Modern Cross Stitch by Hannah Sturrock

Normally I would start a post about a book with a photo of its cover, but my cat Milo photobombed this picture so elegantly, I chose this one. It is as if he's saying 'I really like this one, mum!'.
This cute project is from Hannah Sturrock's (of Bobo Stitch) new book 'Modern Cross Stitch'.*

'Modern Cross Stitch' has a wide variety of styles: some projects are slightly retro (like the banner), some are a bit folksy (like the snowflakes below) and some are inspired by popular culture like a 'Kapow' cartoon style mobile phone cover or Skull patches. There's also a few projects in the 'young ones' section that hint at traditional nursery themes (Alphabet, a teddy etc) but with a more modern approach.

I really like these Stitchy Bugs, especially the dragonfly! All patterns in the book have a colour key and are printed on a good scale, which makes them easy to follow (depending on your skill level, of course). Skill level (complexity of the pattern) and Material level (28 count linen is harder than 14 count aida for example) are also indicated, so you know what to expect!

The 'Cross Stitch Basics' chapter is really useful, especially if you're starting out with cross stitch.  It has easy to understand diagrams and as far as I can see, it answers any question aspiring cross stitchers may have. Check your local bookstore for a copy of 'Modern Cross Stitch' or find it in various online bookstores.


*The publisher sent this book to me a little while ago and I thought I'd share some of my favourite things about it here!

Secret Garden Embroidery

My stitchy friend Sophie (aka What Delilah Did) has released a new book called Secret Garden Embroidery and it's really lovely so I'm excited to share some of the wonderful projects with you today. The best thing about Sophie's books is that each book is a little different from the one before, but still has the same timeless, unique style that many of us love. Secret Garden Embroidery is no exception and with its 15 projects a fabulous resource for both beginning and more advanced stitchers.

One of three Lace Wing Butterfly patterns in the book

Sophie's first book, Storyland Cross Stitch had a lot of her signature style silhouette designs in mostly muted colours. Stitch the Halls, the Christmas book, featured more colour and lots of fun stitch ideas for Christmas decorations. Secret Garden Embroidery is all about botanical and garden themed projects, framed in stories about Miss Merriweather's Thistledown Farmhouse. The book is elegantly illustrated by Katt Frank and the beautiful photography is by Rachel Whiting.

Are you ready to join me for a short walk to Thistledown Farmhouse and have a look around? Be prepared for lots of delicate stitching and gorgeous muted colour palettes!
First, we visit the Vegetable Garden...

And look...here are some cute bugs (and a spider too)!

You cannot leave Thistledown Farmhouse without meeting Miss Millicent Hare...

The first chapter of Secret Garden Embroidery deals with stitches and supplies used for the book's projects. All of the projects are counted embroidery or cross stitch. The larger patterns are included in an envelope at the back of the book, the other patterns are printed in the book.

I think the real fun is in how to make the lovely designs work for you. If you are not into belts you can stitch the pattern on a bag. And colours are easily changed too. The bugs look fabulous on a magnet but would look great on a table cloth or on napkins as well.

I hope you enjoyed this peek into What Delilah Did's Secret Garden! Secret Garden Embroidery is published by Pavilion Books and available now. You can buy the book from Sophie's store (and have it signed too!) and many other bookstores.

Interview with Retro Mama: a Scrap Happy Sewer

As you probably know by now, I love sewing with scraps. Even the ugliest of scraps can result in an interesting project. In her new book Scrap Happy Sewing Kim Kruzich turns small bits of fabric (just pretty ones!) into lovely items.

The projects are fresh and fun and when you read the book it's easy to imagine how your personal scrap stash can be turned into beautiful projects. I really want to make the scrappy Zig Zag Quilt. And if you are not a scrappy person: many of the projects won't even look very 'scrappy', if you simply use more coordinated fabrics. :)

The book is good for beginners, but the attractive projects will appeal to more experienced sewers too, as many of the patterns can be sewn up quite quickly. I interviewed Kim about her book and Scrappy Sewing.

What is your favourite project from the book and why?

