Day 20
Question: When you embroider a piece, do you like to use free-form images or do you use stencils? If you like to have guidelines and shapes, then I have just the thing for you! I have a series of stencils that I designed for C&T Publishing.
fast2mark Embroidery Stencils, the Essential Collection and fast2mark The Darling Motif Collection.
Happy Stitching, ~Christen
Day 19
Question: Do you like to embroider over a pattern or print: I like the fact that I can follow a guide, but mix it up a bit and add more color to the piece. You can find the following pieces in my book the Hand Embroidery Dictionary by C&T Publishing.
Glamour Girl by Christen Brown
This piece started with the fun print that was used in all four blocks. I loved the colors that were used and found additional fabrics in both stripes and prints in those same colors. I also incorporated a few precious strips of vintage batik fabrics. The piece is embellished with rickrack trim, grosgrain and novelty ribbons, embroidery, beads and sequins, and novelty buttons.
Big Leaves by Christen Brown
This piece started with the large linen leaf print. I chose Valdani perle cotton, from Rusty Crow Quilt Shop, for the embroidery stitches because of the ombre and variegated colors. The printed fabric gave me so many opportunities to use a variety of embroidery stitches. I used a wide grosgrain ribbon for the border, and embellished this with vintage wooden buttons.
Misty Blue Hills by Christen Brown
I used a printed upholstery fabric for the center that had great lines and colors that I could work with. I pieced the simple border with blue and creme colored printed fabrics. The embroidery stitching follows the pattern in the center, using a variety of stitches. I used a Sashiko style of stitching on the border fabrics. Many vintage glass, metal, shell and celluloid buttons were used for embellishments, along with two bone dragons.
Happy Stitching, ~Christen
Day 18
Question: Do you like to crazy-piece, but sometimes find the sections so small, that it is hard to embroider every seam? In those cases, I like to “collage” embroider and embellish.
Scattered Splattered Tatters by Christen Brown
Left-over pieces of muslin fabric were crazy-pieced together, then hand quilted with perle cotton #12. Crochet, porcelain, and mother-of-pearl buttons are nestled into the lengths of tatted and machine-made lace, scattered crochet, appliqués and tatted components. The finished piece was hand-dyed with Colorhue dyes, using a Rustic Aging recipe that I created. This piece can be seen in my new book, Creative Stitching, Mixing the Old with the New, by C&T Publishing.
Wild Persimmons by Christen Brown
This piece started with a crazy-pieced base of silk and cotton fabrics, which was machine quilted in a random spiral pattern. A rayon cord was couched down with seed beads to create a pattern. The embroidery and embellishments that follow the pattern are vintage plastic and glass buttons, sequins, glass seed beads, and large beads. This piece can be seen in my book Beaded Embroidery Stitching.
Happy Stitching, ~Christen
Day 17
Question: Do you sew functional forms for the home, or do you like to create whimsical additions?
Phat Matt and Friends by Christen Brown
Phat Matt and Friends is a PDF lesson that I offer on the website. This is a fun project that uses felt, perle cotton and buttons.
Happy Stitching, ~Christen
Creative Embroidery, Mixing the Old with the New
Create with your stash, vintage and new!
Put all stashed, hoarded, and handed-down bits and pieces to creative use! Popular author Christen Brown walks readers through innovative uses for all kinds of embellishments — like lace, vintage linens and hankies, trims and ribbons, buttons of all sorts, and vintage notions — through techniques and projects. If you want to add more unique stash pieces, she provides tips on finding the good stuff, both in-person and online. Get tips for taking care of your treasures; from cleaning vintage finds to fiber identification.
Perfect crazy quilting seam designs every time
Create and embroider an endless number of crazy quilting seam designs with this collection of four 4” x 8” durable plastic stencils and instruction booklet. Designed for crazy quilt embroidery, the stencils feature 90 seam design motifs to mix and match. Flexible, durable, translucent templates make seeing your fabric and seams easy! Just position the stencil where desired, trace your designs with your favorite washable pen or pencil, and get your embroidery off to a creative and accurate start!
