Showing posts with label hand embroidery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hand embroidery. Show all posts

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Adding Paint to Hand Embroidery

Design (mine is slightly modified) is from Green Bean Baby's Etsy shop
 I've never added anything to hand embroidery aside from the thread, but I'm branching out!  The finished sample on Etsy had some color added, and my piece looked all wrong with just the lines of red thread for the hair.  The others from Green Bean looked fine to me without additional color, but this one needed more.
Off I went, down the crafting rabbit hole, to find a way to save the already half-embroidered piece.  The short and sweet is that I wasted too much time and money before contacting one of my artsy bloggers, Tiny Rotten Peanuts, for ideas on fabric paint.  She suggested a few things including Jacquard Textile paint which I ended up using.  Jacquard's True Red and colorless extender were the final choices to get the red here.   

I wanted the extender to make the color less opaque.  That didn't happen, but the extender did make the paints bleed less.  That was really important since I had already embroidered the hair outline. 

Once the painting was finished, I realized that the red thread practically disappeared in the paint.  Black would have worked better around the painted area.  Rather than pick all the red thread out, I weaved Christmas Red Fuzzy Stuff thread which is literally fuzzy thread with gold metallic pieces in it.  You can see it in this photo.

Love the end result. Being that she looks like a bit of a hussy, I gave her gold bead earrings along with a bead on the bodice.  

Lessons learned:
  • Never use water with the paint because it will bleed (unless you want that effect).
  • Sharpies don't hold their color in the wash.  In fact, of all the products I tried, Sharpies were the worst for bleeding and failing in the washing and drying tests.
  • Mix more than you think you will need and find a tiny container to save some extra in case you miss a spot--not that I have any experience with that.  That giant carrot top was a design choice--really.


Thursday, December 18, 2014

The Hand Embroidered Gingers



I promised Sandra, who is a ginger by the way, that I'd show her some of the hand embroidered gingers I've been accumulating.  The goal is to make a quilt eventually.  I'm trying to give each one a different shade of red hair.  This next one will have to be a centerpiece.  She looks like a bit of a hussy which is probably why I'm particularly fond of her.
I'll be changing the floss I am using for her hair because I recently found a bright red, slightly furry embroidery floss with bits of metallic fiber in it that I think will be perfect for this little floozie's hair.  Can't remember the Etsy shop that sells these, but I'm sure I can find it if someone is interested.  Now, if I could just find some boys to add to the mix.  Let me know if you see any out there on the interwebs.  Should you care to draw some, I'll be your first customer! 

Monday, July 15, 2013

Quick Look at the New Quilt Top

Remember this hand embroidered square I showed in this post?
design from Lecien site
  It was supposed to become a baby quilt, 
 
but it grew and grew
 Into a twin size.
I decided it would look nice in what will be the pale yellow bedroom when Kiefer moves out in a few months.

Now, onto the quilting.   I'm going to do this one by machine.

Monday, July 8, 2013

My Favorite Hand Quilting Notions

I often find new sewing products by reading blogs. I'm not talking about the paid reviews, just the "here's what I use" posts.  Just in case I'm not the last remaining hand quilter, I thought I'd share a few things that make my hand quilting easier.

First, a new one I stumbled upon at the fabric store, the Protect and Grip thimble from Clover. 
 
 It is grossly over-priced for what it is, but  since only Clover is making them, they can charge whatever they want!  I got this from Overstock.com. for $7.99--cheapest place I could find one including the local store.  Overstock has a lot of sewing items and no shipping charge. 

Why is this thimble so great?  The rubber keeps it from falling off your finger and the metal tip has that great rim that helps push the needle through tough spots. This turned out to be worth the extra money.  Added bonus:  freaking cute!

That thimble still won't replace these plain, old rubber finger tips that I've been using for years for hand quilting. This goes on the top hand to help pull the thread through. the thimble is on the bottom hand, right?
Please don't buy these at any specialty sewing stores.  You can get them at the office supply store for so much less--$2.49 for a twelve pack at Staples.  They stay on and make pulling the need through so much easier.

Next are these flat-head pins from Fons and Porter . 

I held off on buying these because I thought I pin was a pin.  I was wrong.  I bought some because I read that the flat head caused less distortion when piecing.  That really does help, but the super thinness of the metal part of the F & P pins also greatly lessens the distortion.  Another plus is that they come in the pretty tin WITH a window to see what's in there.

This one is also from Fons and Porter, curved safety pins for holding the fabrics and batting together. 
I'm not convinced that this brand is necessarily better than any other curved pin.  It's the curve in the pin that's worth paying a little extra.  These pins are easier to put on and create less fabric distortion than regular safety pins.  I've never been a fan of using straight pins for this purpose.  Straight pins are  either snagging fabric or pricking my fingers. 

The F & P pins are good quality, and I love the nice box with a window--decorative,  convenient, and matches those straight pins mentioned above.  Gotta make the sewing room look pretty.



Friday, June 14, 2013

Another Binky Bunny and Some Hand Embroidery

Life keeps getting in the way of my sewing.  It's so annoying.  I have accomplished a few thing, though. 

Another Baby Binky Bunny from the pattern I mentioned in the last post.  Love this one. I prefer the eyes hand sewn in place.  I loved his embroidered nose until my son wanted to know why I embroidered a rose there.  Now I'm feeling insecure about it.  By #3 I should have this stuff all straightened out.

I've also been doing some hand embroidery while watching television and when in the car (as a passenger--no need to worry for your life).
From the Lecien website
I found this design on the Lecien website among the free quilt patterns.  I've made some very minor tweaks in the design and changed the colors completely to match the fabric I'm going to be using.  The Lecien quilt is also quite colorful.  I just don't have that fabric or those threads in the stash.  I really, really must start using up the stash.

Off to enjoy the sun before it's gone.  We have had SO  much rain lately that I hate being inside when I finally see some sun.  Hope y'all are having a nice weather day, too!

Monday, May 27, 2013

The Pillow Sham Substitute

I have a love-hate relationship with pillow shams.  I love the way they look when professionals set them up for photo shoots, but hate the work to get that look on a daily basis.  I've resorted to  putting an extra set of pillows in the shams and throwing them in the chair at night.  To avoid this "pillow sham", (yes, it was a really bad play on words, but I couldn't resist it) I made what others now call a bed scarf for a pillow cover.

This is easier to take on and off and somewhat camouflages the fact that our pillows are different.  I like a smaller one than Brian.  
yup, that is a tree stump in the garden quilt
Why a tree stump in a "garden" quilt?  The quilt-along had 12 blocks and I needed 22 as the project grew and grew.  I know most people would not be showcasing a tree stump but, I actually have some amusing memories of digging out tree stumps in our yard.

As for the squirrel below, I do have squirrels in the garden, but cannot say I have fond memories of these beasts.  I once found one dragging my entire bird feeder across the street.