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Friday’s Favorites: Spiders and Webs

Oct7

This time of year brings to mind spooky things, and to me the spookiest is running into a spiderweb and wondering if you are wearing the weaver of that web! We have quite a colony of orb weavers in our garden, and I am amazed by the intricacy of these woven wonders.

Ugly Bug Ball, by Christen Brown

The base of this piece is a cotton twill fabric. I pieced and stitched the web using a vintage embroidery ribbon, and rickrack trim. The web holds a host of ‘’ugly bugs’’ stitched mainly from old sewing notions and vintage glass and hand-blown glass beads. This can be seen in my book, Creative Embroidery, Mixing the Old with the New.

Spiders Hide in the Dusk, by Christen Brown

The base of this piece is a cotton batik, that I machine quilted, and then framed with a rayon cord. The embellishments include vintage glass and shell buttons, glass seed and larger beads. The webs, spiders, and button flowers are worked in bead embroidery stitches. This is a project in my book, Beaded Embroidery Stitching.

Primarily Crazy for Kevin
Lady Bird’s Bzzy Garden
50’s Flashback

If you know my work, you know that I sneak a spider and a web into many of my crazy-pieced creations. I am in awe of the beauty of those delicate structures, and I try to capture that beauty either with beads or threads.

Charlotes Webs, by Christen Brown

This project started with the reproduction cigarette silk print in the center, whom I named Charlotte. The center section was crazy-pieced with tiny and tinier pieces of precious silk scraps left over from a few other projects. Satin ribbon was machine stitched randomly to create sections for the vignette embroidery which was worked in silk embroidery ribbon, woven ribbon, perle cotton and beads. Additional embellishments include vintage buttons and glass charms.

Button Spider
Spookie Spider
Spider Stitch

As much as I love to look at the webs, I am deathly afraid of real-life spiders! When I embroider the spider, I try to create a more whimsical version to somehow confront my fear! It works, until I run into a web, and then wonder…

All Friday’s Favorites posts.

Thank you for looking, and Happy Stitching to you all! ~Christen

National Sewing Month

Sep30

Day 30

Question: Are you looking for inspiration, a little kick start, or just some eye candy? I have a few books that may help you on your creative journey, may that be a long and happy one!

Creative Embroidery, Mixing the Old with the New
Hand Embroidery Dictionary
Beaded Embroidery Stitching
The Embroidery Book
Embroidery Stitching Handy Pocket Guide
Embroidered and Embellished

Here is a re-cap of National Sewing Month 2022:

  1. September 1, 2022– Question: When did you first learn to sew, and who was your teacher?
  2. September 2, 2022– Question: How do you design a project, do you start with a plan or do you let the materials tell you what and where they want to be?
  3. September 3, 2022– Question: What type of piecing do you like to do?
  4. September 4, 2022– Question: When you choose a fabric, what are you drawn to, do you like to work with solids or prints, or hand-dyed or batiks?
  5. September 5, 2022– Question: Do you like to recycle old clothing, or use something in an unexpected way?
  6. September 6, 2022– Question: What type of embellishments to you like to work with on your projects?
  7. September 7, 2022– Question: Do you plan out every detail, or do you approach your work with serendipity?
  8. September 8, 2022– Question: Do you like to make and sew your own jewelry and adornments?
  9. September 9, 2022– Question: Did you know that the wooden spools that you have in your stash may be 50-100 years or older?
  10. September 10, 2022– Question: Do you have a favorite pincushion, or two?
  11. September 11, 2022– Rustic Americana, In Memory of 9/11
  12. September 12, 2022– 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?
  13. September 13, 2022– 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?
  14. September 14, 2022– Question: Do you name or title your projects, and how do you choose those names?
  15. September 15, 2022– Question: Do like to work with felt?
  16. September 16, 2022– Question: What sewer does not have a favorite pin or needle keep?
  17. September 17, 2022– Question: Do you sew functional forms for the home, or do you like to create whimsical additions?
  18. September 18, 2022– Question: Do you like to crazy-piece, but sometimes find the sections so small, that it is hard to embroider every seam?
  19. September 19, 2022– Question: Do you like to embroider over a pattern or print?
  20. September 20, 2022– Question: When you embroider a piece, do you like to use free-form images or do you use stencils?
  21. September 21, 2022– Question: When you create a strip-pieced base, do you embroider the seams, in the seams or over the seams?
  22. September 22, 2022– Question: What sewer hasn’t heard of the Sunbonnet Sue?
  23. September 23, 2022– Question: Do you sew functional forms or do you like to create fabulous frivolities?
  24. September 24, 2022– Question: Do you like to add lace to your creations?
  25. September 25, 2022– Question: When you are working with a group of fabrics, how do you decide what colors to use for the embroidery stitches?
  26. September 26, 2022– Question: What kind of sewing machine did you learn to sew on, and, what kind of machine do you sew on now?
  27. September 27, 2022– Question: When you see a hanky used in a project, do you ever think of Rhett Buttler’s comment to Scarlet: “Never, at any crisis of your life, have I known you to have a handkerchief.”
  28. September 28, 2022– Question: Do you ever hold on to a piece of fabric, and think, someday, I will use that?
  29. September 29, 2022– Question: When you buy a charm pack, do you often find that there are prints that you think, hmm, how did those get included in here?

I hope that you have enjoyed this month, and have found some inspiration within these pages.

Happy Stitching, ~Christen

National Sewing Month

Sep25

Day 25

Question: When you are working with a group of fabrics, how do you decide what colors to use for the embroidery stitches? Here are a few ideas.

