A right royal stitch up

This weekend coming, the Queen and the rest of the country will be celebrating her Diamond Jubilee - not that you needed reminding!
Here in London there is bunting everywhere and I am excited to take a walk down The Mall one night this week to see the final preparations taking place. I thought I would share with you the Jubilee inspired stitchings that have caught my eye...

Lovely cross stitch crown by Delilah from What Delilah Did,  you should also check out her other designs, they are really cute!

Picture from What Delilah Did

This adorable spring bird by Catherine from Bumpkin bears & friends

Picture from Bumpkin bears & friends  

Beautiful cross stitch cushion by the very talented Emma Bridgewater  - I often find myself swooning over her creations

 Picture from The Making Spot

If you fancy making something yourself, book a class at Sew Over It where they will teach you how to embroidery this memorable tea towel

Picture from Sew Over It

And finally, Riverdrift House have created this eye catching Diamond Jubilee Sample Cross Stich kit. This pattern certainly makes me want to give cross stitching a go!  

 Picture from Riverdrift House

I hope you have lots of celebrations planned for the extra extra long weekend!

Sew Inspiring #6

Just a couple of sew inspiring finds this week, I have been avoiding my computer as much as possible due to enjoying this glorious sunshine, and I have to say that I haven't picked up a needle and thread for the best part of 3 days sacrilege but I have got a few new designs sketched out for future bags so its been a fairly productive week of sorts.
Also, my sea-scape bag has been in full use, so even when I am stuck in the office, I can dream of being by the sea.

The first thing I have to show you is this lovely lovely book

A Handbook of lettering for stitchers by Elsie Svennas published in 1973, the cover photo is beautiful!
The inside cover says this:
"The Author has set out in this book with three distinct aims. Firstly to write a concise history of Lettering, tracing the development from the simplest markings to the elaborate and decorative monogram. Secondly, to give an an illustrated dictionary of all stitches that are suitable for carrying out any lettering. Finally to display in an illustrated section the great variety of lettering designs suitable for various stitches using every letter of the alphabet as examples."

You can download the PDF of the whole book from here, just scroll down a bit.  The explanations seem simple to understand, and there are so many different fonts to use. I can't wait to try out embroidering some letters! 

I also came cross this lovely embroidered blouse. Rebekka Seale who blogs at Dear Friend posted a step-by-step diy vintage inspired silk ribbon embroidery tutorial at Little Chief Honeybee.

Picture taken from Dear Friend

Doesn't it look so delicate and sweet? I may have to give this a go myself.

I am hoping to have stitched up some new designs over the next few days but after seeing the weather forecast I can't promise anything!

I scream for ice cream!

The sun is finally shining here in London town, it's times like this I wish I wasn't cooped up in an office all day BUT I am looking forward to weekend trips to the seaside with walks long along the beach but most importantly, eating ice cream!

I have to say that this bag took me quite a long time to stitch up, mainly due to the criss crossing of the cones and that there are 6 of them! If I was to do this in the future (Etsy ideas are still floating around…) I would possibly consider just using 3 of the designs but I will see how it all goes.

The main outline is done in a split stitch using 6ply thread but there are some french knots and scallop stitching in there too.

 

It seems my main influence at the minute is the summer weather, so I'm hoping it sticks around a bit.
I love the pastel shades of these ice-creams - they all look so tasty! Which one would you choose?

I just wanted to mention that I found this bag quite difficult to photograph, it was quite hard to retain the detail of the ice creams in the light available, annoying! 

Sew Inspiring #5

This week I have started 3 different projects but haven't actually got anything to show for it...yet!
My table is looking a little bit messy...

By the end of the day I am hoping to have something finished to show you all but in the mean time here are some pieces that have caught my eye this week...


Inspiring embroidery by Amy from Nana Company

Picture from Nana Company

Personal home decoration with nail and yarn wall art by Jen from Jen Loves Kev

Picture from Jen Loves Kev

Delicate daisy stitching by Kim from big B

Picture from big B

Sew Boating

This week I have been working on an updated version of the boat/sea side design I posted about here. Seriously, embroidery is taking over my life. Help meeee.

I mentioned that I thought there could be more detail added to the design using a thinner stitch but the more I thought about it, the more I thought that no added detail could look just as good, just a simple outline design. I used the loyal split stitch throughout and I think it looks pretty pretty good although I am seeing blue outlines in my sleep now...

I find that I am doing a lot of my embroidery on scrap pieces of material, so for this one I added the design to a tote bag. Don't you think it would look great on a beach bag?

Possible ideas for items to sell on Etsy?...maybe!

Sew Inspiring #4

A few things that are keeping me inspired this week...


Beautiful detail work by Gracie's Garden Bazaar

Picture from Gracie's Garden Bazaar

You can never go wrong with a bird, from Handmade and Heritage

Picture from Handmade and Heritage

Cute as a pin cushion by HOTCHPOTCH

Picture from HOTCHPOTCH

Fabric wall art by Graham & Olive

Picture from Graham & Olive

Lovely!

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside...

I have managed to squeeze in lots of embroidery time this long weekend, three day weekends are the best!
Last week we bought some new bedding for our flat and the pattern inspired me to try a similar thing out with embroidery.

Here is a small section of the pattern up close...

I really love outline illustrations especially done in one colour, simple but so effective.

The dreary weather we are having at the minute is making me day dream about being by the seaside so here is what I made...

I used my favourite split stitch working in 4 ply throughout and using 2 ply for the detail - which I personally think there could be more of. 

There are a few changes I would make to this which I will be working on this week but overall I am really pleased with how it looks. I like how the blue looks on the white and it is a lovely addition to our bedroom!