Tuesday, June 29, 2010

July's Butterfly Biscornu

is called Phantom Butterfly. I made it to be stitched in only
one color. Stitch it in DMC 3864
Mocha Beige. Its body is DMC 310 Black.
The design area is 2.36in X 2.36in.
Stitches are 33X33.
The colors are to stimulate that something
is on the white aida cloth.
The butterflies are different on the back. This should
give 2 different looks when stitched, I hope. Do not forget
to stitch the little guys antenna's or their tail strings!
I have not stitched any of this Butterfly yet as I do not
have any time cause my 'BIRTHDAY' is this thursday.
If you stitch it, I would love to see your photo's.
As always this pattern is copyrighted by me.
These patterns print large. To copy this design first save
to your hardrive and then print it.
by Hopblogger



Sunday, June 27, 2010

This week

I just happen to like the colors of black & white with touches of pink.
I love Toile & this project just uses those tiny scraps of samples that
I obtained at the fabric store. I only had 4 small samples to work with.
Sometimes you have to take a break from cross stitching & do
something fun & different - also quick & easy.
The top was enhanced with a strip of thin black leather. A Yo-Yo
with little pink beads is stitched on with white thread.
Inside another tiny Yo-Yo holds a covered magnet. Its beads
match the ones on the outside front lid. White flannel is
merely draped on the inside. It is not tacked down.
The basket is tiny only measuring 6in X 6in so the pieces
inside had to be small. The box houses a small scissors fob, a tiny
pincushion & a small needlebook that supports only a couple of
needles. Just cut those samples in half with a pair of pinking
shears - except for the needlebook. The back of each piece
mirrors the front with the black toile. Sew 3 sides together a little away
from the edges, then stuff, then sew the last side. On the scissors
fob be sure to use ribbon or floss for the hanger part. I used the thin
black leather strip as what is on the front of the box. The
little flowers are of pink fleece with a couple of pink beads inside each.
Lately I have been using flannel & fleece.
by Hopblogger





Take a cute

& simple white wicker LITTLE basket. Cut out cardboard
to match the shape & cover it with white cloth. This becomes the lid. Cut out
another shape
& set aside. Affix the already covered white shape to the basket with
lace. Just put the lace thru the sides and hot glue down or sew it down.
Take the other shape & pad it with a layer or two of high loft batting.
Center a special piece of fabric on top and glue it to the back of the
shape. Glue the lace on from the backside. When finished glue the piece
down onto the lid that you have already made. Add a bow on top for
decoration. You can stop here. The box in white is very
pretty. But I choose to take it a step further.
by Hopblogger





If you dont like

displaying your floss on rings & hanging them because
it looks too messy or busy for you - then perhaps the answer
is to use 2 wooden cup holders. Having both of them the same
color helps to unify the team. Later I plan on fixing the tops of both
of these cup holders. Maybe I will paint them - who knows!
by Hopblogger


Found it.

The Butterfly Biscornu pattern wouldnt attach to my blog for
some reason. So after many days of trying, eventually
I had to take a photo of it. Its a little blurry but it is here.
The design area is 3.71inX3.71. Stitches are 62X62. Colors used
are DMC 553 Violet and 310 Black.
Would love to see your photos and post them on my blog.
by Hopblogger

Monday, June 21, 2010

Yes Virginia,

we all make plenty of pincushions! Perhaps
I should have named my blog Pincushions, Pincushions, Pincushions.
Because I seem to make lots of em! But they are so easy to make.
And easy to give them away when you need to. I just had
this little candle holder handy. Dont do candles anymore.
Besides it looks better as a pincushion. Inside is chocolate color
flannel. I didnt even glue the pincushion down.
Next is a little blue ceramic jug. They are so cute.
by Hopblogger

