A Rather Late September Round Up!

I really am rubbish at remembering to update this!! I blame this on working loads and doing crazy amounts of sewing!!

September was a pretty hectic month to be honest with lots of sewing being done!! I also finally gave in and went to the Doctor's to find out what was wrong with my hand. Turns out I had Tendonitis again, so that put a stopper on the sewing on for a while, and pretty much doing anything at all with my hand! Thankfully it does now seem to be on the mend, and normality has resumed, so to speak!

The main work in progress in September was the Blackwork cuff commission I mentioned in my previous blog update! 60 hours, 1 spool of silk thread, and 28 inches of linen later the first cuff is complete :)

The pattern is a simplified version of Jane Seymour's cuffs in the Holbein painting.

This complete pattern on the cuffs was the first piece of blackwork I ever worked, and it has been nice to re-visit the pattern.

Here's a close up of the stitching -

Now too start work on the second cuff :)

I also made a couple of birthday cards in September. Can't post all of them yet, but I made this one for my Aunt's 60th birthday.

It's a Joan Elliott pattern from her Oriental collection booklet.

I've also been on a phone case making mission recently! My cousin commissioned me to make a Twilight themed one for her Galaxy Note! This was so much fun to make!!! I found some amazing sparkly glitter felt in my local craft shop, and got very over excited about it!!

^^ Is the front of the case! The design is based on the front cover of the first Twilight book. Pretty much all made from the sparkly felt I found. Stitching the hands was an almost nightmare. Was unpicked and re-stitched many times before I was finally happy with how it looked.

I free hand embroidered the 'Twilight' logo onto the closing flap. The case closes with two press studs.

For the back of the case I combined the book covers from Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. The chess pieces are made from the sparkly felt and free hand embroidered, and I then appliqued some red ribbon around them.

The inside of the case is lined with red felt, to make the case nice and safe for your phone!!

Not much more been crossed off my actual 50 Projects list but lots of sewing has been whilst my hand has been co-=operating!

Vicki x

August Round Up

Time for another monthly blog round up!

24. Improve the underside of my blackwork

I have just started working on a new blackwork commission that I am very excited about :D :D I absolutely love the pattern that has been chosen! One of the things I have been working hard at on this project is keeping the back as neat and tidy as possible. I use back stitch, rather than Holbein stitch for my blackwork, as I find I get better tension in the thread, so the back does not look the same as the front. As such I have been making sure that even though the back looks slightly different it is still very neat. At the start of the project it did make the stitching noticeably slower going, but now that I've memorised the pattern and the best ways to keep the back neat it is going pretty fast, and I'm half way through the first part.


32. Read more books on historical embroidery techniques.

I've finally gotten around to having a proper read of some of the many embroidery books that I own.

This one is by far my favourite - Embroiderers (Medieval Craftsmen) by Kay Staniland.

The book is full of some amazing photographs of medieval embroidery, and is a very interesting read!

I've also read a couple of books on Goldwork, and have been experimenting with some of the many blackwork pattern's from the Royal School of Needlework Essential Stitch Guides: Blackwork - by Becky Hogg. I've had to put the piece aside at the moment to work on commissions but here is what I have so far -

The 'V' outline has been done in 3 strands of dark purple thread. The blackwork nearest the 'V' is done in 1 strand of thread, and it then moves up to 2 strands of thread nearer the edge of the hoop. I have used 4 different shades of purple for the different blackwork quarters, and by varying the number of threads used, hope to create a more textured look.

50. Make more of my own patterns.

This year I have made and designed many patterns myself, which I am very proud of! Until recently I always thought that patterns from kits and magazines would be better than my own ever could, and it has been nice to move away from the mentality. A lot of my hoops have had patterned I have designed myself. One of my own patterns that I am most pleased with, is the Japanese Wedding sampler I made earlier in the year. The wedding has now been so I can finally post of picture of the finished design :)

Until I get around to giving this piece a blog of it's own, please check out my facebook page where there are more pictures and details for it :) -

As well as this I have been working on a couple of special birthday cards for some family members, organising the start of another commission, another felt phone case and plotting many more hoop designs!

