Tag Archive | embroidery stitches

National Sewing Month

Sep24

Day 24

Question: Do you like to add lace to your creations? For me that is a resounding yes! Here are a few ideas for you.

3 1/4″ x 6 3/4″

Spring Butterflies by Christen Brown

The little jewelry holder, is a perfect example of a small project that has a lot of punch. Two silk fabrics are strip-pieced together to create a base, which was then layered with vintage lace and butterfly appliques. The embroidery, which shadows the edges of the lace, is all worked in perle cotton. This project (pattern), Floral Garden Jewelry Holder, can be found in my book, Embroidered and Embellished, by C&T Publishing. Note: The design in the book is different than the one above.

This little block example is from my book, Hand Embroidery Dictionary, by C&T Publishing. It really gives you a close-up view of the stitches, that can be used when embroidering around a piece of lace or applique. The blanket and chain stitches can be worked around a curved shape with ease. Straight stitches can be used as decorative stitches worked inside small appliques. Remember to work the stitches within the open sections of the lace, or just around the outer edges. Don’t pierce the threads or stitching of the lace, as this may break down the fibers.

8″ x 8 1/2″
Close-up

Sand Pebbles by Christen Brown

This piece showcases a beautiful vintage lace applique, that was stitched to a sand-colored cotton fabric. I embroidered the piece with several colors of Wildflower threads from the Caron Collection, then embellished the embroidered and lace sections with vintage and new glass beads, and jewelry findings. I bordered the outer edge with a piece of Hannah silk ribbon, and a few hand-blown glass beads. You can find this piece in my book, The Embroidery Book by C&T Publishing.

Happy Stitching, ~Christen

National Sewing Month

Sep23

Day 23

Question: Do you sew functional forms or do you like to create fabulous frivolities? Here are two examples of the classes that I offer that will help you to explore that fabulous and dare I say frivolous side of life!

7 1/2″ x 7″

Beadazzled Somemore by Christen Brown

This is a version of my PDF class lesson Beadazzled Somemore Purse. This purse is made from a beautiful cotton batik fabric by Hoffman (who else?), but you can choose any type of fabric. The bead embroidery stitches are worked with a variety of techniques. Additional embellishments include buttons, charms, roundels, and sequins.

8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″

Gypsy Treasures by Christen Brown

This is a version of my PDF class lesson Textured and Treated Reticule. This purse is also made from a cotton batik fabric by Hoffman, but any type of fabric would work. The base is heavily quilted and textured, using a twin needle for the quilting. Surface techniques include a vine created from yarn, covered in gold metallic threads, fabric yo-yos, and machine couched novelty yarn details. The sections of fabric are embroidered with raised and textured stitches, beaded embroidery stitches, shisha mirrors, and buttons.

For more information on beads and working with beaded embroidery stitches, check out my book Beaded Embroidery Stitching, by C&T Publishing.

Happy Stitching, ~Christen

National Sewing Month

Sep22

Day 22

Question: What sewer hasn’t heard of the Sunbonnet Sue? She appears in all kinds of ways, including quilts, small wall hangings and even pin keeps. The pretty little Sue below, belonged to my Grandmother, and as you can see, she is made from real felt. The Sue on the right is my version of the pin keep, working with synthetic felt, lace, buttons, ribbon and perle cotton.

Grandmas
My version

Happy Stitching, ~Christen

National Sewing Month

Sep20

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.

Essential Collection Sampler
Darling Motif Sampler

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

Sep17

Day 17

Question: Do you sew functional forms for the home, or do you like to create whimsical additions?

felt cat
Scrappy Pete
felt cat
Phat Matt
felt cat
Patches and Pockets
felt cats

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

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

Sep30

Day 30

Question: Is your art influenced by other works of art? YES is my answer!

12 1/2″ x 13 3/4″

Misty Blue Hills by Christen Brown

This piece was created with a printed upholstery fabric that I had for many (many, many) years, that I used for the center, because of the great coloring and lines. I pieced the simple border with blue and creme colored printed fabrics. The embroidery stitching follows the pattern in the center, using the blanket and fly stitches netted, along with the chain stitch double, chain stitch cable, chain, herringbone, feather, stem, linked bullion, stem/outline fern, open chain, portugese knotted stem, palestrina knot, string of pearls, coral, running stitch whipped, snail trail, and scroll stitches. The detail stitches were the French knot, bell flower and stacked bead 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.

