Saturday, July 19, 2014

First Embroidery Sampler...sigh....

Hi there! Hope you're having a fun Saturday! I finished my first little embroidery sampler from the Patchwork Loves Embroidery book by Gail Pan. You can see it HERE. She would probably be less than thrilled that I'm exhibiting her pattern...lol.

Seems like my little camera only does a great job when I really don't want to show the details....

Don't judge Gail's book by my embroidery. It has some really cute patterns and I'm going to try another one soon. I'm a sucker for little houses and anything that says "home" and little birds...oh, and alphabets. So, tell me, experienced embroidery people....how do you keep "travel threads" from showing through? Do you end each thing on the embroidery piece? Also, on a big piece, how do you keep it "not wrinkled"? I need to learn so much! Next I'm going to try Karen Walker's blocks. They are bigger so might be easier.
Each basket has a little bird...so cute! Of course, mine will be surrounded by gorgeous quilting --- just like Karen's--- HEY, it could happen... Here are all four in a pillow Karen did:

You can get all 4 in her Craftsy store HERE and they are half off this weekend! Well, I'm going to go sew. I'm working on the Austin Bluebird blocks that I'm not too happy with....I'll show you later. Have a great weekend! XO and cheery wave from Bev

5 comments:

Jane's Fabrics and Quilts said...

I think you did a wonderful job. When I embroider I use a soft piece of flannel on the back so my stitches do not show. I also use a very small hoop, 4 inches. If it is wrinkling a lot sounds like you might be pulling you stitches too tight. I did a five month embroidery series on my blog with guest posters. There are many tips and ideas from others. It is on my side bar. You may want to take a peek. Keep up the great work!

Carole~Quilter on the hill said...

This us a very sweet embroidery, well done you! I agree with Jane, using some kind of backing such as an iron-on pellon and hoops will really help. I have recently being using Staflex backing which has some stiffness and so doesn't need a hoop.

Missy Shay said...

I think your embroidery looks great - but hey I can't embroidery at all!

margaret said...

I was reading a review of this book last night and decided I needed it!
I often use a frame when doing embroidery, if using a hoop do not leave the work in between stitching sessions,the inner hoop should be bound with bias tape, well that is what they say here in the UK. I prefer the snap on plastic frames. Re threads, do not carry them if you can help it if the fabric is fine as they will show through, try and darn them into the previous stitches, hope this helps Bev

Annemiek said...

if you don't want travelling threads to be visible, put a thin piece of iron-on interfacing on the back. When you want to iron out wrinkels: put the embroidered piece wrong side up on a terry cloth towel to prevent the embroidery to flatten. If you used interfacing on the back, cover that up with a piece of cotton/handkerchief (the interfacing will shrink.
otherwise!)
This is how my Mum taught me and I always do it this way...