Tag: embroidery

Embroidered ampersand

Embroidered ampersand

When typography and crafts collide… I couldn’t be happier!

I’d intended this ampersand to be like a traditional embroidered monogram, and was originally planning on filling in the design with satin stitch. Instead I spent several days looking at the outline, and eventually decided that I like it just the way it is.

Being something of a typography geek, I have a particular fondness for ligatures. I was never a type designer myself, but I appreciate the beautiful attention to detail of joining up the design of (usually) two individual characters to make a more efficient form.

A while ago I bought the most glorious font, made up entirely of ampersands. My next mission? To embroider a whole lot more!

Oscar Edward’s embroidered birth announcement

Oscar Edward

Oscar Edward

Oscar Edward arrived on Easter Sunday! Which was the 12th. Not the 13th, as I originally embroidered. Oops!

Thankfully I realised my mistake before the piece was mounted and framed. Now to pop it in the post, along with a little hat.

Ava Mae’s embroidered birth announcement

Ava Mae

Ava Mae

Ava Mae was born on Thursday, and I enjoyed making Gwen’s embroidered birth announcement so much that I thought Ava should have one too.

This one’s almost all done in back stitch, with the exception of a few chains and french knots on the decoration. At the rate all these babies are arriving, I’m going to be kept very busy making small things!

Gwen’s embroidered birth announcement

Gwen Helen

Gwen Helen

Gwen was born on Monday, and I thought it would be nice to embroider a little something that her parents might like to keep. I didn’t want it to be a traditional-looking baby sampler, so I opted to go for a fancy font and some freehand embroidery.

The lettering is worked in back stitch, using two strands of ordinary cotton sewing thread. The decoration is mostly back stitch, with a few chains and french knots thrown in for good measure. It was done with a single strand of thread. I did start to fill in the letters with satin stitch, but decided that I liked them better open.

I’m really pleased with how this has come out, and I’ve just been and bought three more frames, to make name plaques for Paul’s little cousins. And I’ve had a request to embroider a couple more robins, so that a friend can quilt them into cushions!

I can’t tell you how much I’m enjoying this embroidery. I feel very inspired, and I can’t wait to do more.

Embroidered robin. In a hat.

Embroidered robin

This is a robin. Wearing a hat. Of course.

Last week I drew some silly pictures of birds wearing hats, and then spent ages deciding what I could do with them. Ages ago I bought a whole bunch of organic cotton tote bags, with the idea of embroidering designs on them. So, I embroidered the robin onto the tote bag. It looked like this.

I wasn’t very happy with the poor naked robin, so I decided to colour in his breast with a bright red fabric pen. Disaster! The pen came out pink, and no amount of layering would make it any brighter. Not good. Even adding his little embroidered top hat didn’t help.

So, in a fit of madness, I decided to cover up the fabric paint with embroidery. Lots and lots of satin stitch, done in a slightly irregular way, to look a bit like feathers. It took two evenings to finish, and I was completely cross-eyed by the end of it – but I really like it!