DMC Embroidered Tablecloth

I picked this embroidered table cloth kit in a charity shop ages ago, I'm not exactly sure when I brought it but I know I've been slowly working on it bit by bit since 24th July 2017.

I paid two whole English pounds for it and luckily the entire kit was intact and it said on the back that the original price was around £20.

I love having a slow sewing project to do and this one was perfect.

It came with the table cloth back ground with the design mark on in some sort of blue stuff? Which I'm now struggling to get the blue stuff off though, I thought it might be like an iron away type thing but it isn't. Rikki suggested that maybe I could try washing it away but I'm not sure I trust embroidery to stand up to a good scrub. Any suggestions?  

The pattern is of little yellow flowers and daisies. The kit came with all of the threads include but it was a bit touch and go as to if the yellow threads were going to run out or not.

A lot of the pattern was back stitch or satin stitch. I really enjoyed watching my satin stitch improve over time. 

I used my Grandmas wooden embroidery hoop to keep everything taut as I was sewing. It was a complete life saver. I;m not sure I could have kept things looking neat without it. 

Rikkis Nan actually spotted this project and thought it might be a change from cross stitch [she's a huge cross stitch fan!] so we got her one of her own for Christmas and now I'm thinking I might need another one to do for myself! 

I sewed a lot of this while watching "The Handmaidens Tale" it was a great project for watching telly because it keeps your brain fairly free. 

In other news! 

- Well to be honest there's not a lot of news? I brought some new thigh high boots. I wore the pair I brought last year to death so it seemed like a fairly sensible purchase.

-I've got a whole night of sewing ahead of me which is pretty exciting. 

- And that's it really! 

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

Buffy Quote Embroidery Hoop!

I love Buffy the Vampire slayer, I love the clothes, I love the stories and I REALLY! love Spike.

I also love Angel but I think spikes my favourite.... OMG just googled, Spike and Angel together, Their is some serious photo shopping skills out there!

Anyway apart from the fact that everybody who lives directly above a hellmouth appears to be all kinds of beautiful, I also love that one minute your watching an awesome fight scene and the next Joss Whedon [the writer] hits you with something incredibly poignant and accurate. Like this:  

"The hardest thing in this world is to live in it" 

I mean you can't do that Joss! I came here to see awesome fight scenes and crush on Buffys wardrobe! You can't make me FEEL things!

 But it is awesome and definitely worthy of some embroidery action! I also love the speech from the episode "passions" but it's really long!

Anyway its an old hoop, and some scrap fabric and just some simple embroidery cottons from stash. It was a pretty quick project actually I made it whilst waiting for Rikki to come home from his night shift. He thought he might get an early finish like 12.00am, so I waited up and got some stitching done too. [I also watched a film called "her" that was about a guy falling in love with a computer. It got freaky pretty quickly, and by freaky I mean "freaky"]

I decided to make the word Live stand out by doing it in chain stitch, otherwise known as my favourite of all the embroidery stitches!!!

And I tried to do a font kind of thing, but it was hard because I was free handing it!

And yeah, pretty simple, hopefully when we move I might find a little nook to hang this in!

But for now I'll leave you with some pictures of the attractive men from Buffy.

Yes I also harbour love for Xander and Giles, Omg Giles! I bet he knows how to make a cracking brew!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Alternative decorations!

After the success of the mini Christmas stocking I made for my mum from lil Knitwit, it was politely suggested that maybe grandad needed something to?

Now after doing a whole batch of stockings earlier this month, a stocking was not happening! 

And my dad isn't a huge Christmas person either, so I opted for darth vader! (I don't know if my dad has any particular love for darth but it was a nickname from work that stuck! Something to do with him being evil!) 

Stitch stitch stitch! 

And voila! An embroidery hoop Christmas decoration for grandad from lil Knitwit! 

(And yes dad if your reading it will be with you shortly!)

Much love

Frankie

Xxx

Sleepy owl

I needed a little break from sketching today, so I picked up my hoop. 

I'd started this a while ago but becuase of orders etc. it found itself pushed to one side! Feeling ignored. 

But today I just needed something mindless to do so I got it back out. 

I like it, it's a bit more whimsical than what I usually do. 

It's got lots of swirls and flourishes. 

My little moon! 

It's a bit of a mismatch project becuase I'm using all of my scrap threads. 

Other than this, I've swept the carpet (yes swept the hoovers on the blink!) and we visited a Christmas fair this morning, where I won a baby doll for lil Knitwit! Thankfully the lady on the stall was kind enough to change it for a stuffed dog. 

Poor lil Knitwit is desperately trying to recover from his cough and cold , but it really seems to have settled in his chest poor thing!

Here he is feeling sorry for himself, does anyone have any cough and cold remedies? 

