A Trip Down Memory Lane

I'm afraid I have to do a rather major catch up as I have neglected to update my blog for over five weeks!!! Everything has concentrated so much on churning out little pieces to sell and add to the display at the Wealden Times Midwinter Fair just gone, that many other things got set aside. Hopefully it will settle down now and I can get back to blogging and other fun stuff.
I've turned to my phone for these images as it's so easy to snap an image with it whilst out and about, especially as my big camera is so bulky I don't carry it around with me. The quality of these images isn't fantastic and, since the clocks have changed during this time period (from about the 10th October), the lighting isn't always great either so I am very sorry about that! A lot of my sewing is done in the evenings by the glow of my daylight lamp which reminds me a little bit of a dentist's treatment room, bright and blue.
So, let the catch up commence!!

❤ I managed to make about 19 of these little 10cm Christmas hoops, all different and unique, with sparkles and metallic threads. It turns out that I have more fabrics in my Christmas stash than I realised so it was great to be able to really mix things up. They are relatively quick to make as they are little with only four fabric layers but so festive! I had photo shoots at the studio, trying to think of ways to display these little pieces at the Wealden Times show. My white Hobbycraft tree comes in super handy and I'm wondering whether or not to get another one so that I can spread the hoops out a bit more. Something to ponder on.

❤ We carved pumpkins for Halloween. Quite a few pumpkins in the end actually and we still have one left over because The Mother has a thing about pumpkin muffins so kept bringing pumpkins home as a subtle hint. I also made a few apple loaf cakes as she brought home two bags of the most enormous apples I have ever seen! We had so much crumble, stewed apple and apple cake!! (My diet is going super well!)

❤ I went into mass kit-making overdrive! Stocks of The Naked Stitchscape Kit, Stitchscape Pebble Kit, Summer Sweet Kit and the Christmas Decoration Kit were replenished, and sheep appeared in the packs of mixed fabrics as it was so requested at my last big event. I have yet to update my Etsy shop with these new fabric collections but it is on my list. Cutting the threads take the longest time and I was taking boxes of threads, a ruler and a pair of scissors on the bus with me to cut them to length during my commute to work and in my lunch breaks, then threading them onto the cards in the evenings and on Dotty Textiles work days.
I was very pleased to have a request come through from the-stitchery in Lewes, to say that they had completely sold out of both the Orange Sunset and Spring Ladybug kits and could they have some more?!! Unfortunately there isn't enough fabric for more of the sunset kits and I am working on getting some replacement fabrics sorted for that but, as of last week, there are five more ladybug kits now for sale in store. These are designs exclusive to the-stitchery (you will find them no where else in the entire world!) and they can only be purchased in the shop, but if you are out of town just give them a call for other solutions. Click on the link to their shop for their details.
To add to my own collection of kits, I am super thrilled to say that my Button Mountain Felt kit for young stitchers is now ready to go!! You can find it in my Etsy shop, here, if you would like to encourage your budding embroiderer to have a go. These kits are very colourful with lots of texture and only three simple stitches. I have suggested them for children aged 8 and up but do recommend adult supervision for the younger ages. These would make fantastic stocking fillers- all you need is a 15cm hoop and your own needles, and you are away!

❤ I also managed to update my sketchbooks with some new photos as they were quickly getting behind. It's very soothing to organise the pages and play with washi tape. These are a great teaching tool for me as it helps to inspire my students with composition and colours, and is something that I can refer back to when I'm trying to explain a technique used so it's worth my while keeping it as up-to-date as possible. They aren't sketchbooks as such as there are no sketches, it's more like a photo album of past work and work in progress- my Instagram account in print.

❤ Whilst printing my new sketchbook images, I also put together and printed some little books titled, The Little Book of Stitchscapes. These are based on a printed book that I put together for personal use last year but it got so much attention by those I was showing that I made up some slightly different, versions for sale. They are only tiny little things, full of images of my Stitchscapes but have been purchased for inspiration by parents of children working on their GCSE Textile exams and those who want it as a quick reference book once they start their own Stitchscaping journey so I am really chuffed with where these books have been going to. It is very humbling to be a source of inspiration to others and I hope that I can live up to it!

