Tag: gift

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Love and strangulation are almost indistinguishable…

wittychild

Okay, so….the anniversary gift I was stitching for my parents was just a wee bit late, say, a week and a half or so.  (But don’t worry, I’m not some slacker child; I did buy them dinner to celebrate.)  So yes, first I was late getting it to them, and now I’m horribly late in posting it, but better late than never, right?

It’s a Solo the Cat pattern by Anchor, found in an old issue of The World of Cross Stitching, and stitched with much cursing of backstitch.  This would definitely have been easier on evenweave.  It hasn’t been washed or framed yet, but that will come…in time.  I had picked Solo because he bears a slight resemblance to one of our cats (very slight – as in, they both have darker markings on a light body, but that’s about it); upon presenting it to them, I realized that I had also done pieces for them in 2004 and 2008 with cuddling cats.  I think I detect a trend.

In other news, the birth announcement I’m working on is almost, almost finished, although I won’t be seeing the new mother for a while, so time is not necessarily of the essence.

And I just received a few new Mill Hill beaded Christmas kits in the mail the other day, so stay tuned….

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Just for you…Mum!

wittychild

Yes, Mother’s Day was two weeks ago.  I’ve been remiss.  I did, however, manage to get both little stitchy pieces finished in time for the big day, even if I wound up putting in the last ten French knots the morning of.  It was worth the stress, though, and the end result was… ïжак!

(I can’t remember how to ask where the train station is, for example, but ïжак , I remember.  Oy.)

I found this Margaret Sherry design in an issue of Cross Stitcher magazine and knew that I had to do it up.  I did it on 28-count evenweave rather than aida, mainly to make the crazy backstitch just a little easier – and did this ever pay off the night before Mother’s Day, as I was frantically working the lettering.

And lo and behold, Mill Hill released new spring kits in plenty of time for me to stitch one:

This one was from the kitties.  🙂  The kit came with a magnet, but no one would ever get to see it on the fridge, so I finished it as a hanging ornament instead and backed it with some holographic paper I found in my scrapbooking stash.

(As always, clicking on the photos will make them larger – thanks for looking!)

craftmas, Cross-stitch and Embroidery, General Sewing

Mine!

wittychild

Just a short and sweet one for tonight – a little ornament I made my Avon lady, Heather, for Christmas.  I had done Margaret Sherry designs for her for the past couple of years, but when the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Preview issue came out this summer, this caught my eye:

(Yes, that’s my own stitched version, not the magazine picture.)

It’s called “Mine”, by Brittercup Designs.  I love Britty Kitty!  I made a few changes to the colours, using what I had on hand, and did the red holly berries in holographic fine braid by Kreinik (all other threads are DMC).  On 28-count, over two threads, it’s just a shade under four inches square.  Using some Christmassy fabric I had been hoarding since at least last year, and a little cording, it makes a cute little pillow ornament.

General Sewing

Oh Mickey, you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind…hey, Mickey!

wittychild

One of my coworkers is pregnant with her first child.  There’s been some dispute over whether it’s a boy or a girl, but we do know that it’s definitely a baby of some sort (I mean, it can really only go one of two ways, right?), and that she went Mickey Mouse-happy when choosing nursery decor and clothing.

I swore up and down that I was going to stay uninvolved in all the baby craziness – though I somehow got appointed Baby-Pool Collection Agent – but then I got a flyer for Fabricland and saw Mickey Mouse fabric front and centre on the first page.  I knew I had to do something with it, but what?  Quick and simple would be good.

Enter Simplicity pattern 4225 and its plethora of cute, easy projects.  I dug the bib, so I made two, and had enough fabric left over to make a small drawstring bag to package them up in.  Cute and “green”!

I managed to centre a different Mickey pose on each one.

My favourite part is the way the flannelette on the backs contrasts with the binding tape.

The stylish and practical bag.

She was surprised and delighted, especially when she found out I had actually made everything myself.  Now we just have to wait and see whether she has a boy or a girl to wear them – only two weeks to go!

Cross-stitch and Embroidery, General Sewing

The best thing since sliced bread? Toast!

wittychild

I made my parents a toaster bag for their anniversary.  A what?  Toaster bag.  Due to a severe lack of counter space in the kitchen, the toaster lives in the pantry when not in use.  In the interest of keeping dust off it and keeping crumb-tray detritus off of everything else, it was generally stored in a repurposed bag from some store or other.  And, you know, the plastic bag worked just fine, but it lacked pizazz, so I decided a sturdy, washable fabric bag was in order.  When I presented it to them they were pleased (really!), and then my mom made an offhanded comment about having a cute toaster embroidery pattern “like the pot you did” (referring to the Aunt Martha’s “Animated Kitchenware” pattern I did on an apron for myself).

Aunt Martha’s “Animated Kitchenware”, alas, is limited to pots and pans and their ilk; no fancy plug-in appliances.  I checked out Sublime Stitching’s “Krazy Kitchen” sheet, but no toaster there, either.  Boo.  And then…I remembered downloading a peanut butter and jelly pattern from Urban Threads some time back.  Of course!  A bread-based design would work just as well, wouldn’t it?

The hearts make it so anniversary-appropriate!  This was my first attempt at crayon tinting, and I’m really pleased with how it came out.

For a better idea of the whole project and its dimensions.

