Mermaid Cross Stitch

In addition to the nightgown I sewed Marissa for her birthday, I also made her a cross stitched mermaid picture.

For the past few years, Marissa has liked all things mermaid. Hopefully that still holds true, since I bought her a mermaid card too. Anyway, this year I wanted to cross stitch something for her since I've knit and sewn her multiple things in the past. I figured it was about time she add a cross stitched mermaid to her collection of Courtney-made items. What are sisters for? Side note: for my birthday this year, she sewed an apron for me! Marissa has never really been into sewing before, but I'm excited she's taking an interest in it now.

I wanted this to be a more modern looking mermaid, but I had trouble finding a suitable pattern. So I went rogue, and attempted to write my own. Using graph paper I sketched out a mermaid, and let each square box represent 3 rows and 3 columns. I cross stitched the majority of the mermaid using this rough pattern, until I got to the mermaid's torso. At that point, I lightly penciled in the rest of the mermaid. I realize that this isn't how cross stitching is supposed to be, but it's what worked for me. I had a hard time figuring out how to cross stitch the hair. I wanted the mermaid to have a head full of beautiful flowing hair, which is a lot easier to achieve on paper than it is when you're constricted to square boxes. So continuing my rebellious streak, I used elongated straight stitches to create a head full of hair. It turned out better than it would've had I stuck to traditional cross stitches, but I still wasn't able to achieve that long flowing hair I imagined.

I thought the mermaid needed more texture. So, to add some pop, I added a tiny flower to her hair. To the mermaid's bust, I added back stitches to create a simple seashell pattern. I also wanted to mimic the look of scales on her tail, and so I used more back stitches here. I think these little details added a lot of depth to the overall picture, and I'm really glad I took the time to do this. 

In my mind, the rock is significantly smaller in relation to the mermaid, but I rolled with it and made it work by adding boats and a whale on the side. I was hesitant to include them as I thought they would take away from the mermaid, but I think they make the picture a lot better. How cool is that shiny gold boat, by the way?
 
I was intending for the mermaid to fit easily into a 5x7 inch picture frame, but soon realized that wasn't going to be possible. However, it fits wonderfully into an 8.5x11 inch frame. Normally I would've gone with a light brown or white frame, but since her new(!) bedroom has black accents, I stuck with that color scheme.

I'm glad I went ahead and tried making up my own pattern because I had a very specific vision for how I wanted this mermaid to look. For now though, I think I'll stick to published patterns that other people have already created. It's a lot less stressful, and so much more relaxing to work on a tried and true chart. Even though it's not perfect, I hope Marissa enjoys it!

Cross Stitched Knitting Pouch

A few months ago I sewed my first pouch as part of my swap for the Secret Valentine Exchange. Both Lauren and I loved the colors so much that Lauren requested a similar one as part of her Easter basket goodies. We both loved the mint colored linen, and I had just enough to make one more pouch. I bought several yards of this linen a few years ago, and as soon as I had it cut, I remember thinking, "Why am I getting so much of this? I can't think of anything to make out of it.". My how things have changed though. Now that I no longer have any linen left, I want to make everything with it- skirts, tops, more pouches/bags. I do have a dress already cut out in this linen, so hopefully that project works out.

Back to the pouch though. I didn't have any of the light pink cotton left, so I went through our tub of scraps and picked out several other contenders. Out of the various choices, Lauren selected this aqua and black dots fabric for the inside.

She also suggested a cross stitch patch be sewed to the outside of the pouch. Of course she loved the patterns related to knitting, so we picked this little design from the Autumn Sampler. I thought it would be cute to personalize it a tad. Lauren has been knitting a pair of socks on ChiaoGoo circular needles. So, I changed the colors of the cross stitch pattern, making the needle cable red and the socks blue/purple, just like her actual socks in progress.

The trickiest part for me when sewing a pouch is always the zipper ends. On my last pouch I mentioned that I would try this method next time. Well, I started using this tutorial and then I just assumed I knew how to do the rest and stopped following it. Bad idea. I didn't realize the pouch fabric needed to be longer than the zipper, which created multiple problems. I ended up having to unpick the top corner seams countless times. This was the only way I could get this pouch to look decently finished. This whole project took way longer than it needed to because of this problem. I've learned my lesson, and will now follow every single step in a tutorial for now on.

Despite the setbacks, I still love this pouch. The color, the style, and the little cross stitch detail make it so fun. I hope Lauren likes it just as much as I do, otherwise I guess I'll have a new pouch!

Cross Stitched Bookmark Tutorial

One of the items I made for my contribution to the Secret Valentine Exchange was a set of three cross stitched bookmarks. Cross stitching is one of those hobbies that I think creates a beautiful finished project, yet not that many people choose to do. For these reasons, I wanted to incorporate a cross stitched present into my swap package. Since my swap partner likes to read, Lauren came up with the idea to turn miniature cross stitched patterns into bookmarks.

After I finished these bookmarks and sent them on their merry way to their new owner, Lauren decided she wanted one as well. So, I decided a cross stitched bookmark would be the perfect addition to her Easter basket. I let her choose the design (she picked a "scene" from the Summer Sampler and adapted it), and then I whipped it up like a short order cook! And when I say I "whipped it up", I really mean that it was a slightly belated Easter gift.

