Subversive cross stitch kitchen towels

Time for more machine cross stitch! I visited my mom three weeks ago and we spent an entire day in her sewing studio, but I only now got round to photographing what we made. Kitchen towels!

A friend of mine put this idea in my head a while ago, and I just had to try it out. I bought some cheap kitchen towels from IKEA and from my local fabric store - I figure that if I decide to make more I can get nicer towels, but for a first attempt I didn't want to spend too much. 

We all use them, so why not make your kitchen towels a bit of a statement? In this case a (slightly snarky and sarcastic) statement in favor of love and respect. The saying is sort of hard to translate into English - humor doesn't always translate well, plus it does have some cussing in it and I know not everyone is as relaxed about that as us Swedes are. :-) 

They were easy and relatively quick to make - the most time consuming part has been snipping off all the little threads and pieces of stabilizer on the back! That's the only downside to making these compared to the framed and hooped pieces I have made before; you have to be a lot more conscious of how the back looks since it won't be mounted. But they were still a lot of fun to make!

My 2015 Crafty To Do-List

I told you last week I was working on a crafty to do-list for 2015. I started the year by doing a quick inventory of my ongoing projects, and soon realized that before I start too many new projects, I really need to focus on finishing old works in progress. I have a ton! So instead of listing the 200+ new projects I want to try out, I focused on the projects that I want to finish. Without further ado, I present my 2015 crafty to do-list!

KARIN'S 20 CRAFTS TO DO IN 2015 

1. Finish 1st sashiko pillow 
2. Finish 2nd sashiko pillow
3. Cut out and prep all hexies for my hexagon alphabet quilt 
4. Finish secret EPP project
5. Finish a PocketPhoto cozy for Ella
6. Make 2 china cake stands
7. Make 4 vintage tea cup candles
8. Finish sewing basket make-over
9. Finish photo patchwork cushion cover 
10. Sew wool embroidery pin cushion
11. Sew a hanging sleeve and mount mom’s wall quilt
12. Frame (and hopefully, sell) all machine embroidery pieces
13. Practice face and figure drawing
14. Make watercolor resist paintings
15. Cut and mat old linocut postcards
16. Finish little house lavender satchets
17. Start on vintage embroidery patchwork quilt
18. Sew doll quilt for mom’s garden play house
19. Finish yo-yo Christmas garland
20. Make 3 potholders from old quilt test blocks

What do you think? I will post updates to my list as I (hopefully) start to check things off. Here's to a crafty new year!

Sashiko embroidery class

Are you having a good 2015 so far? I've had a busy first week of the year, packing away Christmas and sorting out all those things that tend to stack up after a two week vacation. I'm also still trying to sort out my goals for the new year, and planning for the next couple of months. All this while having a massive headache - Keith and I are doing a "Sugar Free January" challenge and for the first few days I was in complete sugar withdrawal! That means not to much crafting got done, but I did have something I wanted to share: Before Christmas, I took a class on Japanese sashiko embroidery.

Sashiko is a traditional Japanese form of embroidery which uses simple running stitches in intricate, geometric patterns on indigo cloth. I've long loved the look of sashiko, and I have made several unsuccessful attempts at this technique previously. This winter I thought it was time to do something about it and actually take a class! I was thrilled when I managed to snag one of the spots on the Stockholm County Museum's one-day class with Rieko Takahashi, textile artist and author of the first Swedish book on sashiko.

Photo by Rieko Takahashi, www.riekotakahashi.com

The course was lots of fun. Rieko was a great instructor, and once you got the hang of the basics sashiko stitching turned out to be pretty simple and very meditative - up and down, up and down... The class was almost seven hours long, but I could easily have kept going! We we're a pretty small group of stitchers and we ended up having a lot of fun, chatting and eating the tasty Japanese snacks which Rieko brought with her.

The most traditional form of sashiko uses white thread on indigo fabric, but Rieko showed us some modern pieces using blue, or even red, thread on white or cream backgrounds (you can see some of these in the first photo above). 

