Irish Embroidery

Happy St. Patrick's Day to any readers who are Irish, and even to all who are not! That would include me despite my very Irish name!

Today I thought I'd share with you some embroidery I did many years ago for some Irish Step Dancing dresses. If you are interested in reading about my work in that area, you can check out this post from a few years ago and follow the links there that will lead you to many dresses I sewed and embroidered, and also to a tutorial on the method I used to embroider on velvet.

Now on to some Irish Embroidery eye candy...

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And the rain fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy Stitching!

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My Secret Santa had Very Busy Fingers!

The gifts are opened and the children are busy playing with all their new toys. Christmas was a wonderfully joyful time in our household yesterday, and will continue until January 6th when we un-decorate and return things back to ordinary. The last gift I opened yesterday was from my Secret Santa, Australian Rachel of Four Wise Monkeys. Rachel is quite the stitcher and spoiled me terribly with lots of beautiful handmade things.


This is what greeted me upon opening the pretty paper package that had been waiting under my tree since its arrival two weeks ago. I recognized those birds! I remember seeing them on Rachel's website a while ago and admiring them.


This lovely wall hanging is the first thing I looked at, and the more I look at it, the more I see in it. The detail is quite amazing and all the stitching is perfect!

Take a look...you can click on the pictures to make them bigger.




This star is filled with French Knots! Wow!


The big red heart hanging from the moon, and the red trim along this angel's collar and hem are also French Knots.


A wonderful thought for this time of year, and throughout the new year too!




And here's Rudolph complete with red nose, leading the way!




This is one tall tree!



Two little Christmas love birds!


Then there was this fabulous bag...how did Rachel know I like bags? Maybe I mentioned it here once or twice? Don't you just love the fabric she used?


And check out the button hole stitch around the flower petals...perfect!


I love the ric-rac trim around the top of the bag. It's lined with pretty fabric too! Just my kind of bag and the perfect size to tote a project along.


Under all the other handmade loveliness was this Melly & Me pattern for the cutest little stuffed bears, Bonzer and Beaut.

What a package! Didn't I say that Rachel spoiled me? Now you can see it's true!

Thank you once again to Rachel for all the beautiful gifts of stitchery, sewing, time and talent. Your thoughtfulness and generosity are very much appreciated!

And another thank you to Chookyblue for hosting this swap again. It's a lot of work for one person to undertake so that all of us can make new friends across the world and share our talents with each other.

Happy Stitching!

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The Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney with Care...

There is a special kind of charm about family Christmas stockings sewn by someone special and embroidered with each person's name, hanging by the fireplace every Christmas year after year after year. My friend Kathy's family has carried on this tradition now for several generations, as evidenced by the remaking of Bumpa's stocking to be used by the new Grandpa of the family. Now it is time for the next generation to get their own stockings, and other family members as well.


Using one of the old stockings as my guide, I worked up pattern pieces and sewed five more stockings for this wonderful family. Here they are in the picture above, hanging on my fireplace where my own family's knitted mittens usually hang. If the names had worked out better, I might have thought about keeping them!


Each name is hand embroidered using 3 strands of DMC embroidery floss and my very favorite embroidery stitch, the chain stitch.


Donna's stocking got a little bit of a feminine touch with pretty light green organza ribbon, very sheer and has a little sparkle in it too.


Riley's stocking needed a little change from the pretty packages which are on the other stockings. Can you guess by the fabric and the quilting that Riley is the canine member of this family?


Using the very best free-motion quilting that I could muster with my walking foot, I free-handed the word "Woof" and a dog paw and a few dog bones on Riley's very cute red fabric with brown doggy paws all over it.


All the stockings have the same off white trim on the cuff and the toe, but the men got the ric-rac for a more manly touch.


And here is baby Paul's stocking, the first of the next generation, but hopefully not the last! God willing, there will be siblings, maybe even a new uncle or two, and some cousins who will be needing stockings in the future.


I decided to make Riley's stocking first, copying as best I could the construction of an old stocking that Kathy let be borrow to make the pattern. After putting it together, I decided that there had to be a better way to make the inside look more finished...


