Thursday, March 21, 2013

Embroidery Edge Stitching


Lately I have been discovering how useful blanket stitching is.  However it also led me to wanting more than just blanket stitching as a decorative edge stitching.    Below is a pictorial depiction of a number of edge stitches.  Generally these are classified under Embroidery Stitches however in today's increasingly popular mix media world, these stitches are extremely useful for more than just embroidery.
blanket stitch and edge stitches
Credit: http://www.duitang.com/people/mblog/42277457/detail/?next=34484822

How to Felt a Bird

How to Needle Felt a Birdie

CH0305A
Needle felting is fun.  It is like drawing in 3D.  These are some basic steps from the transformation of a need, the bird-ing of an idea, and the felting of a wooly mix media felted bird.
idea for a felted bird
Basis of idea for felted bird

I wanted a little birdie on my mix media artwork (to be shown later when complete).  So I thought about felting a birding.  I found the image above (sorry, I can't exactly remember where.  Mr Google might know). And thought it looked pretty much like the birdie I would want on my art piece.  So on to how to felt the bird.

Friday, March 1, 2013

DIY Birds Cushion

Today we will have a quick whizz at a DIY cushion - the "Birds" cushion.

how to make a birds cushion
"Birds" cushion (CH0304)
In the last 2 posts, I talked about how to make a Kenbo-san cushion and then how to make a cousin Gustave cushion.  Today we will go into a more traditionally shaped cushion - the Square!  But I wanted something that was more in keeping with Kenbo and Gustave than just the run of the mill cushion. And I really wanted a cushion cover - that can be removed, changed, washed.  (Kenbo & Gustave will have to face the dry cleaners at some stage in the future.)

So lets have a peek at how the quirky family looks together ...

How to make Gustave cushion

Yesterday I got to talk about how to make the Kenbo-san cushion.  Today lets talk about another quirky addition - let's talk about how to make the Gustave cushion.

how to make a quirky cushion
How to make Gustave (CH0303)

First let me introduce you to Gustave - or rather I should say, cousin Gustave as he is cousin to Kenbo-san cushion. Then we will go on to how to make a Gustave cushion.