Sorry about that

Just cant seem to find the pattern for June's butterfly.
by Hopblogger

Sunday, June 13, 2010

June's Purple Butterfly Biscornu

I hope you like them as much as I do. I would like to do a 12
month Butterfly series - but dont know if it will work out.
I guess I can try it. I am not a designer.
Already I have a few designs sitting on my program that look
promising. Dont have the time to
stitch them up to see if they work properly. I dont have
anything in purple so I thought this set would be great!
Instead of a button I placed a small purple butterfly in the
center on the front & the back. All of the butterflies
& the crystals are Swarvoski crystals. The butterflies
on the front have 3 small purple hearts on the tops on each side.
This butterfly would look very nice stitched in
pink with red hearts.
I cant take credit for the needlebk because I saw it on a
French blog (just love those french blogs), but it was only 3 pieces.
So simple it was - just my kind of project.
I decided to add a 4th piece to give it more dimension. The purple
needlebook is made from purple fleece & white felt. When you place the needle in it
& your hand rubs against the fleece - it feels so soft.
The matching scissors fob is just 2 pieces. It also has a small purple
butterfly that I tacked onto one edge.
Feel free to change
the colors. I would love to see yours when you finish. Pattern will
be coming soon.
by Hopblogger










Monday, June 7, 2010

Occasionally, I like to make....

my own fabric. Have you ever tried it. If not, all you do is
take a large square of white or unbleached cotton sheet or muslin. The
size of the square is up to you. For me, I generally use a
17inches X 17inches. This gives me plenty of room to make my
items small or large. Sometimes there is plenty left over for other
projects. After my square is cut - just take strips of fabric skinny or
fat and sew each strip down upon the square until the square is no
longer visible. I use scraps of fabric from many things.
(also be sure to catch all seams so there isnt anything missed).
Then just cut it like its fabric! You cannot mess it up.
My little sewing set is small. The square of fabric was half used up.
Also notice that I didnt hem anything. It is scrappy & fun!
So quick & easy.
All of these scraps are from the 80's. The ties are skinny
pink shoelaces that was in a prior garment of long ago.
The color was too pretty to trash. About time that I used them.
Everything fits neatly inside the bag. Maybe I should have lined
the bag? - nah. This way if I must fix the bag in the future
all I have to do is to sew a patch on top & it would be easy to
sew from the inside.
Try it - you just might like it!
by Hopblogger

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Another use for a COUNTERTOP CUP RACK??

Sorry it has taken me so long to post. My new hutch that my
DH put together - is finished and
now sits on top of my sewing table.
The only thing left that it needs is the trim put on. It is taking a while
to organize everything. Still I am not through so bear with me.
I will post pictures of what everything looks like, later on. Most people
like the plastic bobbin boxes. I dont like all of that winding. By the time
that you wind it all you could have already been stitching. The idea of
placing floss on rings is not a new idea but my idea is!
I hope that you like my new IDEA this week about the
COUNTERTOP CUP RACK. Surely you used to have
one or perhaps you still have it. Take yours or someone else's!! And
display it as a FLOSS HOLDER. Yep, thats right. Its perfect.
First: sort your colors by grouping together color families.
Reds & pinks, yellows & oranges, blue, purples etc... That is how
I have seen others doing it.
Second: thread all of your floss onto a shower ring or floss ring. Mine
is threaded on the large metal floss rings by DMC.
Third: once floss is on the rings then place it on the cup hooks.
You can easily find your color that you are looking for in 2 ways. Either
you know what number each color is or you be sure to
download DMC's color chart and place the chart close to this idea.
That way you will always know what color is in what family.
Also, when the floss becomes too small to hang from the ring - then
wind it on a bobbin & put in a plastic floss box if you like. Or you can
put the leftover pieces in a pile & save it for all of those odd jobs where
you need bits and pieces. The 4th photo shows the top where you
can store extra rings. Look at that, everything is together!
The last photo shows the floss cup rack on my new hutch. By the way
my mothers jewelry box that turned into a floss box is still just that.
Only now it stores specialty threads like the linen floss & variegated flosses.
Hope you like this idea.
by Hopblogger