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

Tinkerbell Mini Cushions

Hii. So yet more Disney stitchery is appearing on my blog!! My friends granddaughter loves Tinkerbell and the first cushion was made for her. As she is quite young I didn't want to make something and just frame it, so thought a cushion would be a bit more fun and colourful.

I found the pattern on ebay and loved it and made up the pattern for the 'R'. After I finished the cross stitch I mounted it onto a piece of felt. As I can never leave the reverse side of my work blank, I stitched her name onto the back and added some sequins for a bit of extra sparkle. I then blanket stitched the two pieces of felt together. The cushion is stuffed with toy filling.

So, immediately after I finished this one and posted on my facebook, I was asked to make another one!! My Aunt commissioned me to make one for my cousin, who also loves Tinekrbell. I changed the colours of the flowers for this one, as I don't like to make things that are exactly the same. Charted out an 'M' for the front as well.

This cushion was then put together in the same way as the first. As it was a Christmas present I was asked to stitch 'Xmas 2011' into the back. They were actually pretty quick to stitch up and a fun pattern to do :)

Here's a close up shot of the first design so you can see all the details -

Thanks for reading, Vicki xx

Thomas Kinkade Cross Stitch

Soooo, yet again I have been dreadful with updating this blog. I was stupidly busy with stitching over Christmas and time just slipped away. I'm working on a pretty big blackwork commission at the moment in quite a short time frame so not much free time for blogging I'm afraid. Hopefully will get the chance to update this blog with all my latest pieces and show the amazing crafty bits I got for Christmas at some point soon. Having a brief sewing break for half hour so thought I'd do a quick blog about one of the Christmas present I made this year. My Mum is a huge fan of the painter Thomas Kinkade and she has wanted one of his pieces of artwork for years and years. I've been meaning to stitch her up a Kinkade piece for a while now and this Christmas I finally got around to doing one :) I found the kit for 'Evening Glow' on ebay. I had been searching for a kit I liked for weeks and finally found this one.

It was a printed canvas kit, so the picture was already on the aida material. It came with a chart, which gave a pattern for how you could embellish the picture with a variety of cross stitch, half stitch and back stitch using 1, 2 or 3 strands of thread to create a more 3d feel.

The great thing amount this chart was that you could add as many or as few embellishments as you wanted. I decided to pretty much stick exactly to the pattern on the chart, and once I had completed that, I added bits that I thought would make the piece stand out a bit more. This was really fun as I could just stitch what I wanted as I went along. I also stitched the artists signature into the corner.

The kit came with a load of blending filament. This was thread that I had never used before and I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive amount using it, as I have never really been found of using metallic threads. This turned out to be totally different to what I was expecting. It was much smoother than metallic threads, and although when you came to the end of the length of thread you were stitching with it was starting to fray slightly, for the most part it was incredibly easy to stitch with and gave a fabulous sparkly result. I would definitely use it over metallic thread in other projects that I wanted to add a bit of sparkle to.

Apologies for the rubbish phone camera picture, but this is the only shot of it I have were you can see just how sparkly the blending filament made it :) I had great fun stitching it up, and couldn't wait for Mum to unwrap it on Christmas day :) Thanks for reading, Vicki x

Blackwork Commission

Apologies for being dreadful at updating my blog recently, have been uber busy with stitching! So, back in May I received a blackwork commission for the fabulous couple who run 4 & 20 Blackbirds, who are a group that demonstrate authentic historical cookery, and I have to say there food is absolutely delicious!! Here's a link to their facebook which I recommend that you check out - https://www.facebook.com/pages/4and20-Blackbirds-bringing-historical-cookery-to-life/181236131901644 . I was commissioned to make two sets of blackwork collars and cuffs for them to wear with their posh Tudor outfits. We spent a while deciding on patterns and in the end we settled on this one from the Blackwork Archives - http://blackworkarchives.com/art/lace2.gif. I modified the pattern slightly, left out the crosses and the extra bit on the top of the pattern, as I thought this would make them a bit to wide for their purpose. A work in progress shot -

