DIY Union Jack Pillow

This DIY Union Jack Pillow was inspired by all the amazing designers from across the pond that I have been covering on my blog over the last few months. Yay for the UK ! I finished it just in time to post it for this fun plastic canvas blog hop that Diane Gilleland of CraftyPod has arranged. You can view the other projects that designers have created at the bottom of this post. There are some really fabulous projects! But for now, let’s get you started on this one.

The materials that you will need for this project:

• 3 sheets of  10.5″ x 13.5″ plastic canvas size 7 count
• 6 balls of sugar ‘n cream yarn, 2 of each color (this will be more than enough) I used hot blue, white and red but you can vary colors as your creativity dictates.
• tapestry needle size 16
• sharp scissors
• sharpie permanent markers (different colors helps )
• graph paper and pencil to sketch/ work out patterns before transferring them to the canvas
• 1 20 ounce bag of polyester fiber fill

Step 1:

• Leave 2 sheets of canvas as is.
• Cut the third sheet into 2 strips of 16 holes x  70 holes and two strips 16 holes x 90 holes.

Step 2:

• To layout the design onto the plastic canvas first practice on graph paper and then carefully transfer to the pc using a sharpie permanent marker. Some stitchers use different colored markers to represent the different colored thread. 
• First find the center point of the canvas and work outwards carefully counting out the pattern and marking it onto the canvas with your marker. Below are graphs for reference of the Union Jack and a repeat pattern that I used for the backside of the pillow

  

Step 3:

Mark out the striped pattern for your sides. I alternated blue and red with a single white line seperating them. The red and blue stripes are each 9 stitches wide.

Step 4:

Needlepoint!

Step 5:

Whipstitch the edges together leaving one end opened to stuff.

Step 6:

Stuff!

Finally, whipstich the pillow closed. Finished!

http://lm.inlinkz.com/ar.php?id=55009

Plastic Canvas Blog Hop

Two weeks of fun free plastic canvas projects ! Check out Claire’s handy gift tag post today and keep checking back for more as the days progress. Gotta go because I am still working on mine and short on time!

• May 6: Claire, The Bellwether
• May 7: Lorna Watt, Knits for Life
• May 8:Amy Johnson, Maker Mama
• May 9: Erin Currie, Seamstress Erin
• May 10: Carolina Moore, 30 Minute Crafts
• May 13: Cathy Attix, Trinkets in Bloom
• May 14: Jenny Henry, Jenny Henry Designs
• May 15: Janet Perry, Nuts About Needlepoint
• May 16: Pam Harris, Gingerbread Snowflakes
• May 17: Diane Gilleland, Crafty Pod

Ehrman Tapestry

Ehrman Tapestry has been creating, “Imaginative and Stylish Needlepoint Kits for Over 30 Years”. Over Easter break while visiting with my folks in Chestertown, Maryland I popped into Ehrman Tapestry’s US business headquarters. This is an office space only and not open to pedestrians so it was an absolute gift to get in and be able to chat with Laura about the business. It is a busy place where they field all US orders and inquiries. The space itself despite being all business and no retail is loaded with beautiful canvases strewn about and pinned to walls all over for reference. I snapped a picture of this tapestry above. The design is by Kaffe Fasset and is of a canal street in Lyon. This lovely wall hanging is part of a limited edition series and is fully stitched and ready to hang on your wall. Buy it here. The creation canvases pinned to the wall below are part of a stunning series by designer Alex Beattie where he interprets each day of creation into a beautiful needlepoint canvas. You can buy these here.

I had a million questions but for the sake of keeping this post readable I am going to stick to the basics. So, how did Hugh Ehrman get drawn into the needlework biz anyway? He responds to this so eloquently via email from his London  headquarters.

