Rebecca Sower

fun with letters

It's been a while since I've walked down the scrapbooking aisle at the craft store.  A lot has changed and a lot has remained the same.  It's all good.  I picked up a few things that I liked.  But, just like back in the day, when I went to use them I couldn't help myself from adding some handmade touches.

I liked these cardstock alphas and thought they'd be fun to use in one of my journal projects.  Lots of color and great fonts.  And to make them more 'mine' I pulled out my box of paint pens, put on some good music and started doodling (before I punched the letters out, much easier)...

And after some relaxing, sketching, playing time I have a stack of colorful, store-bought/handmade letters to use when I need them.

With plans to do more...lots more!

May you find peace and joy in this day.  Love!

 

free-motion flower stitch tutorial

I've been stitching some free-motion flowers for journals in progress.  And thought I would share the steps for those who might be interested...

The first couple of steps involve setting up your machine.  As far as I know, you have to have a machine foot that looks something like the one above.  It has an open stitching area and a spring thingie.  Mine is called an open toe free motion spring foot (they use them for free-motion quilting).  OR you can use the original free-motion process known as hand-stitching!

Set your machine stitch length (and width) to 0.  Drop the feed dogs too, that's important.

I'm using heavy canvas cloth; if you're using something lighter weight you will want to back it with interfacing or stabilizer. 

Decide where you want your flower's center to be.  You can mark it if you want, but you won't be stitching the center.  You're only stitching the 8 petals that will circle the center point.  For Petal #1, pin a scrap of fabric that's slightly longer than you want your petal to be, as shown above.

Go to your machine and begin stitching at the point of Petal #1.  If you aren't familiar with free-motion stitching you should know that you are controlling all movement of the fabric.  It's drawing with thread and machine, that's the only way to really describe it.  You can 'draw' one line of stitching or you can go around it a second time like I've done.

Your next step will be to remove the piece from your machine and, using sharp pointy scissors, trim around the outside of your stitch lines like so.

Now, this is important...If you want your petals to be remotely evenly spaced (it's fine if you don't!), Petal #2 should be stitched directly across from Petal #1 like above.  Make sense?

So now we have two petals stitched across from one another, and you're ready to cut around Petal #2.

Petal #3 will be stitched perpendicular to Petals #1 and #2.  See above?

So there's Petal #3 stitched and trimmed, and then you'll stitch Petal #4 directly across from #3 (like we did #1 and #2).

When you get to Petal #5, pin your fabric where it's centered between the petals on each side.  As you stitch, just keep an eye on those two other petals and know you'll want to be approximately centered between them.

You'll stitch #6 directly across from #5 and so on...

Continue to pin, stitch, trim until you get to that magical moment where you realize you've just finished Petal #8!

If you'd like, you can rough up the edges to make them fray a bit, like I did here...

And, other than stitching a button in the center if you'd like, you've just made a pretty free-motion flower.

Thanks for following along!

love series, session 3

"May you seek after treasures of precious gold

and find them within the hearts of others."

{ mary summer rain }

 

The above embroidery pattern is from pages 1 and 6 on my 50 Hearts embroidery PDF.

love series, session 2

"The first duty of love

is to listen."

{ paul tillich }

Here I stitched a simple heart design onto scrap of old sweater, stitched that to a scrap of vintage linen, then stitched that to a shipping tag.  Then tied the tag to an old bottle with ribbon and an antique key.  This heart design is on page 1 of my "50 Hearts" embroidery patterns here.

when the wild winds blow

The winds can sure blow here on the farm.

So much so that the old barn roof is falling off in sheets.

Which is a very serious problem.

Unless you spray them with a little sealer.

And drag them up to your studio and nail them to the wall.

To be the keeper of your old cabinet card photos.

Coming soon:  a new barn roof.

Hmmm, what shall I do with the old one?

HAITI UPDATE:  And speaking of wild winds...

I have been glued to whichever screen will give me the latest updates on Tomas.

Many of you have asked about our girlfriends in Haiti.

I don't know anything as of yet.  The storm is expected to hit Haiti beginning tomorrow (Thursday) and continue through Friday.  Right now, it is unclear whether it will be disastrous or full-blown catastrophic.  Doesn't sound like much to choose from does it?

Will you please join me for the next day or two in keeping track of what is happening with the precious people of Haiti (and Jamaica too)?  I do not know how much more one small third-world nation can endure.  Earthquake, cholera, hurricanes.  Let's all pray, wish, will this storm to calm itself as much as possible before it hits landfall.

I will share news as I hear news.

let's make something

I know I'm not the only one smitten with the scent of lavender.  So calming and invigorating at the same time.  I'm planning to make some lavender pillows (sachets?) for holiday gifts this year.  Thought you might want to make one too.