One of my final finishes of last month was this adorable baby sampler from Nia designs -

My cousin gave birth to her second son a few weeks ago, and I made this a gift for her and her husband. When I started this she did not know the sex of the baby so I had to change the colours around a bit from the original pattern, but I love how it turned out. Here's a shot of it framed -

Vicki xx

July Round Up

I'm a bit late with my monthly round up this time, and to be honest, although I've been really busy making stuff only one more thing has been crossed off my 50 Projects list!

20. Learn to knit.

So I finally learnt how to knit!! I had a week off work so went back to Wales to visit my family, and whilst I was there my Auntie was lovely enough to teach me how to knit! I've wanted to learn for ages and very pleased to have finally gotten around to it!! It was actually much easier than expected once I'd gotten the hang of it.

I was unsure what to do with the first piece of knitting I finished, as it was too small to do anything really useful with, so I decided to stitch the two ends together and turn it into a hoop cosy!

This meant that I had to come up with a new hoopla design!! I wanted one that sort of incorporated knitting, and I found this pattern on Urban Threads and had to make :) I drew the pattern onto the fabric and crayon tinted the design before I started stitching. The embroidery has been done using back stitch and some satin stitch on the font.

Pretty much as soon as I got home from Wales I went a bit mad with eBay shopping and bought several job lots of wool!! I then tasked myself with making several different things with this wool - a patchwork cushion for my craft room, a patch work blanket, and a scarf. Once I've improved my knitting I'm aiming to make my own Harry Potter scarf, something I've wanted to do forever!!! Anyway, here's my knitting progress so far :)

Also this month I finally got around to finishing both my Christina Perri - Jar of Hearts themed hoop and the finally part of my Hunger Games cross stitch. AS well as this I have a mostly finished baby sampler,another completed Harry Potter themed hoop for my hoopla wall and finished a gothic/vampire themed commissioned phone case.

I was also able to frame the wedding sampler that I finished last month -

It was for the wedding of a son of a family friend. The pattern was from Nia Cross Stitch - , and was such a fun pattern to stitch up. I love the fact she makes her pattern in Welsh as well as English!

Here's a close up so you can see some of the detail -

Vicki x

June Round Up

So it's been another productive month at Embroidery Emporium HQ! Lots more hoopla's made for my hoopla wall, another Craftster swap completed, and due to too much sewing I ended up having to take over a week off from stitching due to my hand being incredible painful and annoying! Anyway, here's what I have been up to.

5. Finish Jack Sparrow WIP.

Well, after sorting out my craft room and trying to tidy and organise everything, I finally find material and thread for this. Now just to find the magazine with the pattern!!

39. Expand the range of embroidery stitches that I feel confident with. (Currently only really happy with back stitch and satin stitch)

I've been working really hard to try out and experiment with other stitches that don't feel as comfortable with. I've been working on my French knots, long and short stitch, speckling, stem stitch and been using surface couching. I definitely feel a lot more comfortable with French knots now, and am no longer scared to use them in my work!

41. Take better photographs of my work.

I bought one of these awesome light boxes after Christmas, and now that we are finally all settled into our new house, I finally have the space to set it up properly and use it more for taking photo's of my work.

43. Be more active on my facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Embroidery-Emporium/115006128541419

My Facebook page is definitely the best place to keep up to date with projects that I am currently working on. It gets checked and used everyday and is usually the first place I upload finished project's to.

So I successfully managed to cross off a few more things from my 50 Projects list, so slowly getting through that at last, as well as completed lots of crafty projects not on the list, which will all get there own blog as soon as I can organise myself

Vicki x

May Round Up

Once again I'm a bit late in my monthly blog round up, so apologies!! Getting the new house sorted took longer than I thought, and it has been a busy month at Embroidery Emporium HQ!!

