cover, and I had been unable to resist it. They also had a layer-cake version of the cupcakes inside, but their recipe used something like four egg whites in the batter and another two in the icing, with no mention of what to do with the yolks, so I quickly dispensed with that idea and instead used my trusty vanilla cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World as well as the fluffy buttercream icing from the same. I also thought I might leave the kawaii characters off the cake, and maybe give it a more mature vibe. Because nothing says “mature” like pink cake, right?

I, of course, did not think to get a picture of it while it was intact and free from candle holes.

Holy ombre, Batman! I used varying ratios of gel food colours to get the different shades, and they worked like a charm.

That’s a chocolate-cream cheese filling between layers. Since the cake itself is just vanilla and not overly sweet, it provided a nice balance and helped keep it moist for the next few days until we could get it all eaten.

She had to wait a couple more days to get the rest of her birthday goodies. I always try to make a handmade card of some sort:

And when I first saw this design on Urban Threads, I knew it had to be made into a t-shirt:

I did him in orange to look like her big ol’ furbaby. He’s painted on – not embroidered – and I think the blue really makes him pop!

Thanks for looking – have a wonderful weekend!

craftmas, Cross-stitch and Embroidery

When we finally kiss goodnight, how I’ll hate going out in the storm…

December 25, 2014July 28, 2018 wittychild

Merry Christmas, everyone! One last seasonal make to show everyone…

I spied this in the 2014 Just Cross Stitch Christmas ornament special. The magazine’s version was stitched on this crazy Shrek-green evenweave that immediately reminded me of my next door neighbours’ living room walls, and I knew I had to stitch this up for them. I didn’t have a colour like that in my stash, but I did find some 28-count pewter evenweave, which I thought nicely evocative of a grey winter sky. (Even though it doesn’t co-ordinate with their walls nearly as well, the cardinals sure pop.) My local stitchery shop had a small oval hoop which framed it perfectly.

A better shot of the piece itself:

Wishing everyone happy holidays. I hope Santa/the Hanukkah Armadillo brings you everything you want!

craftmas, Cross-stitch and Embroidery

[Insert bad Jerry Lewis impression here]

December 21, 2014July 25, 2018 wittychild

(Typical Millennial: “Jerry who?” Just Youtube “jerry lewis typewriter”, kids.)

It all started like this: my friend Jeanette is a writer by trade – and yes, I am terribly jealous – and has a writerly affinity for typewriters. As the weather turned cooler and one could utter the word “Christmas” without being pelted by tomatoes, I started searching about for a suitable gift. I had two criteria: it shouldn’t be too grand, so as to not embarrass the recipient or strain my budget; and it should be easily and inexpensively shipped internationally.

My first thought had been a Christmas ornament of some sort, but a quick search revealed that most available were either overpriced or underwhelming, or both. Also, while a hard clay ornament might have been okay to ship internationally had an appropriate one been found, the thought of a blown glass one made me nervous. I did see a cute necklace online, but that seemed just a little personal. Could I make something instead?

Thank heavens for Urban Threads. I found a simple hand embroidery pattern on their site, and a charcoal-gray tea towel in my stash. And all households need at least one hand-embroidered kitchen linen, right?

The picture makes the towel look lighter than it really is. I chose the colours I did to really pop against the gray, with just a hint of silver metallic on what I believe are called the typebars, plus the little doohickey on the right hand side. It came out looking really great, but my stars, the 39 little keys just about killed me! Also, for any embroiderers or aspiring embroiderers out there: watch the surface you choose. This particular towel has ribbing (or cabling?), and although it adds to the tactile appeal, those darned keys came out a little wobbly looking if they happened to fall on a cable.

And now, for a little comic relief:

craftmas, General Sewing

To go boldly where no man has gone before

December 14, 2014July 25, 2018 wittychild

True Trekkies will take issue with my slight misquote; however, grammarians will rejoice at my perfectly unsplit infinitive (perhaps even to the point that they will ignore “unsplit” not being a real word).

My friend Bill is a fan of Star Trek: TOS, and particularly of William Shatner. Over the years, I’ve bought him many books penned by Mr. S., as well as bobbleheads, action figures, and other paraphernalia. Some months ago, whilst rifling through my bookmarks, I found this link. I had originally saved it a few years ago, and finally decided it was high time I did something about it.

Panic very nearly set in when I clicked on the link to the McCall’s website found within the post, and discovered it no longer existed; luckily, my crafty packrat instincts had kicked in when I first read about the project, and I had downloaded the PDF pattern and instructions. With some felt, gold fabric paint, and about $2 worth of fleece, Bill would have his very own Star Trek stocking.

I chose Command Yellow (Gold?), natch – oh, so appropriate, given that his wage-slave hours are spent as a team leader – and found a silhouetted version of the insignia with a quick Google search. My insignia is made up of three pieces of felt: a black bottom layer; a smaller, yellow layer painted with two coats of gold fabric paint that required 24 hours to dry each time; and a black star on the very top.

And filled to the gills with all sorts of goodies!

I took a few liberties with the pattern, such as not lining it – though in hindsight this may have been helpful, since the paperback book I thoughtfully stuffed in it caused some rather unsightly bulges.

I made the delivery last week, which seemed a little early, but I wanted him to have the stocking for a Christmas decoration throughout December. For his part, he asked where I bought it (!), and now has it hanging at his desk, where several coworkers have asked where he got it. This might be tough to beat next year!

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Like, you know, whatever.

October 20, 2014July 25, 2018 wittychild

If you read this blog regularly (thank you!), you might have surmised that I’m a bit of a grammar geek. (Grammar tea towel, anyone?) That geekery extends to language of all stripes, and almost annoying and [sic]-making as bad grammar is lazy speech. Cami. Mani-pedi. *shudder* Appies. Quit being so lazy! You’re not limited to 140 characters when you speak, so snap out of it!

But by far, the one that sets my teeth on edge the most? “Whatever.” I freely admit that there are entirely appropriate moments to use it, for example: “Want to hang out tonight? We can watch TV, or play a game, or whatever.” That’s fine; it suggests flexibility and openness. But ah, using it as a substitute for wit or accurate information? Language FAIL! “Actually, Jimmy, it was Neil Young who was in Buffalo Springfield, and not Neil Diamond.” “Whatever.” Um, no, Jimmy. Big difference.

I suppose I could handle this if my mother didn’t use it constantly, as an all-purpose answer or conversation-ender. But she does, and she uses its red-headed stepchild “Whatevie”, too. She is my mother, and I love her, and this is what prevents me from grabbing the nearest crowbar (full disclosure: I don’t have one, so it’s not really a threat) and going postal. And when I saw this design from Heritage Crafts, I knew I had to stitch it for her.

It’s called “Whateva”, as you may well imagine, and as an added bonus, the cat in the picture kind of looks like hers, albeit with a far worse attitude. After busting my hump trying to find an appropriately coloured squarish frame for it, I opted for pragmatism and snapped up this bright blue hoop from my local stitching shop. It’s not exactly an heirloom piece, so, you know…whatever.