tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33830280920779703092024-03-19T03:06:36.688+00:00Stitched Up by SamanthaSam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.comBlogger334125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-26881117717107676812020-09-14T10:10:00.000+01:002020-09-14T10:10:39.987+01:00An Anniversary of Sorts<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yesterday Facebook reminded me that it was exactly 8 years ago that I first tried free motion embroidery. I celebrated by cutting up lots of little scraps of Liberty fabric for some new kits I will be listing in my Etsy shop hopefully later this week.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Whilst doing so I got thinking about all the different things I've created with free motion embroidery since that workshop and the different opportunities it's given me. </span></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I don't think I imagined then that I'd still be doing as much free motion embroidery as I am, or still loving it as much as I did that very first time. If possible, I love it even more now, getting the seed of an idea for a new piece, searching out exactly the right fabrics to use, cutting and preparing everything, then finally sitting down to stitch. There isn't a part of the process I don't enjoy, I even love cutting out the sometimes very fiddly bits of fabric I use. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The two pieces below were the very first ones I created during the workshop. Piles or stacks of things seemed to catch my eye!</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6V923505Zud5bYaF74kOVn824i4hAnBYHiKABLLE0HeYJHU6gTEnn262KEudbuiN-F4iXtbE0PBkuMoFn9OvBV3AsfKwwecV2XMOg1qCMTsZIkyozAG1aCxD-eFtSzi4mkasBPNw7Jmm/s640/P1020964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6V923505Zud5bYaF74kOVn824i4hAnBYHiKABLLE0HeYJHU6gTEnn262KEudbuiN-F4iXtbE0PBkuMoFn9OvBV3AsfKwwecV2XMOg1qCMTsZIkyozAG1aCxD-eFtSzi4mkasBPNw7Jmm/w500-h375/P1020964.JPG" width="500" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigzj3OTpiXEGd1qQwF4RwFEgXH0P4rXtaln3e4zYNOvpqkTLPl3cP1Dzos9-XvTNov52ufjS7ydkyXlaFa3sDbgwzFkGsv-VW7Ux-sUZKROD0F8rgpQcjk5vQkPjd-yuQsj4RzzGyQUcSv/s640/P1020965.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigzj3OTpiXEGd1qQwF4RwFEgXH0P4rXtaln3e4zYNOvpqkTLPl3cP1Dzos9-XvTNov52ufjS7ydkyXlaFa3sDbgwzFkGsv-VW7Ux-sUZKROD0F8rgpQcjk5vQkPjd-yuQsj4RzzGyQUcSv/w469-h625/P1020965.JPG" width="469" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">You can see in both these images I've used watercolour paint to add shading; something I tend not to do in my work now, although I have recently added acrylic paint to create backgrounds in a couple of pieces. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Since then I've experimented with all kinds of images, from bicycles and motorbikes to robins and Christmas wreaths through to a selection of portraits. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimJ7jGxaCpOs9ZF772eGDWpfp7egCrM8DQfBfwoMZwi7Q1feEGAqTXfp1yT8L3MoaBiv76oozUGuF9LlwfFldZOi7uF9p2uo4uIfDDHWdp26PxtHHHKhrz6sLLz_l8IjnTR-S0n1zlymsO/s640/20161018_104445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="637" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimJ7jGxaCpOs9ZF772eGDWpfp7egCrM8DQfBfwoMZwi7Q1feEGAqTXfp1yT8L3MoaBiv76oozUGuF9LlwfFldZOi7uF9p2uo4uIfDDHWdp26PxtHHHKhrz6sLLz_l8IjnTR-S0n1zlymsO/w498-h500/20161018_104445.jpg" width="498" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dffVMCLwSjeOKTr9jKYwruepReoXfW_qMTpFL82qTjIhKw9XOOK9_36tNXyw1cfLKXVOQFFzSsYmyWSgeFo2iP0YF1ZhJIjBRhjeAJeWuePv-J2EyjUiYPm_b_kLtz9imdD4uxDVlsm-/s600/Free_Motion_Mistletoe_Wreath_Fabric_HQ_grande.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dffVMCLwSjeOKTr9jKYwruepReoXfW_qMTpFL82qTjIhKw9XOOK9_36tNXyw1cfLKXVOQFFzSsYmyWSgeFo2iP0YF1ZhJIjBRhjeAJeWuePv-J2EyjUiYPm_b_kLtz9imdD4uxDVlsm-/w500-h500/Free_Motion_Mistletoe_Wreath_Fabric_HQ_grande.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-8FDIGKT7xVTG0mtRsQEYIENr9mXVyKOgzCujRIyuhDreU9ynlUM89-lQP5Pgp6nQWb7Llx41JFDFiXnCyNGc4H-wOK_d2w2JiezU6JdrLnZL9ktjE__4rvXcKlQv7p6FEwEKJ96UvIq/s2048/Bike+horizontal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1449" data-original-width="2048" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-8FDIGKT7xVTG0mtRsQEYIENr9mXVyKOgzCujRIyuhDreU9ynlUM89-lQP5Pgp6nQWb7Llx41JFDFiXnCyNGc4H-wOK_d2w2JiezU6JdrLnZL9ktjE__4rvXcKlQv7p6FEwEKJ96UvIq/w500-h354/Bike+horizontal.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvYLCslaHNMz_Il4OiBNm26b_rj3ITSD9xS5F4AZIGWareQWS8I13z1s9_XhY6_Sj503Xb7Fo2g4lYIJwWdmWGMMLYn2sBXbQiT3fk0V67LrbnVFBy3l-6oyHTufeGIhCSdZOg9FA1My39/s2048/IMG_20171204_0001+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1486" data-original-width="2048" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvYLCslaHNMz_Il4OiBNm26b_rj3ITSD9xS5F4AZIGWareQWS8I13z1s9_XhY6_Sj503Xb7Fo2g4lYIJwWdmWGMMLYn2sBXbQiT3fk0V67LrbnVFBy3l-6oyHTufeGIhCSdZOg9FA1My39/w500-h363/IMG_20171204_0001+%25282%2529.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEija0_kmcwYnGkVqVAjxZElW4G_DzRzi0oBmbKXl8awvL7YeZY_ycO4zN5bNDm6AaV9cMLI64Rm9BPm8x-Qeqhj8FwfPUWlNlCshhzQP5ZKr5QZP_aVQA7Oj3hQrbZ9x1aQFS8zdrE67n5K/s2048/Ziggy+Stardust.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1442" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEija0_kmcwYnGkVqVAjxZElW4G_DzRzi0oBmbKXl8awvL7YeZY_ycO4zN5bNDm6AaV9cMLI64Rm9BPm8x-Qeqhj8FwfPUWlNlCshhzQP5ZKr5QZP_aVQA7Oj3hQrbZ9x1aQFS8zdrE67n5K/w439-h625/Ziggy+Stardust.jpg" width="439" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFn_uZp1fncvksX7xFmGvYUyvW2Gj4kj2SKjlE7fB0Ntp2KFcG84rvpePgxoN_EqcmBjz2qXAePTe7CvpWMGO8zWk374AHdlt1SiFPus4xgkyPLiFE5vOC2IW3aGWEO1_pbI2iGqGeM-b/s2048/Bowie+Shhh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1486" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFn_uZp1fncvksX7xFmGvYUyvW2Gj4kj2SKjlE7fB0Ntp2KFcG84rvpePgxoN_EqcmBjz2qXAePTe7CvpWMGO8zWk374AHdlt1SiFPus4xgkyPLiFE5vOC2IW3aGWEO1_pbI2iGqGeM-b/w454-h625/Bowie+Shhh.jpg" width="454" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I've also taught lots of classes and workshops, including one at the <a href="http://www.stitchedupbysamantha.co.uk/2019/03/iconic-fun-portraits-at-knitting-and.html" target="_blank">Knitting and Stitching Show</a> last year. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVcfZd3Rf7ANfsgMPLmCdRdcGLjFhcuh9IWIBpUci4rqbwNc_sQhHq7Jv6qRhmezoFfRi3Xl6631e_YWifxZjldLojOXVoEnxU2dm85W8580kCt6ZAK97muv_IOSQQoCjm6fUMzD3YZhWk/s1080/stitchedupsam-1572694847891.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVcfZd3Rf7ANfsgMPLmCdRdcGLjFhcuh9IWIBpUci4rqbwNc_sQhHq7Jv6qRhmezoFfRi3Xl6631e_YWifxZjldLojOXVoEnxU2dm85W8580kCt6ZAK97muv_IOSQQoCjm6fUMzD3YZhWk/w500-h500/stitchedupsam-1572694847891.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I <a href="http://www.stitchedupbysamantha.co.uk/2019/04/the-little-book-of-sewing.html" target="_blank">designed and stitched the cover of a book</a> and was <a href="https://didyoumakethat.com/2019/03/30/designing-the-cover-for-the-little-book-of-sewing/" target="_blank">interviewed by it's author</a> for her blog, and have given a talk to an Embroiderers Guild group, all things I could never have imagined doing. T</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">he photo above shows the book on sale in my local Waterstones. (No, I didn't tell anyone in there I was responsible for the cover). </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Here's to the next 8 years!</span></div>Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-35141083810882067512020-06-23T20:13:00.001+01:002020-06-23T20:14:23.301+01:00Wheal Coates Mine, Cornwall<font face="verdana">One of my and my husbands favourite places to visit is St Agnes in Cornwall. When I saw this photograph recently on one of the several Cornwall / St Agnes Instagram accounts I follow I knew I had to try and recreate it in free motion embroidery. </font><div><font face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFvz9BkXEhXbWYgzhPEYfWb70_aTbJjS-PRQNq1MuBq7fLCJYrCgTcX5LkjTV7SHfsajK89dlgO_t-aBETqSuIt7bS3XZHxPtIsHr5coBgHPNMErAr18FPohL2wOiGlRJIrRScvqYpSzsL/s1350/Wheal+Coates.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFvz9BkXEhXbWYgzhPEYfWb70_aTbJjS-PRQNq1MuBq7fLCJYrCgTcX5LkjTV7SHfsajK89dlgO_t-aBETqSuIt7bS3XZHxPtIsHr5coBgHPNMErAr18FPohL2wOiGlRJIrRScvqYpSzsL/w500-h625/Wheal+Coates.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><font face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font face="verdana">I raided my stash of fabric and found a furnishing fabric sample book that had the perfect fabrics for the heather covered coastline and the sea. I love using furnishing fabrics as they give such a wonderful variety of textures to the piece. </font></div><div><font face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font face="verdana">I wanted quite a large picture so I printed the photo out at around A3 size and started playing about with my fabrics. I used the photo as a guide for composition but was limited slightly by my fabric pieces, so the coastline looks a little different. The building - which is a disused tin mine, one of many that stud the coast of Cornwall - was traced directly from the photograph to ensure it was accurate. </font></div><div><font face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwra8tUy_iZf6tHFyjPNsuIKASyKd-qW5uP3kcNE04iRWVwB19OUY64iIjt1FfFGHZXgnIZX7qrc13xmFdG9k6GtqDflKBOfqAkdIQWf8HQcfZarJXT72kv40aOvSi2r1LwaEY4XzzJf8/s2526/20200607_161621_resized+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2526" data-original-width="1976" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwra8tUy_iZf6tHFyjPNsuIKASyKd-qW5uP3kcNE04iRWVwB19OUY64iIjt1FfFGHZXgnIZX7qrc13xmFdG9k6GtqDflKBOfqAkdIQWf8HQcfZarJXT72kv40aOvSi2r1LwaEY4XzzJf8/w489-h625/20200607_161621_resized+1.jpg" width="489" /></a></div><font face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font face="verdana">I chose a cream coloured background fabric as I thought that would work well for the sandy areas of the coastline. I started my stitching by just going around the edge of each applique piece with a dark thread (confession time - I thought I'd used black thread and only realised when I was almost finished that it was actually navy!) and then added some additional white stitching into the blues of the sea. </font></div><div><font face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl0Hikr-6fLV9l0014pwbmvsS33rbBVSAOZfyRd58XDqy0ihYW49QcP03lk8gWN-BMEXynahTrCEpW9sb5Q0SvD34CDnK7A3_4L8M_BkeiqUJHvx-upT5PCLqPbbOLpkNPZJBSn_62uBcp/s2717/20200613_100517_resized+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2717" data-original-width="2087" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl0Hikr-6fLV9l0014pwbmvsS33rbBVSAOZfyRd58XDqy0ihYW49QcP03lk8gWN-BMEXynahTrCEpW9sb5Q0SvD34CDnK7A3_4L8M_BkeiqUJHvx-upT5PCLqPbbOLpkNPZJBSn_62uBcp/w481-h625/20200613_100517_resized+1.jpg" width="481" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><font face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font face="verdana">I added more detail in varying shades of green and brown to pick out tuffy clumps of grass and the mine's brickwork. </font><span style="font-family: verdana;">At this stage I had no idea what I was going to do to finish the sky, as I didn't have any suitable fabrics for it. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">After talking it through with my husband I decided to try painting a sky, which sounded slightly nerve-wracking as it had the potential to ruin a piece that I was otherwise very happy with. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I pulled out the few tubes of acrylic paint I bought ages ago and discovered a bottle of fabric medium among them that I didn't remember buying but was pleased I had. I also cut myself a scrap piece of the fabric I'd used as the background to practice on. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUMTyf_65Woqd0dYH_5o0CYQp7DliKu1NBgrvAWwRc6GCqP-qDils48RlCPUupdfyhenEJYMizurKMNH-6J9I0K7bC9o-T8yIfwGIWiHcw1cLw3tJ96NHWvktSSAhvCIbrKjECryBY6LpS/s3024/20200613_102911_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="2268" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUMTyf_65Woqd0dYH_5o0CYQp7DliKu1NBgrvAWwRc6GCqP-qDils48RlCPUupdfyhenEJYMizurKMNH-6J9I0K7bC9o-T8yIfwGIWiHcw1cLw3tJ96NHWvktSSAhvCIbrKjECryBY6LpS/w469-h625/20200613_102911_resized.jpg" width="469" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I found that the fabric medium didn't really seem to help but that I needed to add a lot - and I mean a LOT - of water to the paint. I started off quite delicately and lightly, but in the end just went for it, reasoning I could always cut the painted fabric off and remount the rest on some other fabric if it all went wrong. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOGAh3ua0JjZTmAFfD9jLOlPvm8SubG5bu7iH8hcclRHdUHImUxy3gc3DNGSv0C044Z7xq2i10mw8tkLn51TUOAsxNeAG6BzaYqianl5oNWoVyAgafRMSswbkOtIgdF-IU0xiGkgf91rqA/s3024/20200613_103254_resized+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="3024" height="469" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOGAh3ua0JjZTmAFfD9jLOlPvm8SubG5bu7iH8hcclRHdUHImUxy3gc3DNGSv0C044Z7xq2i10mw8tkLn51TUOAsxNeAG6BzaYqianl5oNWoVyAgafRMSswbkOtIgdF-IU0xiGkgf91rqA/w625-h469/20200613_103254_resized+1.jpg" width="625" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><font face="verdana">The paint changed shade several times while it was drying and at one stage was quite a dreary greyish blue, but thankfully ended up quite vibrant. I just have to get a frame for it now, I'm planning on mounting it so that the raw edges of the applique fabrics are exposed rather than hidden by the mount. </font></div><div><font face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq8SWDdew4RJBNJMw8caazfTIcWPXFucMb8lQWBx-dB_AhumLDarxAFbbUi28KjHziCP6Ep_N6in6YqpjfiiRpcsyvliGX_j6pZg4E6wu8zP6nN5tuxQPmx8Glk3yhTN_noECJ8-iMmV5m/s2373/20200613_103249_resized+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2373" data-original-width="2010" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq8SWDdew4RJBNJMw8caazfTIcWPXFucMb8lQWBx-dB_AhumLDarxAFbbUi28KjHziCP6Ep_N6in6YqpjfiiRpcsyvliGX_j6pZg4E6wu8zP6nN5tuxQPmx8Glk3yhTN_noECJ8-iMmV5m/w530-h625/20200613_103249_resized+1.jpg" width="530" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><font face="verdana">I can't wait to get it framed and on the wall and then one day go and walk along that cliff path again!</font></div>Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-91514932002671937232020-02-09T12:07:00.001+00:002020-02-09T12:07:10.853+00:00Three ways to stitch writing<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of my favourite things to stitch with free motion embroidery is writing and there are several ways you can do this.</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Completely free hand</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Handwritten onto fabric and stitched</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Written on paper and stitched through</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I like to use each method for different things. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Completely free hand stitching is useful for just a couple of words, maybe you want to sign a finished piece of work or add a number plate to a car you've embroidered. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Free hand writing with a sewing machine isn't as hard as you think, I often get beginners in my classes to try writing their name as part of a warm up. I find it easier to write quite small this way, but I have always enjoyed working quite small. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">This is what my freehand stitched writing looks like, my husband says it's neater than my handwriting!</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8RioslDNMRreQdyf18iGnPMdd9BsxlXoa3pT3ETeomAKGVhtE3yJMsrrgdnpfDNq-fRQTpj1JEfAKk06Yzvd9fAiz1-Rw4Mb4w6b0zFwSurreh4oAngWAmIjnAEZ87MwM1HWlyZsrnu2/s1600/free+hand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1488" data-original-width="1488" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8RioslDNMRreQdyf18iGnPMdd9BsxlXoa3pT3ETeomAKGVhtE3yJMsrrgdnpfDNq-fRQTpj1JEfAKk06Yzvd9fAiz1-Rw4Mb4w6b0zFwSurreh4oAngWAmIjnAEZ87MwM1HWlyZsrnu2/s400/free+hand.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And here's a video of me stitching part of it, courtesy of my husband. As you can see, I have gone over the word twice, once forwards and then backwards to the starting point. </span></div>
