Tag: needlework

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Hey, good lookin’ – whatcha got cookin’?

wittychild

Somehow, National Embroidery Month (known to the non-crafty types as “February”) almost slipped right by me with nary a stitch in sight.  Oops.  I started this on the 27th, and although I did not manage to finish it before the month was up, that was easily accomplished this past weekend (the first of National Craft Month – that still counts, right?).

Nothing too fancy, I’m afraid.  It started its life in my household as a rather plain white apron with inexplicably yellow pockets.  The bib needed something, though.  One Aunt Martha’s Animated Kitchenware transfer and a few old movies’ worth of embroidering later:

Action shot.  The bowl is empty, but I assure you, I did bake cookies later on.

Close-up.  Mostly comprised of stem stitch, with a little backstitch and satin stitch thrown in for interest.  Please excuse the distorted colours; thin white fabric over a red t-shirt will tend to do that.

I can’t help but feel it would make a lovely accompaniment to Rachael’s tea towels.  Too bad I’m not giving it up!

baking, Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Birthday Bonanza

wittychild

Update: I was finally able to give the birth sampler/card to my coworker last week, more than a month after the baby was born, but no matter…

My mumsie’s birthday was also last week; naturally, much home-made goodness was in the works.  I made her blue velvet cupcakes (blue is her favourite colour) with vanilla-coconut buttercream frosting.  It’s kind of hard to tell in the photo what colour they are, but trust me, they’re blue.

I think that icing may be my favourite thing that I’ve ever made…all coconutty and yummy…

She still collects hedgehogs, so a hand-stitched card was a must:

It’s from issue 216 (I think!) of Cross Stitcher, and originally said “Nice Cross Stitch”, but I took some artistic liberties with it.  I still have a baby-sized callous on my finger from doing the backstitch on that.  Uurgh.  Trying to pierce the fabric where there’s no hole and it plainly doesn’t want to be pierced becomes old after a while.  Still, I think the end justified the means.

For the next piece, you must understand that “Bork” is a verb in our household, and not just an interjection.  In the kitchen, dropping, spilling, or mixing vigorously and flinging, well, anything, will cause someone to yell, “You borked the ice cream/potatoes/toast!”  (Much as the Swedish Chef yells “Bork, bork, bork!” just before he sends his utensils flying.)  She “got it” as soon as she opened it, and I daresay as custom designs/projects go, this was one of the best.  Also simplest.

It’s on one of those awesome tea towels from Sublime Stitching which was an absolute dream to work on, and is currently brightening up the oven door.

As always, thanks for looking!

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Last project of 2009/first project of 2010

wittychild

How appropriate that they’re for the same person, n’est-ce pas?

Okay, so when I found out in the summer that my coworker was going to have a baby, I was excited.  Not because I like kids (I don’t), but I do like her, and this was an excuse to stitch something different!  I chose a design by Cinnamon Cat called “Pitter Patter”, which I liked for its colours – she wasn’t going to be finding out the sex beforehand, and this one wasn’t full of your typical pastels.  (It was a boy, by the way, born Boxing Day.)  I finished the bulk of it in December, and just before we left work on New Year’s Eve, the e-mail came around with a name and date.  It might be a sad comment on my social life that my New Year’s Eve was spent at home stitching, but to this I say, “Bah.”  It was too cold to go out, anyway.  I put in the final stitch just shortly before 10:00, effectively making it my final project of the year.  I spent the next two days applying coats of purple spray paint to a black six-inch frame, and voila:

I cannot begin to tell you how glad I am that she chose a short name.  “Ren” means “lotus” in Japanese, according to her e-mail, and I thought maybe a stitched card would be a nice touch.  I Google-searched the Japanese symbol for his name, and hope against hope that I’ve charted it correctly and haven’t called him something offensive in the process:

First project of 2010, w00t!

And now…now it sits, wrapped in vintage baby shower paper, in a bag under my desk so that if she should swing by the office for an impromptu visit, I’m prepared!

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Glamour Puss

wittychild

The presents have all been opened…mostly, and the Boxing Day sales are over: at last, I can post what I made for my Avon lady for Christmas.