Much love 

Frankie 

Xxx

We're nearly there!!!

One week one pattern is nearly upon us!!! It's starts tomorrow! 

I just thought I'd let you know how I'm going to do OWOP, (by the way I'm so excited! It's the first blog event I've ever done!) 

For starters I don't plan on posting pics of me in the outfits, rather just the items and the styling on a hanger. Lil Knitwit isn't quite camera trained, and mr Knitwit will be working so that's the only way I can show you! 

Also although I only have two items at the moment I'm hoping to have a third finished later in the week! So keep your eyes peeled! 

My OWOP posts will also be separate to my regular posts (which I'll still be doing) and will probably go up in the morning, with a few details about the item and accessories!

 Phew this month is so crazy!!!! I've got OWOP, a holiday, my birthday and a craft fair!!! In fact I'm so busy that I haven't even thought about my birthday (which never happens I'm a five year old when it comes to birthdays)

But onto today's finish! 

This is my last large hoop for the craft fair! I'm loving the beads and the flowers, it reminds me of my mums garden, she has a beautiful garden! 

Some of the beads are recycled! I know some people can be funny about second hand things but these were to beautiful to  chuck away. Plus I like to think I'm doing my part for the environment! I should probably mention that momma Knitwit was the one to remove to beads. She's the best fabric slave ever! 

Anyway apart from being crazy busy and everything being mental at the moment! With birthdays and fairs and patterns and holidays and ironing and little Knitwit starting nursery!!! (This is the part were I start sobbing uncontrollably in a corner!) 

Much love

Frankie 

Xxx

Fabric slave

Today I had a employee, this type of employee is usually called mummy and gets paid in kisses or brews. She also got given the special title of "fabric slave" and I made her call me boss! You don't have to love me to work with me but it certainly helps! In all fairness , I didn't work her to death I just made her cut fabric. 

I also finished this lil cutie , and yeah it's another hoop! 

I think it's pretty cute! 

In other news I pricked my finger with a sewing needle today and it really hurt. Please provide sympathy....

Much love 

Frankie 

Xxx

A bear of very little brain...

Growing up I had a small Winnie the Pooh obsession, I say small , but I mean large . I had teddy bears, notebooks , pillows, duvets , pants! You name it I had it! Which is where the inspiration for this came from. 

I used some of the left over faux suede from when I recovered my living room cousins and decided to keep it just to two tones! 

Isn't he adorable! I free handed the design after a quick google search (genuinely don't know where I'd be without google) I rarely free hand embroidery designs , there's nothing quite like spend two hours sewing only the find that one measly detail is off!

In other news I managed to figure out the automatic button hole foot on my machine! It took me longer than it should have done but I don't think the instructions were very clear at all!  (And I mean women not clear, not man not clear!) in the end I you tubed it, and finally worked out that there was something that I need to pull down! I'm so glad I've worked it out, now I can get to finishing some other projects for the craft fair! 

But tomorrow I think I might try and see if u can sew a whole dress during lil knitwits nap! 

Much love

Frankie

Xxx

Snowflake

I'm definitely getting into this blogging by phone malarkey, at this moment little Knitwit is eating his breakfast, so I have five minutes to blog! The only problem is I can't actually see if anyone has read it on the app, I have to go onto the laptop for that! So hello are you there? Is there anyone out there! 

But it is saving me time so I think I'll risk that I'm talking to myself! 

Anyway that's enough of me talking to myself! Here's what we as a family got done yesterday:

• little Knitwit learnt to colour white and blue

• we had a massive bag of sand delivered! 

• mr Knitwit shifted a stack of garden slabs, I ahem watched/supervised.

• I posted a parcel from my first ever etsy sale! It's been a lonnnnnnng time since I set up and I was starting to loose heart! But it's finally happened!

• I nearly finished mr knitwits birthday shopping (and yet again I'm more excited for his birthday than he is )

• mr Knitwit painted one fence panel, it was suppose to be my job but apparently I'm a 'messy' painter. 

• and I made this (notice how mr Knitwit takes care of DIY and I do the sewing) 

It's for the craft fair I'm doing and I like to think that it's something that could be used in summer or winter. I think I was inspired by all the 'frozen' things that are still floating around! (I still haven't actually seen 'frozen' yet, but my expectations are getting higher by the day. So i can't wait till it pops up on sky movies!) 

I added some bead again, I just think that beads and embroidery is such a beautiful combination, and I'm a sucker for anything sparkly.

Right I'm going to have to toodle because baby Knitwit has nearly finished his breakfast so it's clean up time at the zoo! But before I go what do we think of the embroidery hoop art thingy that's happening? Take a look on Pinterest there's loads! I think it's awesome I love the look of a peice of embroidery in a hoop! 