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<br /><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_hHvCyqXRmI/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_hHvCyqXRmI?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The second method is to handwrite your wording onto your fabric and then stitch over what you've written. This method is good for slightly longer amounts of text, or if you want something positioned accurately. You can either write free hand onto your fabric or if you have a lightbox and your fabric is thin enough you can write or type onto paper and then use the lightbox to trace the writing onto you fabric. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I use a Frixion pen and then remove the remaining ink with a hairdryer once I've finished, but please do make sure that you can completely remove the ink before you start writing all over your precious work!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5YGQPPYG9QCLaSHJkRqrLaOgJ6GDRPG3Osaz-A2iNW_oJ2CETbKZCesuPGvssjym3fHMRZRBQlVoo3coZLp5BhyvBcdmLAnzNj4iQPFrE-2p70eUWIlkEM1NTO6rVZ9Oh5j5As2oa1lD/s1600/written.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5YGQPPYG9QCLaSHJkRqrLaOgJ6GDRPG3Osaz-A2iNW_oJ2CETbKZCesuPGvssjym3fHMRZRBQlVoo3coZLp5BhyvBcdmLAnzNj4iQPFrE-2p70eUWIlkEM1NTO6rVZ9Oh5j5As2oa1lD/s400/written.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is a little hard to see, but you should just be able to make out my writing on the fabric. You can see it better in the photo below, of the wording half stitched. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWrTKfkoHZbty6nrGRD2Nm0aQkc6sDO6PKX2e3G57CtZL_hNxn2as_VGOBy_4L1Bdqws_P0PrOXiFPatOUgE0Ve1NZRPlDLFAwY_kaUoUAsJTVPES9y2lo_lgngmCqrqlZ97BEKyeNo5L/s1600/written+in+progress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWrTKfkoHZbty6nrGRD2Nm0aQkc6sDO6PKX2e3G57CtZL_hNxn2as_VGOBy_4L1Bdqws_P0PrOXiFPatOUgE0Ve1NZRPlDLFAwY_kaUoUAsJTVPES9y2lo_lgngmCqrqlZ97BEKyeNo5L/s400/written+in+progress.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And here it is finished, with the remaining ink blasted away with a hot hairdryer. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIArRrTFR-H-pnngg9TNwpJCWyauNEnM6mggQ_PxOsq9o1H01hGWVhq0Bdy6TPFHDOSQsIJSVoNthLHKPtXN00f3P3pENvcWt6Ck9zYl2ZV43ChnQHdVfhkFrxcQftWnCOLc9-ttfv8nQu/s1600/written+complete.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIArRrTFR-H-pnngg9TNwpJCWyauNEnM6mggQ_PxOsq9o1H01hGWVhq0Bdy6TPFHDOSQsIJSVoNthLHKPtXN00f3P3pENvcWt6Ck9zYl2ZV43ChnQHdVfhkFrxcQftWnCOLc9-ttfv8nQu/s400/written+complete.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The final method is to write your wording onto tissue paper, stitch through it and then remove the paper after you've finished. This is good to use on dark fabrics (although I've used a light one here) or if you don't want to write onto your fabric. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I use Burda pattern tracing tissue paper because it's something I always have to hand, but normal white gift wrapping tissue paper will work just as well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First write or print your text out and trace it onto a piece of tissue. I've used a fancy font, it's one of my favourites. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYV5aoWEjzZGQOn18Zbrx6dGb_t-jAVg2GkHKW5nDE37F6zczmkjMYH5k2YzX8QgT5A8ToTrLiOl-4VYM0S3vedkryCCHRV-dtFGmemb1epWMJkPkqsxHXnkhLQcvqsEqogxB95poiibBy/s1600/Paper+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYV5aoWEjzZGQOn18Zbrx6dGb_t-jAVg2GkHKW5nDE37F6zczmkjMYH5k2YzX8QgT5A8ToTrLiOl-4VYM0S3vedkryCCHRV-dtFGmemb1epWMJkPkqsxHXnkhLQcvqsEqogxB95poiibBy/s400/Paper+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pin your tracing in place on your fabric. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwJSPnKDAU1sfkqVqgbo0u1B_uCMpP7FNnE-74ywrtqwgXpiAW2Lq_4zmwwySc9jm7FoFViUYilu44WdrxTToh77x-P9FUgy8oG6mZ6juEcBLDzOtisg5eCzT7WP0UdxQYql1ZN3yyFrKU/s1600/Paper+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwJSPnKDAU1sfkqVqgbo0u1B_uCMpP7FNnE-74ywrtqwgXpiAW2Lq_4zmwwySc9jm7FoFViUYilu44WdrxTToh77x-P9FUgy8oG6mZ6juEcBLDzOtisg5eCzT7WP0UdxQYql1ZN3yyFrKU/s400/Paper+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Stitch over your traced writing, going over each area twice. I start at the top of each letter, and then go back over in reverse back to my starting point. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnTCx80bT6GAFtDCfuQN1sKjx2Fjs4GWX-5_bpPSutWX3969jn4KCSJVLSZl6SRNJQm7HLTO0gkCajllD_qAvkrEbMcfQI8XrgLtVUQDbPuDqhoeMHy7qMf_5yo9ueK7gjrJrPTtAsbs9o/s1600/Paper+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnTCx80bT6GAFtDCfuQN1sKjx2Fjs4GWX-5_bpPSutWX3969jn4KCSJVLSZl6SRNJQm7HLTO0gkCajllD_qAvkrEbMcfQI8XrgLtVUQDbPuDqhoeMHy7qMf_5yo9ueK7gjrJrPTtAsbs9o/s400/Paper+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For letters such as t and the e in this font where you have a horizontal crossing a vertical, I stitch from top to bottom and then on the way back I do the horizontal part, so that the whole letter is sewn without stopping and repositioning the fabric. Sometimes you can also stitch several letters without having to stop and reposition - it depends on the font you are using. In this example I've stitched the L and O of love together and the E and W of sew. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once your stitching is complete, carefully peel away your tissue paper. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ7MTrBFrksz9BnfVXc-KsjdtxHnt5ZuSLiiFLvunqUBtRgU_9fA7oKM2kAkGgEilMk1Q-dVnbqunmZMY_H6G3Qj9aH9BoWPfb9M_ZkEs6UwTi_eobpFASPA372S7kQGPG5SpG99FOravz/s1600/Paper+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ7MTrBFrksz9BnfVXc-KsjdtxHnt5ZuSLiiFLvunqUBtRgU_9fA7oKM2kAkGgEilMk1Q-dVnbqunmZMY_H6G3Qj9aH9BoWPfb9M_ZkEs6UwTi_eobpFASPA372S7kQGPG5SpG99FOravz/s400/Paper+4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because the needle has perforated the tissue paper most of it should come away quite easily, but a pair of micro tweezers can help to remove stubborn bits trapped in the middle of letters. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I got mine in the papercraft section of my local craft shop. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlwhP8AeAa0FDBplFBHfcV3uZUsGi4VQf1c0HCrYyeOYBzv9J4rNXSYQBGPTBctXnB1zACXZCb2dAhPMiTMOZE5wjuZ6A4ME9tK6H357enn7Ouq_AohABcI1USJDjC2Kxq_fII0soxQdQq/s1600/Paper+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlwhP8AeAa0FDBplFBHfcV3uZUsGi4VQf1c0HCrYyeOYBzv9J4rNXSYQBGPTBctXnB1zACXZCb2dAhPMiTMOZE5wjuZ6A4ME9tK6H357enn7Ouq_AohABcI1USJDjC2Kxq_fII0soxQdQq/s400/Paper+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's the finished piece. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnt_NxDyOdDLR8W_QdQTYrQmcjlav61_2of3WQr0UHWN7AArFsGwIjgJRh0EA6cTyYHsqY-YjapyU_FlzDViiqNJebloADUG6pvUwvWUGeFk7XdVEHN9Gz2w04A30vk5dqCySqbcc44ekm/s1600/Paper+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnt_NxDyOdDLR8W_QdQTYrQmcjlav61_2of3WQr0UHWN7AArFsGwIjgJRh0EA6cTyYHsqY-YjapyU_FlzDViiqNJebloADUG6pvUwvWUGeFk7XdVEHN9Gz2w04A30vk5dqCySqbcc44ekm/s400/Paper+6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And finally, a comparison of each method:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQDzKhY5VXaADHCTwhlAoOEHZyA9_xsmbt-rNE9kFFXUc4fJskTzopMETw8rHsCrQPMw3sIyMDtQac_Ut6T9_FzV3hZ-MtPYjhYpR0tkWi44gJaDmPJA7CokQ3JoL1EV8gFYzka2-XxIHT/s1600/Comparison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQDzKhY5VXaADHCTwhlAoOEHZyA9_xsmbt-rNE9kFFXUc4fJskTzopMETw8rHsCrQPMw3sIyMDtQac_Ut6T9_FzV3hZ-MtPYjhYpR0tkWi44gJaDmPJA7CokQ3JoL1EV8gFYzka2-XxIHT/s400/Comparison.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As you can see there's not a huge difference between the completely freehand writing and the one that I wrote onto the fabric, although the written one is a little neater. You could hand draw (or handwrite!) some really fancy writing, but if I'm doing that I prefer to trace it as in the third method. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I hope you've found this useful. Let me know if there's anything else you'd especially like me to cover and if you'd like to see any more videos. </span></div>
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Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-35121777700324692082019-12-27T16:31:00.000+00:002019-12-27T16:31:30.447+00:00Highlights of 2019<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's that odd time between Christmas and New Year when even if you're unlucky enough to have to work as I am, hopefully it's not too busy. I know if you work in retail then this must be one of the busiest times of the year, but thankfully I'm an office worker and today I've had a grand total of 3 emails to answer! It was quiet on Monday and Tuesday as well, so I feel like I'm actually catching up a little bit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And as I seem to have my day job a little bit under control (today at least!) I thought I'd do a quick blog post about the highlights of my year, sewing wise. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This year started off pretty well with this blog after I made the decision to focus on free motion embroidery rather than dressmaking. Unfortunately as has happened before my day job became ridiculously busy and stressful and I ran out of brain power for blogging and my posts became even more eratic than previously. I can't quite make the decision to give it up completely though. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, on to my top three sewing highlights of the year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In third place is the class I taught at the Knitting and Stitching show back in March, which you can read about <a href="http://www.stitchedupbysamantha.co.uk/2019/03/iconic-fun-portraits-at-knitting-and.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAgj_QQvaB1_wNJHwG0wZ1ziLEpNUg0qoYAdIHNxVGJgLbQNEgDPRKUzSaU-JEnNDFCd1fiZRj8eGs3uni73DBMyQ5WSqMWNOlLpaaUJ2-lgOtB6K7Wo3uAyidQfFhbS6JV7KwoTKcC1h0/s1600/Me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAgj_QQvaB1_wNJHwG0wZ1ziLEpNUg0qoYAdIHNxVGJgLbQNEgDPRKUzSaU-JEnNDFCd1fiZRj8eGs3uni73DBMyQ5WSqMWNOlLpaaUJ2-lgOtB6K7Wo3uAyidQfFhbS6JV7KwoTKcC1h0/s640/Me.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just before the class started!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was slightly nerve-wracking having to take a huge suitcase full of kits on the train to Olympia, and I'm sure my fellow commuters didn't thank me for that! The set up was a bit rushed, but once I'd settled in to the class I really enjoyed it and I got some great feedback on the kits I provided. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In second place, something I haven't blogged about before. Back in April I had an email out of the blue from Enfield Embroiderers Guild asking if I would like to visit them and give a talk about free motion embroidery. As the date suggested wasn't until November I agreed, thinking I'd have loads and loads of time to work out what I wanted to say! In reality I left most of my preparation until about a week before hand. I was quite nervous as I'd been told to expect an audience of between 30 and 40 people, and it's a long time since I've had to speak in public to a group that size. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the day the group were lovely and welcoming and once I'd got started I found I thought of more and more things to say. I talked about my sewing journey as a whole to begin with, then focussed in on free motion embroidery and what I love about it. I was told afterwards that one of the things that resonated most with my audience was the dilemma of pursuing a career that follows your
passion v. doing the day job and keeping what you love as a hobby.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Public speaking isn't something that I would normally put myself forward for, but I really enjoyed the experience and would definitely do it again. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And finally, in 1st place has to be this...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0-h_k0QEfOOmLVJIMS9vsioW2OyTFFcSEicIFJ693wN-dSGveADDV9biO1AEzv0CewRrCipLHH-Z_iVFQrLAMaxb9TJXAM_bSHolR86sVG__gSXS7R6tUBNScChuSa1ZUEeXh22gsgwdj/s1600/The-Little-Book-Of-Sewing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="560" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0-h_k0QEfOOmLVJIMS9vsioW2OyTFFcSEicIFJ693wN-dSGveADDV9biO1AEzv0CewRrCipLHH-Z_iVFQrLAMaxb9TJXAM_bSHolR86sVG__gSXS7R6tUBNScChuSa1ZUEeXh22gsgwdj/s640/The-Little-Book-Of-Sewing.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Little Book of Sewing by Karen Ball</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Seeing my illustration on the cover of Karen Ball's The Little Book of Sewing. Seeing my name on the back and the book on the shelves in my local Waterstone's was pretty cool too!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ4Hw2WX5fTHNCWe21awUS368VgEbAhmESP2hrr4yVwXSX8S9JOdeVvfGw3skr-2-0HmfxzmM9BhHbVlF2RgO7IV2kqj3kafh8SkfBKMNDNaOPGY6Ax3u4SXL_uwb_6-gUAyhrmVULll6V/s1600/stitchedupsam-1572697195049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ4Hw2WX5fTHNCWe21awUS368VgEbAhmESP2hrr4yVwXSX8S9JOdeVvfGw3skr-2-0HmfxzmM9BhHbVlF2RgO7IV2kqj3kafh8SkfBKMNDNaOPGY6Ax3u4SXL_uwb_6-gUAyhrmVULll6V/s640/stitchedupsam-1572697195049.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglsVtHAcP6kyzJAWy3GyiGNQrpIUsnCxspRd1TN7jCTKmO2uak-4OCq0NniADreaFSovod_6Mq76M65swJr2o5rOL156q_nSU0XsYLJck07pktHQ2KkhgZFgElhBoA3onUqwDQn9uYziaq/s1600/stitchedupsam-1572694847891.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglsVtHAcP6kyzJAWy3GyiGNQrpIUsnCxspRd1TN7jCTKmO2uak-4OCq0NniADreaFSovod_6Mq76M65swJr2o5rOL156q_nSU0XsYLJck07pktHQ2KkhgZFgElhBoA3onUqwDQn9uYziaq/s640/stitchedupsam-1572694847891.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can read the interview that Karen did with my for her blog shortly after the book was released <a href="https://didyoumakethat.com/2019/03/30/designing-the-cover-for-the-little-book-of-sewing/" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Again, this was something I had never done before, and had never even considered a possibility, but would love to do again. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wonder what new experiences 2020 will bring?</span><br />
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<br />Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-8171917262500232342019-11-05T19:26:00.000+00:002019-11-05T19:26:53.263+00:00Should You Share Your Skills?<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you're a crafter of any description I'm sure at one time or another you've shared some of your skills with others, whether that's showing a friend how to do something or teaching a group of strangers in a formal class. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You probably know I occasionally teach free motion embroidery and it's something I really enjoy. I love passing my (mainly self taught) knowledge on to others and seeing their joy as they "get it". </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAgj_QQvaB1_wNJHwG0wZ1ziLEpNUg0qoYAdIHNxVGJgLbQNEgDPRKUzSaU-JEnNDFCd1fiZRj8eGs3uni73DBMyQ5WSqMWNOlLpaaUJ2-lgOtB6K7Wo3uAyidQfFhbS6JV7KwoTKcC1h0/s1600/Me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAgj_QQvaB1_wNJHwG0wZ1ziLEpNUg0qoYAdIHNxVGJgLbQNEgDPRKUzSaU-JEnNDFCd1fiZRj8eGs3uni73DBMyQ5WSqMWNOlLpaaUJ2-lgOtB6K7Wo3uAyidQfFhbS6JV7KwoTKcC1h0/s400/Me.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Me, about to teach a group of 12 people at the Knitting and Stitching show.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That's why I was particularly shocked recently when I came across an Instagram story by a gold work embroidery artist I've recently starting following saying that she'd been told on several occasions that either she shouldn't teach gold work at all, or if she did, she shouldn't teach people to do it properly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I rarely comment on the IG stories of people I don't know personally but this time I felt I had to and when I mentioned I couldn't believe she'd been told that, she said that it was a comment she'd received not once but several times. She should teach people "poorly" or not show them everything, presumably so that they couldn't copy her work. This particular person is a graduate of the London College of Fashion, so I seriously doubt that anyone taking a one day workshop with her would be able to copy her work, but even so she said that she took pride in her teaching and wanted to pass on as much knowledge as she could.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheaaT6y0Zpwyc7NPUliWJl9FgRc6A6SNJ_Vxh4PbvosOxit7bTCXRIVSy1l9wv71y_GCURVcCN7WHp75dBJlm1kFb4WCOAxWcc2pxEXct4UJBCmQW8ZX0Ko112cwi2Kcr3ysw8L9cM627e/s1600/IMG_2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheaaT6y0Zpwyc7NPUliWJl9FgRc6A6SNJ_Vxh4PbvosOxit7bTCXRIVSy1l9wv71y_GCURVcCN7WHp75dBJlm1kFb4WCOAxWcc2pxEXct4UJBCmQW8ZX0Ko112cwi2Kcr3ysw8L9cM627e/s400/IMG_2010.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I feel the same. While I'm not a graduate of anywhere what I do know I want to pass on to participants in any class I teach as fully as possible. I want them to know what I know, and love free motion embroidery as much as I love it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As an occasional attendee of a craft or art classes myself I would always trust the teacher to teach me well, and it would never occur to me (or wouldn't have until now) that information may purposely be given incorrectly or only in part.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And at the end of the day, if I teach them poorly it only reflects badly on me. If they can't produce a piece of work they're pleased with because I've only told them part of my method then at the very least they're going to get disheartened and give up. Or they'll think that it's my fault because I haven't taught them properly, or that actually I'm not very good at what I do. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also think the more you put into teaching a class, the more you can get out of it yourself. I've made some lovely friends who I've initially met when they've come to one of my classes, and I'm sure that wouldn't have happened if I'd taught them poorly. I've also learnt from people attending my classes, on more than one occasion a question a class participant has asked has prompted me to go away and experiment more myself. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi88MS6YtuK1XEz6UrHa9jWR-k42Cg-JePBbpDV05tra7S_X0QwbgTw7_o7QSqn47BIT-LutK6tmWegJaLJfwcjiA5lfAc6HRvd-9Y0kesavK-XLJX2q1gBEmS5R2DwQxPcwE1yxfWvjlqP/s1600/craftyange1--1512979958343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="989" data-original-width="987" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi88MS6YtuK1XEz6UrHa9jWR-k42Cg-JePBbpDV05tra7S_X0QwbgTw7_o7QSqn47BIT-LutK6tmWegJaLJfwcjiA5lfAc6HRvd-9Y0kesavK-XLJX2q1gBEmS5R2DwQxPcwE1yxfWvjlqP/s400/craftyange1--1512979958343.jpg" width="398" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 happy students!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As with so many things in life I think you get out of teaching what you put in, if you're not being open and honest with your students, then it's not going to be an enjoyable experience on either side. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'd love to know what you think. Do you think a class tutor should show you everything she knows about the technique she's teaching, or should she keep some "secrets" to herself?</span>Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-36334733703409827072019-06-20T16:56:00.001+01:002019-06-20T16:56:40.030+01:00David, Adam and Madonna<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gosh, so long since my last post once again! I was determined that once I'd changed my blog to focus on free motion embroidery I would post more regularly. I didn't imagine my day job would suddenly become even busier than it has been and that when I finished work for the day all I'd want to do was flop in front of the television. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've been working on bits and pieces here and there and now have a total of three free motion embroidered portrait kits for sale in my <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/StitchedUpBySamantha" target="_blank">Etsy shop</a>. Currently you can choose from David Bowie:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7fB27yd5saQ3YmcMonk6JcF8sHsqP9rVh8h-FmtjWHwc_WdNtO_uui4w2kIZdRmwgMOaqIa7N5BqemTTVj4kdccYUqIRrHSUq96eZn79mDVWLaYtYkGzWx88uPcbSxAxq7MKuXeg0lsRr/s1600/K%2526S+Bowie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1278" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7fB27yd5saQ3YmcMonk6JcF8sHsqP9rVh8h-FmtjWHwc_WdNtO_uui4w2kIZdRmwgMOaqIa7N5BqemTTVj4kdccYUqIRrHSUq96eZn79mDVWLaYtYkGzWx88uPcbSxAxq7MKuXeg0lsRr/s640/K%2526S+Bowie.jpg" width="510" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Madonna:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QtOdWzG3NDV9IDoFaGZ5Ref3qsgK25DZM8_jLanZykAECmCzReqwjAgsMVM4zGpyDtlIdrA6dKJJDEufjV59bX-ICo-VIeUI4IKQr5Hzg11ihuQJSflMsKUxn8gmSmpyBzuBm9MmR9Hn/s1600/K%2526S+Madonna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1277" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QtOdWzG3NDV9IDoFaGZ5Ref3qsgK25DZM8_jLanZykAECmCzReqwjAgsMVM4zGpyDtlIdrA6dKJJDEufjV59bX-ICo-VIeUI4IKQr5Hzg11ihuQJSflMsKUxn8gmSmpyBzuBm9MmR9Hn/s640/K%2526S+Madonna.jpg" width="510" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and today I've added Adam Ant:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh90yvuxwDNUQWJhYkXBTawNw72R_PUkceEvb1iD2aQj3NrU1QwIDdbs5mNZiOv2AhMEWY9P6qDHM4BX8z5zHOwgNnjlfcIwkPCGPqvYU2bwcg2KtSICzF07ekVpjjm98zp2G9AnmN_ziQO/s1600/Adam++.