We have had a lovely vacation week this past week. Hazel was off from school and Steve took the week off as well. Unfortunately he got sick for the first part and missed our trip to Cape Cod to visit my parents. But today I had time to myself and started to work on a craft. Did you know February is National Embroidery Month? In honor of that I am sharing a Handy Pocket Guide: Embroidery Guide by Christen Brown.
This handy guide goes through the basics of embroidery from choosing what fabric to use to how to make the stitches. It also shares adding embellishments and more. The pages share various projects but there are no instructions for these beautiful projects.
It shares stitches for embroidery floss or some string as well as silk ribbon embroidery. I love silk ribbon embroidery but don't see much of the silk ribbon to actually do it. Since I had time today I decided to design my own sampler. I decided to make it heart shape for Hazel and to put her name on it. I printed a heart from my computer and drew it on a piece of linen. I also traced a ruler top and bottom across the heart horizontally and wrote out HAZEL. I did all of this in pencil very lightly. Then I tried various stitches in the book so I could tell you about the instructions.
It has been awhile since I really embroidered. I have always done the satin stitch which wasn't in this book and the backstitch. Again it wasn't in this book. I have done the chain stitch and blanket stitch previously but am not always good at them. I felt like the instructions were very easy to follow. However I still struggle with french knots. I don't know why I am so inconsistent with them, but I still am. You can see it on the blue buds on the bottom. I also learned stitches I hadn't done previously like the modern fern stitch, herring bone and more. I am going to keep working on it and finish her name. I stopped because it was time consuming and I wanted to try other stitches. Hazel is in love with it. In fact she pulled out her own embroidery and wanted me to teach her the chain stitch. She drew herself a small heart and at first got frustrated but I told her to stick with it and she did and felt great when she got it. Maybe tomorrow or some time in the near future she will try another stitch. She did not understand the instructions, but I think once I explained what to do the instructions made sense to her. She really had never read embroidery instructions previously. She has taught herself the satin stitch or perhaps I showed her a long time ago, but she has gotten much better.
This guide is great for remembering stitches or trying new ones. I hope you will check it out!
Now it is time to see what you have been creating! Thank you to everyone who shared with us at our last party. There were some great ideas shared. Below are a few of the features from our last party, but be sure to go back and check out the many great crafts shared! Please remember Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop is a place to share all your diverse and cultural posts there. I can't wait to see what your latest creations are!!
Features
1) From Busy Being Jennifer: DIY Felt Heart Rainbow Tote
2) From Celebrating Everyday Life: DIY Paper Heart Garland
3) From The Scrap Shoppe: No Sew Mardi Gras Masks
4) From Flamingo Toes: Spring Bunnies in Love Pillow
5) From Colletta's Kitchen Sink: Happy Homemaker Monday Block #4
6) From Anika's DIY Life: Easy Modern DIY Copper Decor with Concrete Flowers
Inlinkz Link Party
This handy guide goes through the basics of embroidery from choosing what fabric to use to how to make the stitches. It also shares adding embellishments and more. The pages share various projects but there are no instructions for these beautiful projects.
It has been awhile since I really embroidered. I have always done the satin stitch which wasn't in this book and the backstitch. Again it wasn't in this book. I have done the chain stitch and blanket stitch previously but am not always good at them. I felt like the instructions were very easy to follow. However I still struggle with french knots. I don't know why I am so inconsistent with them, but I still am. You can see it on the blue buds on the bottom. I also learned stitches I hadn't done previously like the modern fern stitch, herring bone and more. I am going to keep working on it and finish her name. I stopped because it was time consuming and I wanted to try other stitches. Hazel is in love with it. In fact she pulled out her own embroidery and wanted me to teach her the chain stitch. She drew herself a small heart and at first got frustrated but I told her to stick with it and she did and felt great when she got it. Maybe tomorrow or some time in the near future she will try another stitch. She did not understand the instructions, but I think once I explained what to do the instructions made sense to her. She really had never read embroidery instructions previously. She has taught herself the satin stitch or perhaps I showed her a long time ago, but she has gotten much better.
This guide is great for remembering stitches or trying new ones. I hope you will check it out!
Now it is time to see what you have been creating! Thank you to everyone who shared with us at our last party. There were some great ideas shared. Below are a few of the features from our last party, but be sure to go back and check out the many great crafts shared! Please remember Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop is a place to share all your diverse and cultural posts there. I can't wait to see what your latest creations are!!
Features
1) From Busy Being Jennifer: DIY Felt Heart Rainbow Tote
2) From Celebrating Everyday Life: DIY Paper Heart Garland
3) From The Scrap Shoppe: No Sew Mardi Gras Masks
4) From Flamingo Toes: Spring Bunnies in Love Pillow
5) From Colletta's Kitchen Sink: Happy Homemaker Monday Block #4
6) From Anika's DIY Life: Easy Modern DIY Copper Decor with Concrete Flowers
Thank you to everyone who shared the last week!! I hope you will share again!! If you are featured here, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog. I would love the help spreading the word about Crafty Weekends!!
Inlinkz Link Party