Hand Embroidery Dictionary by Christen Brown, C&T Publishing
vintage embroidered bag
drawing of waves

I wanted to show you the comparison of the two pieces that influenced Misty Blue Hills (first image). The second image is vintage purse, made from a beautiful piece of fabric with tiny bead embellishments. The third image is the very famous piece titled “The Great Wave off Kanagawa”. This is a woodblock print, that is also known as The Great Wave or simply The Wave, created by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai.

This piece is the cover and can be seen in my new book Hand Embroidery Dictionary.

Here is a recap of the month, may you find inspiration! Happy Stitching, ~Christen

  1. September 1, 2021– Question: Who did you learn to sew from?
  2. September 2, 2021– Question: What was your favorite garment that was hand-sewn, and who sewed it for you?
  3. September 3, 2021– Question: I like to sew strips, and straight seams. What do you like to sew?
  4. September 4, 2021– Question: What fabric do you like to sew with?
  5. September 5, 2021– Question: What is your favorite sewing tool?
  6. September 6, 2021– Question: What kind of sewing machine did you learn to sew on, and, what kind of machine do you sew on now?
  7. September 7, 2021– Question: When you design a project, do you like to use what is in your stash, or do you prefer to go to the store and search for materials?
  8. September 8, 2021– Question: When you work with a pattern do you follow the instructions, or do you interpret the instructions to fit your vision?
  9. September 9, 2021– Question: When you are stitching a pattern, do you strive for perfect seams, or do you cover up what was not perfect?
  10. September 10, 2021– Question: How do you choose a color pallet for a project?
  11. September 11, 2021– Rustic Americana, in Memory of 9/11
  12. September 12, 2021– Question: Do you sew functional forms or fabulous frivolities?
  13. September 13, 2021– Question: Do you like to work with solid color fabric, or prints?
  14. September 14, 2021– Question: Do you like to applique, if so, by machine or hand?
  15. September 15, 2021– Question: How do you choose a name for your project?
  16. September 16, 2021– Mystic Twighlight
  17. September 17, 2021– Variation on a Theme
  18. September 18, 2021– Charmed Square
  19. September 19, 2021– Lady Bird’s Bzzy Garden, and Lady Bird 2 by Christen Brown
  20. September 20, 2021– Psychedelic Balloons
  21. September 21, 2021– Big Leaves
  22. September 22, 2021– California Dreamin’
  23. September 23, 2021– Sand Pebbles
  24. September 24, 2021– Darling Motif Sampler
  25. September 25, 2021– Question: What sewer does not have a favorite needle keep, or pincushion.
  26. September 26, 2021– Question: What sewing enthusiast does not have a lot of precious scraps, that just can’t be thrown away?
  27. September 27, 2021– Wild Persimmons
  28. September 28, 2021– Question: What form of piecing do you prefer?
  29. September 29, 2021– Question: Do you plan out every detail, or do you approach your work with serendipity?

National Sewing Month

Sep28

Day 28

What form of piecing do you prefer? I really love crazy-piecing, simply because you can use the pieces and scraps that you have on hand, and the pieced lines provide a variety of opportunities to embroider and embellish.

  • 9 1/4″ x 9 1/4″
  • 9 1/4″ x 9 1/4″

Victoriana 1 and Victoriana 2 by Christen Brown

These two pieces were stitched using the same fabrics, and are almost identically pieced together. I was going to make a purse, but decided that two small wall hangings were more desirable. The embroidery stitches were worked in silk embroidery ribbon, perle cotton and cotton floss. Beads, charms and buttons were used for the embellishments.

You can find these two pieces in The Embroidery Book by C&T Publishing.

The Crazy Lady Victoriana by Christen Brown

This piece was made using the same fabrics as the above two pieces, with the addition of several vintage silk ties and their lining fabrics. I created this piece while I was teaching a class titled the Crazy Corner. I enjoyed adding in all of the embellishments such as a birds nest, fabric yo-yos, and ribbonwork flowers.

Happy Stitching, ~Christen

National Sewing Month

Sep27

Day 25

What sewer does not have a favorite needle keep, or pincushion. Here are a few of mine:

Some of these are classes, some were shown as examples in book, all are used and loved.

Happy Stitching, ~Christen