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1223" data-original-width="917" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh90yvuxwDNUQWJhYkXBTawNw72R_PUkceEvb1iD2aQj3NrU1QwIDdbs5mNZiOv2AhMEWY9P6qDHM4BX8z5zHOwgNnjlfcIwkPCGPqvYU2bwcg2KtSICzF07ekVpjjm98zp2G9AnmN_ziQO/s640/Adam++.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The kits contain pretty much everything you need to stitch the portrait from backing fabric, to templates, all the applique fabrics (which in most cases are Liberty tana lawn) and a hints and tips card as well as full instructions. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGnsT8mIjvH1gv1mCsLPTgsUd1J-wMjYnBPKYqgxma3afQPZGGQf_CprMl1sNeCKtA96j3vHQlvVprBGHJ11_UTWugss7BFBRDWfUGG8YQvkk3KvtjUbdu58cU508SEL7h6j7I_nCtkcR/s1600/20190620_160522.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGnsT8mIjvH1gv1mCsLPTgsUd1J-wMjYnBPKYqgxma3afQPZGGQf_CprMl1sNeCKtA96j3vHQlvVprBGHJ11_UTWugss7BFBRDWfUGG8YQvkk3KvtjUbdu58cU508SEL7h6j7I_nCtkcR/s640/20190620_160522.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They come packaged in a kraft card box and I have to say I got great feedback on them when I used them for a workshop at the Knitting and Stitching show. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5fLvMhLohyPL5MamG5JZ-nPqSEZb4TN4mfGaP_NR9y8Bkuxzblauj7VzzEVP4oLf-MIp3z8oPejYA9q8Iq2NVgNN5Dj2hTO5hAp3oJUOfL4c64D3yaxQS5bxjdbbA85JHrlaLAuK-h8x/s1600/20190620_160400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5fLvMhLohyPL5MamG5JZ-nPqSEZb4TN4mfGaP_NR9y8Bkuxzblauj7VzzEVP4oLf-MIp3z8oPejYA9q8Iq2NVgNN5Dj2hTO5hAp3oJUOfL4c64D3yaxQS5bxjdbbA85JHrlaLAuK-h8x/s640/20190620_160400.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I plan on adding more portrait kits to the shop as time goes on, so let me know if there's anyone you'd love to stitch and I'll see what I can do!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm also planning on adding a small range of mini kits, which will be perfect if you've never tried free motion embroidery before and just want a little taster.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-17925771472496368822019-05-04T07:30:00.000+01:002019-05-04T07:30:04.369+01:00Fashionable Lady - 3D Free Motion Embroidery Tutorial<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At long last I have a new tutorial for you! This is a favourite design of mine, and was originally featured as part of a tutorial for a tote bag that was featured in Love Sewing magazine some time ago. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZca3ot6Hn7zzsgWpxTqQnubJQwBX9_wHJ3sZQF0suYBJn7iWvN2U7IxJa5uuMimS-qP3SHidWvaTo3k4-yn_wyANbfzr1aCqyrzkwQKVYi5-e3_dlKnKRfBFbIZ77jRZqoE3_C1YchK7b/s1600/Fashion+Lady+header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="749" data-original-width="749" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZca3ot6Hn7zzsgWpxTqQnubJQwBX9_wHJ3sZQF0suYBJn7iWvN2U7IxJa5uuMimS-qP3SHidWvaTo3k4-yn_wyANbfzr1aCqyrzkwQKVYi5-e3_dlKnKRfBFbIZ77jRZqoE3_C1YchK7b/s400/Fashion+Lady+header.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today I'm just going to show you how to create the stylish lady and her fabulous three dimensional frock, then you can decide if you would like to place her on a tote bag or maybe frame her. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You will need:</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Medium weight plain fabric for the embroidery base (approx. 10 x 12 inches).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Small piece of floral cotton fabric for dress (approx. 8 inches square). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Small piece of hessian for hat (3 to 4 inches square). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A few inches of narrow lace. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Iron on interfacing (approx. 8 x 10 inches to back your embroidery, plus a small piece approx. 4 inches square). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Small piece of Bondaweb (approx. 8 inches square).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Black thread. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">White tissue paper/thin tracing paper. </span></li>
</ul>
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<br /></div>
</span><div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Start by downloading the templates from <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wg78GkjTVIF2PQl_pd_L0EC8dC8CAjtq" target="_blank">this link</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Following the manufacturers instructions, apply the iron on interfacing to the back of the plain fabric you will be appliqueing and embroidering onto. Put this to one side until you're ready to use it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Trace
the bodice template onto the reverse of a piece of the printed fabric and the hat template onto the reverse of
the piece of hessian. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Trace
the skirt template onto a piece of iron on interfacing and cut out.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Press the interfacing piece onto the wrong
side of a piece of printed fabric.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Cut
out, leaving a ½” border around the sides and bottom of the skirt piece.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Press the border to the wrong side, and sew a
line of stitching along the “hem” of the skirt piece.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Set aside.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHewzNHDsUjIgP74xurUTIZmeYzvIkztagZgdokV8hjgiXR9npH4rDBO2kKHapgGzqlIdhmC2unnP6yhHbOQ9mIlI5w92jrbOgfEngqQJB7z_VFSv_T9m8YcwLv_h47H1bMoePzv3c8M9w/s1600/Pic+B2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1281" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHewzNHDsUjIgP74xurUTIZmeYzvIkztagZgdokV8hjgiXR9npH4rDBO2kKHapgGzqlIdhmC2unnP6yhHbOQ9mIlI5w92jrbOgfEngqQJB7z_VFSv_T9m8YcwLv_h47H1bMoePzv3c8M9w/s400/Pic+B2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dress and hat pieces prepared with Bondaweb and interfacing.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Following
the manufacturer’s instructions, apply Bondaweb to the reverse of the bodice
and hat pieces, peel off the backing paper and cut out.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Set aside. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Trace
the solid lines on the figure template onto a piece of tissue paper.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Make a light pencil mark where the top of the
hat will come.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Pin your tracing onto the
right side of one of the plain backing fabric, making sure the figure is
positioned centrally.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJFiv6DHaaP4-ekOyyaJIyJjjLqJgKbvc_7z939FpjhuPlj5W_b1yhTp4cAqAYzYPJ-tc3AOdESLtyG3dLOIb2u5pXioAihO1Xq65F-3DdKjaHxroSyLigV_9cKuUfYJZ-2tEaEUwjawU/s1600/Pic+C.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJFiv6DHaaP4-ekOyyaJIyJjjLqJgKbvc_7z939FpjhuPlj5W_b1yhTp4cAqAYzYPJ-tc3AOdESLtyG3dLOIb2u5pXioAihO1Xq65F-3DdKjaHxroSyLigV_9cKuUfYJZ-2tEaEUwjawU/s400/Pic+C.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The traced template pinned in place for stitching. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Thread
your sewing machine with black thread, lower your feed dogs and put the darning
foot on the machine.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Using free motion
embroidery stitch over the tracing, going over the lines twice.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>At the start and end of each line, stitch up
and down on the spot a few times, snip the thread and pull the front thread
through to the reverse to secure.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.stitchedupbysamantha.co.uk/2019/01/simple-free-motion-embroidery-hot-air.html" target="_blank">This blog post</a> might be helpful if you need a refresher on how to do free motion embroidery. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgNV38MBScSyGwf0PXWR9U8LOz-mCf1b5As6zwvP_ktmDflGUe6rKqU-6c2DjR917kLKsS3vfYWNAYjE4wXusk1dQnlCRsMNMVIy1va6xpbhIdlkJZmcJZSBc0GjhgGY1VIhItPgaulfJ/s1600/Pic+D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1283" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgNV38MBScSyGwf0PXWR9U8LOz-mCf1b5As6zwvP_ktmDflGUe6rKqU-6c2DjR917kLKsS3vfYWNAYjE4wXusk1dQnlCRsMNMVIy1va6xpbhIdlkJZmcJZSBc0GjhgGY1VIhItPgaulfJ/s400/Pic+D.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Stitching complete, tissue paper still in place. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Once
all the lines have been stitched, carefully tear away the tissue paper.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>You may find a pair of tweezers helpful in
removing small pieces caught between stitches.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9VNadTEiKSRDmtGDbS9oMALkNWTnOaG0U0v2vd54ajoBvDvZiSwHZl4I0GMtOm671hSTQMnNC_WUWPNSAFGg-IWaMBvCJiA058exiT3py1qH5POM8VmPqr56wq2YoT2f1ahvExvKelaQi/s1600/Pic+E.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1282" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9VNadTEiKSRDmtGDbS9oMALkNWTnOaG0U0v2vd54ajoBvDvZiSwHZl4I0GMtOm671hSTQMnNC_WUWPNSAFGg-IWaMBvCJiA058exiT3py1qH5POM8VmPqr56wq2YoT2f1ahvExvKelaQi/s400/Pic+E.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Stitching complete, tissue paper carefully removed. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Using
the dotted lines on the figure template as a guide, position the bodice and hat
pieces and press in place with an iron. Stitch <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">around the edge of the hat and bodice piece</span>.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfzgRXCPQCopE-IX67XHoYYXEF_fPUm4AQ0u1lQbaY6v8ZFL4YgTNjh6hsLkf5uWsJFo3i1iMg4iW-EvG6TBn0aRJD44H78Jvy8BztoYkp24XvxEVgbVz4c25MKLfdkjZ4ks8d8dygMqGs/s1600/Pic+F1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1281" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfzgRXCPQCopE-IX67XHoYYXEF_fPUm4AQ0u1lQbaY6v8ZFL4YgTNjh6hsLkf5uWsJFo3i1iMg4iW-EvG6TBn0aRJD44H78Jvy8BztoYkp24XvxEVgbVz4c25MKLfdkjZ4ks8d8dygMqGs/s400/Pic+F1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hat and bodice pieces ironed on and stitched. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Pin the sides of the skirt in place, then loosely pleat the excess at
the waist and pin down.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ls83b3XxFaU3IiCLqNEZ9Q6jJWXXRUXI3XRR8qvrc3VL0qS29noyk12K9r8YJNgeLdGJrs3la1LCBj1yih-s2IO_TEMkNRFHJff5WwwQuix3PupLRM_E1sCoOr_0aSUEu1MAvLJ0A3Ql/s1600/Pic+F3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1278" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ls83b3XxFaU3IiCLqNEZ9Q6jJWXXRUXI3XRR8qvrc3VL0qS29noyk12K9r8YJNgeLdGJrs3la1LCBj1yih-s2IO_TEMkNRFHJff5WwwQuix3PupLRM_E1sCoOr_0aSUEu1MAvLJ0A3Ql/s400/Pic+F3.JPG" width="318" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Skirt piece pinned in place. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Stitch down each side of the skirt and
across the waist.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Do not stitch the
skirt hem. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Glue
or hand sew a small piece of ribbon or braid on the hat as a band, and around
the waist of the skirt. </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF3_oe-bnQUnMDvzg8TA9ymjanDMTqHYcDSwFQLek8CtDuSr5SY74rSmoyPvUfvyexVeFzh56OghNNDh7A4xXFbn96YmuETChqeDGIGldzI99WywOyr8G1dmUk6FRZ_38CnSfr2gBEA0U8/s1600/Pic+H.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1274" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF3_oe-bnQUnMDvzg8TA9ymjanDMTqHYcDSwFQLek8CtDuSr5SY74rSmoyPvUfvyexVeFzh56OghNNDh7A4xXFbn96YmuETChqeDGIGldzI99WywOyr8G1dmUk6FRZ_38CnSfr2gBEA0U8/s400/Pic+H.JPG" width="317" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">You can use this lovely lady as an embellishment on a tote bag or she looks equally as special mounted in a box type frame. </span></span></div>
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Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-72908318992895888872019-04-21T12:26:00.001+01:002019-04-21T12:26:11.726+01:00Giveaway Winner<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Happy Easter everyone, I hope you are enjoying the weekend. In the UK we have gorgeous weather at the moment, which is almost unheard of for an Easter weekend. I'm very torn though, because part of me wants to stay inside and sew, and the other part of me thinks I should be sitting in the garden making the most of the weather!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I had some lovely comments on my last post to win a copy of The Little Book of Sewing, where I asked you to tell me what your favourite thing about sewing is. So many mentioned the positive benefits on your mental health, which is certainly high on my list of my favourite things about this wonderful hobby / craft / way of life. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I used a random number generator to pick my winner.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLpKpOjDrPkq629hMh97f3-UnF3dat9eNUxNGohhwhydslue0BzBdF8gx4nx49geQ-OfLLEibV_AT32TqxNazrVPmV4K-yb5_MBZ826ap47Oqb5ugQrrIABye627AvBvnsmbhuJe59ftov/s1600/random.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="821" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLpKpOjDrPkq629hMh97f3-UnF3dat9eNUxNGohhwhydslue0BzBdF8gx4nx49geQ-OfLLEibV_AT32TqxNazrVPmV4K-yb5_MBZ826ap47Oqb5ugQrrIABye627AvBvnsmbhuJe59ftov/s640/random.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The winner is Amber Elayne, who said:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I love a few things about sewing: well-fitted clothes with practical tweaks that are customized to suit my work and personal lives, as well as individualized gifts for friends and family.</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Drop me an email with your address Amber Elayne and I'll get your prize in the post to you. </span>Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-19304627309640804802019-04-06T07:30:00.000+01:002019-04-06T07:30:09.114+01:00The Little Book of Sewing<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you're on Instagram then you may well have seen posts popping up in your feed this week about The Little Book of Sewing which was published yesterday. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbssocs4uZwQe7cR2NDsXqC5AfTig2fPY62oSrtzUdi1X2M8A4u9PQAPM9vf3y7Co3O7-7HzcB7UwieRM9_pJhGDSMH2U2hmpuq-e38afWveBcikvsPo4S3DqJSezUO5pqHEisT_HgJ6d/s1600/The-Little-Book-Of-Sewing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="560" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbssocs4uZwQe7cR2NDsXqC5AfTig2fPY62oSrtzUdi1X2M8A4u9PQAPM9vf3y7Co3O7-7HzcB7UwieRM9_pJhGDSMH2U2hmpuq-e38afWveBcikvsPo4S3DqJSezUO5pqHEisT_HgJ6d/s640/The-Little-Book-Of-Sewing.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Written by the brilliant Karen from <a href="https://didyoumakethat.com/" target="_blank">Did You Make That</a>, it is - as it says in the title - a little book about sewing. But as much about why you should sew as how to sew. There are plenty of hints and tips throughout it's pages, but Karen also focusses on the fact that sewing is good for you with chapter titles such as Self-Love, Mental Health and Kindness. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">What you may not know is that the cover was designed and stitched by me! Karen herself only found out a few weeks ago when I emailed her to thank her for choosing my design. She thought it would be fun to interview me about the cover design for her blog, and you can read the interview <a href="https://didyoumakethat.com/2019/03/30/designing-the-cover-for-the-little-book-of-sewing/" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Pop over to Karen's blog if you'd like to find out how I designed and stitched the cover, and what my initial thoughts were when the publisher contacted me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">If you'd like your own copy of The Little Book of Sewing, you are in luck because I have one to give away. The publishers kindly sent me two copies and as I haven't done a giveaway for ages I thought I'd do just that. Just comment below telling me what you love most about sewing to be in with a chance of winning. The giveaway will be open until Sunday 14th April, and a winner will be chosen randomly shortly after that date. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span>Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-23576962259132701062019-03-23T07:30:00.000+00:002019-03-23T07:30:08.223+00:00Meet the Maker <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you're on Instagram you've probably seen the #marchmeetthemaker that lots of creative people have been involved in this month. I started doing it, posting a picture for each of the daily prompts... and lasted less than a week!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">If I'm honest, I'm not that great with photo challenges and that type of thing and often fail to complete them but I really wanted to do this one. Unfortunately my day job has been crazily busy recently - even more so than normal - and I've had little time to think of anything other than fire risk assessments. I've even been dreaming about them!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">So what I thought I'd do would be to do my own version of Meet the Maker with a bit of an "about me" blog post. I<span style="font-family: "verdana";">'ve gained a few new followers over the past couple of months and I thought it might be good to tell you a bit about me.<span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAgj_QQvaB1_wNJHwG0wZ1ziLEpNUg0qoYAdIHNxVGJgLbQNEgDPRKUzSaU-JEnNDFCd1fiZRj8eGs3uni73DBMyQ5WSqMWNOlLpaaUJ2-lgOtB6K7Wo3uAyidQfFhbS6JV7KwoTKcC1h0/s1600/Me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAgj_QQvaB1_wNJHwG0wZ1ziLEpNUg0qoYAdIHNxVGJgLbQNEgDPRKUzSaU-JEnNDFCd1fiZRj8eGs3uni73DBMyQ5WSqMWNOlLpaaUJ2-lgOtB6K7Wo3uAyidQfFhbS6JV7KwoTKcC1h0/s640/Me.