Tag Archive | ribbon flowers

Friday’s Favorites: Attic, Garage and Junk Drawer Finds

Apr28

What more can I say? I have a selection of pieces to show you today, from my book, Creative Embroidery, Mixing the Old With the New, by C&T Publishing.

A selection of orphaned and discarded items, waiting for a forever home!

I love to re-purpose items, and give them a new or different home, other than what they were intended for. Here are a few examples of how you can take orphaned or found items like this odd selection above, and repurpose them into something useful.

Aunt Murt’s Garden
Auntie B’s Finest
Black and Creme

These are Stash Idea Inspiration examples of two of the Stash Projects in the book, Scrap Pin and Hoop Frame. I re-purposed old knitting and jewelry pins and a wooden embroidery hoop.

UPcyCleD Jell-o Mold
Cookie Cutter Wreath
Spools and Tools

The first picture is a Stash Project in the book, that uses and old Jello-o mold for the base. The next two images are Stash Idea Inspiration pieces. I incorporated a collection of heart-shaped cookie cutter molds, that I wrapped with ribbons, and added in ribbonwork flowers to make a wreath. The next wreath started with a base of vintage wooden sewing thread spools. It has vintage sewing thimbles filled with ribbonwork flowers, and old pair of scissors, trims, and metal butterfly pins.

Vase of Flowers
Wooden Spool Vase
Salt Shaker and Inkwell Vase

Here are a selection of vases, made from unexpected finds. The first two are Stash Projects in the book. In the first image, I used a vintage china creamer that had belonged to my husband’s mother, Virginia. Filling the vase are flowers and leaves made from a variety of ribbons and zippers. In the second image, I took a wooden spool from my mom’s old stash, and filled it rosettes made from hand-dyed ribbon, and a group of vintage French beaded glass leaves. The last image is a Stash Inspiration Idea, where I took a saltshaker and inkwell and used them as small vases filled with flowers.

The book has a chapter called Altering the Past, where I give you instructions how to make the ribbonwork flowers and leaves, the rickrack and fabric flowers, and the penny circles.

I hope that this inspires you to find and repurpose those abandoned attic, garage and junk drawer finds, and get creative!

Happy Stitching! ~Christen

Tips and Tea on Tuesdays

Apr11

On Tips and Tea on Tuesdays, I will cover a topic and hopefully provide you with some tips that will be helpful! And just as an afterthought, tea may occasionally be a cup of Joe!

Tea today is a light Jasmine green tea, with a bit of orange honey, freshly made locally. I am also munching on a slice of carrot cake left-over from the weekend. The lovely china cup was a gift from my dear friend Jeri, and I treasure it. She introduced me to all things feminine, like drinking tea in beautiful vintage cups, playing with lace, and collecting mother of pearl buttons.

She also was a staunch believer in re-cycling. Her workroom was filled with all manner of collected treasures, displayed in jars, boxes, and tins. Her spirit lives on here in my collections.

re-purposing vintage and new glass jars

Tip: Repurposing Glass Jars

  • Wash your glass jar thoroughly in hot water, preferably in the dishwasher, this will remove all leftover food or oils.
  • All manner of collected treasures can be stored, I usually leave the lid off.
  • Store buttons made from glass, metal, shell, and wood.

Note: Do not store vintage plastic buttons in glass jars with the lid on, as the materials and chemicals have a tendency to breakdown. If you ever wondered why those buttons have a funny smell, that is it! I store vintage plastics in a cardboard or wood box.

re-purposing vintage and new glass jars and salt shakers

Here are some additional ideas for ways to use unusual vessels:

  • Fill a spice jar with flowers from Michael’s or your local craft store and place it on a doily.
  • Keep a jar for all of those bead blips, broken buttons, odd pits of ribbon, stuff you don’t want to throw out.
  • Fill the holes of a salt shaker with hatpins, or remove the metal top and fill it full of hat pins.

Happy tea drinking and stitching to you! ~Christen

PS: If you have any questions or thoughts, just leave a comment! See Tips, Tricks, the Basics, for more helpful ideas.

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 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

Narcissus Noire

Aug5

Narcisus Noire

Narcissus Noire

I chose the name Narcissus Noire, because the coloring of the paper, the buttons and the ribbon reminded me of an old black and white movie. I also chose the name because it was my grandmother’s favorite perfume, (Black Narcissus) which I wore for many years also.

The bracelet is made from cardboard tube left over from a spool of ribbon. I covered the cardboard base with an ornately decorated vintage piece of sheet music. I then added strips cut from an old Valentine’s Day card, and strips from a piece of art paper left over from my last project.

I painted in splashes of color with gray and black acrylic paints and added swirls with silver Lumiere paints. When this was dry I glued on vintage celluloid buttons and hand blown glass beads. These I decorated with more silver paint.

braceletThe inside of the bracelet is covered in the same sheet of music, and circles cut from the art paper.

The pin base is a piece of cardboard cut from the top of the spool of ribbon. I painted a piece of sheet music with mod podge tinted with black dye. I used this to cover the cardboard base.

I stitched this ribbon rosette from a French wire ribbon with the same coloring as the buttons. I touched up the ribbon and the glass button center with silver paint. The stem of the flower is made from vintage glass leaves which are also sprinkled amongst the silk ribbon cord.

The old silk tie I liberated from the box that my husband puts the ties in that he no longer wears and I will probably make a neck- piece to go with the rest of the set.

Happy creating, pasting, gluing, and getting sticky! Enjoy! ~Christen