Tough question! I would have to say it’s between the Simply Strippy Sewing Kit and the Pajama Bear Softies. The sewing kit is an easy project that gives you a lot of bang for your buck! Just a few thin strips of fabric look so striking when quilted and bound, and it is so much fun to be creative in decorating the inside pockets. But those bears are so silly and cute that I just love them to bits.

What favourite fabric scrap(s) did you use up until the last tiny bit? And do you even have any scraps left after writing this book?

I am a bit obsessed with Denyse Schmidt fabrics--there are several prints from her Hope Valley, Picnic, and Fairground lines that I have savored to the very last scrap. I also have a measuring tape print by American Jane that I manage to fit into almost every patchwork project that I make! I found a bunch of it on eBay years ago but I still treat it like a precious metal and try to make a little bit go a long way. There is a teal floral and cherries print from Lecien’s Old New line that I adore and wish I had bought a whole bolt, so I will be very careful about using what I have left!

I possibly should be a little embarrassed by how many scraps I still have after writing the book. I definitely dug into my scrap basket and used many of my oldest and most favorite fabrics, but I did get new prints specifically to use for the book, and so I have a bunch of new scraps as well!

How do you sort your scrap stash?

Until recently, I kept all my scraps stuffed in a giant pink tub under my cutting table! It was pretty overwhelming to attempt to find anything in there. But I have finally seen the light and I’m in the process of cutting leftover fabrics into strips that I store together by width in these great transparent boxes that I found. The strips are 1”, 1-1/2”, 2”, etc., so now whenever I want to do a scrappy project I can just pull out the right box and the fabrics are neatly stacked inside.

What are you working on right now?

I’m catching up on sewing projects for myself and friends and family, as well as sketching some new softies and dolls.

A big bag of scraps or a new bundle of fat quarters?

A new bundle of fat quarters! So many times I’ll see a fabric and think, “Ooh! That would make a perfect doll dress or bear pajamas,” so a fat quarter would ensure that I could make a doll or other toy out of it. I’ll take the bag of scraps, too, though, I am a firm believer that one can’t have too much fabric!

                                                                           **********

Thank you so much Kim for this fun interview! More peeks and projects from the book can be found on various blogs this month. You can follow Kim on her blog and find more patterns in her Etsy Store.

Scrap Happy Sewing is available now in book stores. And find a free sewing pattern for these lovely pleated pincushions on Stitch Craft Create!

Small fabrics, Big ideas

© Lark Crafts

I'm so excited to have a project in the new book Fat Quarters. Small Fabrics More Than 50 Big Ideas. I sent in my project about one and a half year ago, because making books takes a lot of time and this one in particular, but it was well worth the wait. This book is jam packed with fun ideas and fresh designs. The starting point for each project was to design something with Fat Quarters. I often buy my fabric in Fat Quarters, rather than (half) yards. It's a good size of fabric to have in your stash. :)

© Lark Crafts

A good few of the 'big ideas' can be sewn quite quickly (because sometimes it's nice to make something that takes hours rather than weeks or months, right?) and many of the projects make great gifts for friends or family. My project, a toddler pillowcase and matching sheet with paper pieced and appliqued hexagons, is not exactly a quick sew. It is all hand pieced and hand sewn although I do think you could applique the hexagon flowers and hexagons by machine, if that's more your thing. There is also a touch of embroidery involved to add the 'Sweet Dreams' lettering.

The idea behind my project was that it would enable you to use up the very last pieces of your most favourite Fat Quarters! I also had fun playing with the colours and let the colours gradually flow from one to another by carefully selecting and organising the little hexagons. You'll find my project in the 'Babies & Kids' chapter, alongside cute toys like the Worm & Apple (by Abby Glassenberg) and Bunny (by Wild Olive's Mollie Johansen) you see on the cover of the book.

In the section 'Quilts and pillows' you can find these lovely pillows, designed by Amy Friend.

© Lark Crafts

One of my favourite chapters is called 'Give & Use' which has lots of practical things like a sewing machine cover, fabric baskets, hot pads and these re-usable bowl covers, a project from Jessica Fediw.

