Operation Beautify: Making Progress!

This is going to take forever! I have made quite good progress already but this is pretty intensive. It has already taken me several hours and I’m not even halfway through this flower, the smaller flower of the two in the piece.

For the purple flower, I’m using the long and short stitch. You can see where I start to get more comfortable with it as it blends together more and creates a smoother transition between colors. I used all 6 strands for this and have noticed that using more strands is really the only way to go for anything other than backstitch. It just makes everything fuller, neater, and easier to manage.

You can see towards the top where I started and how it looks less blended than towards the bottom. 

I also finally put some beads on one stem and one line of the large flower. They are put on very differently. The yellow beads are smaller so they are just all on one strand. The lines are also smaller and so are easier to manage. The green beads are larger and over longer lines so I used a stitch I found in my new book! It is called the Coral Stitch and it is a knot stitch. I really like that the knots make it easier to put one bead on at a time without doing anything odd like backtracking. It also looks like it’ll be a great stitch for filling or outlines. Something to add a bit of texture. Either way, I like it!

I really like this Coral Stitch! You can somewhat see the knots, and how the lengths between the beads aren’t so even. That’s ok, they’ll get more even as I practice.

I’ve only got the one line of yellow beads so far. I like them, I wonder if doing the beads before stitching will be harder, or if it’s easier. I’ll find out!

I also got these really great mini hoops! They will be a gift, I think, I just have to figure out which way to go with it. I got them from Dandelyne on Etsy. She’s in Australia so it took them a while to get to me but man it is worth it! She’s not only such a great shop owner who communicates and provides a high quality product, she’s incredibly inspirational. I follower her on Instagram as well, where she is always posting about other people’s work for inspiration. She is such a positive person. Check her out if you are looking into some mini hoops, she has several options and you can make necklaces or brooches with them. Really, the possibilities are endless!

I can’t wait to get more and make such cute gifts!

That’s all I’ve got this week! I’m still finishing up my Fable Dress version 2 and aside from work, have just been trying to get enough sleep.

What are your favorite embroidery stitches?

 

Oh! And one last thing – my posts don’t contain affiliate links. If you notice me linking to other people’s sites and products, it is just me sharing what I personally love. I don’t make money if you click the link and buy anything, I don’t even really know how that works. I just wanted to make that clear, everything I share is shared only to show my appreciation of a product/shop/person/whatever. Thanks!

 

Until next time,

—Bethany Out

 

Operation Beautify: The Saga Begins

Hello!

So I’ve already mentioned this on my Instagram but I have started on Operation Beautify in an attempt to make my house prettier and nicer to be in. Plain white walls just don’t cut it for me and I’d like to add some oomph to my surroundings. After all I am in my apartment for the majority of my day and I deserve pretty walls, damnit!

So my plan is pretty basic: take some amazing embroidery patterns, stitch em up, and put them on my wall! There is a caveat of course, to challenge myself. I’m doing that from the get go with this first pattern. I’ve chosen this great flower pattern from Urban Threads, an amazing site with such fantastic patterns for hand and machine embroiderers alike at great prices (typically $1 a piece, with ‘packs’ available at a discount). No, I don’t get a commission, I just really love the site and their patterns. Just a happy customer sharing their love of a brand.

So pretty! A perfect first project.

The pattern itself is pretty straightforward so the challenge comes with the size (about 11″ tall) and with the stitches I’ll be using. I’ve ordered a new embroidery book of stitches to browse through so I’ll be using something other than a regular backstitch. I also got some amazing beads to use! I’ll be putting beads on the leaf stems, the large flower highlights, and the center part of the small flower.

 

This book so far has proven really informative. I like that there are sections on blackwork and other types of embroidery. I’ll do a full review later.

I’ve already got the supplies and the pattern has been traced, I just need to get started! I need to finish the final touches on my new Fable pattern makes first since that project has a deadline and then I’ll get to work. I’m really excited about this as it is a long term project I’ll not only enjoy doing but I’ll enjoy the final product and I’m glad I know what I’ll do with the finished pieces.

The beads up close! I got different sizes based on what lines I’m going to use them on.

Some of the threads, the bigger flower will be yellow and the smaller flower will be purple. As of now, at least.

I even already have it traced out, I just need to actually stitch it up. I do have some other projects I’d like to finish first though.

