Embroidery WIP Archives

Bears in the Hills – WIP

September 13, 2018

I don’t usually do all caps but. . .

I AM SO EXCITED WITH HOW THIS IS TURNING OUT!

Seriously! I can’t wait to get these guys in a frame to start stitching. You’re going to have to pry me out of my couch for the next few weeks. 🙂

And that’s not all!

I want you guys to stitch with me!

I decided the best way to make this a pattern is to actually make it a video workshop. I’ve shot video already showing how to position all the pieces and my little tricks for securing them in place while I stitch.

This was my studio today, with those fancy new lights in action.

Look at that awesome even lighting! 🙂

The next step is going to be whipstitching the edges down with matching thread (not embroidery thread – I want these stitches to disappear) and then I’ll jump into fancy stitching!

My plan is to get all the kind-of-boring-to-most-people-but-I-really-love-it whipstitching done, and then start recording videos showing how I freehand stitch the hills. Maybe one new video a week?

But I’ll make the class available before I get all those videos recorded.

You’ll be able to download the pattern and cut out your bears. (The class will include patterns you can print on freezer paper for hand-cutting, and also a link to the files on Cricut’s Design Space for those who have Cricut machines.)

You’ll be able to watch the videos showing how to lay out your hills and bears and whipstitch all the edges down.

And then we’ll be able to fancy stitch together! I’ll add new technique videos showing the fancy stitching as I make them. Since it will be an online class you’ll just find the new videos in the “classroom” when I load them up – without having to constantly download new files or anything like that.

I hope that sounds like fun to you! It sure does to me. I’ve got new episodes of Call the Midwife and Poldark waiting for some couch time. 🙂

Update – the class is now available here.

Happy stitching!

Best,
Wendi

Sneak Peek at a New Project: Which Beaver Is the Cutest?

September 4, 2018

I’m making a new project for the Back to School series at Sulky – and I needed a beaver.

Not a quilted beaver. . .

. . . and not a stuffed beaver. . .

. . . and not a crocheted beaver. . .

For the project I had in mind I needed to embroider a beaver – and I wanted to see him from head to toe.

I sat down to draw some sketches and then remembered that my husband had a whole page of adorable beaver drawings in his airplane sketchbook.

Perfect!

You might think it was hard to choose between all those sweet faces – but I had my favorite picked out with one glance. It’s the one down in the right corner.

Isn’t he a cutie?

Now for a much harder decision. . .

Choosing thread!

That lucky beaver has something colorful to chomp on, so I get to dip into the rainbow. 🙂 So many colors to choose from! And these are only about half of my stash of Sulky Petites 12 wt. thread. (You can read my review of this thread here.)

Final project coming Saturday! It’s going to be a free pattern. 🙂

Update – the free pattern is here now!

Happy stitching!

Best,
Wendi

Primavera – an Embroidered Springtime Girl

July 25, 2016

Her name is Primavera, but her friends call her Vera for short. 🙂

This is another of those Big Embroidery projects I did for Sulky’s Quilt Market booth. That’s a quilting hoop she’s in!

Here’s how I made her. All the links go to supplies or video tutorials.

The method I used is really similar to this cat. . .

. . . except that I embroidered the flowers in her hair instead of embroidering just the background.

First I appliqued the girl and the butterflies on a pretty swirly background fabric.

Then I printed out a single page of the flowers in the Continuous Stitches embroidery pattern onto Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy. The pattern is designed for seamless repeats, but it only took one sheet to cover all her hair.

I used a single strand of Sulky Petites 12 wt. thread and only stitched the flowers that sat over her hair. You can see that I ignored the printed pattern for larger flowers that would have gone outside her hair. I just filled in those spaces with some of the smaller flowers.

After all the stitching was done it was time to soak away the stabilizer.