A Fine Pen: Trying a New Iron-on Transfer pen

A few weeks ago I received a new Sublime Stitching invention: the Fine Tip Iron-on Transfer Pen.* Sounds pretty good doesn't it? Could this new pen resolve the issues I have with Iron-on pens? I think it does!

My main problem with iron-on pens (I used Sulky Pens in the past) is the thick lines they produce. You need a minimum of four strands to cover the design. Another issue is the uneven distribution of ink when tracing a design. I tried out the Sublime Stitching Fine Tip Pen with a small Squirrel design, which I traced without blobs or other unwanted side-effects onto tracing paper. The ink is permanent so make sure you trace the design carefully.

I followed the instructions on the package and pre-heated my fabric (a small scrap of lovely quality cotton satin) and then put the tracing paper on top, with the ink-side down. After pressing briefly with a hot iron (no more than 10 seconds) this is the result:

The lines of the transferred Squirrel are nice and even. Maybe not as thin as the original design but definitely thin enough to cover if you stitch with two strands or more. I'm fill stitching my Squirrel so the transfer works out fine for me. The ink transfers several times and you can always re-trace the design of course. For really detailed or delicate work I will still use a regular pencil to trace a design but I'm charmed by Sublime Stitching's Fine Tip Pen and think it's a great addition to my embroidery tool kit. The Fine Tip Pen is available in five different colours and costs $6.50 (or $25 for a set of five)

Oh and this is the Squirrel with a little bit of stitching done.

It's supposed to be a Turquoise Squirrel but he looks more Blue to me. Either way, the colour choice is very different from what I usually would choose to stitch a furry creature but I so enjoy stitching this!

*I received this pen without obligations to try it or write about it. As always all my opinions are my own. So if I like something, I really like it :) 

How to pull thread from a skein

I have a confession to make. Until last week I didn't really know how to pull floss from a skein. Usually I just pulled at the first loose end I'd find. Not noticing which end of the skein it was. Sometimes it was the right end and the thread could easily be pulled from the skein, often it was the wrong end and I would end up with a tangled mess.

The other day I thought it would be wise to try and find out if there was some logic to the whole process. It turned out the DMC skeins I was using do have a 'business end'... I felt a bit silly posting my 'aha' moment on Instagram but then it turned out I wasn't the only one. It's just one of those things no one ever talks about! Soon I started referring to the whole thing as #Flossgate and like with other 'gates' it needed further investigation!

I conducted a comparative 'thread-pulling' study of four different brands of embroidery floss I found in my stash: DMC, Sublime Stitching, Anchor and Cosmo. These are all six stranded flosses, but I must add the Anchor floss is rather old so possible today's skeins will give a different result.

Let's start with DMC: the business end is the side where the thread number is.

Anchor: the right side to pull the thread from is the side where label with the brand name is.

Sublime Stitching: it took me quite a while to find out that the beginning and the end of the thread where at the same side! It's the side where the number label is. You just need to gently pull both to find out which one comes loose from the skein more easily.

Finally Cosmo: as you can see in the photo the best way to pull thread from the skein is on the side where the brand label is.

I hope this study is helpful for some of you! Do let me know in the comments if you happen to know how this works with other brands. :)

p.s. find more of my Embroidery 'Aha' moments here.

A gift for Luna's teacher

Together with Luna I made this sweet mug rug for her teacher's birthday this Wednesday. Luna did the Hedgehog embroidery and has worked on and off on her project for a couple of months at least. I think she did a great job!

The cute pattern is from Sublime Stitching and most of the floss she used is from Sublime Stitching too.  I added the wonky star block and thought the handwriting fabric I used for the star was especially nice for a teacher's gift. And not just the star is wonky: the free motion 'leaves' around the hedgehog came out not quite as perfect as I had planned. ;)

The backing fabric is one I scored at the 'ugly' fabric swap at the Double Dutch Quilt meeting I attended recently.  Obviously it's not ugly at all but I know it's former owner did not know what to do with it and I'm glad I could put it to good use now.

