In Progress Apron

In progress: Apron. I'm in the middle of a floral landscape on the pocket. I expect that it will be cool! But, alas, it is past midnight here and time for bed. * Yawn *

Embroidered floral scene

Nighty-Night!!

Embroidered Tunic

Is it true that I haven't posted anything in 9 days??? Jeez, I guess that's what Easter and spring break do to a person...I have lost all track of time. Anyway......

The inspiration: This photo is fuzzy, this is what happens when I try to photograph my inspirations with a camera phone while walking three dogs :)

Spring flowers

See those cute pink flowers? I have so many ideas revolving around flowers right now. 

The embroidery: I found this High Sierra tunic at the Salvation Army. I love the gauzy, wrinkly look of this blouse. And I thought the floral cutout detail was just perfect. 

Embroidered tunic

Embroidered tunic

Embroidered tunic

Embroidered tunic

Embroidered tunic  

Embroidered tunic

Embroidered tunic

I hand embroidered all of this freestyle, no pattern at all. I used a fern stitch for the flower "stems" and a lazy daisy for all of the flowers, in two layers. I first did an 8 petal daisy in pink then went back and did smaller petals in between the longer ones in variegated pink. I'm only sorry that this tunic doesn't fit me or I would be wearing it right now.

Día de los Muertos Inspired Blazer

Well, I was actually inspired by Jenny Hart's embroidery design. I explained it here. I love most things Mexican and Latin inspired (minus the drug wars. I wish that would stop so I could feel safe travelling there in my Jezebel). I love the bright colors and the feeling that everything is a celebration. I'll tell ya, living here in Central California, in an agricultural town, there is a lot of Latin-ness here. Some of my neighbors seem to always be barbequeing out in the front yard and having get-togethers with friends and family, playing loud music, and the mood just seems so happy. I inserted a bit of happy below. Antonio Banderas is extra hot here :)





Anyway, back to the embroidery. Here is what I ended up with!

Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, Inspired Embroidered Blazer

 Yep, this is me. Although my house is in a "regular" neighborhood, these fields are what I have at each end of my street. And everywhere else when I leave my little town to go anywhere. I love it :-D

Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, Inspired Embroidered Blazer

Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, Inspired Embroidered Blazer

Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, Inspired Embroidered Blazer

I modeled this wearing jeans but I think it would look fabulous over a skirt or dress as well. Let's face it, I am a cardi girl. I don't do blazers. I also don't do shoes a lot of the times. So this beauty is hanging out in my Etsy store.

Kitchen Scrubbie

The inspiration: Not having stinky dish scrubbies

I quit using a sponge a while ago. The sponge gets yucky fairly quickly and I certainly don't like wasting money by throwing them away every time they begin to stink. I made some crocheted scrubbies, which I love, and thought I would try my hand at sewing some.

The embroidery:

I made my own scrubbie with an old towel. Here is how I did it.

• I used my hand to gauge how large I wanted the square to be. I folded the towel over and cut the square X2. 

Green Scrubbie

Then I fixed myself a martini. 

Dry Martini

Then I got Beethoven's help. He watched while I drew (actually, copied from the internet) a shamrock, in honor of St Patty's day and because my towel is green.

Green Scrubbie

  I used a zig-zag stitch to machine embroider the shamrock to the towel.

Green Scrubbie

When you go around the corners, make sure the needle is all the way down through the fabric. Then lift the machine foot and move the fabric to point it in the right direction again. Sew slowly so you don't overshoot your corners! Once I had the shamrock attached, I used a straight stitch to sew both sides together. Now I have a festive, durable new dish scrubbie!