❤ I went slightly overboard with purchasing these little miniature hoops. I think it's because they take so long to arrive, most of them coming from China, that I get bored of waiting for them and start looking at others so the parcels just kept coming and I ended up with all sorts of shapes and sizes, trying different eBay and Amazon sellers. I haven't managed to fill all of the hoops yet but gave it a jolly good go, and am really pleased with these floral lovelies. Several of them have already sold and now live in America, and others went to their new homes at the WT show. It's interesting hearing people's plans for them- some were going to keep them on the ribbon I'd threaded through the ring at the top, others were going to change to a chain and wear it, some securing a safety pin and wearing it as a brooch, and one was going to frame it in a box frame!
It is easier to embroider multiples of these at a time so the hoop was also coming with me on the bus to work (my poor colleagues have had to put up with all sorts of strange stitchy activities during the lunch break) and anywhere else I went. I draw around the inner wooden shapes onto the back of the fabric, making sure to leave a couple of centimetres between the shapes so that I have a seam allowance to draw up the fabric to enclose the wooden shape. They really are super sweet little things- the smallest being only 2.5cm in diametre! I've now started having a go at some Christmas holly themed ones, but have realised that there is no space for a ring to attached to the screw so they are just little random hoops. They will probably end up as magnets I think.

❤ The cat has been doing his regular cat-like things. His mood is linked to the weather so we are noticing a distinct change in his demeanour, lots of moaning and winging and turning his nose up at the food we offer him because it's less sunny and warm these days. He leaps at every change to bask in the sunshine, getting comfy in all sorts of sheltered sun traps to improve his mood. We barely see him during the summer, then in Autumn he starts hovering around a bit more demanding evening cuddles, and then in Winter he's constantly underfoot wanting snuggles all day long. It's very sweet but can get frustrating when you have plans!

❤ I have been hugely inspired by recent visits to National Trust properties. In one day, a friend and I visited Sheffield Park & Garden (above), Wakehurst Place (below) and Nymans Garden (bottom). The colours in these lovely places were amazing! Sheffield in particular was stuffed with artists and photographers all trying to capture the essence and colours of the autumnal trees and scenery. As it has been so mild recently there were also still quite a few late summer flowers in bloom, like Cosmos, Dog Roses and Dahlias which only added to the colour and beauty of the gardens. We are very lucky to live near these big open breathing spaces.

❤ These colours appear a lot in my little framed pieces that have been worked on since our National Trust visits. Lots of oranges, reds, yellows, maroon, ochre, gold.... I really enjoy making these little frames, and because I tend to use such deep concentrations of colour, they form a colour burst collection, and the three black framed pieces look particularly powerful together in a row! I've been experimenting with some new stitches in these as I have recently followed a new account on Instagram called @moony.crafts who collect really interesting images and videos posted by other embroiderers on Instagram, and re-posts them so you can see all of these amazing images in one place or trace them back to the original poster. In particular, the cacti in the bottom right image above are a new stitch to me and I have no idea what it is called. You wrap thread multiple times around the needle whilst it is tucked into the fabric and then pull through, securing both the top and the bottom of the loops. It uses a lot of thread in one go but looks really cool! And the really puffy firework-esque flowers in the middle left image are also from this account where you trap wrapped threads, over sew at the bottom then cut the loops. It's so effective!

❤ In the studio I have been experimenting with a new way of framing the #inthehoop stitchscapes to try and make them more accessible to punters. They make such an impact framed this way I think, although they are devilishly fiddly to attach to the mountboard as I have been stitching them on rather than gluing in the hopes that it will make them more secure. I have bought special circular mounts to help bed the hoops in and I really love them! Only a few have been framed so far but I have more mounts and frames to be able to work my way through them and do some more. What do you think?

❤ We have recently had our Remembrance Day parade and I had to take time out of sewing to attach together all of these bottle poppies, which had been made by my Guides, into a wreath to display in the church. It's a very clever idea (thank you Pinterest) where you take big plastic bottles, cut the bottom part off and cut petal shapes at the edge, make a hole in the bottom and paint the inside red, then use the rest of the bottle to cut big leaf shapes to be painted green and a circle to be painted black. You thread them all together onto wire and then melt them with a heat gun so that they look more natural. Somehow I volunteered to then wire them onto a big wreath ring and our girls paraded with it up the highstreet with the rest of the Remembrance Day parade, and laid it right a the front of the church. Well worth taking the time to do.

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I have more to catch you up on with the Wealden Times show but I think this post is long enough and you will all be dying to put the kettle on for a cup of tea by now! I hope you enjoyed the trip down my memory lane, and see you soon!

