Monday, March 30, 2009

Doodle Stitching...

My newfound obsession with embroidery sent me on a hunt for a beginner's guide with patterns and samples that actually appealed to my aesthetic. Amidst a sea of tired old flowers on embroidery hoops, Aimee Ray's Doodle Stitching, proved to offer a delightful angle on this timeless craft.

I was first drawn to the whimsical design on the cover and found each pattern included to be cuter than the next. Additionally, her instructions are easy to follow, with helpful diagrams every step of the way.

Tonight I spent the evening making the "Wooden Pincushion" which is something I actually really needed. Since I'm still building my embroidery floss arsenal, I had to take a little creative license on the colors, using pink instead of light brown. This unfortunately (or fortunately), led to my pincushion looking like some sort of weird dessert cake rather than a tree stump.

I do still consider this endeavor to be a success. I now have a functional pincushion which will come in handy as I continue my love affair with embroidery.

For more info on Aimee Ray and Doodle Stitching please visit http://www.dreamfollow.com!

6 comments:

Kate said...

That's lovely! You know about this embroidery outfit, right?

christina said...

I do! In fact, I recognized the cute little critters you used for Nico's Christmas pillow!

PS - I'd love to get together with you and Mark some time as my husband has been asking me how about your garden and I simply don't know how to answer him!

I'm going to refer him to your blog as a primer ;)

nikkol said...

LOL - i totally thought it was a delicious cupcake design. either way, tis awesome!

i need to start crafting more. i'd like to learn knitting and/or crocheting but i think i would actually like embroidery more. my step-mom made me an *amazing* pillowcase with flowers and butterflies, oh my!

Kate said...

You'd better start soon if you want a garden this year! What are you doing this weekend? I know W keeps weird hours, but if you're free we're down for getting together.

christina said...

N - I was really intimidated by embroidery for a long time, but once I tried it out, I was amazed at how fun and easy it is. Not only that, it's probably the most inexpensive craft out there. Skeins of embroidery floss are like 30 cents each and you can use any old fabric you have around your house! The big investment is the embroidery hoop - which is like $1.99.

I was inspired by this tutorial at CraftStylish (my favorite website ever - and now I'm a runaway train!

nikkol said...

sweet! cheap is right up my alley! thanks for the tips :)

LOL - train of thought....