Supplies:
- Cross stitch pattern (I used an adapted design from the Summer Sampler)
- Evenweave fabric (like this one)
- Embroidery floss (colors and quantity depend on your chosen pattern)
- Sewing machine
- Natural colored fabric
- Any other fabric (I used a solid blue, but patterns work just as well)
- Felt (color doesn't matter, it will be hidden)
- 5 inches of 1/2 inch twill tape

First you need to decide the finished size of your bookmark. For example, my finished bookmark is 7.5 x 3.5 inches.

Cross stitch whatever pattern suits your fancy, making sure it's centered on your evenweave fabric (linen). Aim for the linen piece you're cross stitching on to be about 1/2 inch shorter than your finished bookmark on all four sides. My linen piece ended up being 6.5 x 2.5 inches. It works a lot better to cross stitch on a larger piece of linen and then cut it down when you're done. Lauren wanted the arrow patterns repeated three times, with a slight variation to each set of three arrows.

Cut out the natural colored fabric so that it's 1/4 inch longer than your desired finished measurements on each side. Cut out the other fabric of your choice and the felt the same exact size as the natural fabric. You'll need one of each piece per bookmark. I cut my pieces out to be 8 x 4 inches.

Pin the linen cross stitched piece onto the center of the natural colored fabric. Use a tight, short zig zag stitch to sew around the entire linen piece. This helps prevent the linen from fraying from future use. Stitch as close to the edge as possible (while still making sure to securely fasten the linen down) to prevent excess fraying.

Next, place the felt under the natural colored fabric/linen piece. Place the right side of the unused second fabric on top of the right side of the linen piece. Make a loop with the twill tape and sandwich it in between the two top layers at the top of the bookmark. Make sure the loop part is being sandwiched (hidden) and the ends of the twill tape are sticking out of the top. Pin all three pieces together.

With a 1/4 inch seam allowance, sew around 3 sides of the bookmark and all four corners. Sew around the two longest sides, the top, and the bottom corners. Leave the straight part of the bottom side unsewn though.

Trim the corners and the excess twill tape hanging over the edge. Turn the fabric so the right sides are now showing. Poke the corners out. Fold the unsewn side so that it matches the rest of the sewn sides. Iron all four sides, and pin the open side shut.

Top stitch around the entire bookmark, as close to the edge as possible.

Trim all of the loose threads, and now you have a wonderful, finished bookmark. Find a book and put that beauty to use! Lauren is using hers in a Biostatistics textbook, how nerdy!

Secret Valentine Exchange

 I recently participated in a handmade gift swap for Valentine's Day, and I was pretty pumped since I had never done anything like this before. Sure I like to do crafty things, but I've never made anything for anyone besides my family, Lauren, and Heather (who are pretty much family). I was excited to try new crafty techniques, but I was even more ecstatic to receive a surprise gift in return. Have I mentioned yet that I love receiving letters and packages in the mail?

The person we were making something for was not the same person who would be making something for us. In the beginning of January all of the participants filled out a short survey about our likes and interests. Towards the middle of January, we received someone else's survey responses and we were to make something for them and ship it so that they would receive their gift by Valentine's Day.

From reading my recipient's questionnaire responses, I took away that she likes neutral colors, knitting, and reading. But I was lost after that. I had no idea how to form these interests into something more tangible to make. So I did what I always do in times of need; I went to Lauren for guidance. Being a true knitting fiend herself, she mentioned that knitters always need project bags. She also suggested that I make bookmarks to hone in on her reading hobby. Thanks Lauren, you're the best as always!

Participating in a swap was appealing to me because I thought it would be a good chance to learn a new technique, and it gives me the chance to share something I'm confident in that most people don't necessarily know how to do. I decided to make a project bag and a pouch for knitting notions; both are tutorials by Noodlehead. In my entire life I've only sewn in two zippers but I had a lot of help with them. I thought these projects would be good in practicing this technique. I no longer wanted to fear sewing a cute project just because it had a zipper. I don't know what I was so worried about. Once Lauren showed me how to use the zipper foot, sewing both of the pouches was a breeze. They still took me a lot longer than they should've, but I deliberately took my time, chalking it up as a learning experience.

For the bookmarks Lauren and I decided that incorporating cross stitching would be a good idea. For the past two years I think (yes, I'm slow), I've been diligently working on the Summer Sampler and have stitched up some pretty cute little characters. I decided to make three bookmarks, each with a separate character/scene I thought my recipient would enjoy. I picked the watermelon, whale, and arrows. I created  my own simple tutorial on sewing up these cross stitched patterns into fabric bookmarks. The hardest part was getting the top stitching just right, but honestly, that's always the most frustrating part of sewing projects. Lauren came to the rescue again and helped me figure out this tedious task.

I'm pretty happy and proud of what I was able to make, and I hope my recipient is enjoying her surprise goodies. Both Lauren and I wanted to keep the tiny mint green linen pouch for ourselves, but I promised to make more if we could let this one go. I shared a picture of what I received from Fiona (and she did too- that's the kind of blogger I like!) and I'm still super tempted to start a new knitting project just to use that cute pouch. But, I have to finish what I've already started, otherwise hoarding unfinished projects is going to become one big habit that I definitely don't need. I'm in love with my presents and I'm pretty certain I want to participate in another swap soon. I think I made Lauren catch the swapping bug as well!