Studio

I've been saving up my completed stitchscapes for a little while as things have been getting slightly hectic around here. Last week was all about teaching a class at the-stitchery which was fab, and then Uckfield Carnival as I was organising the float again. This year the theme was 'The Brightest Girls Are In Girlguiding' so we went neon, glow in the dark, fluorescent, tie dye, glittery....basically anything that was bright and shiny. We pimped out our float with lights, and had a banner on either side which the girls had painted our theme title onto in fluorescent lettering and glitter (so much glitter!). Everyone looked fantastic and as it got darker, we just got better and brighter! It was a good night.
Then this week I started a new job! It's just three days a week doing admin type things, to tide me over really, but it's been exhausting trying to remember everything and get on top of it as I haven't been able to get much of a hand over from the lady who I am replacing. I am going on holiday this week so hopefully I won't forget everything I've learnt!

It was lovely to be properly back in the studio again yesterday and I pootled around for a while tidying things away and sorting things out before settling down and stretching and mounting my pieces. I tend to take lots of photos for my Instagram account during this process so sorry if my Insta followers were bombarded a little!

Poor Apricity Trees has been waiting for weeks to be properly sorted out! These photos are ones that I will edit to be used as prints and greetings cards, although I have been considering not producing prints anymore as they are not a popular product, and completely overhauling my card selection to weed out the poor sellers and try a whole new range. So much to think about!

I have also decided not to frame the pieces as I go any more and won't frame these until I have to as I just don't have the space. I have allocated a little basket on my desk and they are stacking up nicely in there. If anyone wants one of these, however, I am more than happy to frame it up for you! Just send me a message and I can give you the size details and price.

Periwinkle Peak & The Snow Cabin

I've had the horrible experience of a trapped nerve in my neck this week. It happened whilst I was getting dressed on Tuesday morning and I was almost instantly frozen, unable to turn my head or lean forwards without splitting pain in my head and shoulder. I don't recall twisting myself into a strange position so have no idea what has caused it. The pain is lessening slightly now although there is still always a dull pain in my neck and if I jolt or twist slightly too fast, it shoots down into my shoulder. I had to put my studio plans for Tuesday on hold as I could barely move, and was forced to sit down with a Stitchscape in front of back-to-back old episodes of Call The Midwife. Of course, once I was in my usual armchair, it was a struggle to get out of it without leaning forwards!

On Wednesday I had recovered enough to walk very carefully to the studio and spent a few hours sitting in a very straight backed position mounting these two little 15cm Stitchscapes. This lovely purple one, Periwinkle Peak, was completed last week on the narrow boat, with the bullion knot flowers taking forEVER! Two flowers in and I was regretting my stitch choice and seriously considering laying the whole thing to one side. I was feeling dis-enamored and the colours in the pattern on the fabric, especially the green colour, were too bold for the rest of the piece and it didn't feel right. After pausing in my bullion knots to cover the green (of which you can see the original colour in the above photo) with a darker, more muted green, it was looking much more cohesive and I plodded on with the bullions, adding more purples than seen in the print to make it more interesting. 

I am pleased that I persevered with it as I really like the different lengths and directions of knots all bundled in together, and they have a fantastic texture! One of my friends on the boat couldn't stop stroking them as they feel so interesting to touch. The middle  of the knots have been filled with silver french knots, and I have also added some single strand straight cross hatching stitches to the background to help disguise the line where you can see the cut edge of the fabric layer below. You don't always see the line where the fabrics have been overlapped but the purple floral fabric is quite thin and pale in contrast to the thicker, dark fabric below. The stitched lines just help to hide this edge and blend everything together.

Both of the mountains have my perpendicular whip stitch, although it is more obvious on the blue mountain where I have gone against the rows of running stitches. You can just about see the slightly darker grey lines in the seed stitch mountains to the side but it is more of a subtle texture than anything.
What I like about this piece is that it really looks like one of those camera filters where you have zoomed in on a particular area. Do you know what I mean? You can get filters which I think are based on how the early cameras took photos, where there is a circular centre that is clear and in focus, and outside that circle are just fuzzy, unfocused colour distinctions. Where I have worked stitches, especially in the grey seed stitch mountain and the bottom floral layer, it has totally changed the colour and appearance of these fabrics, and given the whole Stitchscape a permanent circular appearance which I really like.