I haven't crossed off much more on my 50 Projects list, but it has been a very productive month.

34. Actually get enough courage to do my first swap on Craftster, instead of just reading all of the awesome ideas on the swap board and never entering one.

So I finished my first swap on Craftster and have already signed up for a second one!! I really enjoyed my first swap, and was lucky to be given a fantastic partner to swap with! Here are the hoops I made for my partner -



She loved them so I was really pleased! And I received the most awesome swap package back from her too!! I'll do a separate blog post with more pics and info on the hoops :)


35. Go to more than 2 events this year.

We attended our first event - May Spring Pensthorpe, at the start of the month. The event was great fun, despite the dreadful weather, and I finally got to wear my new Viking outfit which was great!! It was really comfortable to wear and helped keep me warm during the event.



I finished the wedding sampler I mentioned in my last round up and am really pleased with how it turned out. Made a good start on the baby sampler to. The Hunger Games cross stitch is still ongoing, and I've made loads more hoops to go up on my hoopla wall, so much stitching has been done :) Hopefully I'll get a chance to update the blog some more this month :)

Vicki x

April Round Up

Hello!!

I know this April Round Up is coming a bit late but things have been a bit hectic here at Embroidery Emporium HQ!! I've been moving house - yay!! (I now have my own crafting space and fabric/costume wardrobe - that is once I uncover the floor from more boxes!!), been away at events, and been uber busy with some pretty big commissions and making my Viking garb, which has left very little time for updating my blog!

So here's what I've been up to in April, and how I'm progressing with my 50 projects list!

3. Stitch Japanese wedding sampler.
It's done, it's done, it's done! It was an enormous amount of work, but I am so very pleased with how it turned out. You will have to wait several more months till I can post pictures of it though :) But it couldn't have turned out better!

9. Organise all my silk.
I spent many hours doing this recently! I had a commission which was done with many shades of silk thread so had to organise them to make them easier to use. I got bored and created this silk spool tower :p

10. Sort out Viking outfit.
It's done!! Well mostly! it's still awaiting an embroidered band to around the top of the apron dress, but it is now perfectly wearable and it is awesome!! I wore to an event recently and it was so warm and comfortable. I'll do a proper blog update for it but for now here's a shot of me wearing it at Pensthorpe -

34. Actually get enough courage to do my first swap on Craftster, instead of just reading all of the awesome ideas on the swap board and never entering one.
I finally did it, and am currently participating in the UK Only swap over on Craftster. I've made 2 of my items and the third is currently being worked on :) More info to follow once my swap partner has received them :)

As well as all these I also started a Hunger Games cross stitch project which I made the pattern for myself. Currently stitching the third part so that should be done soon. Made a good start on another wedding sampler for a family friend, and finally found a baby sampler I liked to stitch up for my cousins second baby!

What took up most of my time this month (apart from Viking things) was an embroidery commission I receievd via my website to embroider some artwork. This was a great project to do and it will receive it's own blog very soon, but here's a sneak peak of the finished commission -

Hopefully now that moving and everything is out of the way I should have more time to update this blog :) Thanks for reading, 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

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

Kindle Cover

After forgetting to update my blog for a week or so once again thought I should update it with what I've been making recently.

I got bought a Kindle for Christmas and I absolutely love it!!! I never thought I'd own any sort of ebook reader but wouldn't be without my Kindle now!! My parents bought me a lovely leather jacket thing to keep it in for Christmas as well and I didn't want it to get scratched when it's being carted around in my bag, so thought I would make a stitched case to keep it in :)

The case is made from felt, with two embroidered patches. The patch on the front is from an Urban Threads pattern. I traced the pattern onto the fabric and the outlined it in backstitch. The books were then filled in with mostly veryyyyy tiny satin stitch. Man, that satin stitch was incredibly frustrating!!

The patch on the back was made using an image I found online. Again it uses satin stitch and back stitch. I lined the inside of the cover with red felt for a bit of contrast.

