Freemotion embroidery birdies

I went to Josie's Funky Needlework evening class. Just to make clear, this is an informal class, where you can get guidance or just enjoy the company and do your own thing. I had never, ever managed to do freemotion embroidery with my machine. I think I first bought a presser foot that was wrong and then just could not figure how to install the correct one.

The class then seemed a good thing to do as I could ask Josie for help. I managed to install the foot, but the stitching did not really go anywhere. After Josie had had a play with it and a few beard stroking moments, she had to admit that she did not know what on earth was going on. I was happy with that too. It just meant that it was not only me who could not do it. I don't know how I worked it out, but I did in the end and got to do my first "picture".

Now, if you start with this first time and you need to play around, what would you draw. A flower? A cloud? Something pretty basic, I guess. At this point something in my brain OBVIOUSLY short circuited and I decided too draw a bird. Not a simplified, folksy bird, but a birdy bird. See above. I was quite pleased as it was my first attempt. I made a couple more and am now in the process of using them for a project, which I will show later, when it is finished.

It was quite good fun, when I got going. I did draw the birdies with indelible pen first and then followed those lines as best as I could. I like the feeling of "line drawing" the freemotion sewing gives for the embroidery.

Yet another baby quilt

I was fortunate to become an auntie again and thought that I surprise the newly baked nephew's parents with a quilt with a dedication patch. I embroidered as usual the baby's name, birth weight, how tall they were and the date of course.  You can see from the date that this was made a while ago. The quilt was made a bit later as it is an old custom in Finland not to publish the baby's name before Baptism. Not that everyone keeps the name secret, but quite many still do.

The cool animal fabrics are organic cotton from Monaluna, which I love. I did machine quilt it with free wavy motion, which has become my go-to way of doing these. I think it looks nice and goes well with modern quilts.

I am facing a pretty busy working week as I have had to postpone several of my clients due to my cold. When I get a cold I do a full blown "man flu". Not because I feel that rotten, but because in my line of work I cannot return before I am totally healed. To get as quickly as possible over the cold, I rest, rest and rest. I let my body use all available energy for its healing. I must admit that this one took me by surprise by really flooring me couple of times, but hey, I am good now.

Tinga Tinga inspired Cushion Covers

 

This happens to me nearly every year. My sister-in-law's birthday creeps on me and suddenly it is the day before. True to the tradition I was up early to finish off her present in order to put it in post and hope for the best. In most cases I ask her what she would like to have. She is very obliging to wish for handmade things. As you might know, I am not much for buying things. I hope there is still scope for a few years of presents and surely then we can start from the beginning as the first ones wear down...

This time she asked for a cushion cover for her sofa. Of course I can only make these things in pairs, so she was gifted with two. She said that she would like to have reds, oranges, maybe pinks and even blue. Now I know that the picture hanging in her living room is very similar to this with a bit of pink instead of blue and it was a sort of "known" point in the scheme.

I made the bird cushion using the painting loosely as a model for my bird.

We have another Tinga Tinga painting which I used as a starting point for the beast. I didn't go an see the painting, just used my memory of it in order to let my own imagination work. I think I achieved the same as the painting; you cannot really tell whether the beast is a leopard or hyena or maybe a spirit animal.

For the edges and backing I used some lovely handmade batik from Tanzania. I had this in my stash and although I did not need to, I decided to patchwork it to add a "folky" touch. I also wanted to do the top-stitching in the colour of the background in the middle.

The animals were machine stitched onto the background, without bondaweb or such. I then hand embroidered the embellishing. The bird has some recycled beads on it. Bear with me while I am drowning you with my pictures!

Happy Birthday S!

Birdie Skirt

I started this skirt over a year ago. It is made of wool suiting and lined. Unfortunately I have also managed to put some weight on, so the fit was not as good as I hoped. As I have on the other hand decided to get back at least where I was a year ago, I will adjust the skirt as my mass reduces. 

Yes, I am standing on a chair in a bad light, but what can a girl do? I am not exactly a fashion blogger and do not intend to be.

I had the idea of embroidering some folk inspired grasses and a bird in grey in order to not make the skirt too screamingly folksy. In the end I added the yellow bits as the grey alone was too boring.

I used an old invisible zip in dusty olive green. I don't have the special presser foot for this type of a zip, but I managed. In the picture I have "opened" the flaps a bit, so you see the "wrong colour".

 

Sewing this skirt was one of those moments when I realised that I have come some way as a sewist. It did not daunt me at all to line the skirt. It would have done a few years back. In the back there are only three bits of embroidery. (Sorry about the picture, just could not get it right)

 

This is how it looks on me from the side/back. (Says she twisting dangerously on a chair in front of a mirror!)

Any clothes sewing done in your end? Leave a link, I would love to see!

Fairy Wings and such

Here is a NEW project. Elf Son was invited to a birthday party of a friend's daughter and you know the rest of the story. I don't like giving plastic and handily had time enough to make something for the princess.

The bag I made for another little girl here was still a viable idea and reports that the said item is appreciated were heard, so I made one of those as the main present.

I don't use any patterns, just sketch what I want to embroider free hand with an indelible marker and then consequently embroider something else! (This is how it seems to go every time).

 This time I did not want to fill the bag with writing materials and such, because this is a very different princess from the other one. She loves dressing-up. I thought that a pair of home made fairy wings might just be the ticket.

I used just normal dress net double and sew the edges together, I then put some wire around the edges and finished off with pink lace. I chose to use elastic around the shoulders for the fastening. This was sewn into a cotton bit in the middle of the wings and I used fliseline to make it a bit stiffer. I decorated with craft "jewels" on both sides, so the wings don't have a "back side". Have you helped any little faeries to get wings?

Many Pattullo's Artwork

For a while ago I visited Mandy Pattullo's art exhibition, which was on tour with the "Highlights". Highlights is an organisation, which brings art, music and drama to rural communities in Durham, Cumbria and Northumberland. Unfortunately I was so dazed with all the lovely work that I totally forgot to take any photos. Mandy has a blog, so you might want to see some of her work there. I bought one of her recent "small" pieces. She works with a theme for a time and "empties" it before moving on to her next "obsession"(Mandy's own words). Last year she has been working with "Thrift and Thread", using a lot of old materials to make new things. One of the sources has been old Victorian Quilts. My little bird has a piece of such a quilt. She has then embroidered the picture on it with traditional embroidery techniques. The theme before this was called "Memento Mori" and had some beautiful pieces inspired of the old gravestones. She had looked at especially women's headstones from Victorian era, when lots of women died in childbirth. The pieces she made were both beautiful, etheral and haunting. Do go and see her work if you have a chance.

 Back to her joyful piece and more details from it:

I have framed this in IKEA's white "Ribba" frame and I think I will hang it in my workroom. It does have a glass, so not that easy to photograph. I am always slightly in two minds putting glass in front of textile as it does take something from it - for the time being I am quite happy with it. My blogheading embroidery might be framed similarly and be hung next to Mandy's birdy.

Have you seen any inspirational art lately?

New Blog Picture

This new picture is how I see my hut in my mind's eye. It took some time to make as it was mostly embroidered when Elf son was having swimming lessons and while travelling on train, which does not happen that often. Also the design changed several times over. I am not very experienced in embroidery, so I seldom know exactly what I am aiming at. This time I was fine with my hut, but had to redo the tree trunk once. After getting into swing with the details of my hut and the tree I had to remove three flowers from my picture, because they just looked odd.

Anyway, I was pleased with the result!