My blue ric-rac has been very simply treated with single strand stitches working diagonally between the 'humps' of the ric-rac. It was bought very cheaply from a local bargain shop and as such, the humps aren't evenly spaced so some of my stitches are longer in one direction. I don't think you notice in the overall piece though. The grey that I have used for the flower centre french knots has been repeated here with single strand, two twist french knots in each curve, which also fits in rather well with the back stitch circles around the polka dots in the sky. It's nice how all of these things fit together and blend the piece into a whole.

Keeping with the mountainous theme, this little stitchscape, The Snow Cabin, was completed just before my holiday and I am totally in love with it! There isn't masses going on, but I think the composition works here as well as the colouring between light and dark. Sometimes it is the simple ones that are the most eye catching.

But to say that it was simple doesn't mean that I haven't stitched over every single layer as per usual. My snow layer at the bottom has some lovely straight stitch reeds mingled with metallic pistil stitch flower buds, grounded with tiny grey french knots. The metallic theme is also spread out slightly into single strand whip stitch over brickwork back stitch worked over the polka dot base, almost like the metallic pistils are casting their own metallic shadows in the snow.

My sweet little snow cabin was originally attached using bondaweb, and you can see how well it has preserved the edges of the fabrics from fraying. The chimney has been worked with tiny fly stitches, the roof has running stitch, straight stitch and whip stitch around various edges and across the middle, the walls of the house are edged with whip stitch, and there is a satin stitch door and welcoming window. Bricks have been hinted at with some little straight stitches which are also helping to keep the main fabric edges down.
It looked a little bereft without some gauzy/chiffon smoke gently rising and twirling out of the chimney, and I have needle turned this into place, then added some back stitches to help keep it all together, with tiny french knots to hint at soot and steam as the smoke hits the freezing air. So cute.

I also particularly like my mountains. In Periwinkle Peak the blue mountain had exactly the same treatment as the centre mountain here, but everything was in the same colour. It is interesting how different you can make the same thing look by playing with the colours you are using. The polka dot mountain is my favourite though. I was just playing around with adding some knots and cross hatches, and this combination just sort of happened! Big chunky french knots (three strand, three twist if I recall correctly) went in first, and then I decided I needed something else so started adding single strand long back stitches encompassing two polka dot spots at a time.

I have used a really lovely bouclé yarn at the bottom of these mountains, which adds fabulous texture and is exactly the right colour (what luck!), and also a particularly wintry looking lacy edging which has the right shades of neutral and blue in it.
The fabric layer between these two embellishments actually changes colour slightly in different lights as I have used a DMC silky thread which flickers between bright white and blue. It's a shame that these colours, the sparkly metallics and the silky lustre threads don't really show their full potential on camera, you'll just have to imagine it (or come and see me at one of my Christmas craft fairs- this little 'scape is definitely coming along!).

So two little ones finished fairly quickly! I am slowly catching up on my pre-Christmas to-do list, but there is still so much to do!! These have yet to be photographed and edited and turned into cards, prints, postcards.... maybe a 2019 calendar?

♡♡ Studio ♡♡

Before my holiday I had a major framing session in the studio; stretching, mounting and framing Mrs Heggardy's Windmill, All That Glitters and Medley Marshes! I quite enjoy the process of measuring and cutting the mountboard and then sticking in the little pins to stretch the fabric. They always look so much better when squared up and stretched out. I also go around the edges of the fabric pieces and will do tiny little invisible stitches to pull and stretch any fabric layers that are slightly wavy to keep them in place over a long period of time.
I can't remember if I have mentioned on here that I now have a 'How To' section on the right hand side of my blog for little picture heavy tutorials that I have put together. Currently the only 'How To' is How To: Stretch Over Mountboard, something that I get asked about all of the time. I hope that this will be useful for anyone unsure of how to stretch their pieces properly, and please do let me know if there is anything else that you would like me to write a tutorial on.

Once they are mounted, I have the totally un-glamorous job of photographing them ready to be edited and turned into my printed products. Sometimes I can't do it all in the same day depending on the weather- ideally they need to be photographed on a light but overcast day, no direct sunshine but as much natural light as possible. It's harder than you might think!
The photos also have to be taken as squared up as possible, with the piece perpendicular to the camera lens so I use a garden chair to prop them up whilst I am squat in ungainly positions leaning forwards and backwards, zooming in and out, changing camera settings and chair angles. From the hundreds of photos of the same piece taken I will choose one to edit, smoothing away wrinkles, magically removing blemishes and trimming frayed edges. I don't get rid of everything as the little imperfections are what make my prints look so realistic.

