Monthly Archives: October 2013

Back to Bumbles.

I`ve been concentrating on making bumble bees this week ,  a few brooches and embroidery hoops to top up my Etsy shop and to send down to Made in Britain in Bristol. I really enjoyed it as I hadn`t made them for a while and it was nice to make something that reminded me of Summer on such dark, gloomy Autumnal days.bees and ladybirds for etsy 070Three brooches for my Etsy shop.

bees and ladybirds for etsy 189I love this vintage fabric, printed with bluebells. A piece of from an old curtain which is printed all over with little vignettes of cottage gardens.

4 inch bee hoop 015This little piece, printed with Livingstone daisies, came from the same curtain. Just perfect for adding a little bee and setting in a cute 4″ hoop.

bees and ladybirds for etsy 209Another pair of bees stitched onto a remnant of vintage linen.

bees and ladybirds for etsy 125I thought the colours in this woven fabric worked really well as a background for this bee. It was a tiny piece of recycled furnishing fabric, just big enough to make one brooch!

 

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Stitched Robins.

My first robin embroideries all sold out within a couple of days! I took inspiration from my robin drawings in my sketchbook, layering tiny scraps of fabric and stitching them in place, using recycled cottons and little pieces of calico that I painted to just the right colour. Then lots of scribbly machine stitching added more texture and colour. I hand embroidered their little legs and feet. I set them in embroidery hoops- a 6″, a 5″ and a few little 4″ ones, just the right size to hang on the Christmas tree!

I was really pleased with them and plan to make lots more for Christmas. Here are a few  of my favourites so far:

five 4 inch robin hoops 040

five 4 inch robin hoops 044

robins, butterflies, etc 064

4inch robin hoops for etsy 050

4inch robin hoops for etsy 033

4inch robin hoops for etsy 054

4inch robin hoops for etsy 083

4inch robin hoops for etsy 116

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Robin Drawings.

My sketchbook has been filling up with drawings of robins recently, which will be used as inspiration for some robin embroideries. This is my favourite way of working now- scribbly drawings first, then echo the colours, marks and line of the drawing in fabric and stitch. It was important to get the colours right- so many depictions of robins at Christmas time show them with dark brown backs and scarlet red breasts, but they are really more orange and grey than red and brown.

At this time of year, robins seem to be everywhere- as soon as you step outside, their song fills the air- little bright beads of sound. They look so cute but are actually tough little birds, and fiercely territorial. I`m sitting at the kitchen table while writing this and I can see a robin bossing the sparrows about on the bird table.

Here are a few of my favourite robin drawings so far:

robin on stump 006

three robin drawings 007

robin, front facing 005

robin and bullfinch 007

robin drawings 007

robin drawings 011

robin drawings 017

robin drawings 014 This one is my favourite!

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Embroidery Hoops.

Hello again to my poor neglected blog! Here we are in October already, the summer flew past and now it`s Autumn with Christmas fast approaching. It has been a very busy Summer for me and a creatively satisfying one. I really feel happy with my work now and I`ve settled into a style that marries four things I love; sewing, drawing, nature and vintage fabrics. I also finally embraced the wonders of Facebook a few months ago and have built up a wonderful network of supportive people and customers. So although my blog posts have become rather few and far between, I post on Facebook daily with news, previews, sketches and finished work. My Etsy sales have become steady too, and having the Etsy shop has really helped me focus on the style and look of my work.

I`ve been setting little stitched pieces in embroidery hoops quite a lot recently. Customers like them because they can buy a little piece of textile art that is ready to hang, and I really enjoy working within a circle. There is something quite satisfying about a circle, and I like the way a motif from a  piece of vintage fabric becomes focused and can frame a little stitched creature. They remind me a bit of vintage plates hanging on the wall, and have become quite popular, I`ve had lots of sales and a few commissions for them. These are some of my favourites:

bee embroidery 19th august 028

3 hoops for etsy 012

3 hoops for etsy 019

blackbird on branch 034

blackbird square pose 008

blackbird 7 inch hoop 013I love blackbirds!

stock for etsy 6th sept 056

5 inch bee hoop 011

bee embroidery 9th august 017

ladybird brooches 015

little bee embroidery 008

bee brooches and hoops for etsy 056

Bees and butterflies were very popular over the summer. I want to work on lots of more birds over Autumn and winter and maybe some mammals (I`ve had an order for a hedgehog!). My focus over the next couple of weeks will be robins, I`ve got some lovely old linens and muted furnishing fabrics for backgrounds and some tiny 4″ hoops that would be just the right size to hang on the Christmas tree… I`ve had lots of lovely comments for my drawings too, so my next few bird drawings won`t be in my sketchbook, but for sale in my Etsy shop!

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Filed under bees, birds, butterflies, drawing, embroidery, embroidery hoops, ladybirds, machine embroidery, online shop, recycled fabrics, stitched birds, vintage fabric