Happy Stitching! ~Christen
Day 16
Question: What sewer does not have a favorite pin or needle keep? I wonder what these ladies used to keep their pins and needles safe from dropping on the floor and a husband finding it with their bare foot!
Here are a few of mine:
Gentle Ladies Needle Keep, has a crazy-pieced base, with the embroidery stitches worked in perle cotton, with button embellishments. The pincushion rests on top of a wooden spool, that has a length of felt attached, which is embellished with rickrack trim, buttons, and embroidery. Felt Needle Keep, and Thimble Holder, are made from solid and printed squares of synthetic felt, and embroidered with hand-dyed cotton threads from Artfabrik.
These are both examples of the pdf classes that I offer. Log Cabin Etui and Pincushion are pieced with that pattern and embroidered with perle cotton and cotton threads. Creative Thread Embroidery, is a class that covers raised and textured embroidery stitches, with a project that can be a needle keep, or a small purse.
Happy Stitching, ~Christen
Day 15
Question: Do like to work with felt? I find that this is a great way to teach a simple project, that can be embroidered and embellished.
In the above pieces, I used the synthetic felt squares that you can find at your local craft store. I used a variety of perle cotton threads, to work the embroidery stitches, which can all be found in my book Hand Embroidery Dictionary, by C&T Publishing.
Embroidered From the Heart by Christen Brown
This group of hearts are the examples from my Embroidered From the Heart PDF class lesson. There are a variety of heart shapes to work with, which you can mix and match; embroidery and embellishment stitches are also included in the 2 lessons. These make great gifts!
Happy Stitching~Christen
Day 14
Question: Do you name or title your projects, and how do you choose those names? Sometimes I choose a name by an item in the project, or from a song that I listen to, or just a fond memory.
Lady Bird’s Bzzy Garden, and Lady Bird 2 by Christen Brown
The theme for each of these crazy-pieced wall hangings came from the creme colored print that has flowers and ladybugs on it. I used a variety of garden themed buttons including flowers, bees, fruits and vegetables, and gardening tools. I also used ladybugs (representing our daughter), frogs (representing my husband), and bunnies (representing me.)
I used the same printed fabrics for each wall hanging. On the first I used black as an accent color, and worked the border row stitches in black, with the decorative and detail stitches worked in the same colors as the fabrics. In the second piece I used creme as an accent color, including in a variety of cotton laces. The border row, decorative and detail stitches are all worked in the colors found in the fabrics.
These two pieces can be found in The Embroidery Book, by C&T Publishing.
Happy Stitching~Christen
Day 13
Question: Do you plan out a project, with bits and pieces of paper lying around the workroom with your notes, or do you use a dedicated book to keep track of all of those ideas? I keep my notes, thoughts, and swatches in this planner.
Embellished Art Embroidery Project Planner by Christen Brown
This delightful planner is designed especially for embroiderers so that you can track multiple projects throughout the year—because let’s face it, who doesn’t have lots of projects going at once?! Set your project goals, track your progress, and manage your time and works-in-progress (WIPs). Each project has four pages to track and record all the critical details: the name of your project, the layout, the stitches and embellishments, due dates, supply lists and more. Plus, flip to the back of the planner for a reference section and even more handy tools.
Happy Stitching~Christen
Day 12
Question: When you design a project, do you sometimes think, hmm I like that, but I want to try it in another colorway or design? Here are a few of my ideas.
Castle Door and Rustic Door: These two wall hangings are based on a door theme, using vintage and new keys as the focus. The first piece is all machine stitched, with hand embellished charms and ephemera. The second piece is machine quilted and hand embroidered, with ribbon trims and ephemera.
Bouquet of Flowers: These two small wall hangings start with a lace basket, and lace trims, but change dramatically with the choices I made in color palettes. The project can be found in my book Beaded Embroidery Stitching, by C&T Publishing.
Beadazzled Stitches was a class that I taught for many years, that eventually grew-up to become the nexus for my book Beaded Embroidery Stitching, by C&T Publishing. I love both color ways here!
Happy Stitching~Christen
Christen's Creations 