Around this time last year, you’ll recall, I posted pictures of all the handmade Christmas gifts I had managed to finish, and Heather was the lucky recipient of a Margaret Sherry cat posing with a green bauble.  (I’ll pause whilst you scroll down and confirm this.)  I was quite grateful to the good people at Cross Stitcher magazine for having provided the 2009 Margaret Sherry calendar complete with 16 new patterns, including this one:

Perfect choice for a purveyor of cosmetic products, eh??  Originally, the entire background was supposed to be stitched in pink, but I cut a much-needed corner and instead ordered pink opalescent aida from 123stitch.com – and I think it looks better.  Now I need to start thinking about next year’s piece…

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

You’d better watch out…

wittychild

…you’d better not cry.  Better not pout, I’m telling you why: this jolly fellow is currently gracing the bathroom door, spreading a little holiday cheer to everyone who pounds and demands when he or she will get his or her turn:

This is one of the many maybe two UFOs I’ve completed this year, which is still a strange feeling for me.  The kit is by Dimensions, and came complete with wire hanger (insert Mommie Dearest joke here) and custom threads that bled slightly (grrr) when I did the standard cold-water dunk upon finishing.  It’s only noticeable if you know where to look, though…whew.

Who knows?  Maybe by next Christmas, I’ll have the next Dimensions kit done…or maybe the Christmas after that…

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

You must have been a boo-tiful baby…

wittychild

From the Just Cross Stitch Halloween ornament spectacular, may I present “R.I.P.’s Girl” by Charlette Dockens.  I immediately zeroed in on her as soon as I picked up the magazine, and knew I had to stitch her.

She was stitched on 14-count perforated paper using three strands for cross-stitch, one strand for backstitch and beading (yes, her jewelry is actually beaded).  I corded some floss myself for the hanger, and backed her with glittery purple felt.  Oh, and you can’t tell from the picture, but her eyes were stitched with DMC Light Effects glow-in-the-dark floss.  I love that stuff, and wish I had more applications for it.

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I think I’ll hang her up at work – make my coworkers jealous.  Heh.

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Onesie, twosie…I love you-sie?

wittychild

I took a break from my many U.F.O.s (on which more at some later date, assuming I actually manage to finish one) to work up a couple of onesies for a girl in my bowling league who is very, very pregnant – due April 22, our last night of the season.

What else but Sublime Stitching’s Bowling Betties pattern sheet would fit the bill?

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And since I managed not to screw that one up, and had a spare one (get it?  Spare?) left over, I found a cute kitten pattern from the Sublime Stitching book, and made it as gender-neutral as possible.

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If nothing else, this experience has taught me that although they may meet the length/weight requirements outlined on the hang tag, cats are not crazy about being stuffed into onesies (this was before I washed them, before I got to the actual embroidering).  It does something to their balance, much like putting a harness on one for the first time, and will cause them to fall off the couch onto the floor, and they will not understand what they did to deserve that.  She’s okay, she was just a little surprised, I think.  🙂

Oh, but back to the subject at hand: I presented them to her on Wednesday, in case she decided to pop early, and she loved them!  Her teammates were cooing over them, and they couldn’t believe I had done the embroidery by hand.  I love it when a few stitches can wow an audience.

Cross-stitch and Embroidery

Anthropomorphic Birthday Goodness

wittychild

So…immediately after the Christmas rush and all the presents therein were finished, and I had had a chance to repress spending time with relatives and all that good stuff, I started a new project which, though some sort of time-machine trickery, I managed to finish for my mom’s birthday at the end of January.

You’ll recall from my last post that she’s got a thing for hedgehogs, so I found this sweet Country Companions kit sent to me by my friend Rachael.  It’s called “Birthday Surprise”, and at approximately 5″ x 7″ (this from the package details), is just a row or two too large for the 5″ x 7″ frame bought to accommodate it, but I can live with a little missing balloon.  Ain’t he adorable?  There are few things more becoming on hedgehogs than bashfulness.

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