Archive for Embroidery

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

July 3, 2006 at 7:51 pm · Filed under Art, Embroidery, Photos

Last fall, a longtime friend of mine got married. The wedding was held in India and the following reception near Minneapolis, and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend either event. Even so, I wanted to send them a really nice wedding gift, so when I came across a cross-stitch kit of Ganesh, I thought it would be perfect for me to make and frame. I did a little research and found that Ganesh is often associated with weddings (or other new beginnings), so it seemed ideal.

It was my first major cross-stitch project, and I really had no idea how long something like this would take. The only other pieces I’d done before were quite small or had been set aside well before I’d even gotten far into them. So, of course, working on Ganesh took me awhile longer than I expected, and I was unable to send it before the wedding and reception happened. I kept at it though, working on “him” while I watched TV and taking “him” with me to craft group meetings.

Eventually, after 6 or 7 months of stitching — and occasional unstitching and stitching again — I finished. I think the whole thing literally involved blood, sweat, and tears at some point throughout the process, but I definitely learned a lot about cross-stitch, like how long it really takes to complete such a large piece!

I made sure to be very careful with the piece, and washed, dried, and steam-ironed it ever so carefully. I was a bit anxious when I took the prepped piece to a framing shop, worried that they’d accidentally ruin it somehow, but it was fine.

I sent Ganesh to Minnesota last week, and “he” arrived today, safe and sound, and “he” was welcomed with open arms. My friend and her husband were really happy with it and called to tell me how much they really liked it. Despite being quite late, they thought it was the best gift they’d received and it will be the first thing to grace the new home they’re looking for. They even hinted that if I ever made something like this again, that they’d love to have it, hehe. ;)

So, after many months of keeping Ganesh a secret (except from craft group friends), here are some photos of him, including a number of close-up shots. (These were taken before the piece was framed, so please forgive the wrinkles.)

Ganesh Cross-Stitch Piece Ganesh Cross-Stitch Piece (w/ Flash)

Ganesh Cross-Stitch Piece - Close-up of Face Ganesh Cross-Stitch Piece - Close-up of Lotus Flower Ganesh Cross-Stitch Piece - Close-up of Mouse

Comments (4)

Craft Jumpstart

June 3, 2006 at 9:24 pm · Filed under Embroidery, Groups, Inspiration, Photos, Sewing, Swaps, Web

My attempts at learning to knit are on hold for the time being, as I just got too frustrated with the whole experience for now. I think I was doing it right for the most part, but all the stitches were too tight and everything kept slipping off of the needles. I’ll come back to it eventually, but in the meantime, I’ve tried to jumpstart my craftiness with a bit of embroidery and sewing.

After the knitting thing didn’t seem to be working, I dug around my stash to find something I could actually do and feel good about doing. I found a kit from the DMC Linea series and decided to go with that. Basically, you get a fabric base item (purse, pillow cover) with a pattern already printed on, and then you can pick your own colors and stitch it all out. I ended up choosing some pinks and ended up with this after a few hours:

Embroidered purse

Close-up of embroidered purse

I think this series is DMC’s attempt to get a younger, more “hip” crowd into embroidery, which is fine by me, especially because it’s so easy to do and the kits are pretty nice. I don’t know if they’ve done well, but I know they look a lot better than the usual embroidery kits you find in the same aisle. It’s kind of depressing to look through all the same old designs of clothes-wearing teddy bears, fairy-filled fantasy scenes, and awful, inspirational quotes, so when I saw these, I was pretty pleased. I hope to work on a few more of these, and then move on to some of my own designs.

Originally, I was thinking that I’d buy some readymade items and embroider them, but after looking through some newly acquired craft books and fiddling around with my sewing machine, I think I might make some of my own from scratch. Awhile ago, I’d emailed Sarah of Hip to Piece Squares about how she makes her tote bags (aren’t they all just gorgeous?!), since I couldn’t find any good patterns elsewhere, and she offered a lengthy set of instructions to get me going. I put off trying it out for awhile, but after making a zippered pouch at our last South Bay Craft Group meeting, I was able to figure it out. The approach isn’t too different really, with one using handles and the other a zipper.

My First Totebag My First Totebag - Lining View

I messed up on a few bits and even had to rip out some stitches at one point, but I like it as a first try. I even made a little zippered pouch to go with it!

Handmade Zippered Pouch - White, Black, Red

Handmade Zippered Pouch - White, Black, Red - Inside

I’ve also been trying to catch up on old projects and intended projects lately, and it feels so good to get them done. First, I finally washed and ironed a major embroidery piece that I worked on for months and that is a very belated wedding present for a good friend. (No photos yet, but after it’s been framed and delivered, I’ll post some.) And then I sewed up a pillowcase that I had intended as a Christmas gift for my sister. It was so much easier than I thought:

My First Pillow - Front

My First Pillow - Back

She’s attending my alma mater and is a lot more “rah rah” than I ever was, so I thought this would be perfect for her. We’ll see what she says when it arrives though. ;)

Anyway, I feel so much better having worked on all of these projects now. It’s just no fun being in between projects, so I’m hoping to keep up this momentum and move on to other things. It’ll help, considering that I have a bunch of swaps on Swap Bot to work on over the next month or two!