The thread of this linen was incredibly fine, which made counting it rather difficult and time consuming. In order to get a straight and uniform look with my blackwork, I always count the thread of the linen as I find this gives me the most precise results. It is embroidered with silk thread from the Silk Mill - http://www.thesilkmill.com/default.asp The finished cuffs -

There is over 60 inches of blackwork in total, which worked out as to nearly 120 hours worth of stitching - I think. Sort of lost count after I reached the 100 hours mark!!! The completed set was handed over at the end of October, and I am now very much looking forward to seeing the blackwork in use on their costume :D :D And here is the finished set -

Vicki.

Articles and Adverts

A few weeks back my friends at Black Knight Historical - http://www.blackknighthistorical.co.uk/ asked if I would like to put an article in a souvenir brochure for one of their upcoming events, Norfolk Living History Fayre. I wrote the article on the Katherine Howard blackwork cuffs I had made.

Page 1 -

Page 2 -

[Layout was made by Kindra Jones @ Black Knight Historical]

As well as the article I also had a small advert in the magazine -

And finally, I had a small photobook of all my historical embroidery made up to go to markets where my embroidery is being sold -

Exciting times :)

Cloak Modification.

A friend of mine asked me a few weeks back if I would be able to modify his cloak for him. He wanted some rabbit fur attaching to the shoulders. I had never worked with rabbit fur before so thought it would make an interesting challenge.

I got my friend to put on the cloak then draped the fur over the shoulders and pined it into place. We did not want to cut he pelts so in order for the fur to lie flat it was folded over slightly at the neckline. Then the stitching began. I started working along the neckline, stitching from the front to back seam, and the down the back. After this was done the cloak was tried on again and fur re-pinned. Most of the pelts were actually very easy to sew, the fur was incredibly soft and it was easy to push the needle through the under side. So that no stitching could be seen on the fur, it attached by stitching entirely through the leather-y underside of the fur.

The only area I experienced any difficulty was with stitching down the last bit of the right side. The pelt here was incredibly tough, and ended up in me bringing in reinforcements to help pull the needle through the fabric with a pair of pliers!!

Was quite a fun change to embroidery :)

More Disney Stitchery

So, I am *very* annoyed that I couldn't get to London this weekend to see Rapunzel get officially recognized as a Disney Princess. Really wanted to watch the parade :D :D Instead, I spent my morning sorting through loads of pictures and found all my Disney related crafts!! I've been really busy with loads of commissions and the likes recently so thought I should finally get around to updated the blog!!

I've been working at the Disney store for over a year now and since I've been there a few good friends have left for other jobs. The other girl who started at the same time as I did is leaving this week, which I was actually pretty sad about!! So I wanted to make her a goodbye card. I know she loves Belle and Beauty and the Beast and I found this colouring page of her online. I traced the pattern onto some cotton fabric then stitched around it with two strands of thread using back stitch. There's a bit a of satin stitch on her eyes and lips as well. I crayon tinted certain parts for a bit more colour, and then added some ribbon roses to her bouquet :)

This was another leaving card I made a colleague. I found a silhouette picture of Mickey Mouse and turned it into a cross stitch pattern KG Stitch. Stitched on 14 count white aida and mounted on some red paper before being stuck onto the card.

I made this Minnie card when my manager moved stores. I found the design online and stitched it onto 14 count aida also. I added some beads, as well as a ribbon bow.

As well as the card I also made her a framed piece. I found images of the Disney logo and Mickey Mouse and turned them into cross stitch patterns by using KG Stitch. I love this program - so easy to use!! I them put both the images together to create this -

And the last bit of Disney stitching I found was this Nightmare Before Christmas keyring I made. My friend loves Jack Skellington so for her birthday I made her this keyring out of felt :)

I'm sure there will be many more Disney themed stitchings on here :D :D

Thanks for reading, V x