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm Sam, as you probably will have gathered from my blog name if you didn't already know. By day I work for a housing association as a fire risk surveyor, doing exciting stuff like inspecting fire escape routes and fire doors and writing reports. It's a job I never imagined myself doing to be honest and some days I'm not quite sure exactly how I came to be doing it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Outside work I love all kinds of creative pursuits but sewing, and more often than not, free motion embroidery is my favourite. I've been sewing for as long as I can remember and have made everything from soft toys to wedding dresses. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">However my favourite thing to make is free motion embroidered portraits. I started doing them a couple of years ago with a series of David Bowie portraits and have a constantly growing list of other people to stitch. My ultimate aim for a purely personal project is to stitch David Bowie in every one of his distinctive looks. The next one I'm planning is the Goblin King from the film Labyrinth.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVV7lgRt_V_TXFrsLo7Hq5tMUTMbBtqWiDyekRw5VUnPJFiM8_zCSLsiy9uXubE7SuF4fW6hqS9ec4-E-wwKJ75fIQ2pe5mV_Sj18a9WS24IBt6PbAioRmf-UujH-z2apO6xjmCBI6uPy9/s1600/Free+motion+scans6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVV7lgRt_V_TXFrsLo7Hq5tMUTMbBtqWiDyekRw5VUnPJFiM8_zCSLsiy9uXubE7SuF4fW6hqS9ec4-E-wwKJ75fIQ2pe5mV_Sj18a9WS24IBt6PbAioRmf-UujH-z2apO6xjmCBI6uPy9/s640/Free+motion+scans6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I love using quality fabrics in my work, with the exception of the black fabric used in the jumpsuit of the third portrait in the above line up, all the applique fabrics are either Liberty print cotton or small amounts of silk dupion.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I teach free motion embroidery at a couple of local sewing shops and recently taught a free motion embroidered portraits class at the Knitting and Stitching show, which went better than I could ever have hoped for. You can read about that <a href="http://www.stitchedupbysamantha.co.uk/2019/03/iconic-fun-portraits-at-knitting-and.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Following that experience I'm currently working on some new portraits with a view to selling kits similar to those that we used during the workshop. I'm working on images of Prince, Boy George and Adam Ant at the moment, with more to be added as time allows. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I still love making clothes when I have the time and my next dressmaking project will be a Spring coat using the <a href="https://www.trendpatterns.co.uk/shop/tpc21drop-shoulder-coat-1" target="_blank">Trend Patterns Drop Shoulder Coat</a> pattern and some jade green cotton moleskin I bought recently. I'm hoping to start working on that in the next few days and am trying to be good and make a toile before I jump in and cut my good fabric. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I will also have some news about an exciting project I played a small part in soon, so watch this space!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span>Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-60378759152315782162019-03-02T13:41:00.003+00:002019-03-02T13:41:55.292+00:00Iconic Fun Portraits at the Knitting and Stitching Show<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yesterday I had the pleasure of teaching a workshop at the Knitting and Stitching show for the first time. I was contacted towards the end of last year by Wendy Gardiner who organises all the workshops to ask if I'd be interested in teaching free motion embroidered portraits and after a bit of emailing backwards and forwards we settled on this workshop, offering a choice of David Bowie or Madonna. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2vxvzf_YV6bBRg2eaYFl4GpiIGMu0Nlr0QpJFFGbP3grI1gFSN47_PqncRHTJEu7a4aXLjirUlyC-Vv0IOnCWdzg47uwnTJiWPH_Md_4QPSPPWYv_TJaMRWc8VpPInWKlxFVo8oNKeum/s1600/Split.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2vxvzf_YV6bBRg2eaYFl4GpiIGMu0Nlr0QpJFFGbP3grI1gFSN47_PqncRHTJEu7a4aXLjirUlyC-Vv0IOnCWdzg47uwnTJiWPH_Md_4QPSPPWYv_TJaMRWc8VpPInWKlxFVo8oNKeum/s640/Split.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">This was the sight that greeted me when I arrived at the workshop area at the show early yesterday morning, confirmation that my workshop had already sold out. That was great, but it meant I'd have 12 people to teach, double my normal class size. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv-Jsk7n6hx6n7O8b46n4ZnNa2ahFjVqJ9mJXMXo0Q6waZxjqkDI2R348kpHEPBZ93WI0iw8jb9X0y7SfoWW9_2yjZ50cDvvW9I6WtytK8B_bElxWyzLHBU9bYeajyP6swRCOYklqyTwoa/s1600/Sold+out.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv-Jsk7n6hx6n7O8b46n4ZnNa2ahFjVqJ9mJXMXo0Q6waZxjqkDI2R348kpHEPBZ93WI0iw8jb9X0y7SfoWW9_2yjZ50cDvvW9I6WtytK8B_bElxWyzLHBU9bYeajyP6swRCOYklqyTwoa/s640/Sold+out.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sold out! Eeek!!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">My class wasn't until the afternoon, so me and the friend I'd dragged along to help me (thank you again Jo!) spent the morning shopping and chatting to exhibitors. I spent my money on three patterns from Trend Patterns, some gorgeous hand dyed embroidery threads from Paintbox Threads and 3 metres of chocolate brown linen for a Spring/Summer dress. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I'd spent the last few weeks putting together kits for the workshop, which were transported there in a rather large suitcase. I don't think my fellow commuters on the train were that impressed by the amount of room it took up! I'd decided to make 12 kits in each design, just in case my class sold out (it did) and just in case everyone chose the same one (11 of them chose David Bowie).</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4jbXW5b2rrrERmLLXUfgQ21b-5v0MYnL9CuhsJMls61cFOE_fZ2LlDIFtQbvtrPDOJWHTFTvHOogTni2I3UCjgoHUVtUmcvKq88kt5zVhgXxZLAW6ON8GpSD3-ahCT7Yvj3Z5vZcVYvX/s1600/Boxes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1033" data-original-width="1033" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4jbXW5b2rrrERmLLXUfgQ21b-5v0MYnL9CuhsJMls61cFOE_fZ2LlDIFtQbvtrPDOJWHTFTvHOogTni2I3UCjgoHUVtUmcvKq88kt5zVhgXxZLAW6ON8GpSD3-ahCT7Yvj3Z5vZcVYvX/s640/Boxes.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not a great photo, but kits piled up ready to be packed into the case.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wanted to make the kits really nice (I've been on workshops at events like this before where the kits were awful and actually put me off wanting to do the workshop I'd already paid for), so I chose Liberty print fabrics for the applique and packaged them up as nicely as I could, including templates, instructions and of course all the fabrics. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPgbHPf8snShFcT9j_itxKJQEtyODSWSHbRB-07oNKMfPggfAV8H2zpcT6UyMtwNuOtdDkoleyVCiDpCgFWt1PPmu-P73tjVuhcyusDq2Lk3NQJDSDXQW-00tvR6eBJIVrJdAs7r3rMDce/s1600/Kit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPgbHPf8snShFcT9j_itxKJQEtyODSWSHbRB-07oNKMfPggfAV8H2zpcT6UyMtwNuOtdDkoleyVCiDpCgFWt1PPmu-P73tjVuhcyusDq2Lk3NQJDSDXQW-00tvR6eBJIVrJdAs7r3rMDce/s640/Kit.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Part of the kit, without fabric, as I don't think I'd cut it all when I took this photo.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I've been so busy with my real job recently that I hadn't really had much time to think about the workshop other than preparing everything I needed to take with me, but when it came time to get started yesterday I was really nervous. The previous workshop in my teaching area had over-run slightly, so it was a bit frantic setting up and I also had to contend with a noisy upcycling challenge taking place in the open area behind me.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwseT1-0Swfs6Z0NAptEWLIiO_1KbuG7ZcSfFeFF5ER_FSJjoa_3awA_7g8zaMYlx3jJfodSXJYO0kcT33qxrq-P4dewB6rs4xNeWmW4i9gxSPjRuHRxoXZhcGr6293DLK8X6oZWfWcGR/s1600/Me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwseT1-0Swfs6Z0NAptEWLIiO_1KbuG7ZcSfFeFF5ER_FSJjoa_3awA_7g8zaMYlx3jJfodSXJYO0kcT33qxrq-P4dewB6rs4xNeWmW4i9gxSPjRuHRxoXZhcGr6293DLK8X6oZWfWcGR/s640/Me.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">This was me right before the workshop started, begging my friend to take the photo quickly so I could get going!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Once I got going though I was fine. As I mentioned above, 11 out of the 12 participants chose to stitch David Bowie, so I was very relieved I had taken the decision to make 12 kits of each design. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">I had a great group to teach, everyone was really enthusiastic and kept telling me how much they loved what they were learning. Some people got on quietly and others chatted to their neighbours as they worked. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">And the kits went down a treat, everyone loved them and asked if I sold them elsewhere and if I did any other designs. That's something I had been thinking about - I was certainly going to put the "leftovers" in my Etsy shop - so I'm now in the process of deciding who to add to my little collection. Once I've decided I can start stitching, and photographing, and writing instructions, then finally listing them for sale. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">If there's anyone famous you'd love to have a kit to stitch, please let me know in the comments below. I can't promise to make everyone, but if there are a few names that come up a few times it's a distinct possibility I'll stitch them and turn them into a kit. </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-56742366246205830522019-02-23T07:30:00.000+00:002019-02-23T07:30:04.575+00:00So free motion embroidery is great, but...<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... what can I do with it?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">OK, so you've tried your hand at free motion embroidery and you love it. You want to do more, in fact you want to free motion embroider the hell out of everything you can lay your hands on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Well that's how I felt after my first experience of free motion embroidery anyway, and I'm sure I'm not the only one to feel that way!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">But what if you want to do more than just embroider pictures of teacups and saucers for friends and family, until they (and you) are sick of the sight of them?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Here are a few other ways I've used free motion embroidery in my projects. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Having always been rubbish at drawing people, I discovered a love of stitching them and now one of my favourite ways of using free motion embroidery is doing portraits. I tend to do famous people, below is 80's heart throb John Taylor from Duran Duran, but you could do a family members portrait as a unique gift. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFTdjR81xDXj2tLBN4dOLUpkueoAI_uEVLQrhmvltMpKBqrRm6tax6P9lOhMt3iVlwJ94JgnZjDUUnG7zlxeQm74IPmAp4VnaGxj3Bi8g8rBbdpE6pnx4W0Ct70Lv5JjUCdaltKXJvtow/s1600/Portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="563" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFTdjR81xDXj2tLBN4dOLUpkueoAI_uEVLQrhmvltMpKBqrRm6tax6P9lOhMt3iVlwJ94JgnZjDUUnG7zlxeQm74IPmAp4VnaGxj3Bi8g8rBbdpE6pnx4W0Ct70Lv5JjUCdaltKXJvtow/s640/Portrait.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I've made several cushions using free motion embroidery - in fact I teach free motion embroidered cushion workshops. This is one of my favourites:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQphyAuOLxxzVLc6opO5twR5ezBtUe66_UmgCpdfSvpl5SjS0amGwM3VEixbz92Yljiv4OTXADTgysef3SU5x1QL7q4AtFLKDCD1GSOOeSpMOwnrNBIKTccbVW-0RPXnbAruyDhyNLvS1/s1600/Cushion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQphyAuOLxxzVLc6opO5twR5ezBtUe66_UmgCpdfSvpl5SjS0amGwM3VEixbz92Yljiv4OTXADTgysef3SU5x1QL7q4AtFLKDCD1GSOOeSpMOwnrNBIKTccbVW-0RPXnbAruyDhyNLvS1/s640/Cushion.jpg" width="640" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Clothing and accessories can both be embellished with free motion embroidery as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">You could practice your skills in miniature and make a badge or brooch. I used a large self covered button for this Ziggy Stardust one. (The pink haired lady with glasses is by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjacksondolls/?hl=en" target="_blank">Jennifer Jackson Dolls</a>. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_1_Xd7343iQpBUrbiypBAD5n2MpI8seYNqKp4vMvGdnKJoHPjWRABmtV99POLHZtlWJpOLU-iLdvrI7YvdWPLLB35M9dWhu7xqGMihmSBRve1y4vWdeNKIAqilAS5v1i261Z7cIJS0Nf/s1600/Brooch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="993" data-original-width="993" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_1_Xd7343iQpBUrbiypBAD5n2MpI8seYNqKp4vMvGdnKJoHPjWRABmtV99POLHZtlWJpOLU-iLdvrI7YvdWPLLB35M9dWhu7xqGMihmSBRve1y4vWdeNKIAqilAS5v1i261Z7cIJS0Nf/s640/Brooch.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">And a tiny touch of free motion embroidery is all that's required to make my Cheeky Face make up pouch that was featured in Love Sewing magazine a few months ago. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgt8QhUDKbo6lDTXheieYUK7OBWwTEZJJ93-YGyNyYD5DZWXai2xBM_ToJ1gdu43nOz0wjI3t8uVuirVywC_26D0bu1ADkrM3ObLhFbUxga0Ot5f6Z0Z_61JU5Tpa4RT59l7Jd8b_Gq55n/s1600/Make+up+bag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1029" data-original-width="1029" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgt8QhUDKbo6lDTXheieYUK7OBWwTEZJJ93-YGyNyYD5DZWXai2xBM_ToJ1gdu43nOz0wjI3t8uVuirVywC_26D0bu1ADkrM3ObLhFbUxga0Ot5f6Z0Z_61JU5Tpa4RT59l7Jd8b_Gq55n/s640/Make+up+bag.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Going into a bit more detail again, here's a portrait of Debbie Harry (can you tell I like 80's pop stars?) on a denim tote bag. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMqpBNiV4Ds_k0lsOXd16uU9UvCTYP8XjZw6jUGSZJCyw1RCpOGvRL-KEaJzAEmOHjeMjoLILRonXDmxksGlgF0kXnn96-MO7DUsDALZsQCfPd8komHJWY9vgbhPDERjw8VRt0P5WKkjoq/s1600/Bag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMqpBNiV4Ds_k0lsOXd16uU9UvCTYP8XjZw6jUGSZJCyw1RCpOGvRL-KEaJzAEmOHjeMjoLILRonXDmxksGlgF0kXnn96-MO7DUsDALZsQCfPd8komHJWY9vgbhPDERjw8VRt0P5WKkjoq/s640/Bag.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">And finally to round things off, a sweatshirt embellished with free motion embroidery. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTR70OtkbCV1ndtDw8_b_U8czViogndLe3_E8UjNIwb0pR8q2bliWbsmilRjCBdcEP9MoF0lBNf67Mu-x4fAb773rodzt9i8tVTYd9YZi5YHa2I4sNUOrw-430ac2SuntVECtdcxrsyN5M/s1600/Sweatshirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="957" data-original-width="957" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTR70OtkbCV1ndtDw8_b_U8czViogndLe3_E8UjNIwb0pR8q2bliWbsmilRjCBdcEP9MoF0lBNf67Mu-x4fAb773rodzt9i8tVTYd9YZi5YHa2I4sNUOrw-430ac2SuntVECtdcxrsyN5M/s640/Sweatshirt.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The only thing to watch out for if you're putting free motion embroidery on items that will go through the washing machine is that the raw edges of the fabric will fray to a certain extent. However I made this almost three years ago and it still looks good, the frayed edges actually give it a bit more individuality I think. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I hope this short run through some of my previous projects have given you a few ideas on how you can use free motion embroidery yourself. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">If you have any other suggestions, I'd love to know. </span>Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-74854049865850417552019-02-16T07:30:00.000+00:002019-02-16T07:30:12.879+00:0060's Lady Free Motion Embroidery Tutorial<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdTjKkg8A0B9QEXQus6WEDC165vT8LdG0JYj4apFON8B-yA9k7Td2vfS-fY3yBIOk5MPJo_LM3KZvaCYZm11eujtLcfjUVzZbeXZodck8SH0WVxck-5qcwt4lLS1uMRs-UeXkJjNUCuxR/s1600/60s+lady+header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="685" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdTjKkg8A0B9QEXQus6WEDC165vT8LdG0JYj4apFON8B-yA9k7Td2vfS-fY3yBIOk5MPJo_LM3KZvaCYZm11eujtLcfjUVzZbeXZodck8SH0WVxck-5qcwt4lLS1uMRs-UeXkJjNUCuxR/s640/60s+lady+header.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As promised I have another tutorial for this week. This one builds on the hot air balloon from a few weeks ago by showing you how I stitch areas of detail where there is no applique fabric to guide me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">You will need:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Backing fabric to embroider and applique onto</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Medium weight iron on interfacing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Applique fabrics (I used scraps of Liberty print silk)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">A small piece of Bondaweb</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Greaseproof paper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Thin tracing paper or tissue paper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Good quality black sewing thread</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Start by setting your sewing machine up for free motion embroidery by lowering the feed dogs and changing to a darning foot. Thread the machine up with black thread and a matching bobbin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I used this image to create my embroidery, which I found on Pinterest. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDk65YBJTwyvDnx9nZuNq0b3k8bMctCbuhFDIJcq_VRZkbMTZ8vxfXZZ2OpXesB3NPcdybQ7OupNg0roT96CvIQ2qd-3YyH-y4kMjefmT7iF_xwKymJxKpS_-DDiL-5Ou5GsyluwoKIwzm/s1600/72741878.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="451" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDk65YBJTwyvDnx9nZuNq0b3k8bMctCbuhFDIJcq_VRZkbMTZ8vxfXZZ2OpXesB3NPcdybQ7OupNg0roT96CvIQ2qd-3YyH-y4kMjefmT7iF_xwKymJxKpS_-DDiL-5Ou5GsyluwoKIwzm/s640/72741878.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Start by tracing your chosen image onto a sheet of thin tracing paper or tissue paper. It needs to be thin because you're going to stitch through it later. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvDgmA0_DOZQiHvmkZ7RKSwNtz91-VnJXEzNGyn1Jl8lZuz8h59sAnerCJverypKQrH2yUsS4f3XXQLMeqvpn0Fffy6fYxZq8MhZcELBQz8KWIt-Lyy2NLn0MONdeAeTa-se6fP3vLn2g/s1600/60s+lady+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1578" data-original-width="1182" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvDgmA0_DOZQiHvmkZ7RKSwNtz91-VnJXEzNGyn1Jl8lZuz8h59sAnerCJverypKQrH2yUsS4f3XXQLMeqvpn0Fffy6fYxZq8MhZcELBQz8KWIt-Lyy2NLn0MONdeAeTa-se6fP3vLn2g/s640/60s+lady+1.