First we'll need some good fabric to work with.  I'm using an old washed feedsack because I love the weight of the fabric and the fact that it's a great surface for stitching...

The we'll cut two 7" squares...

Then we will head over to our sewing machine and freestyle stitch some circles like so...

Next we'll cut a little heart from an old sweater...

And begin hand-stitching the heart to the front panel...

I'm using a blanket stitch...

After the heart is stitched on we can starting adding some buttons to the circles...

The front panel is finished and now we're ready to start putting it together.  I know I'm going to want to add a chain for hanging, so I'm stitching a couple of ribbon loops into the top seam...

Now we can pin the front panel to the back panel.  Begin stitching the lower edge at one red dot and stitch around to the other red dot.  This leaves an opening for turning...

After we've stitched around, we'll clip the corners...

And turn the whole thing inside out...

Now for the fun part: We will fill the bag to full-ish with lavender buds...

Then we'll hand-stitch the opening closed using a blind stitch...

Add a chain (or ribbon) for hanging, and we're finished!

 

stitching step-by-step

Most of my stitching begins with a blank scrap of linen and a threaded needle, without a plan.  I let the cloth and thread lead me along.  Sometimes good things result and sometimes not so much.  But either way, it's a therapeutic process that's good for my soul.  I'll take you along this time...

I began with some rough French linen and basic white thread.  The first stitches are outline stitches (done in a backstitch by hand) in a sort of leaf/pod shape.

Then I gathered some lovely British wool threads, a little tricky to stitch with but I love the colors and like the organic feel of them.  You can use embroidery threads too of course.

Using the outline stitching as my guide, I began satin-stitching with the first wool thread.

Changing colors as I went along, I finished stitching around the outline stitches.  If you're using embroidery floss you'll likely have smoother stitching, a sort of 'satin' look and feel.

Next I decided to chain stitch around the outer edges of my 'leaves'.  For this step and following, I've switched over to embroidery floss.

Chain outline all finished.

Then I began filling in the centers with old beads and buttons.

And since everything looks better with a little greenery, I began chain-stitching some stems and leaves.

Almost there...

Hmm, is it finished?  I don't know, maybe some seed beads?  Well it's finished for today anyway.

Giveaway News:  Congratulations to Linda for being chosen as the winner of the stitched heart sketchbook.  And THANK YOU for all the birthday wishes!

red thread sessions { part 05 }

This has been a fun series for me.  Thanks to each of you who've followed along and enjoyed this with me.  Here's one last session for you...

{01}  It begins with a plain vintage linen doily...

{02}  Next, cut some basic shapes from quilting fabric that has applique paper ironed on back.  Cut shapes that are simple and will be easy to transform into flower centers.  Use your iron to adhere them onto the doily where you'd like...

{03}  Then use your sewing machine's free-motion foot to 'draw' the flowers onto and over the quilt fabric pieces.  Or if you'd rather, hand-embroidery the flowers...

And now you have a great little piece that can be stitched to a pillow, bag or journal cover.  Or displayed on your wall.  Here's a close-up...

May your day be lovely and good.  Until next time...

red thread sessions { part 04 }

Today we're going to crochet a red thread necklace/bracelet.  But we'll only be using the chain stitch, so if you aren't a crocheter, no worries.

I love making these because they're pretty versatile.  They can be worn as a necklace...

...or as a bracelet...

{01} Gather your materials:  spool of red thread (waxed cotton cord, pearl cotton, nylon cord, something like that); an assortment of beads, and a small crochet hook (I used size E).

{02}  Do not try to measure and cut the thread from the spool.  Just string about 50-60 beads (or bead sets--like the little silver beads) onto the spool.  Note: if it’s easier, you may use a small piece of very thin wire as a ‘needle’ to pull the string through the bead hole (see inset).

{03}  About 6" from thread end tie a slip knot and make 5 chain stitches (here's a link to instructions for chain stitching). 

{04}  Slide the first bead (or bead set) up to the last chain stitch and, while holding the bead snugly in place, chain around it as if the bead isn't there.  You'll want to just keep chaining 5-6 stitches and pull a bead up, chain a few stitches, pull a bead up, etc.

 

{05}  After you pull up your last bead, chain 5 more stitches and fasten off.  Cut thread end 6-8" from last chain.  On each end, tie a small lobster clasp and use a large needle to work the thread ends into the chain stitches.  Dab a little glue on the knots to secure.

  And you're finished!

 

 

red thread sessions { part 03 }

Today we're writing with thread.  This project requires a machine foot that allows you to move the fabric around as freely as you'd like.  If you're a quilter I'm sure you have this attachment.

And I will see you on Monday...happy weekend!