Hand Embroidery

Pattern by:  Jessica Long 
Namaste Embroidery via Craftsy

Showing stitched on a 7" hoop with DMC threads, various colors

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I had my crazy pants on one day and decided to try a NEW fiber craft.  Why in the world would I want to when I have twenty million projects currently going and no time to really sit and do any of them?  You know, I don't think there is an answer to the question.  Not a sane one, anyway.  I blame Craftsy.  I saw this pattern on a video link and thought to myself; "How pretty, I want to make that."  Damn.  They got me.  But really, I must say, I am glad they did.  I loved this hand stitching.  Who knew embroidery could be so fun?  Okay, perhaps many people knew...but I didn't.  Now my mind is a blur of possibilities.  The colors! The pictures! The hours of fun!  I think my crazy pants might still be on...I blame the pregnancy.

This particular embroidery project was stitched for my sister.  Her birthday was last week and her anniversary of her marriage is next month, so I thought it was a lovely way to make something that could celebrate both. I saw it as a pretty sort of anniversary wreath that she could hang (or not hang) in her house somewhere.  I think every house needs a little needlework in it somewhere.  I have yet to see prettier wreath designs, either, than Namaste Embroidery's Jessica Long's designs.  Particularly the two hoop, center cut-out designs.  Stunning.  You should check them out.  

And as I mentioned, this was all sparked by browsing Craftsy, which should immediately let you know that Jessica Long has a class that teaches you all about hand embroidery!  Bonus!  So, if you are new to embroidery, like me, this is a great place to start.  For a number of reasons I am not able to get out to take classes on crafting ventures that interest me, not at this point in my life, so I really love platforms like Craftsy that allow me to continue to grow and explore.  

For this particular design, I deviated from the pattern only slightly.  I changed two of the thread colors, chose a dark blue fabric for the background, and scripted a letter "A" to go in the center of the wreath (for my sister's last name).  As far as stitch varieties, there were woven roses, chain stitches, stem stitches, long and short stitching (which was actually a lot more fun than I expected) and the beautiful herringbone stitch.  I made sure to start with plenty of time so I never felt rushed, but it's always the last little bit that seems like it takes an eternity.  I trimmed it down and framed it in a bamboo, 7" hoop and backed it with paper- I was silly and didn't take a picture of the finished product.  Luckily, I did finish it AND mailed it before my sister's birthday.  Go me!

Confession: I already have another piece of cloth in the hoop and am starting another project even though I have two sweaters on needles, a dress in the works and a quilt that needs finishing before October.