...so instead of layering the outside of the stocking with the batting and the lining before sewing the stocking together, I saved the lining to insert on its own, thus hiding all the seams and giving the inside of the stocking a much more finished appearance. I also used fusible fleece batting for these stockings, fusing it to the decorative outside stocking pieces, so I felt that quilting through all the layers really was not necessary. I was much more pleased with this outcome, and this is how I will construct any future Christmas stockings.

My Christmas preparations are well under way here, cleaning, baking, decorating, gift making, school projects, wrapping, all the fun of the season. I hope your stockings are hung by your chimney with care too, and that you have a very blessed Christmas season.

Happy Stitching!

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Christmas Stocking Redo

It seems that lately I've been neglecting Hooked On Needles, but I have a good excuse. Really I do! I've been quite busy down in my sewing room, so busy in fact, that my poor old sewing machine is probably wondering what has happened to it! I haven't worked this old machine so hard for a very long time!

Would you like to see one of the small projects I finished recently? It's a little renovation of an old family Christmas stocking belonging to my friend Kathy. You see, Kathy's parents were known in the family as Nana and Bumpa, and they have both passed away. Kathy and her husband are now grandparents themselves so she thought it would be nice to continue using Nana and Bumpa's Christmas stockings. Kathy is called Nana also, but her husband is not called Bumpa, so the old Christmas stocking would need a little redo. That's where I come in! Take a look...


This is Bumpa's Christmas stocking, made with simple fabrics and trim, and a very neatly embroidered name on the muslin cuff. The main body of the stocking is made from double sided pre-quilted fabric. Nana's stocking has the reverse side showing which is an off-white background with the same small floral print. Her stocking also has red embroidery and trim instead of blue. Nana and Bumpa were a good looking pair!


Here you can better see the eyelet trim along the bottom edge of the cuff, and the very neatly embroidered chain stitch lettering. I could not simply pick out the old stitching and stitch Grandpa on the old muslin as that would have left a mess of blue fuzz and holes from the old stitches that had been in the fabric for so many years...


...so I took apart the entire top cuff, preserving each piece to use again.


The muslin was used as a template for cutting the new muslin...


...and marking the location of the writing.

Then I traced the new name onto the new muslin and embroidered it using my very best chain stitch and the same color navy blue embroidery floss that was used on the original.


Using the original trim pieces, I put the stocking back together.


Now this old family Christmas stocking is ready to be enjoyed by a new generation of grandparents and grandchildren. I think Bumpa would be very happy about that!

George the mailman has been very good to me in the past week, so I have lots of fun things to show you. Besides this Christmas stocking project, I have also finished a rather large sewing project which I will share with you, and another smaller project too. A few crochet tutorials will be making an appearance here at Hooked On Needles soon as well. See, I haven't really been neglecting you! I've just been so busy DOing that I haven't had time for SHOWing!

Happy Stitching!

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Embroidered Country Rose Drawstring Bag

Here's another fun little bag, this one made especially for my secret Stitcher's Angel Swap partner. The pattern for this bag was presented as the first of 7 offered for this year's swap. I followed Helen's instructions almost all the way, but of course I had to make a few changes! Why can't I just take a pattern and do it the way it is written? Do you also get the urge to change up patterns, or do you follow them to the letter?

Anyway, here is my Embroidered Country Rose Drawstring Bag, mostly from Helen's pattern and a little bit from my own head...


The simple stitchery pattern for the rose was actually stitched exactly as Helen designed it, using mostly back stitch, and running stitch for the outer row of blue. The only change I made is that I used different colors instead of all one color for my floss.


Another change I made to this pattern was to sew the rose stitchery piece into the bag front which required piecing the blue fabric around the stitchery. I just couldn't get excited about attempting another needleturn project after finishing the needle wallet a few days ago. My hands still have not recovered from that!


I also thought the oval frame of the stitchery would look nice surrounded by straight blue edges.


Helen's design for making the lining of the bag extend several inches above the top of the bag is so clever and makes the assembly of the bag and sewing the casing for the drawstring very easy. The result is a lovely lined bag with a double drawstring, pretty little stitched rose, and a fancy ruffled top, perfect for bringing a small project along in the car, filling with sweet smelling potpouri or soaps to hang in a closet, or ready to wrap up a pretty little gift for someone special.

Happy Stitching!

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