INTERVAL (of sorts): Blackwork

I've called it an interval, but Blackwork is a type of embroidery and, as it is done on evenweave like cross-stitch, it's very close to the sewing I've had up here already.
Blackwork was a popular style of embroidery in Elizabethan England. It was used to decorate their clothes, and the various patterns were used as shading without needing a lot of colour (which was more expensive). I found out about it when I found a book about it in Hobbycraft this week. I haven't bought it yet, but I found a book in the library that had some examples of Blackwork patterns that I have been copying to bid my time until the book arrives. It looks quite stunning, I think, but you can make up your own mind...

Just a heads up, there will probaby be some more of this type of embroidery in the future :D

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
As it's Christmas Eve, and I have finally finished all the Christmas projects, it's finally time to put up some more pictures.

Firstly, the Christmas decorations...
The front room was slowly being taken over by finished evenweave squares covered with different Christmas-themed decorations, and I knew it was finally time to attack the task of making them into decorations that could actualy hang on the tree!!

After a manic day with the sewing machine and my Mum's expertise in making it work, all of the cross-stitched decorations were assembled and swiftly posted off the the people receiving them. Now I know that everyone has got theirs (I think), I can safely put up the pictures without spoiling the surprise.



There they are in all their glory. I'm quite proud of them, to be honest, though I'm glad I don't have to sew another Christmas vulture again!!

Secondly, the Christmas cake band...
Once the decorations had been safely dispatched, I returned to the ignored, half-finished band of reindeer for the Christmas cake.

I think I did around 7 or 8 reindeer, all frollicking across the evenweave. The pattern said to do their red noses and brown eyes as French knots, but as I haven't quite mastered them yet, I used little seed beads instead. After a bit of a palaver trying to find a needle that would go through the beads, the reindeer actually looked pretty cute.
Finding a ribbon to fit was also a bit hard - I needed a 6cm ribbon but apparently they only make red ribbon in 5cm or 7cm widths. In the end, I had to use two lengths of ribbon, but you wouldn't know to look at it. All in all, the ribbon turned out pretty well, considering the deviations from the pattern.

My Nan makes the Christmas cake, and my Mum and I went over a couple of days ago to marzipan and ice it. I left the ribbon there so Nan can put it on the cake once the icing is dry, and she will bring it over on Christmas Day. I'll take a photo of it in situ and upload it after Christmas.

Hope you have a great day tomorrow! Enjoy the company and the food, I know I will :D

INTERVAL: Inkle Weaving

So, I haven't started any new projects since my last update. I'm still working on the Christmas decorations and the ribbon for the Christmas cake, but I felt that I needed to put up something here. As well as all the cross-stitch discovery, I have recently been on an inkle weaving course with my Mum. It was only three hour-and-a-half sessions but we have both become completely addicted to it. So much so that Mum is now going to get a full-sized loom for her birthday.

I should explain what inkle weaving is. An inkle is a long, thin piece of woven material, made on a wooden loom, like this one (which was mine from the course):

This is a mini one, the full-size ones need a whole table to stand on and have to be clamped down to stop it moving. A bit scary!!

Inkles are a medieval craft. It takes ages to get the loom set up ready for weaving, and then the fun bit, the weaving, is actually pretty quick. It's a really fun craft to do, and there is an infinite number of patterns you can do. They can be any width, it's only limited by the length of the wooden pegs. Our teacher had some examples of some really tiny ones. The inkle on the photo above was my first attempt and was a middling-width. In total, I made three inkles, then the loom had to be returned:

The inkle on the far right was the widest that could be done on the mini-loom. I'm hoping that, when Mum gets hers for her birthday, I can have a go and try to make a really wide, detailed one.

Anyway, I'll leave this with some more photos for the inkles I made. Can you tell I REALLY love this craft? It's definitely one I would recommend to anyone :D

Christmas Cake Ribbon - In Progress

This is my other Christmas project at the moment - a cross-stitched ribbon to go around the Christmas cake that my nan makes every year. The pattern came from "CrossStitcher" (October 2011), and was the free pack with the magazine. It was supposed to be stitched on 14count aida, but the piece that came in the pack was cut a bit wonkily so I decided to use 28count evenweave instead. I think I has come out a lot neater, and it means I'm getting more practice at using it!

It's still a work in progress. That's why the reindeers don't have any eyes or red noses!! They are supposed to be done as French Knots, but I'm not at all confident at them so I am going to get my hands on some black beads for their eyes and red beads for their noses.

The ribbon is a repeated pattern. These four cute reindeers are the basic pattern, that will get repeated until the cake is covered. I went to my nan's today and have got the circumference of the cake sorted, so now I can carry on stitching. Once that's done, it will get sewn onto wide red ribbon and hopefully look good :D

I'll post some more photos once it's done, and I'll definitely get one of it on the Christmas cake too!

Christmas Decorations - In progress

I know it is really early for Christmas stuff, but the amount of these I have to make before then means I have had to start early!!



The pattern comes from "CrossStitcher" (Christmas issue, September 2011). These are the two patterns given for these Christmas decorations, done on 28count evenweave. This is my first ever go at using evenweave, and it definitely takes some getting used to!! It took a while to get used to the idea that two squares on evenweave work as one square when cross-stitching! My mum still doesn't understand how I can see what I'm doing.

These decorations are inspired by traditional Nordic decorations, and I love the combination of the thick cross-stitches and the thin backstitches. To make the stitched evenweave into a decoration, they are backed with fabric (I've used red to go with the stitches, but I've got green thread and fabric on standby once I run out!) and then stuffed with padding and given a ribbon loop to hang them on the Christmas tree. My first attempt turned out like this...



It came out quite well for a first attempt. I'm a bit annoyed that it didn't come out as a proper circle, but I'll just tell people I'm going for that rustic look! :D :D Hopefully, the more I do, the better I'll get. Once I've done some more, I'll post an update with some more pictures of how they turned out. Fingers crossed they go ok!!

Celtic Coaster

I bought this pattern while on holiday in Whitby, from the English Heritage shop at the Abbey. I finished it in about a day. I think I'm going to buy some more plastic coasters so I can make some more coasters to match. It's a pretty coaster, but just having one on the mantelpiece seems a bit useless. After Christmas, I will fix that :D

Stitched on 14 count aida

Space Invaders iPod Cover

The space invaders are stitched on 18 count aida, and the iPod cover is made from blue felt.

This was my first attempt at making something under my own steam. The pattern for the space invaders came from "CrossStitcher" magazine (August 2011), but the attempt at the iPod cover was all my own...which is why it doesn't quite fit my boyfriend's iPod, who I made it for. But he likes it, which is all that's important. I might have a go at making another one at some point, to see if I can make it tall enough so the iPod doesn't stick out of the top!

Geisha Lady

This was my first major project. A big leap, trust me :D took me AGES to do. It was a pattern for the Gold Collections, on 16 count aida. I changed the pattern slightly, but was really impressed with the way it came out...even if I do say so myself :P

And, just to show how detailed this pattern was, a close up...



It now hangs in my bedroom, framed by my lovely grandad :D My room has a Japanese theme, so it fits in quite well.

Beginning

Right, I set this blog up a month ago but never actually posted anything! Now my camera is full of photos of my various projects so I decided it was finally time to share :D

As the post-script says, I am a Classics graduate on a gap year at the moment, and have discovered a fondness for crafts, particularly cross-stitch, to fill the time that used to be spent studying. I started at Easter with a pattern for a lavender bag to distract myself from my dissertation (which will appear on here at some point), then bookmarks for my four housemates when we moved out of our uni house (which might not appear, seeing as I forgot to take photos of them!), and now it's uncontrallable!!!

Anyway, this introduction should end eventually. So I'll sign off and get posting with my projects :D

Enjoy!