I started on a cushion cover, and even though it's not finished yet, I still went straight home to order some more sashiko supplies off Ebay. You can't really buy proper sashiko thread in Sweden, so I got a couple of different colors to experiment with.

I also bought a copy of Rieko's book. At around 40 pages it's pretty brief, but it's a good introduction if you're looking to try sashiko embroidery (only available in Swedish, unfortunately).



Have a great second week of 2015!

More machine embroidery: Big Bang Theory and a unicorn!

I went to see my mom again this weekend, and as usual my visit involved the two of us shutting ourselves up in the studio for hours on end and playing with my mom's amazing sewing machine. Such fun!

Since I actually managed to sell four of the pieces I made last time, I thought I would continue on in the same vein: Geeky, girly and slightly subversive! This is one of the designs I created which I really like:

I also made this design as a homage to everyone's favorite geeky TV show, the Big bang Theory. Did you get all the references?

I'm having so much fun thinking up new motifs, sayings and quotes that need to me immortalized in embroidery form. I'm not even sure what I'll do with all of these yet, but I'm sure I'll find a use for them somehow... I ran in to a small snag when I got home though: I realized that I need to buy some more embroidery hoops for framing all the embroidery - I've used up all the ones I had on hand. Will post more photos as I finish more pieces!

Subversive Machine Embroidery

Hallelujah, we have Internet access! This past week we've been having a ton of problems with our Internet provider, and while I'm not sure everything's fixed yet, at least we finally have access. It's true what they say, you don't know how much you depend on the Internet until it's taken away.

Less time browsing Facebook and Pinterest has meant more time for crafting, though. Among other things I reorganized the two closets that house my craft supplies, and this gave me the energy to finish off a couple of WIPs that have been hanging around in there for way too long. A great feeling!

I am a big fan of the craftivism movement and sites like Subversive Cross Stitch. Ever since my mom got her Husqvarna Viking Designer Diamond sewing machine, I have been brainstorming ways to combine that subversive feel with the medium of machine embroidery. I'm not much of a cross stitcher myself (not enough patience!) so when mom introduced me to the cross stitch software that came with her Designer Diamond, I was understandably thrilled. I've spent many hours in her studio sewing and creating, but only this week did I get around to actually mounting the finished pieces. Here are a few of them!

I mounted most of the pieces in embroidery hoops because that's what I had on hand, plus I like the look. But I also had a couple of thrifted picture frames which worked well after a fresh coat of paint.
 

 That pink frame now houses another "Girls Just Wanna Have Fundamental Human Rights" embroidery which is winging its way off to a friend to become a birthday present  for her sister. That's part of the charm with machine embroidery - once you have a design programmed and ready to go, you can make several versions of the same design quickly and conveniently, experimenting with different color combinations, background fabrics, sizes and so on. The top picture in this post shows the same "Girls" embroidery on a really nice structured linen - I will be using that fabric again for sure!


I also made a couple of hoops featuring "subversified" Swedish sayings. Not sure what I'll do with them yet, I might have to start a hoopla wall to feature them all. Right now my mind is reeling with ideas for more subversive machine embroidery, so I'm sure there will be more to come!

Do you have any ideas for sayings, quotes, factoids or anything else you think would fit on a cross stitch wall hanging? I would love to hear your ideas!

Summer reading: Embroidery Magazine

The past week has been unseasonably hot for Sweden - around 30 C / 90 F and super sunny. It's fantastic! But it does sap your energy a bit, so I've been trying to slow down and take it easy. Lucky for me, I received a treat in the mail which kept me busy for a while!

I love summer reading! I recently bought a couple of back issues of Embroidery Magazine, published by the Embroiderers' Guild in the UK. I have been thinking a lot about embroidery lately, and I thought some reading could help jump-start my creativity. And this is not your grandma's embroidery either, every page is a work of art!

I especially loved this piece about artist Louise Gardiner, who makes impossibly intricate thread paintings using both hand and machine embroidery. The article totally made me want to dig out the free-motion foot for my own machine and get going!

