Tag Archives: bees

October 27, 2013 · 7:38 pm

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.Three brooches for my Etsy shop.

I 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.

This 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.

Another pair of bees stitched onto a remnant of vintage linen.

I 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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Filed under bees, embroidered brooches, embroidery hoops

Tagged as bee brooches, bee embroideries, bees, bumble bees, embroidered bees, embroidery hoop art

June 11, 2013 · 3:44 pm

Ten More Bumble Bees.

Just finished ten more bumble bee brooches. I like to make them in small batches because there are so many layers and stages to complete in each brooch, it`s so satisfying when I finish the last one!

I used discarded furnishing fabric samples for the backgrounds of these bees. I like the earthy tones and chunky weaves. I only had a tiny piece of each fabric, just enough for one brooch, which makes each one unique.

I used this black and white print for the backs of this batch. I don`t use a badge maker, but carefully finish each brooch by hand and I like to choose pretty coordinating fabrics for the backs.

Five more bee brooches have been added to my Etsy shop!

Mollie Makes Mention!

My bumble bee brooches have been featured in this month`s Mollie Makes, my first magazine mention! I`m a big fan of Mollie Makes, so it`s very exciting. Got started on another batch of bumble bees this morning!

Mini Embroideries.

Three little embroideries set in mini embroidery hoops, freshly listed on my Etsy shop. Two butterflies and a bumble bee.

I really like the soft, muted colours of this vintage linen.

I deliberately chose this piece of fabric so the bee looks like it`s crawling over daisies.

This little piece of fabric reminded me of a cottage garden.

I set my daisy embroideries into hoops too and I think they work quite well. I backed the embroideries with natural calico, with a thin layer of wadding in between. The fabric at the back was carefully snipped away and I decided to brush a thin coat of PVA glue onto the edges to prevent fraying and set the fabric into the frame. I`ll definately do a few more of these, in various sizes, perhaps birds next!

Another Batch of Bumbles and Butterflies.

Last week it was all about bees and butterflies again as I concentrated on finishing some more brooches and lavender hearts. I also had a commission for some bee sketches from a nice lady via my Etsy shop.

The drawings gave me a chance to look closely at bumble bees again and inspired a few more brooches.

Two new bumble bee lavender hearts. I chose pale vintage linen so that the bees really stood out.

I love the colours in this butterfly, my favourite brooch from the latest batch!

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Filed under bees, bumble bee lavender hearts, butterflies, butterfly lavender hearts, drawing, embroidered brooches, embroidery, inspiration, machine embroidery, vintage fabric

Tagged as Agnes and Cora, bees, bumble bee drawings, bumble bee lavender hearts, bumble bees, butterflies, butterfly brooch, butterfly lavender hearts, embroidered butterflies, lavender, lavender bags, lavender hearts, vintage fabric

April 12, 2013 · 9:17 pm

More Bumble Bees…

I`ve just spent the last couple of days making some more bumble bees brooches and I`m really pleased with the results. I used the drawings I did last year for inspiration again, but I let these ones ‘evolve’ as they were being made which means that they are all slightly different. They really seemed to come ‘alive’ when I embroidered their little legs, I took care over the angle of their legs to try and suggest movement and to give them a sketched feel. I really love their textures, I think the layers of fabric scraps and stitching give them a lovely furry look. It`s been such a cold Spring so far that I haven`t spotted any bumble bees in the garden yet, but I`m looking forward to seeing them soon.

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Filed under bees, drawing, embroidered brooches, hand embroidery, machine embroidery, recycled fabrics

Tagged as bee brooch, bees, bumble bee brooch, bumble bees, cottage chic, embroidered bees, fabric brooch, recycled fabrics, stitched bees

May 12, 2012 · 6:36 pm

Bumble Bees.

I`m very lucky to have a sewing room, but it faces to the front of the house, so if I have hand sewing to finish, I`ll usually take it through to the kitchen table so I can look out to the garden. Quite often in Spring there will be a gentle tap (or bump) at the window and it will be a newly emerged bumble bee, trying to get to the jug of flowers on the window sill.

I think bumble bees are gorgeous, so fat and furry you just want to stroke them! They are the first bees to emerge in Spring and a sure sign that Winter is over.

I`d been thinking about bees this week, after having a dream that I made some pin cushions with busy bees on them. I wanted to have a go at stitching some bees, using the same layered technique I`ve been using for my heart brooches.

This was my first attempt:

It wasn`t quite right, so I decided to sketch some bees in the garden on the one sunny afternoon we had this week.

I love sketching animals from life, such a nice free and scribbly way to draw. I really should make time for more drawing, I enjoyed scribbling these little bees.

Then I did a couple of embroideries straight from the drawings. These were much better. I`m pleased with them, I think they look quite life-like, but with the same loose, sketchy feel.

I`m not sure what I`m going to do with them yet, perhaps they could be details on cushions, but I`m feeling inspired to carry on with this way of working- maybe birds will be my next project…

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Filed under bees, drawing, embroidery

Tagged as bees, bumble bees, embroidery

Tag Archives: bees

Back to Bumbles.

Ten More Bumble Bees.

Mollie Makes Mention!

Mini Embroideries.

Another Batch of Bumbles and Butterflies.

More Bumble Bees…

Bumble Bees.

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