You're A Wizard Harry!!

Anyone who knows me in "real life" will know that I am a mahousive Harry Potter fan, I even have my very own lightning bolt tattoo, albeit *not* on my forehead :P Therefore my life was always going to be filled with lots of awesome Harry Potter themed crafts!

Wingardium Leviosa

This was the first HP themed hoopla I stitched up! I got a Kindle for Christmas and recently re-read all the books which spurred on this mega HP crafting session!! I free hand stitch the wingardium leviosa, and the feather is made from two layers of felt.

Always

As I just said, I recently re read all the books, and it was the first time I had actually re read the last book, Deathly Hallows, since the day it was released. And boy were there tears! I charted the pattern for the Hallows myself and it is stitched on 14 count white aida in two strands of thread. I then free hand stitched the word 'Always' underneath. I cry so much in the Snape's memory chapter, and right from book one he was always my favourite character. When they got Alan Rickman to play him in the movies I think I actually started to love the character even more haha!! Anyway, it just seemed fitting to stitch that quote underneath :)

The hoop has been wrapped in black ribbon, to make it look a bit nicer.

Open & Close

I am a friend of, and frequent poster over at Craftster. One of the members over on the site posted this awesome HP themed keyring. I absolutely loved the idea of this and so asked permission from the original poster if I could remake a version for myself. She kindly said that was ok, so I give you my versions -

I made one in Slytherin themed colours for myself, being a Snape lover, how could Slytherin not be my choice of house?!! And then a Gryffindor coloured one for my cousin's birthday, as she is also a massive HP fan!

For those not into the HP fandom 'Alohomora' is the spell for open, and 'Colloportus' the spell for close.

The spells are stitched on aida, and then mounted onto felt, with a ribbon tag sewn in so you can attach it to your keyring :)

I have many HP crafts planned, so keep watching for more!!

Vicki x

March Round Up

It's that time again!! Here's my stitching round up for March!!

So, although I have been doing a crazy amount of stitching recently, not much of it was actually from my 50 Projects list. Here's what I have been up!

1. Update my blog at least once a week.
Well this month I have been rather rubbish on this front, so apologies for that!

3. Stitch Japanese wedding sampler.
This is what I am currently working on. I'm well over half way through now :)

10. Sort out Viking outfit.
This project is what has been taking up most of my time this month. I have already made an embroidered Jorvik Hood which you can find more info on here.

I've mostly finished my apron dress, and hood. Both of which still need all the seams hand finished with contrasting thread. Bought all the necessary bits to finish the outfit of. Now just need some more embroidery to poshen it up!!

Here's what it looks like currently -

It is impossible to get a sensible looking photo of me! haha!

50. Make more of my own patterns.
I've just finished making a Hunger Games cross stitch pattern. Got all the materials and threads ready to start it, now I just need some free time!!! I've also designed another Christina Perri themed hoop, this time for the song Jar of Hearts.

And that is it for my 50 Projects list this month. I've also made another Kindle cover which is still awaiting a blog of it's own, but you can see my finished Christina Perri themed hoop here - Ghost of a Girl. As well as these I've made 12 new reusable cloth pads, a petticoat to go with some costume and two cushions from some awesome butterfly fleece fabric! So things have been pretty busy at Embroidery Emporium Central!

Vicki x

Ghost Of A Girl

One of my favourite musicians at the moment is the awesome Christina Perri. I am totally in love with her new album which has so many beautiful beautiful songs on it. Whilst listening to her album I came up with the idea for several hoops based on her songs. This hoop is based on the song - The Lonely :

Over on Crafter () recently, they had a hoopla swap which had the theme negative space. After seeing all the amazing hoops - which you should all go check out - in the needlework section, I was really inspired to make a negative space hoop for my own hoopla wall. When I listened to The Lonely, I thought that some of the lyrics fitted in perfectly into that theme.

I drew up the pattern and then transferred it to some cotton fabric. It is all worked in two strands of DMC thread. I started by stitching the outline of the girls silhouette, and then worked the black surrounding it in long and short stitches. Finally I stitched the lyrics I am very small backstitch. I wrapped the hoop in black ribbon, and voila, another finished hoop.

