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Archive: Needlearts
September 14, 2009
Stitched Car Mat Mini-Quilt From Child's Drawing
Ellen from The Long Thread created this charming car mat mini quilt from her daughter's drawing on a magnetic doodle board. Ellen scanned the image in to the computer, traced it in Illustrator and digitized it for machine embroidery. The same could be done to create a pattern for hand embroidery. I've always loved the ideas of using children's illustrations for stitching, and this fun little mat for driving cars is just fantastic!
Posted by Rachel Hobson |
Sep 14, 2009 10:00 AM
Kids, Needlearts |
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September 9, 2009
Recycled Materials Stitching For Kids
I love this ingenious project for stitching with your kids from This Little Project. Using recycled materials from an "invention junk box" kids are able to practice the motions of stitching and creating their own projects. Brilliant!
Posted by Rachel Hobson |
Sep 9, 2009 03:00 PM
Kids, Needlearts, Recycle |
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September 7, 2009
How-To: Mini Plastic Canvas Sewing Box
Kristin from Craft Leftovers recently shared a great story about uncovering some crafty treasures of her grandmother's, including a small sewing box made from plastic canvas. Inspired by her findings, she's developed a pattern for a mini plastic canvas sewing box based on her grandmother's design. The pattern is available for download through her web site.
Posted by Rachel Hobson |
Sep 7, 2009 03:00 PM
Needlearts |
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September 6, 2009
Haunted Mansion Embroidery
Halloween is around the corner, and it's never to early to start thinking about spooky decor. One of the spookiest memories from my childhood was touring the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. I love this depiction of the three ghosts at the end of the ride, because it's seasonal art that isn't overly obivous. This work "screams" Halloween without being too Halloween.
Haunted Mansion Embroidery by Giddie Girlie on Etsy is the kind of holiday decoration that never has to come down! She custom stitches each piece, to your specifications, when you order it, with a super fast turnaround of only about 1 week. All for $25- now that's scary!
Posted by Brookelynn |
Sep 6, 2009 06:00 PM
Halloween, Home Decor, Needlearts |
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September 5, 2009
Cyrillic Cross-Stitch Alphabets
I took two years of Russian in high school, and another two years in college, and was lucky enough to visit Russia back in 1992. Among the many things I love about the Russian language is the beautiful Cyrillic alphabet. These vintage Cyrillic cross-stitch alphabets are making me swoon with inspiration. Russian isn't the only language to use the Cyrillic alphabet, though, and it looks like these alphabets might actually be Macedonian (Cyrillic experts, let us know in the comments). They are still gorgeous, though, and remind me how much fun it was to learn to write and understand letters like Ж (zhe) and Ф (ef).
They were featured on the Free Historic Old Pattern Books blog run by a gentleman named Ramzi who collects, scans and posts old cross-stitch patterns. He's featured Russian books before, but most have consisted of more imagery than lettering. It's these gorgeous letterforms that have me very excited. There are several in this collection, and the cover of the book is over-the-top gorgeous in its design and lettering, and literally makes me weak in the knees. Enjoy!
Posted by Rachel Hobson |
Sep 5, 2009 03:00 PM
Needlearts |
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September 4, 2009
Subversive Finds with Julie Jackson: Talking with Katherine Shaughnessy + Pattern
Katherine Shaughnessy is one of my favorite people on the craft scene. She runs the online shop Wool & Hoop, which is one of the main online suppliers for crewelwork kits and fine supplies. She is also the author of The New Crewel. A few years ago, she moved from Chicago to the very small Texas town of Marfa (population 2,000), where she now has ten chickens and two kids, and she recently opened a little craft store on the town square. Katherine is a trained artist with an interesting story and I really wanted her to tell it in her own words.
Katherine is pictured above wearing an outfit created by her shopmate, Lorna Leedy.
Read full story
Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu |
Sep 4, 2009 08:00 AM
Columns, Needlearts |
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September 3, 2009
The Tennessee Sampler Survey
The Tennessee Sampler Survey is a project founded to "document and preserve Tennessee's needlework heritage."
For many years, textile scholars assumed that sampler making was not practiced in the South. Our research has shown that Tennessee girls made samplers from the era of settlement through the end of the 19th century.
Their collection of samplers is available through their web site with zoom-in features and history with each piece. It's fascinating to look through them and imagine young folks diligently stitching so many years ago. It's a brilliant way to learn about our past, and great inspiration for future crafting!
[ via Pin Tangle ]
Posted by Rachel Hobson |
Sep 3, 2009 03:00 PM
Needlearts |
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Crocheted horse hats
MAKE's photo editor Sam Murphy sent us this great photo she recently took in Vienna. She writes:
I was on a lightning trip with my fiance and his parents in Germany for my soon-to-be family reunion. We were in Germany mostly, but we hopped on the train to Prague and Vienna. These were the horse and carriage rides you see all over Vienna. Not all of them where crochet like this one, but I saw maybe one or two more. (I like the silver details on the ends, the yarn seem to be faded, but it may be the yarn is dyed.) Pretty much all of them had their ears covered like this with a hat, usually of cotton. Too much to see, and too much great food to eat!
The photo -- taken in front of Vienna's famous St. Stephens Cathedral -- got us excited about what other horse projects might be out there for us to crochet. These ear or fly bonnets, used to protect the horses' ears from flies, seem to be the most common crochet project. Here's a short list of related websites we found; feel free to post other resources or photos of projects you've done in the Comments!