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Once the image is traced, cut the dress and clutch bag out from your original print out. Keep the tracing intact. Select the fabrics you want to use for the two pieces and apply Bondaweb to the back. Remember to place some greaseproof paper between your iron and the Bondaweb and fabric to protect the iron from the excess glue!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzjah047j584-P3UyWmf7fB6VmR4D2OjNaiJrDDEAuva0B1vp16gz92Nn1ccmW1ET-F0k98625LrnpQMqbI-_fWv9AqmxyR5V4nWdBTI7iKZgptGD01br138OZjh6jhDmZYyP2OdihBj51/s1600/60s+lady+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1108" data-original-width="1477" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzjah047j584-P3UyWmf7fB6VmR4D2OjNaiJrDDEAuva0B1vp16gz92Nn1ccmW1ET-F0k98625LrnpQMqbI-_fWv9AqmxyR5V4nWdBTI7iKZgptGD01br138OZjh6jhDmZYyP2OdihBj51/s640/60s+lady+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Peel your fabrics off the Bondaweb backing, and draw around the templates you have cut out. I always draw on the back of my fabric with the template face down. This way you avoid pen marks on the right side of your fabric. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrcNuaJpuQ_EhZkqEivU0vdTO-SwurdRf4x9DjJvu8l1OW9_wt3wF3FfyFN5NKjp33LCeuQBvWLtz30981Trf_XIsYh45QmZq8DriP_UYn_4HrSjZv0uJSu6OJ1RmDpWe5DWQZypuZJUf/s1600/60s+lady+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="1225" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrcNuaJpuQ_EhZkqEivU0vdTO-SwurdRf4x9DjJvu8l1OW9_wt3wF3FfyFN5NKjp33LCeuQBvWLtz30981Trf_XIsYh45QmZq8DriP_UYn_4HrSjZv0uJSu6OJ1RmDpWe5DWQZypuZJUf/s640/60s+lady+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Use a couple of pins to secure your tissue paper tracing to your backing fabric and carefully position your cut out applique pieces on the backing fabric using your tracing as a guide. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYBBhbtZ4i_mQIN2oF_g89CA6HmVEF4HEsSlhQpo5BEBvTw8PyOjfQO_r7phfohq4ysgn1uzPoCAllG6czulyeraBD8qFNNLIx4f0rINZdrlY4PkePgbY52dPgEPqatZW78-Q7h8PPZHd5/s1600/60s+lady+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1450" data-original-width="1087" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYBBhbtZ4i_mQIN2oF_g89CA6HmVEF4HEsSlhQpo5BEBvTw8PyOjfQO_r7phfohq4ysgn1uzPoCAllG6czulyeraBD8qFNNLIx4f0rINZdrlY4PkePgbY52dPgEPqatZW78-Q7h8PPZHd5/s640/60s+lady+4.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Press with a hot iron to activate the glue and stick the applique pieces down. Now you are ready to stitch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Start by stitching the traced lines in the areas where there is no fabric - on this image, the head, arms and legs. Go over each line twice for a more solid look and stitch up and down on the spot a few times at the start and end. At this stage you don't need to stitch the areas where there is fabric to guide you. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOrnXy5hyLWj1k6QHag_UCYVXWcyd3XmPjCEJ475fXQtYj3j2omtXnwF8CLJjHVCQOO-elKThuNrkLDxhuWdRLlTJHtqLf7V1h5zOoD1s-ebfG4HscjKAYgpdmBhYZPWyGSs-2PVCThIEs/s1600/60s+lady+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1454" data-original-width="1090" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOrnXy5hyLWj1k6QHag_UCYVXWcyd3XmPjCEJ475fXQtYj3j2omtXnwF8CLJjHVCQOO-elKThuNrkLDxhuWdRLlTJHtqLf7V1h5zOoD1s-ebfG4HscjKAYgpdmBhYZPWyGSs-2PVCThIEs/s640/60s+lady+5.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once you have completed these sections you can remove the tracing. Do this by carefully pulling the paper away. Tear slowly and hold the paper close to the stitches to prevent putting too much pressure on them. Most areas should come away quite easily as your stitching will have perforated the paper. Stubborn pieces of paper can be eased away with a stitch unpicker or a pair of needle nosed craft tweezers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can now stitch around the dress and bag and add extra detail into the hair, or fill the shoes in should you wish. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Ex6JfrljfhHOfKuuBvHM8NRgHgzwyjeNUuMLzt_cOYu-IZYZ1Ad-v_8pRiJP8RnPjaJgeLSc7zi3tqHXjXk2uSYifwHrGgthOssI0zKAcm18G_yvERxOU2UXyDir_EtN0kwJyCBKcrIP/s1600/60s+lady+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Ex6JfrljfhHOfKuuBvHM8NRgHgzwyjeNUuMLzt_cOYu-IZYZ1Ad-v_8pRiJP8RnPjaJgeLSc7zi3tqHXjXk2uSYifwHrGgthOssI0zKAcm18G_yvERxOU2UXyDir_EtN0kwJyCBKcrIP/s640/60s+lady+7.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This technique can be used anywhere you need to add some detail that can't be guided by the edge of your fabric. It works well for text as well as "drawn" areas and is particularly useful if you need something to be very precise. </span>Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-18672173026789682212019-02-09T07:30:00.000+00:002019-02-09T07:30:03.214+00:00Free Motion Embroidery Artists I Admire<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are many different styles of free motion embroidery. The beauty of the skill is that once you've learned the basics you can do so many different things with it. I thought it would be fun to share with you some of my favourite free motion embroidery / textile artists so you see some the different styles in a bit more detail.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Firstly has to be Katie Essam. It was seeing Katie's work at a local craft fair a few years ago that brought free motion embroidery to my attention. As well as selling her gorgeous work she was advertising workshops and I immediately decided I wanted one as a birthday present. You can read about my experience on the workshop in <a href="http://www.stitchedupbysamantha.co.uk/2012/09/a-new-love.html" target="_blank">this blog post</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Katie describes herself as a<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">mixed</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> media textile artist, inspired by everyday beauty. She combines freehand machine embroidery, appliqué, paint, crochet and more to create her original textile pieces.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Her pieces are bright, colourful and full of texture and detail. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvpu1q4rwpsjYmn0vTRouGwCrfY-klFs0YVAJhSlrS94XCJCOEPewcsUAnqjrkaUZ7FASUBNrYpkKfISuEWREGRD7Q3N6Fy9fnOZ3-ISUjN5V39uXs_dNerWXauB4yS7v7lF-jttuETsXt/s1600/Katie+3D+street.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="700" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvpu1q4rwpsjYmn0vTRouGwCrfY-klFs0YVAJhSlrS94XCJCOEPewcsUAnqjrkaUZ7FASUBNrYpkKfISuEWREGRD7Q3N6Fy9fnOZ3-ISUjN5V39uXs_dNerWXauB4yS7v7lF-jttuETsXt/s640/Katie+3D+street.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">You can find Katie's website <a href="http://www.katie-essam.co.uk/" target="_blank">here</a>. She has also written a brilliant book <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Textile-Artist-Stitched-Pictures-Embroidery/dp/1782215131/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539090051&sr=8-1&keywords=layered+and+stitched+pictures" target="_blank">"Layered and Stitched Pictures"</a>, which I highly recommend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Next I'd like to introduce you to Emma Giacalone, a textile artist I discovered through Instagram. Emma's work is simply beautiful, incredibly detailed and often focuses on positivity and inspiring messages. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Her food pictures take familiar, often iconic packaging and give it a quirky twist and "Finding Inspiration" maps do the same for the good old A-Z road atlas. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0j-UdBch8SWT56YuczuwlSwJ7RTGF_BJUrAIm4ulN2clo7nAf6qYWrtAofkh7z87GiRSKBpj_v-IdVglf-ZC1V_HbSl2OpFvrmUq9kkRq2y90vZ4xA96Pyf_swtfj6T0ZWCL2Gw2TeFy/s1600/emma_giacalone_textiles-1549095331436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0j-UdBch8SWT56YuczuwlSwJ7RTGF_BJUrAIm4ulN2clo7nAf6qYWrtAofkh7z87GiRSKBpj_v-IdVglf-ZC1V_HbSl2OpFvrmUq9kkRq2y90vZ4xA96Pyf_swtfj6T0ZWCL2Gw2TeFy/s640/emma_giacalone_textiles-1549095331436.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXN7grQ6dr5ufey2bci9KynuxCwZSnugd1-XaQtj2N9aJrwWdmkwQo7cr8edCiC35OG0mmmbafBAPEGvq5enzlpmcbQ66zWr0e88QnPn_3AafNy3RBkhKgAHYAUad8Gzjaxkmf_tjttF1_/s1600/emma_giacalone_textiles-1549095392552.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1206" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXN7grQ6dr5ufey2bci9KynuxCwZSnugd1-XaQtj2N9aJrwWdmkwQo7cr8edCiC35OG0mmmbafBAPEGvq5enzlpmcbQ66zWr0e88QnPn_3AafNy3RBkhKgAHYAUad8Gzjaxkmf_tjttF1_/s640/emma_giacalone_textiles-1549095392552.jpg" width="572" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">You can find Emma's website <a href="https://emmagiacalone.com/" target="_blank">here</a>, and her Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/emma_giacalone_textiles/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Amanda Stinton is another Instagram find - it's where I get my creative fix from these days. Amanda's lovely work is another take on free motion embroidery, which is almost collage like in the way she layers fabrics - sometimes overlapping tiny pieces - and thread to create colourful and highly textured pictures. She uses coloured threads to great effect and creates shading as you would with different coloured paints.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJMdyGncCZ6lR1S1NI8ityh8iHQeCC8v46yX-ru_ZTjkgkZAqHar9epLICTAGSraYf-DZBTnfPRNQ6T1ptg7EhXctMfTMKsD7CdaOe7OL6BjR8MScVtoIRR8S6fVO55lYJgyPxWjusgzBv/s1600/amandastinton-1549095467281.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1349" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJMdyGncCZ6lR1S1NI8ityh8iHQeCC8v46yX-ru_ZTjkgkZAqHar9epLICTAGSraYf-DZBTnfPRNQ6T1ptg7EhXctMfTMKsD7CdaOe7OL6BjR8MScVtoIRR8S6fVO55lYJgyPxWjusgzBv/s640/amandastinton-1549095467281.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8yYeV5eQKIHnZMDtCmeDY_PfJwHpgFs78zZxVIq-pg3z62ThDl6C6TqQUdY2_B2VtumwFpRaCJRrdjjD4-IDja5lXDcFJbFiYwNqKignIObifGXhP_v-F1DeH4ZD0AEFUheWc3BRfWuse/s1600/amandastinton-1549095504537.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8yYeV5eQKIHnZMDtCmeDY_PfJwHpgFs78zZxVIq-pg3z62ThDl6C6TqQUdY2_B2VtumwFpRaCJRrdjjD4-IDja5lXDcFJbFiYwNqKignIObifGXhP_v-F1DeH4ZD0AEFUheWc3BRfWuse/s640/amandastinton-1549095504537.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">You can find Amanda on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/amandastinton/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Finally for today is Ali from Hawkins and Hill, yet another Instagram find! I think I found Ali through the gorgeous clutch bags she makes, which often feature some form of free motion embroidery. The pieces of her work I've chosen to share feature a vintage sewing pattern envelope stitched from fabric, and an old school music cassette tape stitched from vinyl, proving once again that it's possible to use a wide variety of materials in your work. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I love the way Ali has 'coloured in' the pattern envelope design with thread, rather than using fabric applique.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gBwST0PmLuopr9t022YBBDGfw_FHo98TR8xgKiSQTRAwCIYllQ4ggOkQjfWk7XiXKgji9ZleLiFGAZeibWl00UJ65ajAODtq-tAzpIdzFaMgdMMqEspfnAEiaMBXvcYWHSb9Q3ZmOvKa/s1600/hawkinsandhill--1549096517492.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1080" height="546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gBwST0PmLuopr9t022YBBDGfw_FHo98TR8xgKiSQTRAwCIYllQ4ggOkQjfWk7XiXKgji9ZleLiFGAZeibWl00UJ65ajAODtq-tAzpIdzFaMgdMMqEspfnAEiaMBXvcYWHSb9Q3ZmOvKa/s640/hawkinsandhill--1549096517492.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Ali's Instagram is <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hawkinsandhill/" target="_blank">here</a>, and you can find her Etsy shop <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HawkinsandHill" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I hope you've enjoyed my little trip around the world of free motion embroidery today. There are plenty more artists out there creating in lots of different styles, so hopefully I'll do another one of these posts later in the year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In the mean time, I'd love to know which one of the artists I've featured today is your favourite and why.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Next week I'll be back with a new tutorial for you. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">* all of the above images are shared with the artists permission.</span> </span><br />
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Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-30972459074184317412019-02-02T07:30:00.000+00:002019-02-02T07:30:06.476+00:00Teaching at the Knitting and Stitching Show<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Towards the end of last year an email popped into my inbox one day asking if I'd be interested in teaching a free motion embroidered portraits class at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Olympia this Spring. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I often teach free motion embroidery and I love doing so, it always thrills me to see initially nervous students suddenly 'get it' and watch their creativity blossom. But I've never taught more than 6 people at a time; this offer was for a class of 12!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Well, after a bit of emailing backwards and forwards to sort out the details - how long should the workshop be? would there be a choice of portraits, and if so, who? and so on - I accepted the invitation. I'm excited and a little nervous to be able to tell you I'm teaching a free motion embroidered portraits class on the Friday afternoon, 1st March. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitrdgZz-Zz9YrYj1KFrKwNu7m2Pc_yHWE5ZDHIdKczkcuKfNVOeetQzzel-l0cOgp4SHPpqA_d0FcTgTT4BRZqZZ79RCY8qCh6lMZuO3Pnyphl3j-JzybESdZIQDKanGn-oDMHINcc3Hq-/s1600/httpswww.theknittingandstitchingshow.comspringwp-contentuploads201901KS-Spring-PDF-v5.+-+Internet+Explorer+25012019+150707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="429" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitrdgZz-Zz9YrYj1KFrKwNu7m2Pc_yHWE5ZDHIdKczkcuKfNVOeetQzzel-l0cOgp4SHPpqA_d0FcTgTT4BRZqZZ79RCY8qCh6lMZuO3Pnyphl3j-JzybESdZIQDKanGn-oDMHINcc3Hq-/s640/httpswww.theknittingandstitchingshow.comspringwp-contentuploads201901KS-Spring-PDF-v5.+-+Internet+Explorer+25012019+150707.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As you can see, the workshop is actually called Iconic Fun Portraits, and I hope it will be fun. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I've made the samples and as the blurb says, you can choose to stitch either David Bowie or Madonna. I've chosen to use Liberty of London cotton lawn throughout, as I wanted to make the pieces really special. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijuNdd3ALLH2NFDzmELV-iiOGKiNXFv0ehUh1yKeFcKpB9VA61rSuHmNKOyQOK7WTphdyt2COdJukG6n13EW5TGiXHoe_GWfkYDfS3UVQ_ZJg5aT768Od5qxdr55JkqdvcnEltwxfojqLs/s1600/K%2526S+Bowie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1278" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijuNdd3ALLH2NFDzmELV-iiOGKiNXFv0ehUh1yKeFcKpB9VA61rSuHmNKOyQOK7WTphdyt2COdJukG6n13EW5TGiXHoe_GWfkYDfS3UVQ_ZJg5aT768Od5qxdr55JkqdvcnEltwxfojqLs/s640/K%2526S+Bowie.jpg" width="510" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggg5LXE6pRIncs1kG4PlhktZHF04SF-cCUF81P0tMUuqGg-l0PraFSMC3KrV4I3jOaBw9-Vny5f-ASLd5F88fyP_AgZ41HyFBn4S3VQkBoK0wvRfrLdbVNqSOfio-dhdnjozwoo-EM2Gs4/s1600/K%2526S+Madonna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1277" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggg5LXE6pRIncs1kG4PlhktZHF04SF-cCUF81P0tMUuqGg-l0PraFSMC3KrV4I3jOaBw9-Vny5f-ASLd5F88fyP_AgZ41HyFBn4S3VQkBoK0wvRfrLdbVNqSOfio-dhdnjozwoo-EM2Gs4/s640/K%2526S+Madonna.jpg" width="510" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm currently putting together the kits for the workshop, which is a challenge to make sure I include everything! Normally I teach in a fabric shop so if I've forgotten anything I can quickly grab it, but for this I need to provide everything. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">As I'm teaching a workshop the lovely organisers have given me a discount code for entry tickets to share with my followers. If you use code SWT40 on the website <a href="https://www.theknittingandstitchingshow.com/spring/" target="_blank">here</a> you can get your entry ticket for just £12.00. You can also quote the code if you prefer to book by phone on 0844 581 1319.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">As I mentioned earlier in the post my workshop is on the Friday afternoon. I'd love to see some of you there, whether you take my workshop or not. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Let me know in the comments below if you're going on the Friday and I'll try and say hello. </span>Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-21530158811452430062019-01-26T07:30:00.000+00:002019-01-26T07:30:14.887+00:00Materials for Free Motion Embroidery<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In my last post I took you through a simple free motion embroidery project without really going into much detail about the materials and tools needed, so today I thought I'd talk about what you need.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: large;">Backing Fabric</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">I like to mainly use plain fabrics for my backing - that is the background I applique and stitch onto, although I do occasionally use tweeds and wools with a texture or pattern.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Medium to heavy weight fabrics work best; cotton canvas, furnishing weight linen and denim are all great options. Harris Tweed or tartan is lovely but can be quite expensive if you require larger pieces. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Interfacing / Stabiliser</span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unless the fabric I'm using as</span> a base is very heavy weight and stable I always back it with some medium weight iron on interfacing. You don't need a specialist embroidery stabiliser, dressmakers interfacing works fine and is cheaper. I find Vlieseline H250 to be the best weight in most cases. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span></span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: large;">B<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">ondaweb </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">I use this heat activated fabric adhesive to bond my applique fabrics to the backing prior to beginning embroidery. It holds everything in place far better than pins ever could.