Doctor Who Stitchalong Kickoff!

Come join in the fun!

Today is the first day of the Doctor Who Stitch Along, for which I have had the great pleasure of designing 3 embroidered blocks!

Here is block #1, William Hartnell as the First Doctor:

 

Please click on the above banner to get to Fandom in Stitches for the pattern.

Enjoy!

Regency Accessories Abound!

I recently held a giveaway on the LiveJournal TTMT community and the winner was the lovely and talented Jordan. I knew she had just completed her Regency gown and bonnet, so I decided to make her some accessories!

 

This is a reticule, an essential addition to any Regency lady's ensemble. This small handbag is made with a silky poly blend, and lined with a navy blue charmeuse. I modified Butterick pattern 5580 by reducing the size (by about 30-40% I think) and adding the tassel. The tassel is made from DMC pearl cotton. The drawstring is a satin cord which runs through 8 eyelets, folding in the edges of the bag at the sides.

Here are some details of the embroidery, the design of which is from Dover Publications' Victorian Floral Iron-on Transfer Patterns. This is worked in 2-strand satin stitch, stem stitch, and french knots.

 

 

To tuck inside her reticule, I made Miss J a hankie. The satin stitches could have been a bit better planned out! They're going every which way, but we can tell ourselves that it adds depth to the piece, can't we?

 

Initials from Dover Publications' 712 Decorative Letters. Worked in 2-strand satin stitch, lazy daisy, and french knots.

These were both such fun to do. It had been awhile since I'd had traditional pieces on my hoop, and these projects were a pleasure!

Spring Fling Blog Hop Block!

Happy spring everyone!

What a joy to be part of Soma's blog hop. I hope you enjoy this simple block, especially you gardeners! There's no better way to celebrate Earth Day than getting your hands in some dirt. :)

First Bloom, a 10" paperpieced block

Please click here for the PDF.

If anyone has any problems with the document or the pattern, please contact me via comments.

Thank you for visiting!

Fabulous Fandom Mashup Embroidery

When Jen posed a mashup challenge to all of us Fandom in Stitchers, I knew what I had to do!

 

 

I ended up winning the challenge! :D

Here is my initial sketch, done of the scrap of paper where I printed off the description of the sitting room at Spinner's End from HBP:

I ran out of time to do the Oriental rug, but overall I think I got the gist of it. Originally there was to be a certain Professor's wand and a cup of tea on the "rickety table," but the sonic screwdriver got left there instead.

Here is an action shot of the Work in Progress:

I used tissue paper transfer to get Soma's wonderful TARDIS pattern just right, as well as the shape of the chair. Everything else I freehanded with chalk.

And do you wanna see the back? It's a hot mess!

And a few closeups, as requested by the fabulous Soma herself:

The Sonic Screwdriver is simply 1 bugle bead and 2 seed beads!

 

Safe to say I ran out of blue floss after the TARDIS was done.

Here is the Professor's threadbare chair, worked in satin, chain, and bullion stitch.

And here is the "candle-filled lamp" as I saw it in my head.

Thank you, as always, to Jennifer at FiS for motivating us all to make our fandom daydreams come to life!

Doctor Who Embroidery Tutorial

Here is an embroidery project for the Whovians among you!

(Spoiler alert - if you are a new fan and haven't gotten to A Good Man Goes to War, this project will totally spoil that episode for you.)

Cross-posted at Fandom in Stitches...

Tutorial after the jump....spoilers, sweetie!

The Fourth Doctor Mug Rug

Here is a quick project I wanted to make for my friend Jewells (her blog is here). This lovely lady, whom I met through the fabulous TTMT community, has sent me care packages full of crafty goodies which both my daughters and I always thoroughly enjoy.

I happen to know that she is a loooong-time Dr. Who fan, and I believe Her Doctor is #4. So, what to do? A mug rug, that's what.

These are two patterns from Fandom in Stitches. Halves of two patterns, actually. The Doctor's scarf is the lower half of Cat's 'Torn Ribbon' pattern, and of course the half-TARDIS is Jen's TARDIS, version 2. I have not seen the older incarnations of Dr. Who (like so many others, I started with Ecclescakes), and I'm pretty sure his scarf was never flying out behind the TARDIS, but what the hey. You get the idea.

Enjoy your cuppa, Jewells! :)

Moroccan Caftan Embroidery

Here is another 12-for-2012!

This is a gift for my mum, it's just waiting for a frame. The design is from a line-art drawing from Islamic Designs by Diane Victoria Horn. It's a ceremonial caftan and belt from 19th century Rabat.

Since it started as just a line drawing, I decided to make it into a sort of sampler, trying all kinds of stitches that I'd never done before. It's worked on a poly blend "silk shantung", backed with muslin. Worked in chain, stem, straight, buttonhole, fern, bullion, and satin stitches. Here are some pictures of the process.

The original design, traced using water-soluable ink:

There are babouches, or slipper-type shoes, in the original design. I tried to include them but they just never looked quite right.

I basted muslin around the edges to fit the piece nicely into a hoop. Here it is in the beginning, in summer!

I wanted to try a blackwork design for the belt, so I first drew in a grid to use as a guideline:

And here are some detail shots of the final piece:

A few new stitches under my belt! Success!