Monday, May 14, 2018

I'm Trying Hand Stitching!!!!

Alright, so you all know I am not great at hand stitching ;)   I machine attach my bindings and if they have to be done by hand, Barbara attaches them for me.   I do all my applique by machine, and the little bit of embroidery embellishments in blocks I have done in the past I have figured out how to do on the machine as well.    But Softball season has started, and this year I have 2 girls participating, which makes it feel like I am pretty much living at the softball fiends in the evenings.    So . . . I decided it was probably time I tried a hand project!!!


And what better way to try something new than with the help of Tula!!!!  I love Tula Pink's designs and prints, so when I saw that she had converted some of her amazing sketches into embroidery designs in her new Tula Pink Coloring with Thread book I was all over it!!!   The book comes with a disk that has all of the PDF designs so it was super easy to just print the design on a  Pellon Stick-N-Washaway sheet sheet :)  Way easier than trying to trace it!!!



I let my daughter pick out what design I should try, because they are all so amazing there was no way I could pick a favorite.   Jessi choose the Sea Horse because it reminded her of Spring Break!!    And I realized that I still had my Bonnie and Camille Handmade Embroidery Floss Collection that I got in one of my Sew Sampler boxes, perfect for getting going on this project :)  And the book has an awesome color guide to follow so no hard choices there!! 


There is a fantastic stitch guide in the front of  Coloring with Thread that makes it easy, even for a beginner like me, to see how to make each of the different stitches in the design.  I am starting with the basic outlining because you have to crawl before you can run right ;)   I haven't gotten very far, it is slow going to be sure.   I am hoping as I get better at making my stitch length consistent that it will speed up.   But so far,  I am enjoying it.   It might be several softball seasons before I get it done, but it is nice to have something to keep my hands busy while I sit at the ball park :)  

So what about you???  Have you tried hand embroidery???  Any suggestions to help a beginner???

And crazy thought, this is making me think I might be able to try English Paper Piecing!!!   Any suggestions of where to start there??

Yup, this is me jumping into the deep end of Hand Stitching, well see if I sink or swim ;) 

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6 comments:

  1. When I'm doing hand stitching, whether it is smocking, embroidery, cross stitch, etc., I use beeswax or Thread Heaven on my thread. Beeswax or Thread Heaven keep your thread smooth and together and your thread will glide through your fabric. Many years ago when I learned hand stitching, I was told the back should be as neat as the front. Be careful carrying a dark thread on the back, if you are stitching on light colored fabric. The dark thread will leave a shadow on the front. Relax and enjoy. The even stitches will come with practice.

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  2. Wowwwwww. This looks nice.
    I have a three hour dental appointment on Friday and planning on bringing embroidery - just making fancy labels for two quilts.
    That will be fun. The dental thing, ugh, it is an implant and I am not excited or elated about getting it, it is a molar, so it's not like some big fancy blazing sparkly tooth. :-P
    Your stitching looks marvelous and this is a very very sweet pattern

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  3. WOW!! How brave you are!! Best of luck and I am cheering you on! I haven't tried embroidery yet, but I did pick up EPP last year and it is fun, easy, and addicting!!! I am taking a Sashiko class in June at my local quilt store and I can't wait! I hope I can get the hang of it because it is such a cool look!! Keep us posted!!

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  4. I’ve been hand embroidering for decades, and I do enjoy it. The best site I can recommend for you is Mary Corbet’s site, Needlenthread(dot)com. There is a “how to” section that has videos of basic, intermediate and advanced stitches. They’re clear and high quality. Learn from the best!!

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  5. I hand embroidered a lot as a teenager but now my go-to take along projects are always EPP. So fun, addictive, and definitely portable. Start with a simple hexagon flower and you'll be hooked. Sue Daley has some great projects and tutorials.

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  6. I learned to embroider as a child (we won't mention how long ago that was ;) ) and did quite a bit of it - tablecloths, handkerchiefs, and such. For the last 30 or so years however, I've done cross stitch. I have a project that I've worked on for years - I only stitch on it when I travel. It's about 80% done, so I figuring another couple of years and I'll be able to have it framed.

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Thank you so much for your sweet comments. I just love hearing from you!!
Have a Happy Quilting Day :)

Melissa