</span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSmaEVhm63AmbIwsZ9UzDO55C0tbpPx4s-xWEThVBW-ypQ2u2sd9IFFQT_-h0ydoczHj5F6JrloieKV5DOrpmbk2t1g8lIpcHbd29txGMbjRYgllsxGDIj0NbWPCkEHdGnEs-Gqo_3HI67/s1600/stitchedupsam-1547382090377+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="843" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSmaEVhm63AmbIwsZ9UzDO55C0tbpPx4s-xWEThVBW-ypQ2u2sd9IFFQT_-h0ydoczHj5F6JrloieKV5DOrpmbk2t1g8lIpcHbd29txGMbjRYgllsxGDIj0NbWPCkEHdGnEs-Gqo_3HI67/s640/stitchedupsam-1547382090377+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A variety of fabrics all suitable for applique</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Applique Fabrics</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">This is where your options are almost endless! When I started doing free motion embroidery I used quilting cotton almost exclusively and it's still a good option. You can buy it in small quantities, it comes in an incredible array of colours and prints and is easily obtainable. It's also easy to work with. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">These days if I'm using cotton fabric then Liberty Tana lawn is my fabric of choice. I look out for scrap packs wherever I go and have been known to scrounge scraps off fellow stitchers via Instagram!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">But don't be limited by cotton; wool and silk are amazing for adding texture, as are leather and handmade felt.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MkUDBU_G8lIkYKmNPrD9UjJ55HhcU759C4cvTVALwIYDEvBxMSGXd98kchP98DDJLQwrSO0amvRueHNufpSc7O1xQM_9gp9X7-pkOezCnCR6tceU6ue1kFj_skHn7MIC12ah_dVSapX1/s1600/stitchedupsam-1547382014166+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1000" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MkUDBU_G8lIkYKmNPrD9UjJ55HhcU759C4cvTVALwIYDEvBxMSGXd98kchP98DDJLQwrSO0amvRueHNufpSc7O1xQM_9gp9X7-pkOezCnCR6tceU6ue1kFj_skHn7MIC12ah_dVSapX1/s640/stitchedupsam-1547382014166+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This cushion I made recently features Liberty Tana lawn, silk dupion, metallic leather and handmade felt</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">A great source of fabric is the sample books you find in curtain and upholstery shops. I have a couple of such outlets near me and have picked up some amazing and beautiful bargains from them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Thread</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">A good quality polyester thread works best, my preference is Gutermann Sew All. Polyester works better than cotton as it is stronger and therefore less prone to breakage. I tend to use black thread or another dark shade, but different effects can be achieved by using brighter or lighter colours. You can choose to match your thread colour to your applique fabric, or contrast. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Variagated, metallic and rayon machine embroidery threads can all be used to highlight areas and again give different effects. Experiment to see what you like best.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMDRWFDKoluchMcI9jXeBlBv8cwZMcdc_ImZsSxh8xI0OxyTN6jaNWu3hfxmY_dWHQuFAfRXfmnUg00xHNwOZCv2ftL_HsIhA0msFnApwYg2YI6KeOyBNe1ACUIEBGGpVsHhJMb1eFdRsY/s1600/731340-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="704" data-original-width="1123" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMDRWFDKoluchMcI9jXeBlBv8cwZMcdc_ImZsSxh8xI0OxyTN6jaNWu3hfxmY_dWHQuFAfRXfmnUg00xHNwOZCv2ftL_HsIhA0msFnApwYg2YI6KeOyBNe1ACUIEBGGpVsHhJMb1eFdRsY/s640/731340-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rayon machine embroidery threads</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Miscellaneous</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">You will need some greaseproof paper to lay on top of your fabric and Bondaweb to protect the iron from the sticky glue residue. Cleaning glue from the plate of the iron isn't fun! Just buy the cheapest roll of greaseproof paper you can find in the supermarket, it doesn't need to be anything fancy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">A selection of pens is always good to have on hand. Frixion pens are great for drawing guidelines for stitching; just remember their ink disappears with heat, so don't spend ages drawing something out with one and then go over it with your iron before you've stitched! Other than Frixion pens, I use either a standard ball point pen or a fine drawing pen to trace around my templates.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Tools</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">In terms of tools you don't really need a lot in addition to your regular sewing kit. The only essential as far as I'm concerned is a darning foot for your sewing machine but if you're braver or less squeamish than I am you could even forego this. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Non essential - but "nice to have" tools for me would include some tiny sharp scissors or micro snips for cutting threads close to my work and maybe some craft tweezers for dealing with fiddly bits of fabric. I do like to have scissors in a variety of sizes both for cutting the aforementioned fiddly bits of fabric as well as my initial templates. </span> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXGI2xSF6glDxVqGuKmOJAF-Fiy6_FLUpK4UaLUN1lnL2Swq5OX-eQ6ldlPCQvS4aS-G1sp0qKsTEMegJSIolt4IYfnUwoDQcmMZw1LBIa8u89mMFwevOdKEu60gomqlwoLcDa479qj54g/s1600/tula-snips+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="530" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXGI2xSF6glDxVqGuKmOJAF-Fiy6_FLUpK4UaLUN1lnL2Swq5OX-eQ6ldlPCQvS4aS-G1sp0qKsTEMegJSIolt4IYfnUwoDQcmMZw1LBIa8u89mMFwevOdKEu60gomqlwoLcDa479qj54g/s400/tula-snips+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tula Pink Hardware micro snips - a less fancy version would work just as well!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br />Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-5570847083051694342019-01-19T07:30:00.000+00:002019-01-19T07:30:02.959+00:00Simple Free Motion Embroidery - Hot Air Balloon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhajzkbTpLFviW6kCSNdJqqavcffD2YN51zuD9OBpmBWURTt5Xpeyt-pDBzaUAqBwMLzHtt1IxTng5BgGniy0tuAHcTaEY2ASivWbEnEGHhuw6VhrQv6QSJhDGopobcslVH09d2sbQ_PgnA/s1600/20181230_155040_20181230162626625.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="962" data-original-width="1285" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhajzkbTpLFviW6kCSNdJqqavcffD2YN51zuD9OBpmBWURTt5Xpeyt-pDBzaUAqBwMLzHtt1IxTng5BgGniy0tuAHcTaEY2ASivWbEnEGHhuw6VhrQv6QSJhDGopobcslVH09d2sbQ_PgnA/s640/20181230_155040_20181230162626625.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today I'm going to show you how to create a simple free motion embroidered picture like the one above. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">In addition to your normal sewing kit you will need the following:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";">A darning foot for your sewing machine</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";">An image to copy (I found mine on Google Images)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";">A piece of plain medium weight fabric for the backing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Various coloured/patterned fabrics for applique. Mine are scraps of quilting cotton. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Dark coloured thread and matching bobbin. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";">A piece of medium weight iron on interfacing about the same size as your backing fabric.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Some Bondaweb.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Greaseproof paper.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana";">A Frixion pen or air erasable fabric pen. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">First prepare your backing fabric by giving it a good press and applying the iron on interfacing to the wrong side. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Choose the image you want to recreate (or use as a basis, you don't have to copy it exactly), print or trace a copy and cut it into the parts you want to use. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGNAJ3G96deICLXfSoHRs_xJi3oUPQPfpksXxFLWk7je3-VVbgWBkcmyfO7e6H6XHWlPY1gIPi0Tbid9fDYx-kiu-BRsWz1E3NqT8vuZtNEeL9P11KA-9aYzQOGVV5Lz935uTq5PRm_Mc/s1600/20181230_131835.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGNAJ3G96deICLXfSoHRs_xJi3oUPQPfpksXxFLWk7je3-VVbgWBkcmyfO7e6H6XHWlPY1gIPi0Tbid9fDYx-kiu-BRsWz1E3NqT8vuZtNEeL9P11KA-9aYzQOGVV5Lz935uTq5PRm_Mc/s640/20181230_131835.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Basic image cut into sections for a template</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">I have chosen to simplify this hot air balloon by cutting the centre striped section as one piece, but you could cut the stripes out separately if you chose. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Choose your applique fabrics and cut a piece of each one slightly larger than you need.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVnlrRyVsicuVr7rDs6QnDc7IorGgBfelPGPHrvOIlOjxuXOeEVZyoBuonV3scGpDdBZisZOapNTmkyINYossSIW_TfjvlKLNu6EADVh-r-oLGsJCRcM2im1_gabJppKjlr4vnljPvvehu/s1600/20181230_132249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1201" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVnlrRyVsicuVr7rDs6QnDc7IorGgBfelPGPHrvOIlOjxuXOeEVZyoBuonV3scGpDdBZisZOapNTmkyINYossSIW_TfjvlKLNu6EADVh-r-oLGsJCRcM2im1_gabJppKjlr4vnljPvvehu/s640/20181230_132249.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Applique fabrics chosen and cut to size</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Take a piece of Bondaweb and lay it on your ironing board glue side up. Check the manufacturers instructions on how to use Bondaweb if you are new to it. Place your applique fabrics right side up on top of the Bondaweb. This will ensure the glue adheres to the wrong side of the fabrics. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9R2yuS3uzGheHOAnKNxMr4l9qgvMO_NAq2D0BnuVsdN9UkIjVcoKSvT0TRYXYynhJjxsUFjICsMiEbW5OrzjHEMY9p-DpfilEnUoCw27kWjUcpdleEZICCPNbFTQbAPK4PuazFpbLjYPz/s1600/20181230_132507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9R2yuS3uzGheHOAnKNxMr4l9qgvMO_NAq2D0BnuVsdN9UkIjVcoKSvT0TRYXYynhJjxsUFjICsMiEbW5OrzjHEMY9p-DpfilEnUoCw27kWjUcpdleEZICCPNbFTQbAPK4PuazFpbLjYPz/s640/20181230_132507.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Applique fabrics ready to have Bondaweb applied</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cover with a piece of greaseproof paper to stop the exposed glue ending up on the baseplate of your iron and press firmly. It will take 10 - 15 seconds for the glue to activate. Keep the iron moving slowly and smoothly over the whole piece. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8WM9bO1wtnYgcMNsRoh92fMy5FpRjUqm1Pm099A_qux-vE75pTTzCYiFTN4c8WFQ3rGkwGri-L84qxO_3VxCD5bPKL8lZOH1W2TvFaAIiBTDEVpQyienSIKZFMtlYZd0ys6NgpAuFmRp_/s1600/20181230_132608.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8WM9bO1wtnYgcMNsRoh92fMy5FpRjUqm1Pm099A_qux-vE75pTTzCYiFTN4c8WFQ3rGkwGri-L84qxO_3VxCD5bPKL8lZOH1W2TvFaAIiBTDEVpQyienSIKZFMtlYZd0ys6NgpAuFmRp_/s640/20181230_132608.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ironing onto the Bondaweb. Remember to cover with greaseproof paper!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Remove the greaseproof paper and carefully peel the fabric from the Bondaweb backing. You should be able to feel the glue on the back of the fabric; it won't be sticky, but will feel slightly rubbery. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Place your fabric pieces right side down and with your template also right side down, draw round the template on the wrong side of your fabric. I use the wrong side to draw on so I don't end up with pen marks on the right side of the fabric. You can use any type of pen, I sometimes use a simple ballpoint pen, or a fine fibre tipped one. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAti4ao_wH5D-cVkAD-DBJJuUNFeDn_KVYL8ulDzzQqGdnSCqieXTJkm81MQvQ_aEq5qQ-anf0qMUssvIuuzx6kOZdrkKC_uUkSHYkwyWHSwdjPMpSj8sf_Pr63NEvIx1Q2RGQT9YgAeK/s1600/20181230_132857.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAti4ao_wH5D-cVkAD-DBJJuUNFeDn_KVYL8ulDzzQqGdnSCqieXTJkm81MQvQ_aEq5qQ-anf0qMUssvIuuzx6kOZdrkKC_uUkSHYkwyWHSwdjPMpSj8sf_Pr63NEvIx1Q2RGQT9YgAeK/s640/20181230_132857.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Draw round your templates wrong side down on the back of your fabric</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cut your applique pieces out using some small sharp scissors and assemble them on the backing fabric. Once you are happy with their positioning, cover them with another piece of greaseproof paper and press again. The glue will activate again and stick the two layers of fabric together. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikLh1h2laBEo2N0WICgyFauIJwM_y2Zcism2_1SieAJEu1cfxZkmlds_3fmDZi57XayqHVOWHJrBaiz7quW_QViP1x5ydby7Z_rPE4s6Tz71BW0iurvqGy-sOdkmzKJ9nyY7khzMrXhgrg/s1600/20181230_133551.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikLh1h2laBEo2N0WICgyFauIJwM_y2Zcism2_1SieAJEu1cfxZkmlds_3fmDZi57XayqHVOWHJrBaiz7quW_QViP1x5ydby7Z_rPE4s6Tz71BW0iurvqGy-sOdkmzKJ9nyY7khzMrXhgrg/s640/20181230_133551.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fabrics attached to backing and ready to stitch</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now it's time to start stitching. Using your sewing machine instruction booklet for guidance, drop the machine's feed dogs and put on your darning foot. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Set your machine to a regular straight stitch. You don't need to worry about stitch length, you will be controlling this yourself depending on how quickly you sew, and how quickly you move the fabric under the needle. When you start off you might think it's best to go really slowly but actually I find it's easier to go at a medium speed. This helps to give a nice, smooth flow to the lines you are stitching, too slow and your lines can end up jagged and rough. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">You can move the fabric as slowly or quickly as you like - quite independently of how quickly your needle is going up and down - and you can either turn the fabric as you go, or you can keep it facing one direction and stitch forwards, backwards and sideways. There's no right or wrong way; experiment to see what feels most comfortable for you. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQykZEKVu50NBdlp6B9AnTxq32evUTMNd4dKD95cGyN7ABENp2eQx8bIg4E2EqzH-Rc75btR5MdN_aSIvHnIGTutg2I5ZonbmtnCTDFg7lvMwaZ4mWTkPz3qnnSCcW23BAvDjIpke9-PLg/s1600/20181230_134846+close+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="494" data-original-width="656" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQykZEKVu50NBdlp6B9AnTxq32evUTMNd4dKD95cGyN7ABENp2eQx8bIg4E2EqzH-Rc75btR5MdN_aSIvHnIGTutg2I5ZonbmtnCTDFg7lvMwaZ4mWTkPz3qnnSCcW23BAvDjIpke9-PLg/s400/20181230_134846+close+up.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Aim to sew just inside the edge of the applique fabric</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">I always try to sew just inside the edges of my applique fabrics, and I normally go round each piece at least twice. This helps even out any "wobbles" on your first line of stitching. Start somewhere that looks easiest - I try to find a straightish edge to start on if I can. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5w3TpEvDjcAeBKMtHZRcHLvM2veLiTLZ-R_-jwVBc8oEG4HxnW-fWQU4tFv0-6gtuTf-xvQAH_sJ5OfXR9fWZVz6uHPAaGa16CpfdRmZVJYzgtO9XEtxthi_bbScqKI4oEFcn_7vuroAP/s1600/20181230_134205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5w3TpEvDjcAeBKMtHZRcHLvM2veLiTLZ-R_-jwVBc8oEG4HxnW-fWQU4tFv0-6gtuTf-xvQAH_sJ5OfXR9fWZVz6uHPAaGa16CpfdRmZVJYzgtO9XEtxthi_bbScqKI4oEFcn_7vuroAP/s640/20181230_134205.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Start stitching on a corner or somewhere relatively straight</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If your machine has the capacity to come to a stop with the needle down into the fabric instead of at it's highest point use this feature. The way the darning foot works means that the foot isn't in contact with the fabric the whole time, and the needle down in the fabric helps to stop it jumping to one side when you stop. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkHo3wAMy2Lbk3FF1DC-53S4aRbmqm2m8XdHS4Gp3OK9O33rJmHQNkrVDqH2PprS4Dxk2OczW1wdFDinBu0ffzHgjtA-DRvhq9cyJrLEykjqEXaHQIUIWiByHTBmNOMZN72v5aj3_36Qnn/s1600/20181230_134846.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkHo3wAMy2Lbk3FF1DC-53S4aRbmqm2m8XdHS4Gp3OK9O33rJmHQNkrVDqH2PprS4Dxk2OczW1wdFDinBu0ffzHgjtA-DRvhq9cyJrLEykjqEXaHQIUIWiByHTBmNOMZN72v5aj3_36Qnn/s640/20181230_134846.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Main pieces are stitched in place using two lines of stitching</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once you have gone round each piece once you can use a Frixion pen to add extra details, like the ropes attaching the basket to the balloon. Frixion pen ink disappears when you press it with a hot iron, so they are ideal for this type of work. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBtpzZzjBTp1-5sEZkZsVj2YRbXIA-65X2iYEbf07pStm1yKVlWWsL_DEYAbaciyhuVjHQb4yZmesA99GT_5BpuLB7EzLYM4bx2bqxW5BA94e3_sXzO3FbkH4o9U4gagtEgeoS05a7jA4l/s1600/20181230_135009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBtpzZzjBTp1-5sEZkZsVj2YRbXIA-65X2iYEbf07pStm1yKVlWWsL_DEYAbaciyhuVjHQb4yZmesA99GT_5BpuLB7EzLYM4bx2bqxW5BA94e3_sXzO3FbkH4o9U4gagtEgeoS05a7jA4l/s640/20181230_135009.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Additional details drawn with Frixion pen</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Once you have stitched the ropes, give your picture a quick press to remove any ink you haven't covered with stitching and your picture is finished!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheQ1ZBappcydrQxpX-JjxxivHDjjmSWxFm3YWQqAwrmYW1wHQVAHYno79iv3U1nC2rZ2Bzvysh6Y020QMaW5ubCJUrXmf-auBDMJqigPa-fhTYBEmclS1smndR_CGWgMnfKVfuS0ZcydF8/s1600/20181230_135357.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1580" data-original-width="1185" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheQ1ZBappcydrQxpX-JjxxivHDjjmSWxFm3YWQqAwrmYW1wHQVAHYno79iv3U1nC2rZ2Bzvysh6Y020QMaW5ubCJUrXmf-auBDMJqigPa-fhTYBEmclS1smndR_CGWgMnfKVfuS0ZcydF8/s640/20181230_135357.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The finished piece!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">If you wanted to, you could continue to build your picture up by adding bunting to the balloon or ropes, or even to the basket. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Try creating the same image using different fabrics and different coloured thread to see what a difference it can make. You could also try fussy cutting to include certain parts of a fabric design.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Please let me know if you try this. You can tag me on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/stitchedupsam/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> with my user name @stitchedupsam or using the hashtag #stitchedupsam</span><br />