- Crochet Horse Ear Bonnet
- St. Patrick's Day Parade
- Crochet for the Horse
- Bonnet Chasse-Mouche
- Pattern: Goose - Horse Hat
Posted by Shawn Connally |
Sep 3, 2009 12:00 PM
Cozy Up to Yarn, Crochet, Needlearts, Yarn |
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August 29, 2009
Pocket Stitch Book
Download this free PDF where you can fold up this adorable Pocket Stitch Book by Cassi from Bella Dia and The Crafty Crow that 's over at the Sew, Mama, Sew blog. I love that I can just keep this little book handy in my little craft supply bag to use as a reference while embroidering.
Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu |
Aug 29, 2009 08:00 AM
Needlearts |
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August 28, 2009
Queen Anne's Lace Pillowcase Project
Alicia of Posy Gets Cozy shares a project on Sew, Mama, Sew, a Queen Anne Lace Pillowcase project where you can embroider a sweet looking Ollalieberry.
From the pattern:
Embroidered all in one color of embroidery floss, this simple design uses only three stitches -- stem stitch, satin stitch, and French knot -- for a modern take on a very old-fashioned flower.
Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu |
Aug 28, 2009 10:00 AM
Home Decor, Needlearts, Patterns |
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August 26, 2009
Mimi Kirchner Profile on Etsy
I first came across Mimi Kirchner's work about two years ago through the Flickr Embroidery Group. I was blown away by her Tiki soft sculptures, her tattooed men dolls and her delicate female and male dolls. I've followed her work closely ever since, and am continuously amazed by her artful skill and brilliant attention to detail, not to mention, her warm and generous personality. The Storque at Etsy features Kirchner in a pieced in their Handmade Portrait series that gives wonderful insight into her background in art, lifelong love of dolls and how her habitual collecting lends specials details to all her work. It's given me a whole new love and appreciation for her artistry!
Posted by Rachel Hobson |
Aug 26, 2009 03:00 PM
Arts & Design, Needlearts |
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August 24, 2009
How-To: Needle Wallet With Embroidery
Natalie at Cinderberry Stitches shares instructions and and a free embroidery pattern for making a sweet needle wallet.
Posted by Rachel Hobson |
Aug 24, 2009 07:00 AM
Needlearts, Sewing |
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August 21, 2009
Sculpted And Sewn Art From Summer Wheat
I am blown away by the work of artist, Summer Wheat, who incorporates stitching techniques into her oil paintings. More information from The Constant Gatherer.
Posted by Rachel Hobson |
Aug 21, 2009 03:00 PM
Arts & Design, Needlearts |
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How-To: Pouch With Reverse Applique And Embroidery
Karin of Orange Flower shares how to make this cute multi-purpose pouch (think pencils, makeup, feminine needs) with reverse applique of an embroidered patch. The pen and pencil motif that she used comes from the Sexy Librarian set of embroidery patterns from Sublime Stitching, and have been made available as a free PDF to go along with Karin's project!
Posted by Rachel Hobson |
Aug 21, 2009 07:00 AM
Needlearts, Sewing |
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August 19, 2009
How-To: Embroidered Sachet
Melissa from Checkout Girl shares how to make a simple and lovely embroidered, lavender-filled sachet, perfect for gift-giving.
Posted by Rachel Hobson |
Aug 19, 2009 03:00 PM
Needlearts, Sewing |
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August 18, 2009
3D Profile Embroidery
Cindy in Gainesville, Florida makes these embroidered profile portraits that pop off of the fabric with 3D arms. (Thanks, Katie Wilson!)
Posted by Becky Stern |
Aug 18, 2009 02:00 PM
Needlearts |
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August 17, 2009
ASCII Table Sampler
From the CRAFT Flickr pool, user funnypolynomial writes:
Quite a while ago I came up with the idea of creating an ASCII chart done as an old-school cross-stitched Sampler, I liked the juxtaposition of the modern and the old. I started the project (stitching the grid) but became discouraged by the slow progress. So I left if there for ages. Recently I got keen to start again, but decided to simplify and shrink the design a little. More importantly I spread my progress over the grid and some of its contents so I was always "making progress". 60+ hours stitching, 5k+ "stitches"
Posted by Becky Stern |
Aug 17, 2009 09:00 AM
Needlearts |
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August 14, 2009
How-To: Wool Felt Applique in a Hoop Frame
I'm still giddy over Sew, Mama, Sew!'s hand-sewing month, and today's tutorial just adds to the fun. Melissa from Checkout Girl and Little Pink House shows how to create this sweet wool felt applique house and flowers in an embroidery hoop frame.
Posted by Rachel Hobson |
Aug 14, 2009 03:00 PM
Needlearts |
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Embroidered Tablecloth Mess
This "messy" tablecloth features pre-spilled wine and other evidenced of a raucous dinner party. Via MAKE on Twitter.
Posted by Becky Stern |
Aug 14, 2009 02:00 PM
Home Decor, Needlearts |
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Blending Embroidery Floss Colors
Jenny Hart has a tutorial up over on the Chronicle Books blog about her tricks for giving dimension to stitching by blending embroidery floss colors. The technique is simple, and the result can be quite dramatic!
Posted by Rachel Hobson |
Aug 14, 2009 07:00 AM
Needlearts |
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