Speaking of finished pieces, I found this amazing stuff for your finished needlework designs of all kinds. It is a glued foam board, so you can just stick your design to the glued side and do with it what you will! I’m excited to use it and I’ll let you know how it turns out. I have a feeling though it will make framing my finished pieces a lot easier and give me some leeway with how I use the finished pieces in general. Say I can’t frame it right away but I don’t want to leave it just laying around to get crumpled, I can stick it on this backing and file it away! That sounds neat to me. Either way, I’ll let you know how it turns out.

This stuff seems pretty awesome, there are even other similar options!

What are your favorite or unexpected embroidery tools, pattern sites, or books you love? Please share them with me, I’d love to add new books to my library, have new sites to browse, and tools to use. Share in the comments or follow me on Instagram to share with me!

The Fable will be out soon, today is photoshoot day and then BAM, release day! So stayed tuned for that.

Until next time,

— Bethany Out

I’ve started playing with Embroidery…and I love it!

Hello and happy Wednesday!

So all of my sewing stuff has been packed up and is ready for the move. I experienced a moment of weakness when I took stuff out to make a shirt…and then promptly realized I couldn’t find the fabric I wanted and I had sold my chair. Sewing on the floor is not fun and not really an option with how much of a mess my apartment is right now. So, I decided to head to my nearest Walmart (it was around 10 pm when I went, I wasn’t about to wait for things to be delivered) and pick up a few embroidery supplies.

My haul:

DMC cotton floss in the colors I wanted to use for the patterns (shown below)

Embroidery needles, sizes 3-9

2 pack of blank kitchen towels, 100% cotton

An assortment of iron on patterns

An ugly neon green 6″ hoop (they had limited colors/sizes, I hate neon colors)

A super sweet, if not ugly colored, travel bag!

The whole kit and kaboodle!

It’s got pockets and things, very handy.

I’m in love!

After a couple days I have to say…I love embroidery! Getting my stitch length down and even is tough but I have already looked up a couple tricks to help with that so I’ll be implementing those soon. For now I’m just enjoying playing around with a new creative process and experimenting with stitches, textures, all that good stuff.

I think what’s really awesome too is these will make great gifts. An embroidered towel or something will be a much easier gift than something sewn and will be much better received. My family is thankfully very awesome that way. They like handmade gifts, so I don’t have to worry about putting in the effort only to have it be less-than-enthusiastically accepted. My mother and grandmother especially will adore whatever I do, which also encourages me to do something fun and different. I’ve always loved embroidery hoops for decoration. I need to learn how to do that framing technique but I have time.

I really do love coffee so these will go on things meant for me. 😀

I got this one to play around with textures and embroidering fonts.

Classic tea patterns. I’m using the top right pattern now.

Aaaaaaaaaaand this is where I went super nerdy. I’m going to be embroidering shit about sewing. I honestly am so excited I can’t wait to to this for shirts and skirts and stuff.

I’m also glad I enjoy this because the idea behind picking embroidery rather than knitting (also a cool hobby) was to encourage me to do more hand stitching with my sewing projects. I know the stitches are not the same and all but just enjoying the act of sitting down and stitching is a great place for me to start. Before, I hated hand stitching because I thought it was boring. Now I know that it’s actually quite a nice alternative and the results are amazing. I can also add embroidery to future projects to add an extra special touch. Embroidery art is also very special and I’d like to try it out, see how I like it.

So far I’ve only tried back stitch, satin stitch, and french knots. Soon I’ll try others, some of the more decorative ones. I want to get a little book for a guide and everything. I know I can look it all up online, but who doesn’t like a book to hold on to?

Using an iron on pattern was actually incredibly easy and I highly recommend them for beginners. Mine were cheap (1 or 2 dollars for multiple designs that are multi use) and are cute patterns to start with for my first few projects. There is also a huge assortment so there is something for everyone. Like sewing though, make sure you wash whatever you’re going to embroider and

Here are pics of what I have so far, and of course follow me on Instagram @costumesandfashionbybethany to see more updates as they come!

I still have a lot to go but for three days, and starting school again on day 3, I feel I did pretty good!

French knots! I had a lot of fun making them. There are only three, the very top dots are french knots. The others I did stitches in a circle, weird but I like how they turned out. That knot on the right turned out so pretty I love it!

I took this picture to show you my uneven squares. This was funny in my opinion and I’m glad they aren’t even. First tries should also leave room for improvement.

Until next time,

Bethany Out