© Lark Crafts

You will also find various bags and totes in this book (there's a book tote that I especially like!) and ideas to add interesting touches to existing clothing or even make your own wearables (scarf, tie) with Fat Quarters. Or tiny bits of Fat Quarter like with these Embroidered buttons by Cynthia Schaffer.

© Lark Crafts

Fat Quarters. Small Fabrics More Than 50 Big Ideas is published by Lark Crafts and out on the 17th of March in the US (and later in other countries) but you can apparently already order it at the Bookdepository (free shipping worldwide, although in my experience they are rather slow).

Handmade Scandinavian Christmas

A little while ago I was asked by Stitch Craft Create whether I was interested in taking part in a book tour about Handmade Christmas Decorations. One of the books immediately caught my eye: Handmade Scandinavian Christmas by Hege Barnholt.*

Having spent a few years in Norway I'm familiar with some of the Scandinavian Winter/Christmas traditions. To me a Scandinavian Christmas means: light, warmth and bringing nature inside your home. I was pleased to find all of these elements in this book.

The projects in Handmade Scandinavian Christmas are not just 'inspired by' but 100% Scandinavian. There are too many projects to mention: they range from knitting projects (more about that in the interview) to decorations for your home made with berries, branches and pine cones to wrapping ideas. There are typical Scandinavian recipes (I for one can't wait to make the Rice Pudding with Cinnamon!), a chapter about flowers and also simple projects involving food that make great Christmas Gifts. Another thing I definitely want to try are these cute bird feeders.

The project descriptions are rather concise at times but with a little common sense you can work it out. I must admit that the simplicity of many of the projects make it all seem very doable even if you are not especially gifted in cooking, crafting or making decorations. Some of the projects in the book (like the one pictured below) however involve sawing branches and using a drill, which is a little outside my comfort zone. ;)

Me and my daughter Luna opted for the safer paper ornaments (no sawing required) and we were pretty successful! Also: it's hard to stop at one so we made several :)

We did change a little detail, using needle and thread rather than a paperclip to bring the whole thing together. We also made a paper 'woven heart' which again was easy to do with very satisfactory results. There is actually a separate chapter in the book with projects for kids but I found that these paper Christmas decorations were very suitable to make with children too.

I thought it would be nice to learn a bit more about the author of the book, Hege Barnholt and she kindly agreed to answer the questions I sent her! Hege lives in Norway with her husband (a photographer) and works as an interior stylist. Their blog and Instagram account are well worth a visit/follow because of the beautiful photography and styling.

Is there much difference between the Swedish, Danish and Norwegian Christmas Traditions?

The original Scandinavian Christmas is in the colours red and white. And we use a lot of natural materials. The Swedish and Danish Christmas are almost similar. Only the food is a little bit different.

The book has many projects and I read that some of the recipes were passed down from your grandmother but how did you source the many other projects? Where they also passed down from your family or did you make new ones in a traditional style?
I made all the projects my self.  Some in traditional style but also some with a new design or look. All the Christmas cakes are old recipes from my grandmother and mother. My mother made them for me, she died last January. So this book means a lot to me. She made me to the creative person I'm today. 

There are quite a few projects in the book that require knitting. What is it with Scandinavians and knitting? It’s seems immensely popular in the Nordic countries!
We live in a country where part of the year is darkest and cold. We stay inside and love to have crafty projects. And we love to wear them when its cold. The Scandinavian design use a lot of old pattern in a new way,  and the wool is typical Scandinavian style.


Do you have a special Christmas tradition in your family?
I loved when my family sat around the table preparing for Christmas with scissors and paper needles and thread. Making homemade presents and decorations for Christmas. We also used all things we had collected from the nature in the autumn such as cones, moss and crooked branches. And my husband and I always make each other an advent calendar, Its so nice all the 24 surprises until Christmas.

Santa or Julenisse (the Norwegian Santa, but a little different)?
Of course - Julenisse,  it is the cutest. 


Thank you for a lovely interview Hege, God Jul!

***

Handmade Scandinavian Christmas is perfect if you want to bring a genuine piece of Scandinavian Christmas into your home. Many of the projects are easy to do and require little expertise. 

Now if you'd like a chance to win £100 to spend at Stitch Craft Create you can share a picture of your own handmade Christmas on the share board of Stitch Craft Create or use the hashtag #SCCXmas on Twitter or Instagram. Definitely worth a try I think :) 

Happy Crafting everyone! 

*I received an e-book version of the book for the review. All my opinions are my own. :)

I'm in the new Mollie Makes Embroidery Book!

My Cloud pillow project. Photo by Vanessa Davies

Just two weeks ago a new Mollie Makes book was released, it's simply called Mollie Makes Embroidery.  I was very pleased when I was asked to contribute to it last year and I was even more pleased when I received my copy and saw how wonderful it has turned out!

My project in this book is the cloud shaped pillow embroidered with a cat and a polar bear, you see pictured above. The umbrellas are really mini-samplers, featuring some of my favourite stitches like the Bullion Knot and the Wheat Ear Stitch. I'm really happy with the result although making the cloud-shaped pillow 'cloud-shaped' was a bit of a challenge but I got there in the end.

The grey-and-white-socks cat in my Pillow design is inspired by my own cat Milo. :)

Carina's project. Photo by Vanessa Davies

The first half of the book features 15 projects from (amongst others) my &Stitches pal Carina, Mollie from Wild Olive, Sophie from What Delilah Did and many more embroidery designers. The projects and designs are 'typically' Mollie Makes: charming, fresh, modern but with a retro feel to them. Even a technique that seems a bit outdated (at least to me) like Silk Ribbon Embroidery gets an impressive, new look in Mollie's Pretty Posy Ribbon Runner Project.

Many different embroidery techniques are highlighted in the different projects: from 'free form' hand embroidery to Cross stitch and from Crewel to Stump work.

Mama and Baby Owl by Michelle Galletta. Photo by Vanessa Davies

The second half of the book consists of an extensive 'how to' section (about 80 pages) and many stitches and techniques are explained in words, pictures and with diagrams. Obviously the 'basics' are there but also less obvious stitches and techniques like the Raised Fishbone Stitch and Bargello are included. As is a section about Machine Embroidery, often overlooked in Embroidery books.

I think the great projects and incredibly useful techniques section make this book a 'must' for new embroiderers and more experienced stitchers alike. Mollie Makes Embroidery is published Pavilion Craft (UK) and Interweave (US) and now available in bookstores and in online shops.

Winner 'My Rag Doll' Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who left a comment for a chance to win a copy of "My Rag Doll'! There sadly can only be one winner and Cleo (comment no. 7) is the lucky one this time. Congratulations Cleo, I will get in touch soon and I'm looking forward to your blue-haired Rag Doll :)

Find more information about the book and the blog hop here.

Hoop-la blog tour and a giveaway too

T'is the season for craft books to go on blog tour and today I am very pleased to be a stop (the last one apparently!) in Kirsty Neale's Hoop-La blog tour.*  I was very curious about the book, wondering if the projects would appeal to me as I assumed it wouldn't be a 'regular' Embroidery book. And I'm not a crafty person in the sense that glitter and a glue gun are part of my daily outfit.

Luckily for me this isn't a glue & glitter book. It's a very inspiring book with lots (100+) of fabulous ideas. Some projects are practical (wall pocket), some are incredibly sweet (faux taxidermy deer) and others are just very, very clever (Solar system display with Embroidery Hoops, eeep!) A good portion of the projects involve hand stitching of some sort (yay!) and obviously a lot of fabric and felt is used, as well as buttons and trims. 

So.. yes there were several projects that caught my eye but the Dandy Lion stole my heart. My version is a little different from the Dandy Lion in the book but I think this is exactly what one is meant to do with this book: be inspired, include elements that appeal to you and use what you have hiding in your stash!

I didn't have a 7" hoop or crochet 'manes' so I used a smaller hoop and an incredibly dandy vintage trim (thanks Sami!).  I also embroidered the cheeks (split stitch in the round worked very well I think) instead of adding fabric ones.

A worthy addition to my Embroidery Wall I think….

Check out at this fun video to get an idea of other projects included in this book. I especially adore the Diorama Bear…  You can purchase Hoop-la. 100 things to do with Embroidery Hoops here and here and visit the blog tour page here. 

Guess what? I get to give away one of the original pieces from Kirsty's book! I know this cross-stitched chevron hoop will find a happy home with one of my blog readers. And I also know I would LOVE to have it on my own Embroidery Wall, as it's serious lacking in geometrical pieces!

Please leave a comment on this post for a chance to win and tell me what your ideal Embroidery/Hoop Art Wall would look like! The giveaway ends on the 20th of November and be sure to leave some kind of trail so I can find you if you are the lucky winner! Good luck everyone!    Comments are closed now!

*I received a PDF review copy and the author and publisher were very kind to provide the giveaway prize!

A little birdie told me...

What the bird said…Sign up here to keep up to date with Follow the White Bunny news. The next newsletter (which is going out this weekend) will have a link to a very sweet, exclusive-for-subscribers-only pattern!

P.s. come back tomorrow as I'll be writing about Kirsty Neale's Hoop-la book and there is a fun give away as well of some original Hoop-la Hoop-art, yay!

Book review & Interview: Sew & Stitch Embroidery

I have been a long time admirer of the quirky plush animals and patterns of Penguin and Fish and now Alyssa Thomas (of Penguin and Fish) released a craft book called Sew & Stitch Embroidery full of those fabulous critters!  I'm delighted to be part of the 'Sew & Stitch Embroidery' blog tour* and even got to interview Alyssa about her book and work (see the second part of this post)!

The book starts with an intro into various embroidery supplies and techniques, with special attention for 'transferring' methods. There is also a fairly concise section with simple sewing basics, which is primarily aimed at the novice sewer. The rest of the book is divided in themed chapters. Each chapter has several sewing and embroidery projects, a good number of them with 'second stitches' which are variations of the main project.

This adorable pillow is from the 'For the Home' chapter.

I love it when I see a project in a book that makes me want to grab my floss and needle and start stitching immediately. The great horned Owl Pillow totally has that effect on me. As I often make tiny things it would be a good project to get out of my 'tiny' comfort zone and embroider something a bit bigger for once!

For the embroidery part of the (regular sized) main projects you will find a stitch and colour guide in the back of the book and many of the main patterns (but not all) are included on the 'iron on transfer sheet'.

Another favourite project in the book are these pet characters. The budgie looks just like my budgie Haddock did and the guinea pig reminds me of our Pippin. Other projects from the 'Just for Fun' chapter (which is mainly to make things that will appeal to children) include a gigantic cross stitched racing sack, dinosaur finger puppets and a Dream Catcher.

It's not just animals that star in these projects, the last chapter features this fabulously elegant feather on a tablet sleeve and a pretty clutch with a feather too. Other projects from this part of the book include a wonderful Bird-in-Ferns Patchwork Tote and cute little animal brooches which would be fun to make with (older) kids too.

Sew and Stitch embroidery is a treasure trove, full of appealing and fun projects. The photography throughout the book is beautiful and the projects are well documented. Quite a few of the projects require just basic sewing skills and this book would be perfect for non-sewing embroiderers to jump in and learn something new! There are also several relatively simple embroidery projects that kids, with a little help could make as well. Actually my 8 year old daughter Luna is stitching the Dream Catcher at the moment. :)

Q & A with Alyssa Thomas

Sew & Stitch Embroidery has simple sewing projects featuring your embroidery designs. Are you secretly hoping to 'convert' some sewers to embroidery and embroiderers to start sewing?
Hah hah, well, that would be OK with me for sure! :-) My real reason for having sewing projects and embroidery together is because I feel like lots of embroidery books just have embroidery motifs to stitch as embellishments onto something else. While embellishing something is nice, I really want the embroidery to be the STAR of the project. I include easy instructions and diagrams for both sewing and embroidery, so maybe I will convert embroiderers who want to start sewing, and sewers who want to start embroidering! But my main goal was to create sewing projects where embroidery is an integral part of the design.

What is your favourite project in the book? Why?
I really had fun with all the projects, so my favorites kind of keep switching around. Right now I have two favs. I really love the dream catcher project. There's no sewing involved which makes it super easy. I used to make dream catchers all the time when I was younger, so it brings me back to being a kid. I love the little feathers made out of fabric scraps and that the actual hoop becomes the dreamcatcher frame.My ultimate favorite project from the book is the Octopus quilt. It uses the big embroidery technique which is so fun to do. I think I love the project because it's crazy to have an embroidery that big. And it's fun that if you lay on top of the quilt it looks like the Octopus is giving you a hug, but if you lay underneath the quilt, your head becomes the head of the octopus. The quilt is "hand tied" which means that instead of sewing all the quilt layers together with a machine, the layers are all tied together by hand. Hand tying the quilt makes it a simpler quilt for a beginner to do, even if you haven't made a quilt before.

Several of your projects involve making huge embroidery stitches with yarn, how is that different from doing 'regular' embroidery? (except for the size of course!)

Surprisingly, the big embroideries actually stitch up quicker than the smaller embroideries (which makes them even more fun to do). For the big embroideries everything gets bigger because you're stitching with yarn instead of floss. There are so many beautiful yarns out there to stitch with! Since yarn is fatter than regular embroidery floss, it's helpful to use a crewel needle which has a bigger eye. It's also better to stitch onto a fabric that has a looser weave than standard quilting weight fabric. I used linen for many of the big embroidery projects because it typically has a looser weave which makes it easier to pull the needle through. I also use a large quilting hoop instead of an embroidery hoop. The hoops I use for the big embroideries are 18'' - 24''. The only reason to use a bigger hoop is that since the stitches are bigger and you're covering a larger area faster, It's helpful to have a larger working space so you don't have to keep moving the hoop. Making a big embroidery is definitely a way to give a project instant visual impact.

You have been embroidering since you were small, are there still things you want to learn in embroidery?Absolutely. My patterns use basic stitches because I think there's a ton you can do with just a few stitches, however, I do like playing with more advanced stitches. There are so many fun stitches out there and it’s neat to try out new ones. I would love to try "painting" with embroidery, where you add layers and layers of stitches to build up different colors and textures. I have a little project in mind for that. We'll see how it goes.

What is next for Alyssa and Penguin & Fish?

My new organic fabric line, Critter Patch, will be arriving in stores any day now. I am also working on the next 2 fabric collections, one which will come out in Spring, and the other next Fall. Right now I’m brainstorming fun patterns to go with the fabrics - and you can bet there is plenty of embroidery on my list!



I hope you all enjoyed this review and the interview! The Sew & Stitch Embroidery blog tour is nearly finished but you can visit these blogs for more reviews and info on the book:

Tuesday, Oct. 8 - Mr. X Stitch  http://www.mrxstitch.com/

Wednesday, Oct. 9 - Pellon  http://blog.pellonprojects.com/

Thursday, Oct. 10 - While She Naps  http://www.whileshenaps.typepad.com/

Friday, Oct. 11 - The Last Piece  http://thelastpiece.typepad.com/

Saturday, Oct. 12 - Feeling Stitchy  http://www.feelingstitchy.com/

Monday, Oct. 14 - Wild Olive  http://wildolive.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, Oct. 15 - Bad Ass Quilters Society  http://www.badassquilterssociety.com/

Wednesday, Oct. 16 - Spoonflower  http://blog.spoonflower.com/

Thursday, Oct. 17 - Sew Mama Sew  http://sewmamasew.com/

Friday, Oct. 18 - Skunkboy  http://www.skunkboyblog.com/

Saturday, Oct. 19 - Meet Me at Mikes  http://meetmeatmikes.com/

Monday, Oct. 21 - Quilt Dad  http://www.quiltdad.com/

Tuesday, Oct. 22 - Follow the White Bunny  http://blog.followthewhitebunny.com/ (here!)

Wednesday, Oct. 23 - Sarah Jane Studios  http://sarahjanestudios.com/blog/

Sew & Stitch is available online and possibly in your local bookshop as well. If you want a really special copy (and support Alyssa more directly) go here. She will add a special doodle to your book, yay! 

*the publisher sent me a copy for review. As always this posts reflects my own opinion!