Cushion the Blow

A good seller in the shop this week has been cushions that I've stitched up with my screen prints on. For me this is great as I'm getting my art work straight into peoples homes and keeping them comfy too haha. I had a good day of sewing yesterday so here are a few more I've made and some cheeky extra bits.

The Zebra repeat is a one off print I created about a year ago and I've been wondering what to do with the fabric for ages. I'd made the screen for a PrintHaus open day and had made a cushion for my friend Neil using a similar effect. It's so simple to do as you just line up the diferent colour inks on either side of the screen and pull them across with the squeegee at the same time. It creates a blend of the shades in the middle. I went for the classic pink and purple and cacked the pillow with a pink polka dot!

I made a space print cushion for our living room when I moved in with the boy and love it so thought I would make some up for others to enjoy too as it always gets compliments ;) It's backed with a cyan blue fabric with black polka dots, I'm loving spots haha! The main print is navy and has a light blue pixilated cloudy pattern underneath. Hmm I did make a couple of musical cushions on the pink polka dot fabric with trumpets and guitars from the last Snapped Up open day but forgot to take pictures! Will have to grab some tomorrow before we open.

Ah I'm glad I did manage to grab a photo of the jean's I revamped with some heart shaped knee patches and also a printed patch to the back pocket. Eep it's cool to say this -they're available in the shop!!

 

Craftster Swap

I use a crafting forum called Craftster on a regular basis, I mainly like looking at all the things everyone has been making but it also hosts a huge amount of tutorials and nifty 'how to's'.

One of the girls I chat to about screen printing and embroidery asked if I would be interested in making some work to swap. What a fun idea huh! So I can finally share what we've both done as everyone has received their surprise packages!

This is the package I sent to sheepBlue; two screenprinted and embroidered hooplas a screen printed handmade tote bag and some mesh for making your own silkscreens.

I made a tote bag with some polka dot handles using fabric I printed with a lion repeat. Its an old drawing but I like the effect of the repeat.

 

 

The space hoopla is very similar to the last one I did, although I used a purple print on the line work instead of navy, there had also been a second layer of colour print in my original one as I'd mixed in some halftone texture that we had on another screen in a light blue. I wanted to try and give it a more 1970's feel with psychedelic rainbow colours =) 

Mr Zebra hoopla was just a bit of fun really. It's only a 3 or 4" hoop, so really small, I had a few scraps of the zebra repeat after making a knitting tidy for my mum ages ago. (I posted about it on Craftster). So I decided just to do some fun fill stitches into the zebra and a bit of scallopping too.

It was my first attempt at putting a felt backing on the hoops. It's not quite perfect for my liking but not the worst thing either.

sheepBlue loved her package, I'm super happy as mine was pretty awesome too! You should definitely look at her blog and Esty shop. I bought cat cards from her in the past that are a beautiful print.

Here are my beautiful gifts! A stunning printed embroidered flamingo print hoopla and some brillliant jaw bone printed pillowcases. You can read more about how she made the pillows here. She's a nutter and did each print indvidually, but she's working from home rather than having a studio so big ups to home diy crafts!

 

 

 

So I will end this post with something special as it's a long one and I'm impressed you're still reading =) Thanks to Lulu from A Vintage Daydream for this one! I can't wait to see my gift!!

What's going down:

The first three people to comment on this post will receive a little gift - something personal from me to you.

Within 2 months I'll create something unique to share with the first three people to comment on this post.

But in order to receive your present you have to play along.

Spread the love on your own blog promising to send a little special something to the first three people who comment on your post. You get 72 hours to re-post, or I'll have to move on to the next person. Please only comment if you're willing to pay it forward. If you want to receive something unique from me in the mail and if you are willing to do the same for others, leave a comment below!

Please leave your email address so that I can contact you directly! And blog URL so that I and others can visit your blog! Again, I want to emphasize that please only comment if you're willing to pay it forward. Nobody likes a taker.

Who's down for paying it forward craft style?

A Very Early Birthday Present and some Embroidery.

My friend Charlotte had posted a link to a beautiful sewing machine and I had lusty thoughts at once. As it's a big *cough* birthday next month my lovely boyfriend has been an absolute star and has bought it for me! It turned up Thursday and it's just as beautiful in person!

Please meet the Singer 160!

                               

This is what the Singer website says ....

"Timeless Style and Modern Innovation. Introducing The SINGER 160™ limited edition sewing machine. Created to commemorate the SINGER® brand’s 160 year anniversary by taking design cues from the past while introducing our simplest and most easy to use machine available"

So far I've found it a graceful machine to use, it purrs along and I'm enjoying using it. The main thing I like is that there is an automatic tension setting and also a large bed so I'll be able to sew bigger things with far more ease. Top loading bobbin, my Janome has the same and I love it as a feature, saves so much time when threading up. It has an auto threading feature but i don't really need to use it.

There's a pop out draw in the end of the base which is quite novel, although its just one big space so I might have to make some dividers to keep my bobbins separate. Kinda feels like I'm gonna break it when I open it, but that's just me I think! New machine nerves ha ha

The big base slides off easily; there's a release button on the back. This is so I can sew sleeves and trouser hem's.

Sorry for the poor photo but I wanted to show you how cool the LED looks :) really easy to select the different stitch types and there are two different button hole options I can use.

Here's a selection of some of the stitches :) I think I'm gonna be using the scalloped edge on some collars and borders very soon! I also really like the wiggly lines and stars. There's a blind hem stitch and foot as well that's really useful.

Its a large beast of a machine (in a good way) and I'm very impressed with it. Thank you Thom!

I've had my Janome since I was 21. My Grandma bought it for me and I've nevr looked back. I'm definitely keeping it for my back up and talking out and about machine. It could do with a slight tune up but a good solid machine and my overlocker's great too. At the moment i feel like i'm cheating on it, haha sewing machine guilt.... we've just been through so much together!

Anyway hopefully I haven't bored you with all that jibber jabber. So here's a hoopla I've worked on this week. I've used a mixture of screen print and embroidery. Stitch wise I've used a split stitch on the shuttle, french knots for craters on the moon and some satin stitches.

Oh and today is a very good day as the cat we thought was sat on the kitchen table this morning after 4 1/2 weeks of walkabout! Go Zorro!