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<br />Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-25528683317563810642019-01-12T07:30:00.000+00:002019-01-12T07:30:06.937+00:00What is free motion embroidery?<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Put simply, free motion embroidery - or free machine embroidery if you prefer - is the art of drawing with a sewing machine. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Google the term or look on Pinterest and you will find numerous different styles of what is a very accessible form of textile art. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuzN3kXV7rcfnW4P5I9rpHBnI6mCPqysH9OlgzQ93uv_HvKq6NprOrn2LNNSrAAdcpOous9RmB9nvUHJEf4qVQpGDtLDwvBXLuG-ZBdANeq0zgC6hk850-Czi-CtbumwQNsQxQMTjBQmy3/s1600/free+motion+screenshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="1011" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuzN3kXV7rcfnW4P5I9rpHBnI6mCPqysH9OlgzQ93uv_HvKq6NprOrn2LNNSrAAdcpOous9RmB9nvUHJEf4qVQpGDtLDwvBXLuG-ZBdANeq0zgC6hk850-Czi-CtbumwQNsQxQMTjBQmy3/s640/free+motion+screenshot.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Screenshot from Pinterest</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Some textile artists creating free motion embroidery pieces choose purely to use a variety of coloured threads on a plain backing fabric to create their designs. Others combine thread and fabric to create a form of applique - this is the technique I favour most often - and others introduce paints or inks along with the textiles to create more of a mixed media piece. Once you have picked up the basic technique the only limit is your imagination. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The good news is that you don't need any fancy equipment to give free motion embroidery a try. All you need is the ability to be able to lower (or cover) your sewing machine's feed dogs and attach a darning foot to the machine and you're good to go. And some free motion embroidery artists don't even use a darning foot, they stitch without a foot on the machine at all. I haven't tried this technique and to be honest I don't think I'm likely to. My fingers get pretty close to the needle even with a foot in place, the potential of stitching my finger by accident seems to great to risk!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">A darning foot need not be an expensive purchase, you can buy generic unbranded ones that fit many machines online for less than £5.00, and branded ones start at under £20.00 depending on what type of machine you have. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">That's all you really need to get started! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In my next post I'll take you through creating a simple free motion embroidered piece, but for now I'll leave you with some images of pieces I've made. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjB6-IgLt3kY7hSiHZkT1n7YJcNt38w_AsprFYsT1SgUcIVhK4fyaRooXrL3XVQihGWm8AQ9mYs6wndEB42eI0qqENecD68X8DVvKnMNxhmsCtDtd9Wu4wr7Ymg9NHdA7TNwwY1bgfmLag/s1600/Free+motion+scans5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjB6-IgLt3kY7hSiHZkT1n7YJcNt38w_AsprFYsT1SgUcIVhK4fyaRooXrL3XVQihGWm8AQ9mYs6wndEB42eI0qqENecD68X8DVvKnMNxhmsCtDtd9Wu4wr7Ymg9NHdA7TNwwY1bgfmLag/s640/Free+motion+scans5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span>Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-7660272402379224522019-01-05T07:30:00.000+00:002019-01-05T07:30:08.310+00:00New Year, New Direction<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Happy New Year and welcome to 2019 in my sorely neglected corner of the internet. I hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable festive season filled with all the things you love. <span style="font-family: Verdana;">I had a quiet Christmas in Cornwall with my husband and it was perfect - apart from Christmas lunch itself!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">When I started this blog in 2012 (I can't believe it's been that long!) I posted fairly regularly and continued to do so until last year when I struggled to keep things going on a regular basis. There were various reasons for this, ranging from my day job suddenly becoming far busier than it ever has been, to struggling to take decent photographs of the garments I made and wanted to share. I was finding it hard to find interesting things to say about the clothes I was making and feel that there are plenty of other bloggers out there that write far better pattern review posts or tutorials for example than I do!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Aside from that, free motion embroidery is what really makes me happy sewing wise - far more than dressmaking these days - so I've decided I'm going to focus on that here. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I've got a variety of posts planned, right from sharing the basics of free motion embroidery and how I got started, as well as introducing you to some other free motion embroidery artists whose work I admire, and possibly even interviewing some of them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I've also got a new blog header that I stitched myself and am very happy with. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnijTmym9Ay26xBFkELO0DE-AJvqNuh3mUJPH4FsmN7yJy9KjfYB-htVIkUVztA7MT2xhbSr1iFhMf2IHbCRT19OhWz6CU_r8E7LmfAfjE2Njj7SBgFE9bsbcoKLa8F3v4U5gFMdONll5U/s1600/Stitched+Up+by+Samantha+blog+header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnijTmym9Ay26xBFkELO0DE-AJvqNuh3mUJPH4FsmN7yJy9KjfYB-htVIkUVztA7MT2xhbSr1iFhMf2IHbCRT19OhWz6CU_r8E7LmfAfjE2Njj7SBgFE9bsbcoKLa8F3v4U5gFMdONll5U/s640/Stitched+Up+by+Samantha+blog+header.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I hope you'll continue to pop in here to follow me as I experiment with some new ideas and share some of my favourite pieces as I do love to know what you think about what I'm creating. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">If there's anything in particular you'd like me to feature, please let me know!</span><br />
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Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-82862691121982086782018-10-19T12:10:00.001+01:002018-10-19T12:10:41.714+01:00Fabric Fear<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've bought three gorgeous pieces of fabric over the last couple of weeks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First up was this deep green Cloud 9 fabrics rayon that I got from Crafty Angel when I was there teaching a class. I always seem to spend pretty much half my earnings when I teach at Angela's shop!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI5aEoUfvJaSV0qHkZhDbRH-yEKtkeh_jGj13cgrblVbUI4cv0_RsNjQPbnLunE5God7aqssew_7eclCoErY3lxNFzjyiLRHLQP4APuUq5l7iRPSFhGv1AIuG-xp6rxOTB1cCtqI9UsL9K/s1600/c9-bus-class-sen-full2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="750" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI5aEoUfvJaSV0qHkZhDbRH-yEKtkeh_jGj13cgrblVbUI4cv0_RsNjQPbnLunE5God7aqssew_7eclCoErY3lxNFzjyiLRHLQP4APuUq5l7iRPSFhGv1AIuG-xp6rxOTB1cCtqI9UsL9K/s640/c9-bus-class-sen-full2.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.craftyangel.co.uk/collections/fabric/products/cloud-9-fabrics-business-class-senator-rayon" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cloud 9 Fabrics - Business Class Senator - Rayon</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It wasn't cheap - more than I'd normally pay for fabric certainly - but I fell in love with it the instant I saw it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Then last Friday I went to the Knitting and Stitching show with a few friends. I already knew that <a href="https://www.stoffstil.co.uk/" target="_blank">Stoff & Stil</a> would be there, and I already knew I love their fabrics. Their stand was easily the nicest, I probably could have bought one of everything they'd brought with them, and they'd brought a lot of stuff! All the stall assistants were wearing garments made from their fabrics and they all looked so stylish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I settled for 2 pieces of fabric (and 3 patterns - but they were only £2 each!). They were selling their fabrics in precut pieces, both the pieces I bought were £20.00 for 2.5m. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I decided on this one first, but it was hard to pin myself down to just one piece. This is described as being black, but it looks like a very, very dark grey to me. I don't mind either way. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgDqoVz5hLOEuEknVZWsa5equNJk8mp5L9SiK7GOkV2Vj0WUzoQiyTvIVFdSd_e3wkoonKF1M0MDNn4GlGXWUXuBL4GjF1mRKyQS6O9X5BMn1tlcIVD8nxP8VbGWr3v7iS9anIBJGjL2v/s1600/710417_pack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="510" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgDqoVz5hLOEuEknVZWsa5equNJk8mp5L9SiK7GOkV2Vj0WUzoQiyTvIVFdSd_e3wkoonKF1M0MDNn4GlGXWUXuBL4GjF1mRKyQS6O9X5BMn1tlcIVD8nxP8VbGWr3v7iS9anIBJGjL2v/s640/710417_pack.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.stoffstil.co.uk/fabrics/woven-viscose/printed-woven-viscose/woven-viscose-black-with-white-birds" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Stoff & Stil woven viscose black with white birds</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">One of the assistants was wearing a top made from this (it's more 'mustard' in real life) and at the very last moment I added a piece to my basket. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBlT1eywsaMc9nJzOBUkqU8f1mtnt42dH3Fw2-XKgTDEqfoxLf1A_zTjvz3L4KH7lHPk-TQvRWI8jVNGIdAbsX2wxULkHvHPcGCviFuLEDMMNM8TAsELiYVHo3NfJaftoFBEspZBYuYVYs/s1600/730416_pack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="510" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBlT1eywsaMc9nJzOBUkqU8f1mtnt42dH3Fw2-XKgTDEqfoxLf1A_zTjvz3L4KH7lHPk-TQvRWI8jVNGIdAbsX2wxULkHvHPcGCviFuLEDMMNM8TAsELiYVHo3NfJaftoFBEspZBYuYVYs/s640/730416_pack.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.stoffstil.co.uk/fabrics/woven-viscose/printed-woven-viscose/woven-crepe-viscose-curry-with-flowers-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Stoff & Stil woven crepe viscose curry with flowers</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">As I said, I paid £20.00 for 2.5m. I've just looked on their website to find a photo and link, and it's listed at £13.50 metre, so I got myself a bargain. I'm wondering if the assistant told me the wrong price, most of the fabrics were priced, but this one's ticket was missing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Now, the title of this post is "Fabric Fear" because I love all these fabrics so much that I'm scared to cut into them. I can't even decide what I want to make with them. I have 2.5 metres of each, so 3 dresses seem the sensible idea, but which three? What if I cut the fabric, make the dress and it's not the 'right' dress?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Please tell me I'm not the only one who suffers from fear of cutting into lovely fabric. And please hit me with your suggestions of what I should make with these gorgeous pieces. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span>Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-19069051148585848082018-10-05T13:12:00.000+01:002018-10-05T13:12:32.691+01:00Friday Faves<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I haven't done one of these posts for ages, but there have been lots of things that have caught my eye this week, so I thought I'd share them with you. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">First of all a couple of new patterns caught my eye. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.deer-and-doe.com/" target="_blank">Deer and Doe</a> have released a couple of new patterns, the one above being the <a href="https://shop.deer-and-doe.fr/en/sewing-patterns/75-magnolia-dress-pattern.html" target="_blank">Magnolia</a> dress. There are 2 versions available, I really fancy the maxi one, but with the slightly less revealing bodice of the knee length version. I saw someone at a party last weekend in a long sleeved floral maxi dress and it looked amazing. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVYxnbUnxjI-GagrYAnkXWYlMKIQiq4K1ngYP5J-tUK1nQJA6cdHII_epohoRrPhL_qehq-J9X-FJyFoL7jGdKqNSbIdeM9f55Wm_FHU0vnFVvZS7_E_1z1Ql3vOWX4kATFoIxbHKKmwO/s1600/Afternoon+Patterns+Heron+Culottes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVYxnbUnxjI-GagrYAnkXWYlMKIQiq4K1ngYP5J-tUK1nQJA6cdHII_epohoRrPhL_qehq-J9X-FJyFoL7jGdKqNSbIdeM9f55Wm_FHU0vnFVvZS7_E_1z1Ql3vOWX4kATFoIxbHKKmwO/s640/Afternoon+Patterns+Heron+Culottes.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://afternoon.co.za/" target="_blank">Afternoon Patterns</a> are a new pattern company to me, but I love the look of these <a href="https://afternoon.co.za/shop/heron-culottes-sewing-pattern" target="_blank">Heron Culottes</a> they released this week. I've been looking for a culotte pattern that really takes my fancy - I know there are loads about, but none of them really seemed to be exactly what I wanted - and I think I'm going to give these a go. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisenZhQbfUOmdBZHZp79YmGInoybbMcloCxi3_WwBJMJOFFCOTRKXisFhVbMEzLeKmmGzZN739as9DttyjYP95q-w0YqSnbpJFmhr7AOCYYboYlWbLsznb07ejHayaEyPe9RLUGoczRv-g/s1600/amandamccavour+fme+top+detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisenZhQbfUOmdBZHZp79YmGInoybbMcloCxi3_WwBJMJOFFCOTRKXisFhVbMEzLeKmmGzZN739as9DttyjYP95q-w0YqSnbpJFmhr7AOCYYboYlWbLsznb07ejHayaEyPe9RLUGoczRv-g/s640/amandamccavour+fme+top+detail.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">This incredible free motion embroidered top popped up in my Instagram feed earlier this week and it was instant love. The maker, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/amandamccavour/" target="_blank">Amanda McCavour</a>, is more well known for her seriously beautiful large scale free motion embroidery installations, but this top has me itching to try something similar myself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I've recently started following <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mendyourhead/" target="_blank">Vinegar and Brown Paper</a> on Instagram and I had a little browse through their website yesterday. Their etched glass pieces are all gorgeous, but this lapel pin really caught my eye. It's a shame I've spent all my birthday money...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimsKFXLFRaotQCDTPrRQFl_9WUjYzvfGNutXgax_3IAoLUwGSvkJxrIHqGofZ_PCAe4P7qOfZi-XSTiPouHRqVuXXwBGNNSNdFWR0aNr0sHUddIf3s5REilEs_z78zXfVlVi2IZVc195cu/s1600/How-to-style-pink-culottes-for-autumn.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimsKFXLFRaotQCDTPrRQFl_9WUjYzvfGNutXgax_3IAoLUwGSvkJxrIHqGofZ_PCAe4P7qOfZi-XSTiPouHRqVuXXwBGNNSNdFWR0aNr0sHUddIf3s5REilEs_z78zXfVlVi2IZVc195cu/s640/How-to-style-pink-culottes-for-autumn.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://sewrendipity.com/2018/10/04/how-to-style-pink-culottes-for-autumn/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Finally a blog post from <a href="https://sewrendipity.com/2018/10/04/how-to-style-pink-culottes-for-autumn/" target="_blank">Sewrendipity</a> that I read this morning. Alex has written what she says will be the first in a series on how to style me-made items in different ways. She's kicked off with a fabulous pair of bright pink culottes, which has got me thinking about how I can style my Heron culottes when I make them. I'm just not sure I'll be brave enough to go for bright pink. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I hope you like my favourites this week. I'd love to know if there's anything fabulous that's caught your eye recently. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span>Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-26418621637564056322018-09-29T15:11:00.001+01:002018-09-29T15:11:20.685+01:00Cupcakes and Lightning Bolts<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hello there, hope you're having a good weekend. I've had a bit of a break from creating recently as I went on holiday earlier this month and had a very relaxing time in Portugal, which mainly consisted of eating too much and drinking lots of gin!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Now I'm back and have been playing about with lots of faux leather, holographic vinyl and glitter fabric. I thought you might like to see what I've made. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXTueNAebx0EMwT6SKYAzBX4iBcIhXjazY8ykM8XgjcDGorOZ99yC9DgdFg1ngADFEOyzazD2vDotIqiszdQg2H2NyaJyjcIdyPuIwjdMIp8XcpgASFgHsEjo9R3isPtuWuASAktvhv94T/s1600/Etsy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXTueNAebx0EMwT6SKYAzBX4iBcIhXjazY8ykM8XgjcDGorOZ99yC9DgdFg1ngADFEOyzazD2vDotIqiszdQg2H2NyaJyjcIdyPuIwjdMIp8XcpgASFgHsEjo9R3isPtuWuASAktvhv94T/s640/Etsy1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Glittery cupcake keyrings / bag charms</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsY0Z_CiwBDIjOEezEFfQZjisNMyzydmMLW6ZhU9C-YLTx0HZbaIfBQaCDc304s1jwZM-3ZEHbpYcTW8SIW7AUAIbHkE_K1CO9TZoCi4xs9ptOIxk9rtOV-L8ifzmN7Gaxb7RB3e-ViTK8/s1600/Etsy3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsY0Z_CiwBDIjOEezEFfQZjisNMyzydmMLW6ZhU9C-YLTx0HZbaIfBQaCDc304s1jwZM-3ZEHbpYcTW8SIW7AUAIbHkE_K1CO9TZoCi4xs9ptOIxk9rtOV-L8ifzmN7Gaxb7RB3e-ViTK8/s640/Etsy3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Glittery cupcake keyring / bag charm and purse sets</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv81lFA2QYeSSqfQahp-cGhCNhE1vAhSzAr8yPnexLChp9ZAH9LRdhhf1Ei1Wiun7LCjxVkkTgqQ0leyQ9MZBtx-YYzfpi0F4Wahbn0_ojN9l7y0Q7zs645TIeimUXk64ugucbUzL-9Tua/s1600/Etsy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv81lFA2QYeSSqfQahp-cGhCNhE1vAhSzAr8yPnexLChp9ZAH9LRdhhf1Ei1Wiun7LCjxVkkTgqQ0leyQ9MZBtx-YYzfpi0F4Wahbn0_ojN9l7y0Q7zs645TIeimUXk64ugucbUzL-9Tua/s640/Etsy2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Holographic Ziggy Stardust inspired keyring / bag charms and purse. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I bought all the fabrics - if you can call them that - from an eBay seller called <a href="https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/funtasticcrafts" target="_blank">Funtastic Crafts</a> who has an amazing range of glitters, faux leathers and suedes and other cool stuff. It comes in A4 sheets, but as you can imagine you can get quite a lot out of an A4 sheet!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">This post isn't an advert, but I will just add that all these items are listed for sale in my <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/StitchedUpBySamantha" target="_blank">Etsy shop</a> if you should be interested! No hard sell, that's it for self promotion today!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Since I've been back from Portugal - we came home the day the weather cooled down here - I've been thinking about sewing for Autumn/Winter, so hopefully I'll have some new items of clothing to share with you soon. </span>Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-14447898804322372452018-08-06T07:09:00.000+01:002018-08-06T07:09:13.429+01:00Made by Me: Deer and Doe Nenuphar Jacket<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is actually my second <a href="https://shop.deer-and-doe.fr/en/sewing-patterns/67-nenuphar-jacket-pattern.html" target="_blank">Deer and Doe Nenuphar jacket</a>; the first is unblogged (like many things recently!) and although I like it I'm disappointed that the fabric I used started piling after one wear. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">This one however is gorgeous. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I bought 1.5m of this fabric - a gold spotted double gauze - from my lovely friend Angela at <a href="https://www.craftyangel.co.uk/" target="_blank">Crafty Angel</a> with the intention of making a top but when I prewashed it it wasn't as soft as I'd thought and I couldn't decide what kind of top I wanted anyway. Then I hit on the idea of this jacket, and after omitting the pockets I had <em>just</em> enough fabric for it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The fabric isn't on her website, but at time of writing I know she still has some in stock. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh-x_2AswuxXYmEdr_6gXpjrQm0dof9xqCP9CvQ9KGGyLTKZcpGo3HZKAvSBuBdzlSUJwSj6pmUtOzCPcjSjDFz4r4gGssDjVGZuYF1SZSZSFcoesYnenQNucGMLPf-6iMtoZHlEpouOBF/s1600/IMG-20180721-WA0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1120" data-original-width="747" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh-x_2AswuxXYmEdr_6gXpjrQm0dof9xqCP9CvQ9KGGyLTKZcpGo3HZKAvSBuBdzlSUJwSj6pmUtOzCPcjSjDFz4r4gGssDjVGZuYF1SZSZSFcoesYnenQNucGMLPf-6iMtoZHlEpouOBF/s640/IMG-20180721-WA0003.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was the first time I've used a Deer and Doe pattern as I think a lot of them are too young for me style-wise and I was really pleased with it. The instructions were thorough without being too "hand-holdy" and everything fit together well when I was sewing, all the notches matched perfectly etc. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhku0nxsdLfbm4TcW_kI3HQeSTUIb3rjYD2miaay5nYl1cbC47aPIcDjlyv0GJWxKJFOJd1W5p66sXy6O9FlN_ax4ZnHM53YEOMlV1gZNkTUP90lRslbctm_1XwZNwADv2Q929NnX1m_lFW/s1600/20180806_062122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhku0nxsdLfbm4TcW_kI3HQeSTUIb3rjYD2miaay5nYl1cbC47aPIcDjlyv0GJWxKJFOJd1W5p66sXy6O9FlN_ax4ZnHM53YEOMlV1gZNkTUP90lRslbctm_1XwZNwADv2Q929NnX1m_lFW/s400/20180806_062122.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Construction-wise I French seamed everything except the gathered peplum at the back - I was going to attempt a French seam here too but decided it would make things too bulky and might make the back hang weirdly. If I was using a rayon or viscose I might chance it there too, because I love how pretty and neat French seams make the insides of a garment look. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The shape of the jacket is so pretty. You can see from the side photo above how it hangs with the front slightly shorter on my mannequin, and it does this when worn too. I'm not sure if that's actually intended, although the modelled photos on the Deer and Doe website do show it hanging in a similar manner. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_PjvNJa4h5rGA2pTG5eJsfLlW58GnO9YYNQxyvteHBww0Ghq6FhNjuytzhq_DRJjg6x0S7sUwUTXSXyenW9igeBHpFXgSALtmZJGh99iWu28kaKLmC5A0jQZr7aJLbVasl-G9pu-3N2eK/s1600/20180806_062157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_PjvNJa4h5rGA2pTG5eJsfLlW58GnO9YYNQxyvteHBww0Ghq6FhNjuytzhq_DRJjg6x0S7sUwUTXSXyenW9igeBHpFXgSALtmZJGh99iWu28kaKLmC5A0jQZr7aJLbVasl-G9pu-3N2eK/s400/20180806_062157.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The notches in the collar are a lovely feature and if you include the pockets the top of those have a similar notch. I almost made the collar straight without the notches but I'm glad I included them in the end.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The only other change I made was to remove the flare from the sleeve. They are designed to be wider at the hem but that was just too much fabric for me, so I cut them straight which took 2 - 3 inches out of the hem circumference. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAGWaSZ2bLGgEHq8ulRF8aj9XwpULtrVztZHzJkSxmKwHoguaz2IM_i-Z2tlA_lz5wxyqRlb_SkGC29yF4mtU96UCPvuchs4iZGfKR_CT5A97L3IRJbiSaq5NndHi83IJCFrWB-2mecQHS/s1600/IMG-20180721-WA0004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1120" data-original-width="747" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAGWaSZ2bLGgEHq8ulRF8aj9XwpULtrVztZHzJkSxmKwHoguaz2IM_i-Z2tlA_lz5wxyqRlb_SkGC29yF4mtU96UCPvuchs4iZGfKR_CT5A97L3IRJbiSaq5NndHi83IJCFrWB-2mecQHS/s640/IMG-20180721-WA0004.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've worn this a few times since making it, although it's actually too warm to even need a jacket this light at the moment. It was perfect in an air conditioned office the other day though. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I can see me making this again. I think if you sized down it would work well in jersey and I also think it could look quite cute lengthened anywhere from mid thigh to knee length depending on the fabric. I've got a panel of lovely black embroidered cotton which would be gorgeous for the upper back if I can ever find some plain black that matches it for the rest of the jacket.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span>Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-32263080884324354412018-07-16T19:56:00.000+01:002018-07-16T19:56:30.566+01:00Two Summer Dresses<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With the weather turning as hot as it has been recently I discovered a distinct lack of work - appropriate dresses in my wardrobe. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I knew I wanted to make a couple but couldn't decide on a pattern. I've had a love of loose shirt dresses develop over the last few months, but they tend to be a bit shapeless and not necessarily the most figure flattering. I wanted something loose-ish but not so loose it was sacklike. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I couldn't decide which pattern to use, but then I remembered a black linen dress I made a couple of summers ago (I think) based on the <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/234966864/branson-top-04-pdf-sewing-pattern-ladies?ref=shop_home_active_6" target="_blank">Lily Sage and Co Branson top</a>. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQw8A82gS-RogQYxcXTHtzOz8iBFTI1RoUwHnmh9YwIjPvwBenaV8uOydjkZKB8S52zNINk0V2AWhTagF2fEhGwpPhwLqh871mHJRUmdv6R1sYpoY5TK2Qm3NdPf9PRtC6MPWN-6dL09tp/s1600/20180714_163609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQw8A82gS-RogQYxcXTHtzOz8iBFTI1RoUwHnmh9YwIjPvwBenaV8uOydjkZKB8S52zNINk0V2AWhTagF2fEhGwpPhwLqh871mHJRUmdv6R1sYpoY5TK2Qm3NdPf9PRtC6MPWN-6dL09tp/s640/20180714_163609.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I quickly reprinted the pattern and taped it together, then dug out my fabric. For my first dress I used some lovely drapey <a href="https://www.minervacrafts.com/shop/fabric/dress-fabrics/em-264-teal-m-abstract-print-viscose-challis-dress-fabric?colour=Brown" target="_blank">viscose challis</a> I bought recently from Minerva Crafts. It's a really nice weight and the colours are gorgeous; I'm tempted by one of the other colourways as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In terms of the pattern, I cut the bodice back as per the original pattern, albeit taking an inch out of the height to account for my lack of height. For the back skirt I lengthened the back peplum by 18 inches.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh9CIgsVTWNwQzStnwmrRm5Zf1wEsADVMWluscg7ZBoKrKE56qDAL0qe6bhL8QjkgKKWcKUi1d5YH52_GDAMM44cL5DvbZqbzztNvrZmd-w5CQKrdHBm1LOLOU3qhxTA-hyWM0bPljkJ4_/s1600/20180714_163620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh9CIgsVTWNwQzStnwmrRm5Zf1wEsADVMWluscg7ZBoKrKE56qDAL0qe6bhL8QjkgKKWcKUi1d5YH52_GDAMM44cL5DvbZqbzztNvrZmd-w5CQKrdHBm1LOLOU3qhxTA-hyWM0bPljkJ4_/s640/20180714_163620.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The front is all one piece - as in not separate pieces for bodice and skirt - and this I lengthened by the same 18 inches after smoothing out the dipped hem at the centre front. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Construction-wise I followed the pattern directions, but from my last one I found I could get it on and off without undoing the buttons, so this one has no buttonholes. The buttons are sewn through both front bands, which is incredibly lazy I know! I was pleased to find I had exactly the right bright orange buttons in my button jar. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzNmz7JW9rLMQK5WeMq-9caPjTJVRBa6D9JEyd7t_Axgg0azSQsSDW61OKARtj8jIF87dvYzXN_kD_81L1q1IDTZCvSsOZ-DmsKKZ5fj2d_ZcCLceUz3QjvccuWxI-8itO_GbmAgReeMSZ/s1600/20180714_163640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzNmz7JW9rLMQK5WeMq-9caPjTJVRBa6D9JEyd7t_Axgg0azSQsSDW61OKARtj8jIF87dvYzXN_kD_81L1q1IDTZCvSsOZ-DmsKKZ5fj2d_ZcCLceUz3QjvccuWxI-8itO_GbmAgReeMSZ/s640/20180714_163640.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The second one I made has turned out a little fancier than I planned. I probably wouldn't wear this one to work, but I'd wear it outside work for anything from a casual walk to the local pub to a fancy birthday party. In fact I'm planning on wearing it to a 70th birthday party this coming weekend. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgab8PHUcdXGHlyopaNRGaJqIADWUnW0LqUXmXT_IPpbo0kwRebfdSnuAf6XHNs9I-C7tXXG4NLIatU7OGJuwPc2TxDNCkn5HJ7UWgORHPTMbdOaFUBt_oUnCkO-yDXXdP758Dh32gL8Rxd/s1600/20180714_183558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgab8PHUcdXGHlyopaNRGaJqIADWUnW0LqUXmXT_IPpbo0kwRebfdSnuAf6XHNs9I-C7tXXG4NLIatU7OGJuwPc2TxDNCkn5HJ7UWgORHPTMbdOaFUBt_oUnCkO-yDXXdP758Dh32gL8Rxd/s640/20180714_183558.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The fabric is another viscose, this time from Barry's in Birmingham, purchased quite recently. It's thinner and not quite as nice as the previous fabric, but at £4.00 a metre I can't complain!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I decided to maxi-fy this one; I'm not quite sure how much length I added on I'm afraid, enough to make it ankle length on me. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOvNGpmh3LLjgmfERyl9c2KhCdH_cDBz4KqUUiT6dSl-i7lPrbUTSM0whZOFm3MMwksls_cLgloxk7V725osXIJ9B8OhcfipqO51doi9qvvSm2nSX3M3dcIPAhHtbrH3iFj3E6mPUDVVFB/s1600/20180714_183551.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOvNGpmh3LLjgmfERyl9c2KhCdH_cDBz4KqUUiT6dSl-i7lPrbUTSM0whZOFm3MMwksls_cLgloxk7V725osXIJ9B8OhcfipqO51doi9qvvSm2nSX3M3dcIPAhHtbrH3iFj3E6mPUDVVFB/s640/20180714_183551.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I also decided to do a little something different with the sleeves. I had the <a href="https://www.burdastyle.com/pattern_store/patterns/alexander-blouse" target="_blank">Burdastyle Alexander blouse</a> pattern in my stash, so I decide to use the sleeve from that for this dress. The sleeve is actually cut as part of the bodice and gathered into a kind of dart, so I overlaid my two patterns and traced a new shoulder/sleeve. Luckily the sleeve blended really easily into the underarm/side seam junction on the Branson bodice. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLuIQd1es4lC-I2RA4rv61H_fnZhu4YAGtksJHpnTJyck8f3k_y80tmKH6hWM7UBGJg0AQKtLMV4pTre5K_prGlRb-Ej0_97sW9S6BKdu8YzEk70VXhBPsf0ClF46OnPZeqtsonrOOc87/s1600/20180714_183700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLuIQd1es4lC-I2RA4rv61H_fnZhu4YAGtksJHpnTJyck8f3k_y80tmKH6hWM7UBGJg0AQKtLMV4pTre5K_prGlRb-Ej0_97sW9S6BKdu8YzEk70VXhBPsf0ClF46OnPZeqtsonrOOc87/s640/20180714_183700.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Again I cheated and didn't make buttonholes. I don't hate making buttonholes quite as much as I used to, but I'd definitely avoid making them if at all possible. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I'm trying to stop myself making another dress using this pattern as a basis and move on to something else. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I'm off to Portugal in September and could do with some holiday clothes. I don't do shorts, but I'd love some flippy culottes I could make at around knee length, and I've got a desire for a loose strappy jumpsuit. Any pattern recommendations would be greatly appreciated!</span><br />
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Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383028092077970309.post-7842568466917217172018-06-23T16:40:00.000+01:002018-06-23T16:40:33.588+01:00Embroidered Denim Jacket<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love having something creative to do while I'm sitting watching television in the evening - or any time of day! - and recently I've been working on embroidering the back of a denim jacket. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I did one last year, but sadly it's a bit too small for me, so I've been looking around for another design to stitch onto the back of a jacket I bought a while ago. I hadn't found anything I really fancied until I saw this design pop up in my Instagram feed. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcjSGSXcAf37QM3VFtW286rEGbWtnwlhYSEKXEmbV_CXoy5fbMiHbFiivV3mrZdG5tIAEi6NY-pPIn0n4qXEKvGvZkxhnR54Sv8yDouEXWE9RYeLzHSA0dUpGNe6xT5C2-gmNST0KuDavI/s1600/Choose+kindness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcjSGSXcAf37QM3VFtW286rEGbWtnwlhYSEKXEmbV_CXoy5fbMiHbFiivV3mrZdG5tIAEi6NY-pPIn0n4qXEKvGvZkxhnR54Sv8yDouEXWE9RYeLzHSA0dUpGNe6xT5C2-gmNST0KuDavI/s640/Choose+kindness.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I loved not only the overall design, but the "Choose Kindness" sentiment of the banner. The design was created by Lolli and Grace, who's Etsy shop can be found <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LolliAndGrace?ref=l2-shopheader-name" target="_blank">here</a> and Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lolliandgrace/" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">There are various ways you can transfer your embroidery design onto your fabric. I decided to use <a href="https://www.barnyarns.co.uk/aquasol-aquatics-pack-with-instructions.html" target="_blank">Aquasol water soluble fabric</a>, available from Barn Yarns. I've used this before and got on really well with it. You can also get sticky versions that actually stick to your fabric, but I don't like the feel of my needle and thread going through the adhesive as I sew. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I printed off the design template and traced it onto the Aquasol with a black fine liner pen. I pinned it into place on the back of the jacket before putting it into the embroidery hoop to ensure that it stayed exactly where I wanted it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The Lolli and Grace pattern was really lovely to follow, the instructions were so detailed, with lots of colour photographs and illustrations to help you create a fabulous piece of work. I'll definitely be back for more patterns from them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I did the embroidery over the space of two or three weeks, spending a little time most evenings working on it. I have to say it stitched up quicker than I thought it might when you think about how detailed the design is. Below is a collage of some of my "in progress" shots. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrUKFDYkK8pqX3VbBLXI8WYDeXN1KEV7e-8ey7hOjpU4uRfcpI9L-08sSiqJ_BhMOfZnAS5l9hBLcpMaBU_1wjyyzqVrFmgH-p5gc9VpTFqZY8ixPUDpeRxCVTh5zMtR7FcECLtJo0VzoM/s1600/Embroidery+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrUKFDYkK8pqX3VbBLXI8WYDeXN1KEV7e-8ey7hOjpU4uRfcpI9L-08sSiqJ_BhMOfZnAS5l9hBLcpMaBU_1wjyyzqVrFmgH-p5gc9VpTFqZY8ixPUDpeRxCVTh5zMtR7FcECLtJo0VzoM/s640/Embroidery+collage.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Once finished I removed the hoop and cut away the excess fabric from around the edges of the embroidery with a small pair of scissors. You can see this in the bottom right photo above. You need to be careful that you don't cut through any of your carefully worked stitches, but the fabric cuts very easily so as long as you're careful you should be fine. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Once you've cut away the excess fabric from around the edge you need to soak the piece to removed the rest of the soluble fabric. This just needs to be done in cool water and it doesn't take long for the fabric to dissolve and disappear. If the Aquasol isn't rinsed away completely it can make your base fabric feel a little stiff once it's dry, so it's worth taking your time on this step. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Finally here's a photo of the finished piece being modelled by me. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYZQ1NBBQRRdALjxorVjixBvadQOt8y60tPUVZ40E7Xvq0Qdq5YhKH0QG41ZapC3GtAxPLhJtbzkmmjHYZVOkdG0YriJ85YGT9IHxl9lOMBozXcDK9lx7olgsfPNH3pevy9gEO7GMPV7G/s1600/20180616_090656_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYZQ1NBBQRRdALjxorVjixBvadQOt8y60tPUVZ40E7Xvq0Qdq5YhKH0QG41ZapC3GtAxPLhJtbzkmmjHYZVOkdG0YriJ85YGT9IHxl9lOMBozXcDK9lx7olgsfPNH3pevy9gEO7GMPV7G/s640/20180616_090656_resized.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I love how the bright colours pop against the slightly faded denim, and I loved the whole process of doing this piece. I find embroidery so relaxing to do after a stressful day at work. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Have you ever tried embroidery? Are you tempted? Or do you prefer another craft to help you relax?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span>Sam http://www.blogger.com/profile/12854866475645268162noreply@blogger.com0