Moving on to the winner of the Three Kitchen Fairies hexagon templates. The Random Generator has chosen Sue Vaughan as winner. Congratulations! I hope you will enjoy Paloma's hexagon templates as much as I do. Sue, I will pass your e-mail address on to Paloma and she will contact you for your address etc. Many thanks to all who entered and please consider buying a pack of hexagons in Paloma's shop.

I have a busy week ahead with an interesting commission that needs my full attention and traveling to London this Friday. Eeep!

Sublime Floss

I'm sure by now you have all heard about the launch of Sublime Floss ?  Well I got a surprise package of flossy treats in the mail from Sublime Stitching a couple of days ago and I couldn't wait to go and try them out! You should know that while I got the floss for free there was no obligation to write about it or whatsoever. I just wanted to share my experience using Sublime Floss with you all here.

I must admit that it felt like Christmas had started really early here when I opened the envelope and all nine cute packages fell on my kitchen table. Each package holds a palette of 7 different colours six stranded floss with perfectly chosen names. 'Frosting' is supersweet, 'Portrait' is perfect for embroidering skin and hair, 'Parlour' (my favourite) has rich, intense shades with names like 'Absinthe' and 'Velvet Curtain'. I totally admire that kind of approach: colours and names that evoke feelings and images, I'd like to call it emo-floss! :)

The so called 'Mingles' floss (see photo above) is a novelty in the embroidery floss world. If you like to blend your threads (which I must admit rarely do) than these are pre-blended for you.

So I spent a day or so stitching a cute Fennec Fox I had in my sketchbook using Sublime Floss. Now I started out with the idea of using only one palette of colours to make a simple embroidery but I ended up using colours of several of the palettes and another furry fill stitched creature. I'm very much used to choosing from a huge set of colours and shades so it was a real challenge but I think I managed quite well! Mind you this Fennec fox fella is only 1.5 inches (ears and all) high so it's quite detailed for it's size.

The floss itself looks skinnier than my usual six stranded floss and felt slightly less silky but still soft to handle. It has a nice modest sheen to it. Usually before I thread a needle I run my thumb and index finger along the thread to feel which way is 'up' and should go through the eye of the needle first. I found that kind of hard with some of these threads, not sure why that is. I used 1-3 strands on most bits of my Fennec Fox embroidery, except for the 'branch' which is stitched with the 'Lilac twist' from the 'Mingles' collection. From the 'Taffy Pull' collection I used various shades within the 'Blueberry' and 'Grape drink' variegated skeins to create the impression of having different shades of one colour. 

For the kind of very detailed stitching I have been doing lately this floss may not be the most obvious choice but I can definitely see the advantage of having ready to go, well chosen palettes with gorgeous colours for lots of other types of embroidery. The instant palettes, unique approach and attractive packaging makes the product practically irresistible. So besides treating yourself to some flossy happiness, these would be great to give to aspiring young embroiderers. Paired with some cool patterns and a hoop and needle and they are good to go. (I already saw my daughters checking out the cute packages and pretty colours!) You can even use it to make friendship bracelets (just in case the embroidery thing doesn't work out)  I also would like to add that I think it's a great accomplishment for a small company like Sublime Stitching to come with their own brand of floss. Well done, Jenny!

Sewing machine in the willows

In the Netherlands we say when we are ready to definitely give up on something (skating for example) "I'm going to hang my skates in the willows". Well this week I was ready to hang my sewing machine in the willows! I messed up both the cute Saffron Craig Owl  (which is like the easiest project in the world!) and my Kitsch Floor Pillow! The Pillow has a gap in one of the seams that can not be easily mended, I need to add a patch or something to cover the hole.

I also messed up sewing the Cute Owls feet and put some green flashy long legs in as replacement... Luna loves this owl and she is fiddling with the long legs all the time so maybe it wasn't so bad I made a mistake after all....

