Archives

National Sewing Month

Sep8

Day 8

Question: Do you like to make and sew your own jewelry and adornments? I have a few suggestions including cuffs, bracelets and brooches, all use bits of this and that including fabric, lace, ribbons, and buttons.

Chantilly Lady’s Lace Cuff by Christen Brown

These are examples of what I call the wistful days gone by, reminiscent of tranquil days lounging on an overstuffed satin pouf, or demurely sashaying along a tree-lined avenue, parasol in hand. There are two styles to choose from that will be embellished with needle-tatted and crochet components, ribbonwork flowers, a few silk ribbon embroidery stitches, beads and buttons. The lace base and other components are dyed with Colorhue dyes.

silk ribbon, embroidery, bracelets

Tandleton Rose Bracelets by Christen Brown

You have two styles to choose from, both using a Tandleton base (pillow). The “Ring of Roses” is made up entirely of embroidered ribbon pillows, strung with beads and has a glass button for the closure. The “Band of Roses” is made from a ribbon base, layered with vintage lace and a few of the embroidered pillows; a dainty embroidered button and hand-stitched button loop are used for the closure.

ribbon work flowers and leaves

Scrumptious Hearts by Christen Brown

The base is created with bits of cherished lace and with silk fabric to form a beautiful heart shaped base for your floral design. Chose from a few different heart shapes and ribbon worked floral vignettes or create your own. This is an excellent way to use up small amounts of this and that to form an heirloom brooch to be treasured. The lace base and other components are dyed with Colorhue dyes.

Happy Stitching, ~Christen

National BUTTON WEEK Day 4!!!

Mar18

Here are a few images of more buttons!

These are a few items that I have made with shell buttons.

heart shapes covered in MOP buttons

This is a wreath that I made using a vintage embroidered openwork cotton collar and some vintage velvet milliner’s leaves for the base. There are 5 fabric covered heart shapes that I adorned with mother of pearl, MOP, buttons.

mother of pearl buttons

Here is a sprinkling of some of the buttons in my MOP collection.

This is another example of my class Vintage at Heart. The covered heart shape base also included vintage lace, satin ribbon and grosgrain ribbon. A few vintage buckles are mixed in with the vintage mother of pearl buttons.

bracelets made from vintage tahiti shells

Here you will find a selection of bracelets made from a variety of mollusk shells, including brown muscle, green muscle, and Tahiti shell.

tahiti shell buttons

Tahiti and green and brown muscle shell buttons and buckles from my collection.

solvy fabric heart

This is an example of my class Scrumptious Hearts. You will see a cascade of buttons on the left, and a vintage shisha mirror embroidered on the right.

pink shell buttons

Here a few more bracelets, the first using pink mother of pearl discs, the second using butterfly shaped abalone shell buttons.

vintage buttons and beads

Here is a mixture of all kinds of pink shell and glass buttons, with a few thread and glass beads added in.

Hope that you enjoyed looking! Happy stitching! ~Christen

National BUTTON WEEK!!!

Mar15

In honor of National Button week I thought that I would share a few of my projects where I used buttons, lots and lots of buttons.

The following two images show that buttons are the queen! And that she graciously allows ribbons, trims and other ephemera to come along for the ride!

buttons, lace, ribbon, charms, steampunk
buttons, charms, ribbon

The following two images are from classes that I have taught at the International Quilt Festival in Houston Texas.

button bracelet, vintage buttons, beads

This is another class that I used to teach, beads and buttons, what more could you ask for?

beaded bracelets

Here are the links for the rest of the week:

Hope that you enjoyed looking! Happy stitching! ~Christen

Day 31 of FLOWERS GALORE!

May31

Day 31 of FLOWERS GALORE!

vintage buttons, vintage hanky

vintage buttons, felt heart

This is an ensemble I made with some of my favorite buttons. The white buttons in the necklace were from my friend Phred, with the remainder of the buttons primarily celluloid and Bakelite. These are stitched down onto a vintage jacquard ribbon base. The bracelet on the left is made from vintage Czech glass buttons using a bead woven stitch. The bracelet on the right is made from celluloid flower charms, new plastic sunflower buttons, and acrylic leaves connected to a celluloid chain. The vintage clip-on earrings are made from plastic with a little bit of bling.  I made the pin in high school, so it too is vintage!

Happy Stitching, enjoy~ Christen!

Day 25 of FLOWERS GALORE!

May25

Day 25 of FLOWERS GALORE!

buttons, charms, ribbon

Funky Junky Steampunky

This was an on-line class that I taught for Joggles. The base of the bracelet is made from two ribbons that are woven together to make a larger base. The flowers are made from zippers lined with satin ribbon, other flowers are made from satin and vintage lace. Additional embellishments include glass, shell and metal buttons; metal, glass and wood charms; lace appliques and other collected treasures.

Happy Stitching, enjoy~ Christen!

Day 11 of FLOWERS GALORE!

May11

Day 11 of FLOWERS GALORE!

Summer Blooms Bracelet

The base of this project is made from a a grosgrain ribbon, with a length of hand-dyed ribbon stitched down the middle. The embellishments include ribbonwork rosettes also made from hand-dyed ribbon, beaded embroidery stitches, and a vintage button for the closure. You can make this project with any type of ribbon it would not need to be hand-dyed (which are not included in the instructions).

