Heart Felt Wishes to you all! I love hearts, I love the shape, I love to decorate the house at Valentine’s Day, and I have a lot of hearts… so I decided to post A Heart a Day for the entire month of February.
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” – Helen Keller, Author
Happiest of heartfelt wishes for a wondrous day! ~Christen
Heart Felt Wishes to you all! I love hearts, I love the shape, I love to decorate the house at Valentine’s Day, and I have a lot of hearts… so I decided to post A Heart a Day for the entire month of February.
“Love doesn’t make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” – Franklin P. Jones, Engineer
Happiest of heartfelt wishes for a wondrous day! ~Christen
Heart Felt Wishes to you all! I love hearts, I love the shape, I love to decorate the house at Valentine’s Day, and I have a lot of hearts… so I decided to post A Heart a Day for the entire month of February.
It takes more than lace and ribbons,
And lovely verses too,
To make a Valentine that is nice enough for you.
It takes a world of special thoughts,
Tucked into every line,
And that’s exactly what you’ll find inside this Valentine.
Happiest of heartfelt wishes for a wondrous day! ~Christen
Heart Felt Wishes to you all! I love hearts, I love the shape, I love to decorate the house at Valentine’s Day, and I have a lot of hearts… so I decided to post A Heart a Day for the entire month of February.
For the love of embroidery, and threads, and beads, and silk ribbon, and buttons, and trims, and for all of the things that make you happy, and inspire you to be creative.
Happiest of heartfelt wishes for a wondrous day! ~Christen
In these posts I want to share some of my favorite pieces, which will include wall hangings, small works, pillows, purses, and just because pieces. February is National Embroidery Month, and I would like to share the pieces from some of my books, enjoy!
Week 1 of National Embroidery Month, 2023
For the Love of Embroidery! I love to embroider, which is no secret to all of you that follow this blog, or have taken a class from me, or even purchased one of my books. Thank you for that by the way, and thank you for your trust in letting me teach you, and thank you for letting me share this passion with you.
The first book that I wrote on the subject was called Embroidered and Embellished, by C&T Publishing. I chose to categorize the stitches into groups, that I named Traditional Embroidery, Silk Ribbon Embroidery, Raised and Textured Embroidery, and Bead Embroidery.
Each of these groups includes 20 related stitches. I photographed the steps of the stitches for this book, like I did for my two ribbonwork books. My daughter pitched in and offered here lovely hands in a few of the how-to-directions.
I created a sampler and two projects for each of the four categories included in the book. The projects have detailed directions with diagrams of the assembly steps and stitches that I used.
Traditional Embroidery: the stitches in this chapter include: chain stitch, zigzag chain stitch, chain stitch vine, straight stitch, outline stitch, outline stitch vine, blanket stitch, short-long-short blanket stitch, buttonhole circle, heart, lazy daisy stitch, lazy knot tip, lazy daisy flowers, looped tendril, tulip, sunflower, button flowers, fly stitch, wisteria, wild ginger, French knot, French knot flowers, and couched stitch.
All of the stitches in the sampler and the directions were worked in Finca perle cotton # 8 and Finca Mouline cotton floss by Presencia.
Silk Ribbon Embroidery: the stitches in this chapter include: feather stitch, feather stitch vine, split ribbon stitch, pistil stitch, couched ribbon, padded straight stitch, ribbon stitch, peony, colonial knot, pointed ribbon stitch, wildflower, ribbon loop stitch, ribbon loop posy, vine flower, twisted ribbon rose, woven ribbon rose, woven ribbon rose variation, rosette, gathered bud, and pin rose.
All of the stitches in the sampler and the directions were worked with silk ribbon or buttonhole twist from YLI; Wildflowers thread from the Caron Collection; or Silk Mori floss from Kreinik.