Hugh:

I worked for a time at Vogue in London where I became interested in British crafts. I had always intended to open a shop and British crafts became the focus. We stocked work by a number of leading designers one of whom was Kaffe Fassett. I met Kaffe when I was at Vogue and he talked us into doing a needlepoint kit. I had never heard of a needlepoint kit but we were looking for a manufactured product to balance the one-off pieces in the shop and Kaffe’s embroidery kit fitted the bill. We marketed it by mail order and it was a great success. The next two were less successful but we stuck with it and after a year the kits settled into a regular business. I ran the company in those days with my brother Richard and we decided to focus on the needlepoint kits for two main reasons. There were never going to be enough needlepoint stitchers to open a chain of shops but Richard realised there were enough up and down the country to support a niche needlework mail order business. We had also discovered that you could sell this product from a picture. That appealed particularly to me as my background was visual and I had been connected with photographers from my time at Vogue. Another successful part of our shop was fashion jewellery and we considered going that route. The fact that we were already producing needlepoint kits was the deciding factor as well as the fact that we enjoyed working with Kaffe – particularly his sense of humour. So that was how I got started in this business and like a lot of start ups it was as much serendipity as careful business planning. Two years later we branched into knitting kits again with Kaffe who had discovered  a new yarn company called Rowan who were happy to produce his yarns.

And just who is Kaffe Fassett? When I think of needlepoint icons, a handful of names come to mind and Kaffe is definitely at the top of that list. He has written numerous books on the topics and hosts workshops worldwide. You can learn more about Kaffe here. Meanwhile, here is a close up of one of his rug designs printed onto canvas that measures 8 holes per inch which will stitch up delightfully quick. Kaffe’s work represents its own genre in needlepoint design. He really embraces the graphic elements of a needlepoint canvas so that when his designs are complete they almost seem to shimmer. Each color has been thoughtfully placed with great consideration to color and composition. There is a pleasant timelessness to his work as well as a cohesive thread (pun intended) that ties together his earliest work with his more recent designs.

The process of creating the Ehrman Needlepoint kits themselves is particularly intriguing. In a world where fewer and fewer things are being created by hand it is refreshing to see a company that holds true to the old way of doing things. Canvases are printed through an intensive many stepped process that employs the work of skilled artisans and wools are created by combining wool from two different areas Australia (for smoothness) and the Falkland Islands (for durability). Once the raw wool is gathered and processed it is  sent off to Yorkshire England where it is spun and processed some more and then finally dyed into a wide range of colors to match the Ehrman color palette which is extensive. The hand printed canvases are then matched up with their coordinating wool which are  cut and bundled by humans (not machines) . All this to create one glorious kit for you to stitch.

Please take some time to peruse their website here. An Ehrman tapestry kit would make a great mother’s day gift!

Intro to Needlepoint this weekend

Reblogged from Baltimore Threadquarters:

Class includes a kit to make 4 needlepoint coasters. Instructor Jenny Henry will tech you the skills to make the entire kit.

Claire Brown

Claire Brown, founder, designer and maker at The Bellwether (formerly known as Miso Funky) has been around since 2005 designing cross stitch homewares and accessories for the modern age, as well as producing kits and patterns. She is also co-founder of the UK’s most popular kawaii blog, Super Cute Kawaii. I have not met Claire in person but have had such fun corresponding with her over email. I can get a sense of her whimsy and her passion for making the old craft of cross stitch new again and accessible to all.

It was great fun and a privilege to get to “chat” with Claire about her work. I hope you will enjoy reading our conversation:

Jenny: I am really excited to talk with you about your work. I am not really sure where to start . . .it appears you have been a strong force in the craft movement over in Glasgow with your start of the Miso Funky Market. That is pretty awesome on its own. Add to that your wonderfully curated website of fiber art wares and kits, your ingenious wood blanks and stitchable iphone cases and then as if all this was not enough this is on top of your day job working in tv. Wow! So, let’s just jump right in.

Jenny: What reaction with your work/ samplers are trying to evoke?

Claire: The main thing I want people to do when they see my work is smile or let out a little chortle. I love going to craft shows to exhibit my work and see people approach with a neutral face and then as they read the slogans and “get it”, see them giggle and smile. Only very rarely do people take offence – I can count the number of times I’ve had a bad reaction on one hand, over the past 8 years.

Jenny: As the craft/ needlework pendulum swings away from “twee” where does “kawaii” fit in? 

 

Claire: I think kawaii has its place in craft – everyone is looking for something a bit different, and cute stuff with a Japanese vibe is certainly that. I have always had a love of kawaii – food with faces are my particular favourite! It’s an area I haven’t really designed anything in yet, but I have just produced a tutorial which will be going live in April that has a kawaii theme  (I also write tutorials here: https://craft.tutsplus.com/). Writing at Super Cute Kawaii gives me an outlet to share all the kawaii things I admire and is a nice change from cross stitch.

Jenny: When I think of the craft of today, I tend to think of this wonderful fusion of age old technique and the modern art movement. Today’s crafters often incorporate a political edge or some sort of statement alongside of its well executed craft medium of choice. Your’s are literally statements ie. “now wash your hands”  and a few others that are a little too racey for me too mention in my blog (but for the record, I love!) What would you say your overall message is?

 

Claire: My overall message is that craft is for anyone at all. I really try to keep all my kits simple and written in plain terms to make them as accessible as possible. I don’t adhere to the traditional rules of cross stitch – instead, I make it as easy for people to get results as I can. I believe that will let people who are put off by the staid image of cross stitch get involved and get hooked!

Jenny: As you you continue to develop your body of work and products what are some of the mantras that you want to hold onto or explore further?

Claire: Simplicity is the key word for me – I want to keep my designs simple but quirky, going forwards. Sometimes I think that other designers probably think I’m a one-trick pony and all I can do is design slogans! I want to keep the bulk of my designs to the point and easy and quick to do, but I do have more elaborate designs in the works. My goals for the coming years are to write a book and stitch an album cover, poster for a band or book cover.

Jenny: And what is your motivation? Why are you so driven to bring together other like minded indie crafters to the market and to transform what we currently see in houseware design? I mean I get it, I’ve got the same bug, but I am just curious what drives you.

Claire: Jenny, I WISH I knew the answer to this!  This is actually something I have struggled with last year – I totally lost my motivation and really seriously considered giving up. I think I was in a rut and I’d been wanting to change the name of the business for a while to something more fitting and I think it was a major stumbling block for me. But I think now I can move on, I am looking forwards to being innovative again – seeing what’s out there and looking for the thing that’s missing and then using that to inspire me to create.

Jenny: Do you often team up and do collaboration projects?

Claire: I really enjoyed the collaborations I did last year and I hope to do some more this year. I’m always interested in working with other people – it’s inspiring to see how they work and see things from other points of view. I am currently working on a tutorial with an American illustrator which will hopefully be released in April but I’m always open to suggestions!

Thanks for the chat Claire! It was so fun getting to know you better! To pick up your own nifty sampler kit head over to her shop here.

some needlepoint basics

There are a lot of rules out there when it comes to needlepoint. Some of them will serve you well while others, well you will just have to determine what is right for you. I have a pretty layed back attitude when it comes to my needlework. For instance I never use stretcher bars. Some stitchers swear by these but for me I usually have a million projects going at the same time so I just roll them up and stuff them in my craft tote. I also experiment with a variety of fibers and canvases. They range from very costly to dirt cheap. There are so many good blogs out there that can teach you the right way to needlepoint. My aim is to take a fresh approach. I am still learning myself but I figured I would share some handy tips for those of you just starting out in needlepoint.

First, learn how to make a waste knot. Then move on to trying out these next two stitches:

If you don’t know the basketweave stitch yet it is a great one to have in your stitching arsenal. It is pretty versatile. You could use it to fill in background areas or you could stitch your entire piece with this.

The continental stitch is super handy for outlines or anywhere where there are straight stretches to stitch.

Practice! I have a fun post coming up where you can test out your skills or try this earlier project.

Louche London

ModCloth is one of my new favorite clothing retailers. Imagine my delight when I spotted these charming needlepoint cushions on their site. About the cushions, ModCloth writes, “This UK-based brand creates pieces that use playful details and a retro-meets-modern aesthetic to celebrate the quirky, independent spirit of women who are not afraid to be themselves. This accent’s vibrant, velvety backing is contrasted by a charmingly needlepointed face with a pretty kitty that sports a bright blue bow, lush lashes, and, of course, some fabulous cat-eye frames! Envision this petite cushion upon your sharp vintage sofa or low-slung side chair, and you’ll see why its chic style is such a spectacle. Quirky and cute, this cat pillow is quite a sight to behold!”

Louche is the brand responsible for these fresh and quirky needlepoint lovlies. Hop on over to ModCloth to pick yours up before they are gone. The kitty is already sold out.