Comments (2)

Learning to Knit

May 24, 2006 at 8:44 pm · Filed under Books, Embroidery, Miscellaneous, Web

A few weeks ago, I met up with a friend to go to a local craft fair, and she purchased a wonderful, knitted nautilus, based on this Knitty.com pattern. It was really well done and looked pretty cute, and it got me thinking about my attitude towards knitting.

For awhile now, I’ve not really thought too highly of knitting, at least as a craft that I could personally do. I don’t have anything against knitting (or crocheting) in and of itself, but the various examples of knitting’s end result have just never been appealing to me, either aesthetically or practically speaking. Perhaps it’s due to memories of hideously colored afghans and horribly itchy sweaters from my childhood, but none of what I saw ever made me want to pick up a pair of needles and make my own.

After seeing the nautilus and remembering photos of knitted organs though, I felt like I had found an area of knitting that is more my style. Forget toilet paper cozies and foofy scarves, I want to make some guts and fossils! :) I figured that I could at least try my hand at knitting, and if I really didn’t like it, I could just move on to something else.

So, this afternoon I went to Beverly’s to look for supplies. I found a copy of Stitch ‘N Bitch, which has pretty good reviews online, and then picked out a few basic items, including needles and a cheap skein of fairly soft yarn.

After having spent a few hours reading through the book and trying to cast on and knit a bit, I can definitely say that knitting is harder than I thought. Or at least it takes a different sort of mindset than what I’m used to with embroidery or making cards. It’s funny because I was just reading Kristin Nicholas’ post about how some knitters seem to have a hang-up about embroidering; I seem to have the opposite problem!

Anyway, I got a bit frustrated earlier, after my stitches kept getting too tight and the book didn’t explain the casting on technique that would help this. I won’t give up just yet though, especially with how many web sites there seem to be about knitting. I’ll keep trying, and would appreciate any sort of tips or tricks from the experienced knitters out there! :D

Comments (1)

Holiday Crafting

December 25, 2005 at 7:57 pm · Filed under Cards, Embroidery, Paper, Photos, Sewing, Swaps

This year, I had such grand intentions to make all sorts of holiday ornaments out of felt and whatever else. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite get into the spirit of things, so I only made two for a swap with my favorite local craft group. Here are a few photos:

Green Tinsel Pin Cushion Ornament Pink Sakura (Cherry Blossom) Ornament & Templates

The first one looks more like a wonton than anything, but I got to use some funky felt that had metallic strands of tinsel embedded in it. I’ve been meaning to try this out ever since I saw it in the fall issue of Martha Stewart Kids, and it was really pretty easy to make.

As for the other one, I started with a shape from a paper punch I have, and then enlarged it on the computer until it was a decent size for an ornament. I made a template from that and then the rest was pretty simple. Just a bit of cutting, stitching (blanket stitches and French knots with tails), and stuffing. I wanted to make a whole bunch of them, just sort of lost the motivation for that. Ah well, perhaps later. :)

I swapped with Amytha and here are the very cool ornaments she made:

Holiday Ornaments from Amytha

Although my ornament plans didn’t quite go anywhere, I did have a sudden interest in making cards a few days ago, though well after I’d already written up and sent most of mine. Here are the results:

Holiday Card 1 - Ornaments Holiday Card 2 - Presents Holiday Card 3 - Squares

Holiday Card 4 - Circles Holiday Card 5 - Tree Holiday Card 6 - Snowman

Most of the bits I used were from a kit I bought awhile ago at Joann’s, with some additional stickers mixed in. Nothing too overly splashy, but I like the simple sort of cards best. :)

Comments (2)

Catching up

September 19, 2005 at 6:33 pm · Filed under Embroidery, Events, Miscellaneous

I’ve been furiously working on my major cross-stitch project lately, thus the lack of posts here. I screwed up an even larger section of it, accidentally doing it all two “squares” over, but I’ve ripped all that out and redone it. I’m not sure if I’ll get it done in time to send it as a gift, especially since I’ll have to get it framed, but we’ll see. I’ll try to post a photo of it soon.

I started a calligraphy class last week, though the first meeting didn’t go so well. I arrived a bit late, due to parking problems, and by the time I caught up, I still felt very behind. A good percentage of the other students have been practicing calligraphy for awhile, whereas I only dabbled with it when I was younger. There are 7 sessions left though, and since they’re already paid for, I figure I should at least give it another try. I bought the additional supplies I needed, and even found some pink ink to play with. :)

I’ve also been trying to get involved in more crafty events, including the local craft group I found through Craftster. At our last meeting, we even talked about meeting more frequently, and will be gathering at a local restaurant for a “cake and crafts” evening. If you’re in the South SF Bay/San Jose area, please check out our new email list for info.

There’s also a rubber stamp show going on in downtown San Jose this weekend, and I’ve already bought a day pass for that. I’ve gone to a few of the previous ones organized by this company, and the businesses that set up booths there usually have some nice stuff for sale. I don’t usually buy rubber stamps themselves, but the papers, especially origami ones, are great and there are usually demos of various products to check out.

Comments


« Previous Entries
Next Entries »