Raised and Textured Embroidery: the stitches in this chapter include: open chain stitch, couched Japan thread, fly stitch leaf, feather fan, whip-stitch rose, whip-stitch rose variation 1, whip-stitch rose variation 2, spiderweb rose, petite twisted rose, bullion stitch, bullion posy, cast-on buttonhole stitch, buttonhole rose, cherry blossoms, tatted stitch, tatted posy, spiral tatted stitch, tatted rose, Chinese knot, and Christen’s shisha mirror.
All of the stitches in the sampler and the directions were worked in Finca perle cotton # 8 or Finca Mouline cotton floss by Presencia; buttonhole twist from YLI; Silk Mori floss or fine braid from Kreinik; or rayon floss from DMC.
Bead Embroidery: the stitches in this chapter include: continuous bead stitch, beaded vine, lazy daisy stitch, lazy daisy variation, lazy daisy loop, lazy daisy flowers, beaded stamen, sunflower, button rose, French rose, sequin rose, sequin rose variation, flat leaf, lazy daisy leaf, stacked bead center. picot tip, bead cascade, single bead, bead combinations, and charms.
All of the stitches in the sampler and the directions were worked in size 6°, 8°, 11°, or 15° size seed beads; or larger beads in a variety of sizes; or sequins.
If you would like to stitch each of these samplers, you can find the template here.
You can see all of the books and products that I have created here. I wish you all the happiness and hope that you enjoy creating with this beautiful craft and art form.
Happy Stitching to you all! ~Christen
Heart Felt Wishes to you all! I love hearts, I love the shape, I love to decorate the house at Valentine’s Day, and I have a lot of hearts… so I decided to post A Heart a Day for the entire month of February.
Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
Joni Mitchell
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I’ve looked at love that way
Happiest of heartfelt wishes for a wondrous day! ~Christen
These three purses are from my vintage purse collection. All are embroidered with tambour embroidery, possibly French. Clockwise from the left:
Tambour embroidery, introduced to the Western world by France, is a continuous worked chain stitch formed with a tambour hook, which forms a loop similar to a crochet chain. The stitch is formed on the fabric with the thread held underneath in one hand while the other hand inserts the hook down through the fabric to catch the thread. The needle is brought back through the same hole, forming a loop. The following stitches are formed a short distance from the previous stitch, catching the loop of the last stitch at the beginning of the next.
Happy Stitching, ~Christen
I love to embroider, which I am sure you can tell. I have two books that are specifically focused on embroidery. In the Hand Embroidery Dictionary there are over 500+ stitches, both traditional stitches and unique stitches that I developed for the book. In my book Beaded Embroidery Stitching, I offer you both traditional bead embroidery stitches as well as unique techniques that accommodate the special characteristics of the different bead shapes and sizes.
Below, I show you how various forms of thread embroidery can be adapted to bead embroidery and bead woven stitches. The use of beads in the bead embroidery and bead woven stitches certainly do bring a surprisingly visual and dimensional aspect to the work.
Here is an example of two crazy pieced sections of fabric. The first is worked in traditional thread and silk ribbon embroidery stitches, along with embellishments such as tatting, rosettes, charms and buttons. In the second piece, you see traditional stitches translated into beaded embroidery, with the stitches worked in seed beads in sizes 6°, 8°, 11°, and 15°. Embellishments include lace, larger beads, charms, and buttons.
This is an example of a sashiko pattern, the first is embroidered with perle cotton; the second is embroidered with 11° seed beads.
Here is an example of the cross stitch worked in perle cotton, and size 11° seed beads.
Here is an example of two brooches, worked in similar design. In the first I embroidered the Brazilian rose, and traditional leaves and French knot stitches in perle cotton; with a couched cord frame. In the second, I embroidered the a rose with size 11° seed beads, and added in bead woven leaves, and charms; with a beaded couched cord frame.
Happy Stitching to you! ~Christen
PS: If you are looking for inspiration or ideas, check out my PDF Classes and books.
JEANS, when did you get your first pair? I grew up wanting to be the “ballerina” in Elton John’s song “Blue Jean Baby”. I can hear you singing, “can’t you see her, tiny dancer in the sand”.