10″ x 10″

Victoriana by Christen Brown

This crazy-pieced square started with a rayon print, and 6 different silk fabrics that matched the colors of the print. I chose silk embroidery ribbon, perle cotton, buttonhole silk, cotton floss, and seed beads in those same colors. I used 7mm silk embroidery ribbon and silk bias ribbons for the ribbonwork flowers. Each section of fabric is worked with a combination of the colors and components.

15 3/8″ x 15 3/8″

Melted Crayons by Christen Brown

Tiny bits of precious silk fabrics were crazy-pieced onto four foundation squares and strip-pieced onto four border strips. These blocks and strips were bordered with black silk fabric, satin ribbon, and rayon cord. I chose to work each of the border rows with black buttonhole twist, then the decorative and detail stitches with a variegated Valdani perle cotton. Vintage and new button details were stitched down with perle cotton and rayon floss. This piece can be seen in The Embroidery Book, by C&T Publishing.

Happy Stitching, ~Christen

National Sewing Month

Sep18

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.

13″ x 13″

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.

13 1/2″ x 13 1/2″

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

National Sewing Month

Sep16

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
Felt Needle Keep and Thimble Holder

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.

Log Cabin Pinkeep and Pincushion
embroidery
Creative Thread Embroidery

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

National Sewing Month

Sep14

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.

14″ x 13 1/4″
14″ x 13 1/4″

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

National Sewing Month

Sep7

Day 7

Question: Do you plan out every detail, or do you approach your work with serendipity? For this piece, I did a bit of planning, so that the metal frame could take a prominent place amongst the pieced fabrics.

Midnight in Paris by Christen Brown

I crazy pieced solid and printed cotton fabrics with satin ribbons and vintage laces that I dyed. The embroidery was worked in silk embroidery ribbons (4mm and 7mm), silk perle, perle cotton, and cotton floss. I combined these with vintage and new beads and charms, and vintage buttons, including metal, glass and shell. A ribbon border with beaded details was used to frame the piece.

Happy Stitching, ~Christen

National Sewing Month

Sep6

Day 6

Question: What type of embellishments to you like to work with on your projects? Buttons, beads, and charms? What about those little notions like snaps, hooks and eyes and safety pins? How about found objects, like paper or ribbonwork ephemera?

Scrap Pins
Ugly Bug Ball

Scrap Pins, is a new project that you will find in my upcoming book, Creative Embroidery, Mixing the Old with the New. I used bits of ribbon, lace, and fabric for the base, and all kinds of treasures for adornments. Ugly Bug Ball, is an example of another project, called the Hoop Frame. The spiderweb was created with vintage silk embroidery ribbon and rickrack trims. The bugs are made from sewing notions stitched with perle cotton, or beads.

14 5/8″ x 15 5/8″

Scraps and Leftovers, by Christen Brown

The fabrics in this wall hanging are all scraps left over from other projects, with leftovers of ribbon, lace, trims, appliques, and zippers for embellishments. I literally emptied the sewing box in search of buckles, safety pins, snaps, and hooks and eyes. I combined these with vintage buttons, charms, and other ephemera. The quilted and embroidered stitches were all worked in perle cotton thread. The pin in the center was from an original Shirley Temple doll that belonged to my mom.

This piece can be found in my book, The Embroidery Book, by C&T Publishing.

Happy Stitching~Christen

National Sewing Month

Sep4

Day 4

Question: When you choose a fabric, what are you drawn to, do you like to work with solids or prints, or hand-dyed or batiks? I have a fondness for batiks! I love the variety of colors that the artist has started me off with, it seems as though the hard work of choosing a color palette is already done.

Psychedelic Balloons
African Sunset

Psychedelic Balloons, started with 2 different batik prints, that I pieced into blocks and strips. I worked all of the stitches in perle cotton form Artfabriks. I used almost every stitch included in my book, Hand Embroidery Dictionary, by C&T Publishing.

African Sunset, is crazy- and strip-pieced with quite a few Hoffman batiks, and one block-print batik from Bali. I used Wildflower threads from the Caron Collection for the embroidery. In fact, one of the threads I used is called African Sunset. This piece can also be seen in my book, Hand Embroidery Dictionary.

Happy Stitching~Christen

National Sewing Month

Sep1

Day 1

Question: When did you first learn to sew, and who was your teacher? I learned from my mom, when I was around 7 or 8. She made all of our dresses when we were growing up, and I sat by her side picking up the pins and putting them into a pincushion. I loved looking through her sewing box, and playing with all of the tools. How many of the tools and notions below, do you have in your own sewing box?

Create, Sew and, Stitch, and Play, Garland by Christen Brown

This garland is made from two different sizes of heart shapes, cut from a pieced hex cutter quilt, and backed with fast2fuse. Each heart was first hand-quilted with perle cotton, then embellished with vintage and new sewing notions and other ephemera. The hand stitched embellishments include all manner of vintage sewing notions, including seam gauges, pin cushions, knitting knobby, tatting shuttle, bodkins, safety pins, tape measures, scissors, thimbles, crochet hooks, buckles, bobbins, seam rippers and more. The large hearts are trimmed with a zipper half, and the small hearts with rickrack. The ribbon base is embellished with vintage buttons, and rosettes with a vintage bell for the center.

This piece can be found in my new book, Creative Stitching, Mixing the Old with the New, by C&T Publishing.

Happy Stitching~Christen