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Showing posts from June, 2013

Stitched velvet flowers.

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I love to use these pretty velvet flowers in my work, often added as they are to journals, fabric boxes and collages. Today I've been using them in embroidery and stitched onto some vintage linens. I needed to pull the Viola apart and peel the paper backing from the back.   The bullion stitch has been worked with two strands of thread and the French knots with six strands. I added a few seed beads to give a little sparkle     On the single Hydrangea flower I've used silk perle for the bullion stitch and the central French knots  then a normal Perle for the woven flower.     These are a wonderful addition to crazy quilting, embroidery, collages, journals, the list is endless.                                      I have lots of these flower for sale in beautiful vintage shades They will be in my Etsy shop soon, meanwhile just email if you would like to purchase any of them. They are just £2 a pack/ 3.5 US $ plus shipping. Happy sti

Work in progress.

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I'm working on embellishing my journal so here is my progress so far... The hexagons are cut from pieces of vintage linens and I've added some hand stitching...   there will be more added to the cover later...  The first page had a pocket and a lace motif. These roses are my version of 'broderie perse' except the roses aren't sew down but are standing away from the lace to give a 3D effect. The green velvet leaves just add a finishing touch. Here's a little sewing roll ''Make do and Mend'' just to keep a few bits and pieces...   just right for stitching on the go... and lastly .... this pretty Japanese silk fabric was lying at the bottom of my work box, it's been there for a long time. Today along came a little inspiration and here we have a selection of flower pins, I'm pleased with these, that little piece of fabric has turned into something useful...   The green buttons are from the 1950's the colo

Pink rose journal ready to embellish.

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I like the idea of a very basic journal with fabric and paper pages. I just love this fabric with it's pretty Old English roses, I can almost smell the scent in a beautiful walled garden...the cover is ready for embellishing so that's where I'll start.  Inside the front cover is a double layer of wadding overlaid with a piece of vintage linen. this will be my mini design wall where I can pin some ideas. Next is a pocket page with a piece of lace.. what can I do with this?  add a piece of lace to the edge? stitch some beads to the lace motive? hide something special in the pocket??  the paper pages will be my design sketchbook for all things pale pink, think pretty flowers, soft petals, exquisite threads...  I'm starting at the front and working through the book , it will be a wonderful source of inspiration. I also made a pretty pouch to keep my bits and pieces before they are added to the book, simple folding and a little hand embroidery, all the t