In high school I embroidered jeans and work-shirts for friends and family. In fact the reason that I now wear a thimble while stitching is from being poked so much by working on the heavy jean fabric. I have recycled a pair or two (that did not fit anymore), and used them in various projects. I also like to work with denim fabric (sold by the yard), because it provides a nice firm base to work on.
“Blue Jean Baby” is stitched onto a pant leg, from a pair of old jeans. I removed the pocket first, and used it and the pocket from the other leg in the examples below. I appliqued a lace heart, and many hand made flowers into the heart vase. I added vintage and new beads into the centers of the flowers. I embroidered ribbon down the side edges using traditional embroidery stitches. The little cat (made from a quilt from 1880’s) was a gift that came along with an eBay purchase, and Marcia Marcantonio is the creator. Thank you Marcia, I think that your gift is quite at home here.
“Butterflies and Snapdragons” (a pocket from the pants), was featured in my book Ribbonwork Gardens, by C&T Publishing. The middle embroidery was worked on another portion of the jeans. “Flower Child” (a pocket from the pants), was featured in my book Ribbonwork Flowers, by C&T Publishing.
These two pieces begin with the same pair of jeans (cut from the other pant leg), and one of my favorite fabrics, the vintage floral print that the hearts are cut from. The heart shapes are bordered by a dyed leaf trim, and are surrounded by silk ribbonwork flowers and leaves, and silk ribbon embroidery.
“Country Hearts” Wall Hanging was featured in my book, The Embroidery Book, by C&T Publishing. Each square was cut from the same pair of jeans, and I used the vintage rickrack trim to cover the raw seams. The embroidery stitches are worked in perle cotton threads. The embellishments include vintage tatted lace, ribbonwork flowers, vintage buttons, and glass beads.
“Denim and Dresden” is featured in my book, Creative Stitching, Mixing the Old with the New, by C&T Publishing. I used jean fabric for the base of the piece, and I think that it compliments the vintage feed sack fabric so nicely. The embroidery is worked in perle cotton, cotton floss, and vintage tatting threads. The embellishments include yo-yo’s and vintage buttons.
Happy Stitching to you! ~Christen
PS: If you are looking for inspiration or ideas, check out my PDF Classes and books.
Vintage Floral Embroidery
Floral embroidery is a descriptive term that was used for both thread embroidery (silk, wool or chenille); and ribbonwork flowers (a piece of ribbon or fabric that was stitched with a needle and thread). The flowers were arranged in sprays, or as a single bud on men’s waistcoats, ladies gowns, shawls and other accessories. Popular stitches for the embroideries were satin, long and short, and stem. The chain stitch that could also be worked with a tambour needle is often used as the only stitch in the design.
Ribbon work flowers such as aerophane or crepe floral embroidery (used in the late 19th century) had the details of leaves and stems stitched in with thread embroidery. The ribbon, a thin silk gauze or crepe would be cut then gathered with stitches to form each petal of the flower. Narrow silk “China” ribbons were available in shaded colors, and were first used in ribbon work floral embroidery. This narrow silk ribbon could also be threaded into a large eyed needle and stitched into flower shapes (usually a straight stitch) with added silk thread embroidered accents. The combination of ribbonwork flowers and silk ribbon embroidery gave the design dimension. The top image is from a satin purse, with the ribbonworked flowers and leaves of stitched chenille. A gift from my husband for my birthday, probably circa early 1900’s. It is incredible in person.
Vintage Floral Sewing Bag
The second image with the whimsical floral vignettes was made, I believe as a sewing or knitting bag, but I use it as a purse, circa 1940’s judging from the fabrics used. Some of the flowers are made with ribbon, some with fabric scraps, some with added felt details. Primitive embroidery and beading were used to enhance the floral sections. I found this lovely treasure on eBay, and I adore it.
Happy Stitching! ~Christen
Christen's Creations 