The case is stitched together using blanket stitch. Again, I used red thread for some contrast. It closes with a flap that has three press studs, so the Kindle is kept safe inside.

I am so pleased with how this turned out :D I can make these cases to order over on my Etsy store - http://www.etsy.com/shop/EmbroideryEmp
Vicki

Baa, Baa French Knot Sheep

I have hated french knots since the first time I ever tried to stitch them, and have always really struggled to stitch them properly. Usually I substitute them for either beads or some sort of backstitch. I thought it was about time to finally get to grips with the pesky things, and cross off another thing from my 50 Projects list!

I found the pattern for this in a recent issue of Crossstitcher magazine and thought it was very cute, and a perfect small project to test out my french knots. It is stitched on linen and as well as french knots uses satin stitch, back stitch and cross stitch. As well as being my first time at using the knots, this project was also the first time I had used cross stitch on linen. Can't say I found using the linen easy for cross stitch though, will stick to aida in the future I think!! I freehand drew the pattern onto the fabric and got stitching!

So after avoiding starting the french knots and stitching everything else on the hoop that I could!! I watched loads of different youtube tutorials, read loads of tutorials, yet still the french knots evaded me. In the end I just ended up getting quite frustrated with them and tried wrapping the thread around the needle in a variety of different ways to see which one worked best for me. After eventually finding my "french knot groove" they got easier and easier to stitch and started to appear really quickly. They are stitched in 2 strands of cream thread and 1 strand of brown thread to make it a bit more multicoloured. I love how the sheep turned out so fluffy with all the french knots.

I think there are over 200 french knots in this project!! So I don't think I will be worried about doing them in the future :D

Vicki

January Round Up

I thought to keep me on track with my 50 Things list I would do a round up of things I have completed in the month :) So far I have made a pretty good start on the list!

1. Update my blog at least once a week.
I think so far this has been going well!! Definitely been updating the blog more, although there is still a backlog of the things I've made recently to go up. I think if I can keep it up for 6 months then I can strike it off the list :)

2. Make pattern for Japanese wedding sampler
The process for this is slowly getting off the ground. I have drawn out a pattern I am happy with. Need to check the symbolism of some bits and confirm spellings and such and then will be ready to chart up properly.

17. Cover for my Kindle.
This is totally finished!! :D :D And currently awaiting a blog of it's own, but for now here's a sneaky peak -

25. Add to hoopla wall.
Already two more hoops! And have several more planned out and awaiting stitching! Here's a pick of how my hoopla wall looks -

A Wingardium Leviosa hoop has been added since I took this picture.

26. Tangled hoop.
I am totally in love with this hoop!! If you scroll down you will see my blog on it. It's such an awesome colour and I love how it turned out!

27. Wingardium Leviosa hoop.
My second hoop of the year to be finished and hung on the hoopla wall. This is still awaiting a blog of it's own,but as I am planning several more Potter themed hoops thought I would wait and group them all together. Here's a pic of it though -

44. Set up an Etsy store.
I finally did it! My Etsy store is up and running! Here's the link to it for anyone who would like to see - http://www.etsy.com/shop/EmbroideryEmp

So all in all not a bad month for crafting and lots of things I wanted to do and make have already been achieved :) Vicki x

Etsy!!

I have finally organised myself into setting up an Etsy store! Something I have been meaning to set up for ages. Y

ou can find me here - http://www.etsy.com/shop/EmbroideryEmp
So go take a look :)

Also, another thing crossed off my 50 things list!! Slowly working through it now!

And to make this post much more interesting, here's a picture of the very lovely and adorable Eyra cat doing what she does best, snoozing.

Vicki x

Tangled Hoop

I absolutely love Tangled, and it has fast become one of my favourite Disney films! Who could fail to love a film with a sword fighting horse, magical hair and a hilarious chameleon! I've wanted to make something Tangled themed for my ever growing hoopla wall for quite a while now and have had this one planned since before Christmas. I always loved the sun symbol you see all throughout the film, and this hoop is based on the purple flag Rapunzel has with it on.