Vicki x

Embroidered Jorvik Hood

Apologies for once again being rubbish with blog updates!! I have been so busy with sewing in the last couple of weeks I've had no time for blogging!

I've been working really hard on piecing together all the bits for a Viking outfit. I'm going to an event at the start of May and fancied wearing something different, so Viking it is!!

I spent a while researching suitable head wear for the outfit, and decided on a Jorvik hood. As I love all types of historical embroidery, of course my hood had to be covered in some pretty embroidery.

In total there is 24 inches of embroidery around the front of the hood, which is made from linen. I have used the 'acanthus vine' pattern for the embroidery. This pattern was originally found on clothing in burial mound at Bjerringhøj, in Mammen parish, Middelsom, in northern Denmark and is dated to the 10th Century. The find was one of the largest collections found of Viking embroidery. For more information on the pattern and other extant examples of Viking embroidery check out this site -

I drew the pattern onto the linen, and started the embroidery by stitching the whole outline. I tried to stick as closely as possible to the colours in the original find. The pattern is worked totally in silk embroidery thread. The outline has been worked in stem stitch and has been filled in with a variation of long and short stitch, and stem stitch. Once the white outline was finished the pattern seemed to fill in really quickly.

The hood has also been lined with linen, and the two pieces of linen were hand stitched together.

And here's a shot of the hood on. (Apologies for aspects of the photo not being historically accurate.) Very much looking forward to wearing it at an event now :)

Vicki x

February Round Up

So I totally meant to write this yesterday but oh well!! An update on what has been occurring crafty wise throughout February and how much more I've ticked off from my 50 Projects list!!

1. Update my blog at least once a week.
Well, I pretty much failed at this after the first week of February!! Here's hoping I'm a bit more successful in March!

2. Make pattern for Japanese wedding sampler.
After putting off starting this for longer than I really should have the pattern is finished!! It was drafted out about 5 times, plus numerous other small sketches to get my ideas straight. It has mostly been totally drawn up from scratch, although I did use a small pattern to base some of the flowers on. All the materials for it have now been bought and have made a good start on the stitching, and it is looking good so far!

7. Start Buffy & Spike kit.
Another kit I have been putting off starting! Mainly because it was so different to other things I have cross stitched. I prefer working using just one bold colour, so a kit that includes lots of different, but similar shades, is a pretty daunting concept. I made a copy of the chart so I could highlight the pattern as I went along, which really helped me to keep my place whilst I working. Here's what I have got so far -

Looking just a bit random!!!

10. Sort out Viking outfit.
Can't totally cross this off the list yet but am making a good start!! I now have suitable shoes, an under dress on the way, fabric and brooches sorted for my apron dress, beads and pendants for my jewellery (although more beads are definitely necessary!) and am currently doing some embroidery for a Jorvik hood. Here's my progress so far -

It is stitched on linen in silk thread. It will also be lined with linen as well once it is finished.

29. Deathly Hallows hoop.
And another Harry Potter hoop to cross off the list!! This time a Deathly Hallows one, as Harry Potter is awesome!! I've been making a load of Harry Potter themed stuff recently, and as I said in January, I will do a big blog post of all of the Harry Potter themed stuff as soon as they are all finished and given as birthday presents :) Here's a sneaky peak for now -

31. Finish Opeth WIP.
IT'S FINISHED!!!!! I've already done a big blog post about so go check it out - Ghost Reveries

40. Stop being terrified of doing French knots & 48. Try my first cross stitch on linen instead of aida.
I think I have finally conquered my total fear and hatred of french knots!! GO TEAM!! Again, I have already done a proper blog post just for this hoop, complete with lots of pictures of said hundreds of french knots!! You can check it out here - Baa, Baa, French Knot Sheep

45. Set up a Folksy store.
Finally got around to setting one of these up as well. You can find my store here - Folksy

As well as all these things of my 50 Projects list I also finished a pretty big blackwork commission for a Catherine of Aragon outfit which will be featured in it's own blog very soon!!

And, I think, that is it!!

Vicki x