Once my photos have been taken I can continue to frame the pieces. Each mount is measured specifically to the correct size for the Stitchscape and then hand cut by me. The Stitchscape is taped to the back, the mount labelled and signed, then more photos of the framed piece with the glass removed so that there is no glare. It takes quite a long time but if I am doing several pieces at once I can build up a bit of a rhythm.

Once my framed photos are finished I can then clean the glass and frame the piece properly with the glass in, checking that there are no loose fibres or fluffs trapped on the piece before putting the back in. So much behind the scenes stuff going on!

Since Barnsgate Manor

My most recent craft fair at Barnsgate Manor was of mixed success. I was really pleased with how my stall looked, and they were certainly generous with space!! Two whole tables to myself, plus an additional half table at the entrance as a sort of enticement of what's inside. I could have taken some more frames really as it looked slightly sparse to me. However, sadly, not many people came to the fair itself which may be in part because it was such a nice day and they all trundled down to the beach instead, but may also be because Barnsgate aren't particularly good at advertising the event. Working to bring up hype before an event is really crucial- especially now when people don't necessarily need to leave their homes to experience things. Online advertising is key but there wasn't a lot from the venue itself as reflected in the turnout really, which is a shame because it is a really lovely place to visit and they do a cracking cream tea. (I can vouch for the cakes!)

Still, in between chatting to the other vendors and the occasional customer, I managed to start two little stitchscapes which I intend to put into a 10cm white frame. The beach huts one I have since finished and is now framed, but I am still working on the other which is muted green mountains. I really love the cheerful little red huts against the sand and blue frothy waves. It is a simple little piece but quite effective I think. The top layer has simple rows of single strand back stitch, with a whip stitch to the top, the plain blue layer has running stitch just to give it some texture. I now have two different sand print fabrics, as mentioned in a previous post. The top one is pebbles only and I've followed these with some little satin stitches and tiny french knots. The lower sandy layer is the print with feet in although there is only a bit of it in front of the larger hut, the rest of that layer I have left pretty much blank other than the french knots to the top. Around the edges of the beach huts I have worked blanket stitch, with french knots inside the polka dots, and whipped back stitch in the corded pattern. One of my favourite parts of the piece is the fly stitch green wispy stems, there is something about adding just a splash of greenery to a seaside 'scape to really bring it to life!

The waves are a mixture of satin stitches, french knots and straight stitches. I have also played with my bullion knots for the top layer, couching them down into a slight 'v' shape so they look a little more like waves. They are so cute! Don't you think?

In the studio last week I also managed to frame up my Hedgerow Fizz stitchscape, and hopefully prints and greetings cards of this one and a couple of others will be printed from tomorrow, ready for the Bridge Arts in Uckfield event happening next weekend. I am hosting a mini little workshop on the Saturday- just 45 minutes to create something little and pretty. I plan over the weekend to make up little packs, a bit like my Naked Stitchscape kits, that people can choose their colour selection from rather than being faced with a basket of jumbled fabrics, in the hope that it will speed up the sewing process.

I got a little above myself last week and came over all enthusiastic about filming myself stitching!! Whilst in the flow of things I also managed to start a Dotty Textiles YouTube channel where you can see me (and hear me) explaining how to make some of my favourite stitches. I will add to it when I get more time, but for now you can learn about French knots, bullion knots, back stitch, whipped back stitch, fly stitch and detached chain stitch. You're welcome. Maybe. It isn't very glamorous and I felt very odd sitting in the garden with my less than Hollywood filming set up, talking to myself.

I hope you don't mind my periodic rambles on here. I am enjoying these almost two weekly blog posts where I essentially just list everything that I've done since last posting. Some days I don't feel like I'm doing very much, and they can be quite disjointed, walking up to the studio to package an order, then down into town to post it, then back home again to carry on with various projects. The list of things I want to do is endless!
A couple of days ago I had my first stitchscape class at Closs & Hamblin, something that I am keen to do some more of as it went really well and most of them were quite advanced with some fabulous looking stitchscapes by the end of it. I had to make lots of example layouts which I've now got to actually stitch at some point, and I also started on some more complicated stitchscapes for which the ideas arrived at about three in the morning!! Windmills! I thought. That is the way forwards! Daft I know but I now have the basis for not only a large windmill themed piece, but also a lighthouse which I hope to start soon.