I'm also struggling big time with the 30 flower pot coasters I have to make for Luna's school. I cut squares and I thought it should be possible to just fold over all 4 sides half an inch or so to the back (iron) and finish the coaster all around with a decorative stitch (like a zigzag). The stitch looks o.k. but it seems to leave holes in the fabric. Any ideas what could cause those holes? The fabric isn't of the best quality either but  the teacher chose and bought it so I'm kind of stuck with it. :/

Moving on to some nice stitchy news. Feeling Stitchy has a fab give away going on now. You can win Jenny Hart's  awesome book Embroidered Effects!

p.s. sorry about the dreary dark photos I've been posting lately. Too much rain and too little daylight over here I'm afraid...

Pillow talk

I just received Jenny Hart's new book Embroidered Effects in the mail and this (see photo) could very well be the first project I will be making from this book! In our house pillowcases rarely match the duvet covers. I'm not sure how it happens but pillowcases often seem to get temporarily lost in the huge amounts of laundry I have to do every week. But since I started stitching pillowcases this is no longer a problem and I now have a choice of three extra pillowcases (see them here, here and here)!

I have only flicked through Embroidered Effects but it looks like a 'must have' for beginners (I wish I had it when I started out) and fans of Sublime Stitching. There is lots of info about tools and fabrics, stitches, extra effects (sequins for example). Many fun projects and even quite a few transfers are added. Some of the patterns have been released earlier in the Sublime Stitching Craft Pad by the way, most patterns are new to me.

After all this Sublime Stitching talk  I'd like to add that some of my own designs would be wonderful on pillow cases too, like the hibernating bear and hedgehog!

Wearable embroidery

What is better than being able to combine the thing you love to do (embroidery) with something practical (wear the embroidery)? Next time I would rather embroider on a skirt or something I think, the t-shirt fabric was quite difficult to stitch on. That's why I look so worn out and tired on the photo probably. ;)

The birdie design is from the awesome pattern sheet Carson Ellis designed for Sublime Stitching. I'll blog some more about her artwork soon!

Another Love Bird

As my proper drawing and art supplies are right at the bottom of a 3 meter high stack of boxes and my scanner hasn't been found yet there is no progress on my Pattern making activities. Maybe if I started unpacking boxes and stopped blogging (read: moaning) about all the things I can't find the problem would soon be solved. I did find the Art Deco Polar Bear and the Garlic press by the way. Anyway last night I started a little project to keep my hands busy. It's another awesome Sublime Stitching pattern (by Carson Ellis this time) which I transferred on an old T-shirt. The T-shirt had a stain so I was going to throw it out but I thought why not try to embroider it and make it The Most Awesome T-shirt Ever! It's quite difficult to embroider on this fabric (even with stabliser) so I only use a simple back stitch here. The banner says Love in Russian by the way. At least that's what Amy told me and I totally believe her of course! Check out her lovely version of this pattern!

No more wip's

I will not bore you anymore with wip's of my Sublime Stitching Pillowcase because it's finished! Towards the end of a large-ish embroidery project like this I become a bit manic, because I REALLY want to finish it. Anyway I'm really pleased with this pillowcase, especially the filled in hearts. And the birds are so cute!

I'm also looking forward to my next project. I just made a few test transfers from my new pattern which I will stitch (hopefully) during the week of the move. I've already made an 'emergency creative kit' with a hoop, my new transfers, scissors, my Emily Martin sketchbook and a pencil. Still have to decide which floss to take with me.

To fill in or not to fill in...

As I only embroidered my own patterns in the last couple of weeks I was looking forward to try something else. So I got out a blank pillowcase and went through my box of embroidery patterns. I chose this sweet Sublime Stitching pattern from their Craftpad. The 'scandinavian' colours go with a pillow and lampshade in my bedroom. Stuff you already own and fabrics and such can be a great guide to choosing colours for your embroideries.

The question now is to fill in this bird design or not to fill in. I already did the little leafs. Maybe I will outline everything first and then decide. I'm also going to finish a Wild Olive pattern I started a little while ago. Making these embroideries makes me think I should maybe try and use some clearer lines on my own patterns too.

Oh and totally unrelated: I saw that my local Ikea sold Moose-lasagna! I'm NOT talking about cute lasagna in the shape of a moose but lasagna with moose in. I should already be used to all the reindeer, moose and whatnot consumption here after 3 years but Ikea managed to surprise me. I wonder what meat was in the swedish meatballs we ate...