I'm pretty sure it's framed in a 12" hoop. I started by wrapping some purple ribbon around the outside ring of the hoop, and left enough at the top to hang it with. I then pulled some purple satin material taught across the hoop, making sure it was totally flat and nice and tight. I found an image of the design online, printed it out and then cut out two of the suns rays to use as templates. Using the lens cap from a telescope a traced out a circle onto some yellow felt and then pinned the two paper templates onto more felt and traced around them. The larger rays are made using the same felt as the circle, whilst the smaller ones are from a slightly brighter shade of yellow felt. Once all the shapes were cut out I then pinned them all onto the hoop.

All the felt was then stitched down using two strands of thread. Once they were all stitched down, I couched some sparkly Russian gold braid in a swirl in the centre of the sun. I thought this would a bit more sparkle to the hoop. I love how the hoop turned out and is already hanging up on my hoopla wall :) I think it only took a couple of hours to stitch up one evening, and was the first piece I completed from my '50 Projects 2012' blog.

Thanks for reading, Vicki x

50 Projects in 2012

So, inspired by a thread on Craftster that I missed the sign up date for I thought I would set my 50 craft challenges for the year, to help motivate my stitching when I am not working on commissions. In no particular order, here’s what I have so far -

1. Update my blog at least once a week.
2. Make pattern for Japanese wedding sampler.[Feb]
3. Stitch Japanese wedding sampler.
4. Finish dolphin WIP.
5. Finish Jack Sparrow WIP.
6. Start ‘Library Cat’ kit.
7. Start Buffy & Spike kit.[Feb]
8. Start Henry VIII & Wives kit.
9. Organise all my silk.
10. Sort out Viking outfit.
11. Sort out Medieval outfit.
12. Alter black Tudor outfit.
13. Make and embroider an Elizabethan Coif.
14. Blackwork Henrican coif.
15. Blackwork for Jason’s shift – collar and cuffs.
16. Make sleeves for brown Tudor outfit and alter it.
17. Cover for my Kindle.[Jan]
18. Try stumpwork.
19. Try crewelwork.
20. Learn to knit.
21. Make a Hogwart’s scarf.
22. Advertise and promote my website more.
23. Update photos in my work albums, and keep them up to date.
24. Improve the underside of my blackwork.
25. Add to hoopla wall.[Jan/Feb]
26. Tangled hoop.[Jan]
27. Wingardium Leviosa hoop.[Jan]
28. Glow in the dark Lumos hoop.
29. Deathly Hallows hoop.[Feb]
30. Felt Christmas stocking.
31. Finish Opeth WIP.[Feb]
32. Read more books on historical embroidery techniques.
33. Enter more craft challenges on DeviantArt.
34. Actually get enough courage to do my first swap on Craftster, instead of just reading all of the awesome ideas on the swap board and never entering one.
35. Go to more than 2 events this year.
36. Keep all the patterns on my laptop properly organised.
37. Make every card I give this year.
38. For my first piece of blackwork to sell on the stall.
39. Expand the range of embroidery stitches that I feel confident with. (Currently only really happy with back stitch and satin stitch)
40. Stop being terrified of doing French knots.[Feb]
41. Take better photographs of my work.
42. Keep my website up to date with pictures and blogs.
43. Be more active on my facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Embroidery-Emporium/115006128541419
44. Set up an Etsy store.[Jan]
45. Set up a Folksy store.[Feb]
46. Hopefully get more blackwork commissions.
47. Update my Flickr account with all the pictures I meant to upload there last year.
48. Try my first cross stitch on linen instead of aida.[Feb]
49. Stitch a Christmassy cross stitch.
50. Make more of my own patterns.

Pheww, well I think that list of epic-ness will keep my going for several years!!! Haha!! Anyone else set themselves challenges or aims for the year?
Vicki x