Along with the magazines I'm spending a lot of time browsing and reading e-books on our tablet. I'm half-way through Countrymen by Bo Lidegaard - a great read if you are a history buff like me - and then I'll be starting on I am Malala which I am reading for my women's rights book club.

My head is shock full of inspiration! What are you reading these days?

Happy New Year!

Happy 2012 everyone! I had a lovely, quiet New Years Eve with Keith this year. We cooked dinner and watched the fireworks over Stockholm. Perfect after a very busy Christmas!

If anyone would like to celebrate the new year by doing a bit of embroidery, I thought I'd remind you of the New Year Embroidery Sampler I designed a few years ago. The numbers on it still say 2009 of course, but that could easily be changed. Perfect if your New Years resolution happens to be learning a few new embroidery stitches!


Several people found the time to try my sampler design back in 2009, the above image is from the (now dormant) blog Potluck Crafters. If you decide to make your own 2012 version, I would love to see it!

Exploring Stockholm: Textile Arts at Nordiska Museet

I love moving to a new city, exploring and trying to find a way to "fit in" to my new surroundings. Having spent the past 5 years in Gothenburg with only sporadic visits to the capital, the move has really prompted me to explore more of Stockholm than I ever have before. There's so much to see!

Keith's family came up to Stockholm for a visit a few weeks ago, and one of the things we did was visit Nordiska Museet, a great museum housed in this beautiful building:


The museum showcases Swedish cultural artifacts from the 16th century to the present day. And of course, my favorite part of the visit was the textiles gallery. Embroidery, weaving, tatting, beading... I love to look at traditional handicraft, it's so impressive how well these (mostly) everyday objects have held up for centuries!



This is an example of traditional Scandinavian wool embroidery, dated 1791. I love these colors! You'll have to excuse the poor quality of the photos though - the textiles were all housed in glass cases, and of course flash photography was not allowed.


I hope that you can at least get an idea of how colorful and vibrant these pieces are. Real works of art, often using patterns and stitches unique to different regions of Sweden.

Of course, the textiles were not the only thing in the museum. Keith and the others got bored with the textiles after a while and dragged me off to look at this statue of Gustav Vasa, the first king of Sweden.


All in all, this was a great day trip and if you are ever in Stockholm, I'd definitely recommend a visit!


A good time was had by all!

Dolls and stitches

This little lady is going to be a gift for a certain someone... As soon as I manage to make some clothes for her, that is! I'm trying to find more time for sewing, it's so much fun but a little time (and space) consuming... This doll was made a couple of weeks ago. My inspiration came from the lovely and talented Jess Brown, though my doll-making skills certainly don't measure up to hers! I tried tea-dying the fabric for the body, to give a bit of an aged look... It was my first time tea-dying, and it worked great! The hair is a thick wool felt (vadmal) stitched on with embroidery floss. The arms are button-jointed.


And this is the view from the window sill! Spring is slowly approaching...


My mom visited last month, and she taught me something I've been dying to learn for ages: free motion stitching! I love it! I'm already experimenting with a major free motion stitched project, which will have to remain secret for a little while... The test piece above reads "Karin loves Keith" in my own very wobbly stitching.

Spring is almost here!

We've had a couple of lovely days here in Gothenburg, the snow is melting and the sun is shining. I'm so ready for spring to come!


I've been crazy busy with my thesis, so there hasn't really been much crafting for the last couple of weeks... But here's a couple of completed pages. I'm a bit late with my March page for the calendar challenge, but here it is finally!


A little bit of spring decoration... The two little cupcakes are handmade by me, finally got them painted a few weeks ago... And don't you just love the table runner? It was made by my mom when she was a kid, circa 1965! Still looks good as new, and I love it so!