Much love

Frankie

Xxx

Oh No!

"Oh No" is one of Little Knitwits favourite sayings, however it was not what I chose to say this morning when I realised that the post I had written yesterday had not published instead it had just deleted itself. Needless to say the language I used was shall we say a little more descriptive?

 

So what did I post about yesterday? Well I posted my Friday finish , and I assure you my post was entertaining and witty. I actually think I might have been at my funniest yesterday. But alas today, nothing is funny I have been rushed off my feet, I've got commissions coming out of my ears and I've been having to go and pick up more supplies, I.e felt. Although I did buy a massive stack of felt its two and half inches high! And I massive stack of felt never fails to put a smile on my face. 

 

So here's what I made for my Friday finish.

 

 

I've been seeing at lot of hoop art on Pinterest and Esty and I think they are the cutest thing ever! Seen as this was my first one I opted for a little owl (I'm fairly sure I can draw owls in my sleep now, in fact it wouldn't surprise me if I woke up one morning and found my bedroom walls covered in them.)

 

 

The hoop size is three and a half inches across so its super small and cute! I've actually seen these used as decorations on Christmas tree so I'm tempted to make a few more!

 

 

It also gave me a chance to practise my embroidery stitches, and I always forget how relaxing I find embroidery.

 

Right I'm off, I've got to get back to the grind. I have so much to do today!

 

Much Love

 

A very busy Frankie!

 

xxx

Indian Inspiration

For those of you who don't know, I used to be part of a belly dance group. ( And for those of you who are giggling right now, shush! You haven't had a good time unless you've decked yourself out in glitter and sequins and let all your jiggly bits have a good old wiggle around!)

 

I loved dancing in that group, and my Momma still does. And although I used Indian patterns as inspiration for this piece, I like to think that the lovely ladies I used to dance with provided me with a greater source of inspiration in the wise eyes of the owl. Strong women, who dance and have fun and don't care what other people think. The best kind of women.

 

Without further ado here's my strong, wise owl.

 

 

I used traditional style henna patterns as inspiration for the patterns.

 

 

Worked it all on white cotton, with embroidery silks using my grandmothers embroidery hoop.

 

 

I mixed it up a little a the bottom, I didn't want it to be too symmetrical. sometimes you've just have to ignore the balance of things.

 

 

I tried to stick to quite rustic colours and jewel tones, (I'm going to post on how I keep my colours balanced and even in a later post.)

 

 

Those scalloped edges look pretty, but boy they took me ages to sew!

 

 

I thought I was finished until I thought about those lovely ladies again, and realised it needed some sparkle! So that's what I'll be doing tonight, squinting at tiny beads trying not to spill them all over the floor!  

 

Much Love

 

And

 

Have a giggle have a wiggle!

 

Frankie

 

xxx

 

Finishes and Fabric

It's definitely been a good couple of days I finished my Bird Embroidery all I had to do was sew the branch in, I went for more of a free form style, because when I try and draw branches and trees they always look a little fake, so I free styled and it ended up looking more natural!

 

 

Definitely pleased with how it turned out! It's pretty girly for me, but I've been trying to change things up a little bit.

 

 

It was nice to do a mixture of different stitches and to alternate between complete blocks of colour and more liner areas.

 

 

 It's already sat in a pile waiting with my other embroidery projects to be turned into a cushions.

 

 

And a package has been delivered to a customer, Via the official Knitwits Delivery person ( AKA my momma!)

 

 

It was a custom order for a friend who's daughter loves ORANGE! It's a doorstop and it's the package that I blogged about here! 

 

I also received a very special delivery today from Mr. Postman! My Dragonfly Fabrics arrived from the competition I won on Handmade Jane's blog!

 

It was beautifully wrapped in tissue paper but I might of ahem, ripped it off as soon as a realised what it was before I had chance to take a picture!

 

 

But it was wrapped up in a ribbon which made me swoon even more! And as an added bonus FREE ribbon! Ooft!

 

 

I chose Field Study- Sinister Swarm Vivacious By

 

 

I got 60cm so its the perfect amount to make myself a cute little summer skirt!

 

 

And then I also chose a white cotton embroidered flower fabric in white, which I can't find on the website now! Hope I didn't steal it all!

 

 

I got 2.5m in this because I already have a pattern in mind for it! from my sew your own wardrobe book! It will need a lining underneath though, so that will be a bit of a challenge.

 

 

But I really hope I've got enough left to make some other treats!

 

 

I'd like to thank Jane and Dragonfly fabrics again for an AWESOME giveaway!

 

Today has been an awesome day so far! Hope you guys have a lovely day as well!

 

Much Love

 

Frankie

 

xxx