Tag: cross stitch

craftmas, Cross-stitch and Embroidery

On the second day of Craftmas…

wittychild

…my true love gave to me: two doves of indeterminate species.

If swapping (see my previous post) lets me make things I would never normally make and didn’t even know I wanted to make, then this is pretty much the polar opposite. As soon as I saw Satsuma Street’s “Holiday Glow” design on their social media, I knew I had to stitch it. At the time, it was an exclusive to the Jingle Ball, which meant I was out of luck. But patience is a virtue, and about a year later it appeared on their website, and with a discount code to boot.

There are a few things that stitchers love to complain about. Backstitch and French knots come to mind (the tedium!…although secretly, I kind of like French knots, and there’s no denying the definition provided by backstitch), but black or navy Aida cloth is a strong contender. No problem, I thought, this uses red Aida.

It turns out that even a relatively bright red Aida cloth can be a bit of a nightmare to stitch on and see the holes properly. Once I had a few stitches in place it was a little bit easier, but there was a lot of stitching by feel involved. And the metallics! I originally started out using DMC diamant for the gold and silver but switched to Petite Treasure Braid by Rainbow Gallery, and this may have been the single best decision I made all year.

(Note: I’m not sponsored by Rainbow Gallery; I just really, really love their Petite Treasure Braid. They’ll completely change your view of metallic threads.)

For all my moaning and apparent sudden-onset red blindness, the finished product was 100% worth it.

I found a 9″ x 7″ flexible hoop in a pale red at my local needlework shop and bought it on a whim. It’s not a perfect match to the fabric, but the colour works well with the thread shades and it doesn’t overwhelm the design.

My favourite part to stitch was the rays around the candle flames. Who knew a few straight stitches in gold and silver would add the perfect finishing touch?

Thanks for looking! 🙂

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

So mush fun!

wittychild

When I was gifted a set of four Satsuma Street Halloween ornament kits a few years back, I jumped (ha!) on Hoppy Halloween, and followed it up with Eye Scream and Haunted Hearse. (The latter’s wordplay messes with my brain, and I can’t hear it without thinking, “Ermagerd, hernted [haunted] hearse!”) That left Fun Guy, whose only crime was being a skull. I like my Halloween cutesy, and anything that reminds me of dead bodies – blood and gore, skeletons, zombies – doesn’t do it for me. That old Disney cartoon with the skeletons scared the bejesus out of me as a kid.

And then, out of nowhere*, a Halloween tree appeared in the front room. A Halloween miracle! This was on par with the Great Pumpkin showing up, and I decided that Fun Guy should join his friends on it.

Despite my usual mumblings and grousings about working on black perforated paper, he came along nicely and before long was identifiable as a skull. Then, the mushrooms started filling in, and suddenly he was alive with colour.

If he looked fun (of course) once the stitching was done, the beads and sequins took him right over the edge.

I trimmed him to size, backed him with some black glittery felt, and added a shiny hanging loop.

Isn’t he a great addition?

This is not the first of these ornament kits where I’ve run out of a given colour of floss (white, in this case) and had to raid my stash to finish off the design, but since this was the last of the kits I currently had, I’m not going to get upset about it.

Thanks for looking! 🙂

*She bought it at Michaels. – Ed.

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

When the veil of dreams has lifted and the fairy tales have all been told

wittychild

So here’s something you may or may not have known about me…

I love colour.

Colour, all of it, all the time. Seriously. I’ve never been able to pick just one favourite. I can admit that I’m not a fan of earth tones and that super-washed out pastels don’t do much for me, but everything else is fair game. The only thing better than bright colours is bright colours in a rainbow order, because I appreciate order and routine.

(Order and routine slightly outweigh colour, however. Don’t get me started on bookshelves arranged by colour rather than alphabetically/by author/by subject area.)

Since no books were misfiled, is it any surprise that when I saw this pattern on Etsy it called to me like a siren song? How could I not stitch something with twenty perfectly gradient shades?

One of my favourite things about cross-stitching is watching the design come alive (like Peter Frampton, but…not), stitch by stitch. Normally it happens so gradually that you don’t even notice it happening until you look at the design with fresh eyes and marvel that you can see the outlines developing, but it happens just the same.

It definitely harshes the stitching vibes to stop and take a picture after even the littlest bit of progress, but watching the heart form colour-by-colour is vaguely hypnotic.

As I stitched, I realized the rainbow heart reminded me of something. This song lived in my head rent-free while I worked:

If you haven’t seen A Mighty Wind, stop reading this right now and go watch it. Now.

I wanted something suitably punchy to display the finished piece in, so I painted a simple bamboo hoop from Michaels using acrylic paint pens in matchy-matchy colours.

Thanks for looking! 🙂

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Four out of five dentists agree

wittychild

Can I make a quick confession? I’m that weirdo who flosses every day, and not just when I’ve got a dental appointment a week from now. It’s nice to see all that BeMod training be good for something. (Also, Johnson&Johnson has apparently discontinued Listerine Fresh Burst dental floss; if anyone has a secret source somewhere, let me know!)

Longer ago than I care to admit, I found the cutest little pattern on Wee Little Stitches‘ Etsy shop (the shop has closed, but their old website still exists!) espousing this very sentiment, but with a crafty twist. Not only do I floss daily, I also floss (almost) daily, and I knew I had to stitch it.

I stitched it on 14-count “Sterling” aida from 123stitch, and (with some help) mounted the finished piece on a 5″ x 7″ canvas for a less-fussy look than framing.

It’s currently hanging in my little stitchy nook, to remind me to keep on flossin’.

Thanks for looking! 🙂

craftmas, Cross-stitch and Embroidery

On the third day of Craftmas…

wittychild

…my true love gave to me: some hoops to spread a message jolly!

Because it wouldn’t be Christmas if I weren’t finishing up a project last-minute, right? (Don’t worry, it’s been nearly a week; I was stuck waiting on a sunny day to get photos.) I love Stitchrovia‘s designs, and the idea of the different fonts really grabbed me. There’s something weirdly freeing about not making everything perfectly symmetrical.

I had stitched one of her patterns for Mother’s Day and by happy chance these used a lot of the same colours so finding my shades was a snap

Close-ups:

I probably use 14-count opalescent aida cloth more than any other needlework fabric. Sparkles make everything better!

I think the green H was my favourite…

They’re a perfect fit in 4″ hoops, and have joined the collection of holiday hoops adorning the walls.

Thanks for looking – Merry Christmas! 🙂

craftmas, Cross-stitch and Embroidery

On the first day of craftmas…

wittychild

…my true love gave to me: a flock of birds to hang on the tree!

Every year, Satsuma Street releases a new entry in the “12 Days of Christmas” ornament series, and every year I buy the pattern but don’t get around to stitching it until the following year. I’ve got enough stuff going on by the time the holiday season rolls around without trying to race through another project. All this to say: while this pattern was released last year, it’s new-to-me for this year.

Calling birds…get it? I love a good pun.

I think my favourite detail on the ornament is the rotary dial on the phone:

…although I wonder how that works with only eight buttons (finger holes?).

Along with the previous three ornaments:

Gosh darn, there are a lot of birds in that song. Didn’t Alfred Hitchcock make a movie about dense ornithological populations? At least they’re cheery-looking.

Thanks for looking! 🙂

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

We all scream for…

wittychild

…Halloween, of course! I’ve been having fun getting my annual fix of Bobby “Boris” Pickett, sending Halloween-themed happy mail, and fitting in a bit of spooky stitching!

First up, “Eye Scream” (get it? Get it?):

That poor pumpkin looks so upset…but then, I think I’d be, too.

Ermahgerd! It’s a haunted hearse!

Both ornaments are from Satsuma Street kits I got as a gift. I didn’t think to take pictures of the backs, but I used black glitter felt to finish them off so they’ll sparkle from either side as they hang from my (strictly hypothetical) Halloween tree. The hanging loops are glow-in-the-dark Kreinik fine braid, because I love me some glow-in-the-dark.

Happy Halloween, everyone – stay safe! 🙂

craftmas, Cross-stitch and Embroidery

On the fourth day of Craftmas…

wittychild

…my true love gave to me: a meme that comes straight from TV!

It was quite by accident that I found this pattern for a Christmas’d version of Homer Simpson moving silently through Ned Flanders’ hedge, but knew right away that I had to stitch it.

Luckily, my local needlework shop (always support your local needlework shop if you have a choice!) had the requisite Christmas green aida cloth, so I was able to get started on him right away.

He fits perfectly in a 4″ hoop!

The backstitch really creates the illusion of the hedge, and the two little French knots for his pupils are the finishing touch.

Thanks for looking – Merry Christmas! 🙂

craftmas, Cross-stitch and Embroidery

On the third day of Craftmas…

wittychild

…my true love gave to me: a French hen to go with my two turtle doves and partridge in a pear tree!

By the time Satsuma Street released their holiday designs last year, I was done with taking on last-minute crafting projects. (Excuse me while I snicker behind my hand.) That didn’t stop me from buying the charts, though: one of them was the third installment in the 12 Days of Christmas series, and since I had stitched the first two last year it was a given I had to do this one as well.

Mon dieu! A French hen!

I didn’t think to take a picture of the back, but once I was finished stitching and attaching the beads and sequins, I glued it to glittery white felt so it will shimmer no matter how the lights catch it.

The four calling birds have been released, so I’ve got at least one project for next year lined up already.

Thanks for looking! 🙂