Contemporary whitework embroidery

These are samplers of variations on drawn thread work and pulled work, a contemporary version of traditional embroidery techniques. They are part an ongoing project and were first made for a workshop by Tracy A Franklin (another textileartist.org workshop).

I love the result here, it all looks so lovely, though the work of making itself does rather strain your eyes! 

Here I used monks cloth, which makes the work a bit easier:

A gingerbread man for the festive season

I love gingerbread men, both the edible and the decorative ones! This one I made to serve as a Christmas decoration, from pieces of felt sewn together with feston stitch, some beads, thread and ribbon. 

hmmm I think I should soon plan to bake some real ones...

Duttons for Buttons

Some years ago, I visited Harrogate in Yorkshire (UK). There is this wonderful shop, Duttons for Buttons. What a treasure cove, or in their own words : "For haberdashery & lace & spare-time & needles & thread & ribbons & rainy days knitting with friends & wool & needlewordk & making stuff with the kids & just about every needlecraft thing you'll ever need…" Along with some beautiful and unusual buttons, I bought the shop's environmentally friendly souvenir bag. I
customized it, as is the idea, with lots of buttons from my button box. It took a while to sew them all on, but for what's now my favourite tote, it was totally worth it!

Happy Easter from Boo and me!

Here is my Boo rabbit, made from the "Belle and Boo book of craft" I borrowed from the library.
In the book, a firm felt is suggested as fabric. I chose to use some old fleece jogging pants, a T-shirt  and a small piece of quilting fabric from my stash. It's my goal to recycle as many of our discarded  clothes as possible and I really try not to buy new materials (not always easy, I admit…).
It was sometimes a bit of a struggle to get this hand-sewn project right, because my fabric was not as firm as the suggested fabric and the T-shirt fabric tends to fray a bit.
I also wanted to find an alternative to teddy bear joints for the legs, because I don't have any and would have had to buy. So I used two tiny plastic containers (waste) and some pipe cleaners. It works, but I would definitely suggest using real teddy bear joints if you want to make an actual toy for a child. My Boo is meant to be for decoration, so it's OK to experiment a bit.
Inside the ears I also put some pipe cleaners, which makes them look funny and floppy. For stuffing I used tiny scraps of fabric and yarn.
Boo has now been appointed to the very important task of guarding and distributing the Easter eggs!

floppy ears!

The home made joints... 

The Great Wave phone case

I needed a Phone case. So I decided to make one myself, with supplies I had on hand. I knitted a piece of fabric with three small leftover skeins of very rustic wool.  This piece I felted in the washing machine, which made the fabric thicker. This way it protects the phone better. Then I sewed the fabric together with a blanket stitch, attached a cord and sewed on a button. The button depicts Hokusai's woodblock print "The Great Wave of Kanagawa". I like the result: I think the button fits perfectly. And then I came across this cup at the British Museum, which made me smile (even though it was a disposable one...)

The making of:

Boho bag number 2

First, I knitted two pieces of fabric, inspired by a pattern for legwarmers in the Dutch book 'Breien en haken met dikke naalden' (p.56). The yarn is Sirdar Kiko, a wool-acrylic blend.
Sewn together, this knitted fabric has become the outer bag.
For the inner bag and the carrying strap, I used a well-loved old shirt of my husband.
I added a zipper, a ribbon with a hook for wallet and a small pocket for my phone.
To finish up, I added a beautiful wooden button I bought at Bunyip Beads in Exeter (great shop, very friendly people!). It's a bit smaller than the first one (check it out here), but still perfect for a city trip.

Donkey kong

In the thrift shop I found this adorable donkey for 0,30 euros. I know, it is very kitschy, but he looked at me in such a miserable way, I just had to adopt him... And I made him into my very own unique and loyal pincushion. He has become essential in my craftspace!