Being used for its exact purpose.

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Track 29! – Hey, can you give me a shine?

wittychild

When I worked downtown, I made the acquaintance of one of the – if not the – city’s remaining shoe shiners.  He always has a smile and a hello for everyone who passes by his shop, and knows absolutely everyone who is down there on a regular basis.  Heck, he knows me, and I don’t generally wear shine-able shoes.

Last year the newspaper featured a human interest story about him, how he got started, how he came to be in his present location, that kind of thing, and the one quote of his that really stuck with me is “You can’t make a deal with a dirty heel.”  He’s probably right, but more than the accuracy, the saying appealed to me as a potential sampler, although it took me more than a year to get around to doing anything about it.  With an alphabet from Better Homes and Gardens 2001 Cross Stitch Designs and my beloved PCStitch, I came up with this and stitched it up for him:

I tried to keep the colours masculine – doing “dirty” in a shoe-splattered brown was my dad’s idea, and I think it worked perfectly.  When I went downtown for lunch the other day I stopped by his shop to deliver the finished product, and I think he was rather surprised by my humble little gift.

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Mother’s Day Post: Short n’ Sweet

wittychild

I don’t think I could let a Mother’s Day pass without making at least some small handmade item…that would be too weird.  I knew I wanted to do a stitched card this year, and after flipping through my ample collection of British stitchery magazines, I decided on this one for two reasons:

1) Mumsy likes dragonflies (this sort of stems from the fact that the kitties like watching and chasing them in the back yard, and since the card was supposed to be from the kitties, well, that made perfect sense)

2) It was a welcome break from my latest project, a Charles Wysocki kit called “Too Pooped” which, though enjoyable, has possibly the largest tree ever and is primarily brown and more brown.

Bonus: Now that I’ve finished it, I feel confident that I can one day tackle the Frederick the Literate kit I’ve got stashed away.

Without further ado:

Happy Mother’s Day!

General Sewing

From the Vault: Scrub Top

wittychild

I say “vault” because this was actually a Christmas present for my mom, and it’s only now that I’ve gotten around to taking pictures and posting it.  I had originally seen the Bugs Bunny fabric in Fabricland last summer, and knew I had to buy some without really having a firm plan for it; the plan fell very quickly into place shortly thereafter.  [Internal monologue: “What would I do with that?”  “I dunno, make a scrub top?  He’s got the lab coat and stethoscope and everything.”]

With the fabric at home and the plan in mind, I dragged my wonderfully patient friend to WalMart’s craft department and flashed different pattern envelopes at him.  “Okay, this…or this?  Do you like the crossover style, or the one with the pocket detail?  Hey, this one claims to be so easy, what do you think?”  We agreed that Simplicity It’s So Easy 3633 fit the bill.  I love when he indulges my whims like that.

Despite having everything picked out so far in advance, and even having cut the pattern pieces out well ahead of time, it was still 9:00 on Christmas Eve before I finished the blasted thing.  Fortunately, she loved it, and thought I had bought it.  On to the pictures!  The front:

And a close-up of that awesome fabric (you may get a larger view if you click it.  Go on, you know you want to):

A final note: I don’t have a serger, but to keep the seams nice n’ sturdy, I trimmed my seam allowances once they were sewn, and re-sewed them with a zig-zag stitch.  This thing ought to be able to stand up to whatever she has planned for it.

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Make it “sew”.

wittychild

I want it known that I am not a Trekkie.  Never have been, never will be.  Sorry, Bill, Sue, Rick, and anyone else who doesn’t get why I don’t get them.

*whew*

So, then: what’s a girl to do when her contract at work is up, and she’s grown rather attached to her coworkers, and wants to do something nice for one of them to remember her by?  One doesn’t want to get extravagant, obviously, but to just leave having done nothing didn’t seem appropriate to the situation.  The coworker, unlike the author, is a Trekkie, albeit a TNG fan (Philistine!).  Enter black-lupin (http://black-lupin.deviantart.com) and her fabulous array of mini-Star Trek characters!  This is what I came up with:

(What horrible lighting!  His uniform is partly burgundy, I swear.  DMC 814, if you want to check!)

I wasn’t quite sure I had done Captain Picard justice, but both the recipient and another coworker knew immediately who it was.  I feel so validated.

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

I love my wife, but oh, you kid!

wittychild

So, over the winter I took a Swing Dancercise class through the city’s leisure guide…basically, an hour of aerobics with swing-based footwork and a little choreography thrown in for fun.  I won’t be winning any dance contests anytime soon with what I’ve learned, since this was a no-partner-required deal, but hey, it got me off the couch for an hour a week.  The instructor made it really fun, too, always kept things upbeat.

When I rediscovered Sublime Stitching’s Roaring Twenties patterns in my stash, I decided she needed a little goodbye present, since our last class was rapidly approaching.  One of the dances we had learned was the Charleston, and that appeared to be just what this dancer was doing, so onto a tea towel she went!  (Besides, no kitchen should be without one of these!)

Action shot on my stove:

And a close-up of the stitching:

It’s mostly backstitch, with a little satin stitch and a few French knots thrown in for good measure.  Her dress and gold accessories were done in Petite Treasure Braid metallics, which are honestly the best metallic threads I’ve ever used.  Pricey, but worth it.

And her garter matches her shoes….eeee!!