Please forgive the goofy expression and my hunchback pose! :-D My dear friend Johan had his 30th birthday this weekend, and Keith and I offered to help with the food prep. This is a traditional Swedish Smörgåstårta (literally translates as "sandwich cake"). An odd dish if you ask me, but Johan loves them so there you go... If anyone's curious, here's a link with some info about this Swedish curiosity... Hope you're all having a great week!

Handmade Journal

I'm excited to show you some of the things I made for a recent Craftster swap. I tried this tutorial for hand-bound journals about a year ago, but then I forgot about it... Just rediscovered it for this swap, and it's so much fun!

I embroidered my partners initial on the cover fabric to personalize the journal. I used nice white paper for the signatures and a sparkly blue scrapbook paper for the end papers.

Since my partner likes to sew, I stamped some of the pages with a handmade button stamp.

I'm excited to try binding journals again, and I'm thinking about making a couple more journals as Christmas gifts. I think it would be fun to personalize them with different colors, applique and embroidery. I recently started planning out my hand made Christmas gifts, hoping to get some more done in advance and not have the usual last-minute scramble. Do you have any fun gift ideas?

Crafty 2008 (part 2)

Time for some more pictures! This first one is from last summer. It shows my pincushion, made from a thrifted teacup. I love teacup pincushions, they're both pretty and practical! There's a tutorial here if you'd like to make your own. You can also see one of my ATCs in the picture, and the Booties I made when Stella was born.

The next photo shows a little bunny embroidered for Stella last fall... The cute pattern is a freebie from Wee Wonderfuls - check it out here! I turned it into a little doll but I actually think it was cuter before I stuffed it!

The last photo is actually from 2007, and it certainly isn't my own work.. But I just had to share it! Look at this vintage wedding dress! Look at those puff sleeves! All those ruffles! I just love it! :-D

Have a great week!

Sampler goodness!

Since I have been busy working and have therefore not even finished my own sampler, I thought I would showcase two other crafters who gave my 2009 embroidery sampler a go! First up is Rachel of Potluck Crafters, who stitched up this lovely bright sampler. I just love her color choices, they make me think of spring!

Librarianguish also made her own version, on a lovely gray fabric. Don't you just love that spider's web stitch?? Check out Librarianguish's Flickr for more pics of her sampler, and lots of other cool photos!

I also thought I would mention a very neat giveaway over at Blueberry Junike - if you'd like to win a cute little bird onesie for one of the kiddos in your life, check out this blog! Last day today, so hurry up!

Time to get organized

Sorry it's been a little quiet here lately - I thought I would have more crafting time now that I'm done with school, but it's been quite the opposite! I have done a lot of organizing though. This is what my new embroidery floss organizer looks like:

Yummy, isn't it? I also tidied my craft space (long overdue!) and reorganized my inspiration board with some new images. I need to make some more button thumbtacks, too!

And here's something for any Swedish crafters reading my blog: last week when I was busy studying, this little gem dropped into my mailbox. It's the spring catalog from Sweden's largest craft store chain, Panduro, and it's fabulous! The new fabric line from Tilda is just lovely, I wish I could get every print!

If you haven't picked up a copy of the catalog yet, check it out here. My resolution not to buy any more craft supplies is killing me! :-D

Happy 2009!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a wonderful holiday. I certainly did - and I got lots of crafty Christmas presents! Fabric, books, a glue gun (can you believe I haven't had one until now!) and paints and supplies to try carving lino. I'm looking forward to using some of my new supplies in my crafts this year.

One of the presents I got from Keith was this great book - a huge encyclopedia of embroidery stitches with great and detailed pictures!

I couldn't wait to get started on some embroidery so this is what I designed to practice some new stitches:

I'm sorry about the poor photo - can't wait 'til the light returns here to the far north! :-) I promise I'll get a better shot of the finished piece. Anyway, I designed a little sampler to help me try some new stitches, and I wanted it to be something inspirational for the new year... I scanned the pattern for you if you'd like to make one too! There are a lot of straight lines to make trying new stitches really simple - if you do decide to make a new year's sampler yourself, I'd love to see your result!

Click for a larger view of the pattern: