Come and join me in some Furry Stitching

Polar Bear stitched by Jorie

Preparations for the second Furry Nice Class are in full swing (you can still sign up but hurry!) so I thought I'd share some of the fabulous things my students made in the first Furry Nice Class and tell you a little bit about the class. Just in case you were interested in joining in. Pictured above is Jorie's version of the Polar Bear pattern that students receive at the start of the course. All the elements I talk about in the class, such as stitching animals furs, how to create depth in your embroidery and basic shading techniques, come together in this small design!

Polar Bear in Progress stitched by Kim

Throughout the class students get to download additional patterns (a sailor fox, a lucky bunny and more) to practice their newly learned techniques. The Beetle is part of the Shading Practice Pattern Sheet for example. A beetle may not be furry but it's a good design for trying out shading techniques. Central in the class is the Polar Bear design though, step by step I explain how I stitched my version and why I use certain stitches, colours or techniques.

Beetle stitched by Michelle aka Mooshie

Teaching an online class has advantages as I'm able to reach people all over the world (from Colombia to Sweden and from the US to Australia) without having to travel all over. On the other hand it's more difficult to connect with students when you are not literally in the same room. I do like to give the students the feeling that we are in a (cozy!) class room situation though and that I'm there for them to answers questions and encourage. From a survey about the first class I learned some things that I used to tweak the upcoming class and I was happy to some very impressive results from Furry Nice students. :)

The new Furry Nice class starts the 25th of September and you can reserve your spot here.

Sign up for the new Furry Nice Embroidery Class!

I'm very excited to announce my second Furry Nice Online Embroidery Class! It's basically a repeat of the class I hosted earlier this year but with a few tweaks and improvements, based on my experience with the first Furry Nice Class and the feedback I received from the students. 

Together we'll be stitching the Polar Bear you see pictured above. My aim is not simply to let you replicate the original but to show you what's 'behind' my furry stitching. It's about shades and colours and creating depth in embroidery. To me one of the most striking things of the first Furry Nice course was how well the students were able to absorb and use the information and techniques I provided them with.  As a result some very lovely Polar Bears were stitched during class! 

In addition to the Polar Bear the class includes several exclusive patterns including a Sailor Fox, A wistful looking Bunny and smaller patterns to practice your newly learned shading skills. 

The Online Furry Nice Class starts on the 25th of September 2014 and will run for five weeks. The information and downloads will be available for much longer than that (at least until the end of 2014) so you can follow the lessons in your own pace. You can go directly to my store to secure a place in the class and you will also find more information about the class there. The price is $40 if you sign up before the 9th of August and $45 if you sign up at a later date. Hope to 'see' you in my class!

About a Beetle and a Goldfinch

I really enjoyed embroidering this little creature which I stitched up for my Furry Nice Class. And yes I know this beetle isn't furry, we are just dipping our toes in Shading in class next week and this fella is a practice pattern. :) 

I thought about adding a small scrap of paper (embroidered obviously) with the beetle's proper Latin name and such on it (if he has one because I sort of made him up). But I wasn't sure I'd be able to embroider a convincing piece of paper. My husband suggested I'd add a pin in the beetle's back as if he were part of an entomologist's collection (the beetle not my husband) but I wasn't sure about that either. 

That all reminds me of the painting that plays an important part in Donna Tartt's book the Goldfinch (have you read it? I loved it, especially the first part when the dramatic thing just happened). The Goldfinch is painted as a trompe l'oeil, meant to deceive the viewer and aimed to look as if it were a real thing. You sometimes see poorly executed trompe l'oeils in Italian restaurants that offer 'a view' on Venice through a painted window. Anyway, I digress. What I meant to say is that it would be an interesting path to explore, making very realistic embroideries in the footsteps of a 17th century Dutch painter. 

Beetle in Progress

Enough with the Furry Stitching already! It's bugs for me from now on! Well maybe not quite but I am enjoying stitching this little yellow beetle for my online 'Furry Nice' class. Obviously it's not furry but it's a little voluntary excursion for the students to get to know one of the techniques a bit better. I must admit that the thought crossed my mind that a Bug class would be nice too. Maybe next year?

If you're interested in possibly enrolling in one of my future online Embroidery Classes then it's a good idea to sign up for my Newsletter!

Join my Furry Nice Embroidery Class!

I'm incredibly excited (and admittedly a bit nervous too) about my first online Embroidery Class called Furry Nice which launches this April. In this online class I'll be sharing with you tips and tricks that are at the heart of my unique way of stitching small embroideries of furry creatures! We'll be stitching a small portrait of a Polar Bear (with scarf obviously) and several other patterns will be included as well for you to try out your newly learned skills, like the Dapper Sailor Fox pictured below.

Learning new skills is the best present you can give yourself! So why not join my Furry Nice class? You can find out more and sign up here.

Furry Nice

I so enjoy making the tiny animal portraits that I just had to start another one! A Hedgehog this time and I have only made the first few of many stitches. At the moment other projects are keeping me busy during the day and by the time I sit down to do some embroidery for myself, it's already dark outside and I really do prefer stitching these small portraits by daylight. I have a daylight lamp but it's not enough. Maybe I should invest in some kind of magnifying device as well…

One of the things I'm working on, although not quite as much right now as I'd like to, is an online Embroidery class. I'm very excited about it and I hope many of you are interested in enrolling in my class. I will let you know more details in the next few months through this blog and my newsletter but the work title is Furry Nice so you may have some clue what it's about!