Spring in Bloom

The base of this project is made from a blue cotton chambray fabric. The base is embellished with a cotton lace, and adorned with buttons, glass beads and flowers, and my favorite tiniest wee little butterflies.

Both of these simple projects are included in my new book Beaded Embroidery Stitching by C&T Publishing.

Happy Stitching, enjoy~ Christen!

Day 8 of FLOWERS GALORE!

May8

Day 8 of FLOWERS GALORE!

Chantilly Lady’s Lace Cuff

This is one of the bracelets that I designed for my class Chantilly Lady’s Lace Cuff.  The lace, ribbons, and threads are dyed with ColorHue dyes. The techniques included are ribbonwork, tatting, crochet, and embroidery. This piece can be found in the gallery section of my book Ribbonwork Flowers by C&T Publishing.

Happy Stitching, enjoy~ Christen!

Beaded Embroidery Stitching Blog Tour: My Turn!

Apr14

Next stop on the blog turn is ME!

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.

Champagne and Pearls

Welcome Home

Spider Webs

Along Came a Spider

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

Ribbonwork Flowers: Jewelry

Apr15

Many of you may know of my love for jewelry, and you know that it also includes ribbonwork, laced and buttons. Here are the pieces that were included in my new book, Ribbonwork Flowers.

chantillyladieslaccuffChantilly Ladies Lace Cuff, started with a base of meshed lace and silk fabric. the lace, appliques, ribbons, threads and embroidery ribbons were dyed with Colorhue dyes. The flowers are “Knotted Posy”, “English Miss” and “Puck’s Rose:.

daisychainDaisy Chain started with a base of 3/8″ satin ribbon. I stitched “rosettes” made from satin ribbon stitched with a cotton ruffle edge lace. I stitched buttons in the center of the rosettes, and buttons between the rosettes.

crochetcollarPretty in Pink collar started with a vintage crochet collar that I found at a thrift store. It is adorned with silk habotai ribbon “star point petal” flowers and satin “simple leaves”. These are stitched with acrylic flowers and leaves and seed beads.

peapodbraceletPeapods and Roses bracelet started with a base of cotton grosgrain ribbon. I added “peapods” made from French wire and silk bias ribbon. The “English Miss” roses are made from silk bias ribbon, with satin and grosgrain ribbon flowers. I added in vintage stamens, buttons and strawberry charms.

punkyrosePunky Rose necklace started with a base of velvet ribbon trimmed with velvet rickrack braid. The center is a “rose bud center” is made from silk satin ribbon; with “rosette” edging made from lace, satin and novelty ribbons. Ribbonwork “rosettes” adorned with vintage rhinestone buttons, vintage charms, vintage rhinestone trim and a little “bling” bee finish off the necklace.

funkyjunkysteampunkyFunky Junky Steampunky bracelet started with a woven base of satin, novelty ribbon and velvet rickrack trims. The posies are made with zipper trim and satin ribbon. Vintage buttons, cardboard coins, rhinestone trim, appliques, lace, and charms finish off the design.

Happy Stitching! ~Christen

Tandleton Rose Bracelet: class/tutorial

Dec8

Tandleton Rose Bracelet: 2 lessons/$24.00

silk ribbon, embroidery, braceletsThese bracelets are so feminine, pretty and dainty, and perfect for your spring wardrobe! Each little beauty is made from a piece of bias ribbon that is first stitched and stuffed into a pillow shape. Each of these individual pillows is then embroidered with silk ribbon and embroidery threads, creating a rose, leaves and a vine. You have two styles of bracelet to choose from. The “Ring of Roses” is made up entirely of embroidered ribbon pillows, strung with beads and has a glass button for the closure. The “Band of Roses” is made from a ribbon base, covered in vintage ribbon with a few of the embroidered pillows stitched on top; a dainty embroidered button and hand-stitched button loop are the closure.

Skill Level Intermediate: hand sewing, embroidery and beading knowledge helpful.

Lesson 1: In this lesson I will cover the making of the silk bias ribbon base for the pillow shape. The embroidery stitches that will be covered are: the woven rose, the French knot, the feather stitch, chain stitch, buttonhole, and the lazy daisy stitch.

Tandleton RosesLesson 2: In this lesson I will cover the assembly for each of the bracelets. Ring of Roses will use beads and a button for final assembly. Band of Roses will have a stitched ribbon base, lace decoration, an embroidered button, and button loop.

Class Information

These classes can be purchased at any time, there is no set schedule. The class can be ordered by contacting Christen: thestoreonthecorner@gmail.com. She will send you an invoice through PayPal.

Once the class is paid for, the supply list will be sent out. The lessons will begin one week after the purchase of the class, unless otherwise stated. You will receive an email with the lesson attached. The following lesson/s will arrive one week after the previous lesson.

A high speed internet connection is recommended, and you must have basic computer and internet skills. You will need to be able know how to download and save a document to your computer’s hard drive, open it and print out a copy.

You can contact Christen with any questions pertaining to the class/class information throughout the length of the class.

Class fees will not be refunded.

Happy Stitching,

~Christen