The bases for these two pillows were made from pieced silk fabric embellished with vintage jacquard ribbons. The embroidery is worked silk ribbon widths of 2mm, 4mm, and 7mm; cotton and silk floss, hand-dyed perle cotton, and silk buttonhole twist. These pillows can be found in the gallery section of my book, Embroidered and Embellished by C&T Publishing.
Happy Stitching, enjoy~ Christen!
This is a close-up view of a small pillow that I made using both ribbonwork and silk ribbon emboridery stitches. The base is made from two silk fabrics pieced together and embellished with vintage ribbon trim, a basket made from vintage lace, embellished with a variety of ribbon flowers and ribbon trims. This was an example used in my book Ribbonwork Gardens from C&T Publishing.
Happy Stitching, enjoy~ Christen!
Here is my new book, Beaded Embroidery Stitching, which includes 125 bead embroidery and bead woven stitches, using beads, buttons, charms and more. Once you practice the basic stitches, there are 8+projects for you to work your magic on!
I have included a section on the types of beads and embellishments that you will be using for the stitches, and the other items that can be included in your creations.
Many of the stitches included in the book are interpreted from traditional thread embroidery stitches.
I have included a look into my Design Process, and how a project will start.
I have included several versions of a design in different color ways so that the reader could see the possibilities.
There are loads of inspiration for you to look at, with examples ranging from wall hangings, sewing caddies, pillows, bracelets, brooches and more.
I want to thank all of the magnificent participants that were kind enough to leave a post on the blogs. You can read the past posts here, and see what they thought about the book.
If you would like to win a free ebook version of my book, just leave a comment below, you will need to check in tomorrow to see if you have won. Good Luck!
Happy Stitching and Enjoy~ Christen
Many of you know that I love hearts! I love the shapes and all of the possibilities. This heart-shaped pillow is made from two different colors of silk fabric. The textured and raised embroidery stitches include the spiderweb rose stitch, bullion stitch, tatted stitch, lazy daisy stitch and the French knot. These stitches are featured in my book Embroidered and Embellished.
Happy February to you!
~Christen
Many of you know that I love hearts! I love the shapes and all of the possibilities. This heart-shaped pillow was a project featured in my book Embroidered and Embellished. I really loved working the flowers and vines using variegated flosses, you never know how it will turn out!
Happy February to you!
~Christen
Friday’s Favorites (and every day for me) are silk ribbon embroidery projects that include ribbon worked flowers and leaves. This type of work incorporates two different techniques, embroidery with silk ribbon and flower or leaves stitched from ribbon. If you are unfamiliar with these techniques it can be confusing to identify one technique over the other.
In the above image I have used both silk ribbon embroidery and ribbon worked flowers made from silk habotai and silk satin ribbons. The base of this particular piece is composed of precious bits and pieces of lace that are stitched to a base of silk fabric, then dyed along with a few of the ribbons used for the flowers. The silk ribbon embroidery was stitched with 2mm, 4mm, and 7mm silk ribbon.
This pillow is an example of silk ribbon embroidery. In this technique a needle (chenille) is threaded with silk ribbon, and is then stitched through the fabric to create the embroidered designs. All of the stitches were stitched with silk embroidery ribbon, in sizes 2mm, 4mm, 7mm, and 13mm, and silk buttonhole twist and stranded floss.
This brooch is an example of flowers and leaves made from ribbon. These ribbonworked flowers are stitched from ribbon in sizes 1/4″ to 5/8″, in a variety of styles and fiber content. Ribbonwork differs from embroidery because the individually stitched flowers are created by threading a needle with sewing thread, cutting the ribbon the exact length for each flower, then stitching the ribbon to form the flower. Each flower or leaf is then stitched in place with a needle and thread.
This is an example of a brooch that is embroidered with silk ribbon and silk threads, with a few ribbon worked flowers and leaves added to the top outside portion of the brooch. I have also incorporated a rococo trim around the outer edge of the brooch.
This purse is an example of silk ribbon embroidery on an embroidered silk fabric with silk dupioni fabric on the outer edges. One of the wonderful qualities of silk is that it takes the dye so beautifully, and is very vibrant, yet still feminine. What makes silk embroidery ribbon so lovely is that it is beautiful even when worked in the most basic stitches such as lazy daisy, straight, and French knot stitches.
This purse appeared in the March/ April 2007 issue of PieceWork Magazine. I wrote an article on silk fabrics, and this piece was included as a project. Here I have combined both ribbonworked flowers and a few silk ribbon embroidered stitches.
Happy Stitching to you! ~Christen
mold on a blueberry
This pillow is comprised of two pieces of felt using a reverse applique technique. the top blue piece has holes cut out through out so that the green piece behind will show through. I then embroidered six different stitches using 10 colors of stranded floss.
Happy Stitching! ~Christen
Marie's Boudoirs Pillow- 2
When I first pieced the fabric for this pillow it was origionally to be a purse, but then I decided I would be able to look at it more often if it were a pillow. I cut a plain fabric for the back, the other half of the purse has already been posted.
The entire pillow is made from silk, excluding the vintage jacquard ribbon (and the stuffing). The striped and solid color fabrics, the embroidery ribbons and thread.
The embroidery ingredients are:
The embroidery stitches I used include:
I just love working with silk ribbon because it is so elegant and feminine and I feel that I am a part of history: where the ladies were beautifully dressed and demure and the gentlemen noble and well mannered…. another time and place!
6″ wide x 8″ tall
Happy stitching and dreaming! enjoy- Christen
Celtic Flowers Pillow
I have two book shelves on either side of my sewing table, and I placed an old pantry door on top to create a shelf. I placed many of my dolls in groups on top of this shelf, and the smaller pillows such as this one reside there
The fabric is a silk shantung, embroidered with pearl cotton thread. The stitches I used are:
After the pillow was sewn and stuffed, I added a rayon cord to the edges to finish off the piece.
5-1/2″ wide x 6 ” tall
Happy stitching, enjoy your creative adventures! Christen
Marie's Boudoirs Pillow-1
When I first pieced the fabric for this pillow it was origionally to be a purse, but then I decided I would be able to look at it more often if it were a pillow. I cut a plain fabric for the back, and I am embroidering the other half of the purse that will be a second pillow.
The entire pillow is made from silk, excluding the vintage jacquard ribbon (and the stuffing). The striped and solid color fabrics and lace, and the embroidery ribbons and thread.
The embroidery ingredients are:
The embroidery stitches I used include:
I just love working with silk ribbon because it is so elegant and feminine and I feel that I am a part of history: where the ladies were beautifully dressed and demure and the gentlemen noble and well mannered…. another time and place!
6-1/2″ wide x 8″ tall
Happy stitching and dreaming! enjoy- Christen
Christen's Creations 