Less is More - Week 77 - Theme

Morning everyone.  Well, it's another glorious day.... blue skies and sunshine - fingers crossed it lasts!  The latest challenge over at Less is More is:

Week 77

Theme week once more and this time it's

SEWING

For this it could be machine or hand sewing.. faux or stamped... you could even use sewing related images... just let your imagination roam!

Ahha I thought - this is right up my street..... yippee!  I'll start on the easiest bits first - a white textured 6x6 card blank and a piece of black ribbed card.  I have done a zigzag stitch in silver thread around the black mat.  For the topper I have cut out a leaf shape from Art Emboss pewter metal and placed it on a piece of soluble fabric and free machined over the metal and all around the outside area.  When it was "done" I washed out the soluble fabric and was left with the topper you can see.  I've added a close-up photo of the leaf on the main photograph.

Thanks for dropping by.

Lettuce edging and more.............

This is totally different to my normal posting about cards............... I have been doing lots of sewing recently and have just finished these two pieces ready to take to my class tomorrow morning.

The piece on the left is a strip from a pair of black opaque tights, satin stitched down each edge, then a thinner strip finished in the same way sewn down the centre. There is a tacking stitch down the length which, when gathered, gives this lovely frilly "embellishment" - it's normally referred to as lettuce edging and is great fun to do. The second piece is a piece of felt sewn from centre of the circle to the edge continuously going around the circle numerous (and I mean numerous) times - it gets to a stage where you cannot sew any more into the centre as the stitching is too thick so you cut out the circle from the piece of felt and continue stitching around the edge until it actually doubles in size and you can manipulate it into various shapes. I would hate to tell you how long this piece took but believe me it was ages!!! Now all I've got to do is find a use for it........... lol

Thanks for looking.

Empty Vessels!!!

On Monday I went to a one day workshop at Hansons in Sturminster Newton called "It's a Wrap - Vessels". The tutor was Lynn Horniblow who is also my tutor for free machine embroidery.

We had a great day. We started off with a square of felt (yellow in my case which didn't really inspire me) but by the time we had finished free machining the felt and adding a lining the piece was completely transformed. A white cord was added around the square which needed to be sewn over using a matching thread. The finished article is really pleasing and ideal for those little gifts. Who would have thought it started with a humble piece of felt!!!

Thanks for looking.

Pewter - more free machining

Following on from my post yesterday where I worked with metal and free machining I received a roll of pewter in the post and couldn't wait to have a play.

This is slightly different in that I have embossed the pewter in the shape of a flower and then used my sewing machine to create a texture on the rest of the metal leaving the flower smooth and three dimensional. The pewter was sewn onto a piece of black felt which really shows it off well.

Thanks for looking.

Using metal with free machine embroidery

I've been taking some time out from card making to concentrate on my free machine embroidery and have been using metal together with free machine embroidery.


This is done in an embroidery hoop with solufleece. It is quite difficult to get a good enough photo of reflect the delicacy of these pieces but at least it will give you an idea.


I am hoping to use this type of work on my piece of ethnic jewellery that I am making in my free machine embroidery course but that won't be completed until the summer as I am still working on the design and what types of embroidery, fabrics, metals etc will be used.


I think it is going to be a heavy collar/necklace but have to work out a lot of things before I even start on it.

Thanks for looking.

From tiny acorns...............

Having already had a go at making my own fabric I was itching to have another try at it.

This photo shows the basic goodies you need - black felt and some bits and pieces of fabric from sheers to cottons.



Then with the aid of some free machine embroidery you end up with a piece of fabric that looks something like this.



I took the fabric and cut out four pieces to make my bag. Each piece had to be zigzagged around the edges and then sewn together with each of the pieces making a point at the bottom of the bag. Next I made two holes in each side to take the cord - I used a plain paper punch and set in eyelets using my Crop-a-Dile. I attached a tassel and some beads to the bottom of the bag. Unfortunately I didn't have a tassel that matched the bag and then hit upon the idea of using my Promarkers to colour it - it was pale blue to start with and it's now purple. I think it worked a treat and because the Promarkers are alcohol based it dried immediately. Out of the left over fabric I cut out three flowers which I sewed together and then attached to the bag and sewed a bead to the centre of each flower.

Thanks for joining me today.

Evening bag

I have just managed to finish off my project that I started in my free machine embroidery class before Christmas.

I made the fabric completely from scratch on a base of black felt, then adding leaf shapes in various fabrics with a sheer over the top and then free machine embroidery over the top of that. The fabric was lined, pattern cut out and then each raw edge had to be zigzagged over three times (different lengths and widths of stitch) before sewing together. The actual shape of the bag is really nice but it was difficult to get a photograph that showed it off to it's best. The bag comes to a point at the bottom and looks somewhat medieval. Holes were made in each section for the cord to go through and from the left over fabric leaves were cut out to attach to the sides of the bag and then had beads sewn on to them.

I really enjoyed doing this project especially as the complete thing was made from virtually nothing.

Thanks for looking.

Treasure Casket

I've been itching to put my new sewing machine to good use and had a fabulous pattern for a Treasure Casket from Janet Humphrey which was in the latest edition of Stitch magazine. It uses pelmet vilene for the main casket which is dyed with silk paints as are the lace flowers. The flowers are added after scraps of fabrics and then free machine embroidered onto the panels. The casket is lined with a matching silk dupion with fibres and beads used as a closure. Seed beads and pearls are then hand stitched onto the panels. I really enjoyed making this and my machine certainly stood up to the task!!

Autumn Trees

Well I must stop making these - they are becoming addictive!!!! My friend Anne gave me a bag of bits the other day and amongst them was a length of hessian and I wondered whether I would be able to use it for this drawn thread work. As you can see it turned out fine - I was really pleased with the colours on this one. Again, this is a variation on the "Enchanted Woods" kit by Tracy Curtis.

Dandelion Clock

I made this free machine embroidered and silk painting a while ago for someone very special. It was done whilst I was on a one day workshop in Charmouth with Tracy Curtis who is a brilliant tutor. She provides everything in the way of silk, paints etc and you just have to take your sewing machine. Definitely recommended!!

Reflections

This is a free machine embroidered and embellished piece of drawn thread work. It's only the second piece I have done like this but really had fun doing it. The background is a piece of painted silk. Again, a variation on the "Enchanted Woods" kit by Tracy Curtis.

Enchanted Woods

This is the first piece of drawn thread work I have attempted using free machine embroidery, an embellisher machine and silk painting behind. There are also beads sewn into the tree tops and french knots embroidered at the base of the trees. This was made up from a kit entitled "Enchanted Woods" which was purchased as a Christmas present for me from Tracy Curtis.