Custom Envelope Bag

Many years ago I made some envelope bags with the address embroidered on. I think that was pre-blog but I documented them here. At the time one of my sister's friends ordered one from me and then a few months ago a different friend of my sister, who remembered the bags from all those years ago, ask me if I'd make one for her wedding day.

I started by making a paper pattern which I used to cut two pieces of white fabric. The fabric was quite thin so I had my first experience with fusible interfacing which would give the bag more structure and support the embroidery.

I sewed on the name and address and added a few personal details for the bride, like using her wedding date as the postage mark and using one of her wedding colours for the stamp.

Once the embroidery was done I sewed the two pieces of fabric together and then turned the whole thing right side out, which was a bit tricky with the added interfacing. Then I hand sewed the bottom three flaps together to make the envelope shape and added a popper to the top one as a closure.

I bought a gold coloured chain from a jumble sale for £1 which was the perfect length for the bag. I just hand sewed the ends to the inside of the bag.

Here's the bride with her custom bag on her wedding day.

Embroidered Knitting

I've had this project from Good Knits of embroidered 'knitting' favourited for ages and I finally got around to trying it to make a birthday card for my Mum.

I used the same heart pattern as in the tutorial and made the holes with my pokey tool.

I followed the instructions to do chain stitch and I think it turned out quite well. The holes could have been a little closer to really make it look like knitting, but it still looks good.

Macklemore Make-up Bag

As you may know I love a bit of Macklemore, and it turns out I also love embroidering his lyrics.

This lyric from 'Thin Line' always stands out to me and thought it fitting that it should go on the side of a make-up bag.

I printed out the words in a font I liked and traced them on to the fabric using a light box. Then I put the fabric in an embroidery hoop and got through lots of episodes of Grey's Anatomy as I sewed.

I made the make-up bag the same way I made all these. I gave it a black lining to match the stitching on the front.

What do you think?

Embroidered Tree

 

When searching Pinterest for embroidery inspiration I came across this example of raised stem stitch, and lots of cool embroideries of trees, so I decided to combine the two and came up with this.

I started by cutting a bunch of strands of something that's stronger than wool but softer than string. I'm not sure what it is. I picked it up at the scrap store.

I pinned the trunk in place then started separating the strands to make the branches. I roughly stitched the main parts in place before covering everything with embroidery thread.

The branches start off as 4 or 5 strands, then separate to 2 strands, then 1. Then each strand divides into 4 separate pieces with make the thin twigs on the end.

This project seemed never ending. In reality I was working on it over 2 weeks.I'm really happy with how it turned out, except now I have no idea what to do with it. Any ideas?

Macklemore Embroidery

Have you ever searched 'rap embroidery' on Pinterest? I have, and I love it. It's the perfect juxtaposition.

The lyric I chose to sew isn't very gangsta, but it is from Macklemore. I got his album The Heist for Christmas and I can been seen bustin my moves to it that morning in my Christmas video. This lyric is from the first song on the album, 10,000 hours.

I was just going to embroider the words on to plain white fabric but then I had a brain wave to paint some colour on to the fabric first, since the lyric does mention art. I used fabric paints and copied the style of the painted skirt I made.

I drew the words on to the fabric with a pencil and sewed over them with a double strand of black embroidery thread.

When the sewing was finished and I'd ironed the fabric I wrapped it around a board that used to be the back of a picture frame so it already has a hanging hook. I folded the fabric and sewed the corners together, then put a little UHU glue along the inside.

I really love how this turned out and am already thinking what my next embroidery project will be.

Envelope bags

I realised I've never shown y'all these bags I made a few years ago.

They're cute clutches made to look like envelopes with a chain strap and embroidered french address.

And yes, that embroidery took a very long time.

As well as these two I made a third bag as a commission for my sister's friend with her own choice of name and address.

I got the idea after seeing this picture which I've only just found out is from Bedcrumb.

They make all sorts of stylish accessories and there's loads of pretty things on their website, so I suggest checking it out.

Embroidered faces

Have y'all seen this awesome portrait of Tim Gunn by Lucky Jackson?

Ode to Tim Gunn is a mix of paint and applique on vintage fabric. I love the mix of paint and embroidery.

The Lovelies is another cute piece by Lucky Jackson so be sure to check her out on Etsy.

These reminded me of the work of Caroline Kirton who exhibited at the arts centre where I work a few years ago.

She combines applique and free embroidery to create pieces based on teenage life.

'My Mum's a proper weirdo!'

'Do heels go with this?'

And here's my attempt at portrait embroidery if you haven't already seen it.

Ideas for embroidery

Last year I sewed this sort of self portrait. It took along time and a lot of black thread but I like it. Since then it's just been hanging around my room because I don't know what to do with it next, so I searched the web for some ideas.

I could whack it in a frame like this one.

Or I could put it back in the embroidery hoop and create some wall art like chez sucre chez

I could make it into a bag like this one from applehead

Or I could make it into a cushion, like this one by Three Red Apples

Do y'all have any other suggestions?