Two months of exploring

This past two months (October - November) has been an adventure. As always, I had everything plan to start a new project, a shoulder bag. I was inspired by the butterfly stitch sample, but nothing of that happened.

First, we received the lovely visit of my mom. She came for her annually two weeks vacations. So, my husband planned a vacation in Colorado Springs, CO. It was a beautiful and exciting time. Then, my aunts decided to come too.  They arrive three days after my mom left our home.

As I had shared before, my mother was the one who taught me the majority of thing I know about crafting. And I would not be fair if do not give credit to my aunts too. All of them, my three aunts and my mom, we would get together to make crafts for special events (wedding, birthdays, etc.). So, you can imaging how excited I was when I got the news that they were staying with us for a month and a half!
Everyday was an adventure, one of my aunts makes jewelry and the other one do crochet. We went to every craft store we could and started as many projects we could.

 

One the projects I did was an amigurumi owl. I have to confess that I tried crochet when I was younger, but it did not capture my attention at all. Last year one of my aunt tried to teach me again, but it was not a success, but this year I fell in love with this project. Neither my aunt or me knew how to read the crochet instructions, but with a little intuition and YouTube help, we figure it out.

I got so confident, that I even try this other little guy that I found in Pinterest.  I'm in love with crochet now! I just started a new crochet hat and I have plan to make some other things to give as Christmas gifts.

I have to admit, everything did not went how I planned it... It just went better!

Stitch Sample

Lately, I've being seen so many stitch samples out there that it inspired me to practice my stitching in different ways. One thing I have learn is that you will never stop learning and practice makes perfect!

My older daughter loves butterflies, so I decided to make a butterfly stitching sample.

I started by cutting two pieces of fabric and a piece of felt to place in the middle of the two pieces. I'm old fashion and I do not like to see the ugly back of my stitches.   

Then I marked every stitch in place and embroidered it. I did satin, feather, running, lazy daisy, chain, stem, herringbone, cross stitch and blanket stitch around it to sew together both fabrics. 

 I love the finish project! The colors are vibrant and rustic at the same time.

It's very bohemian or gypsy style, which it has inspire me to make a shoulder bag.

I will be posting pictures of the shoulder bag as soon as I finish it. I can not wait to start!

Lion Pin

Lion pin

One morning my daughter asked me to do her hair in a way she can wear her elephant hair pin. After I did it, she was so happy that she asked to take a picture and send it to my friend who made it for her.  Then she asked me if I could make a lion bow for my friend's granddaughter.  I said yes without having any idea of how I could make it. After a little praying and thinking, this is what came out of it.

I made a daisy with the ribbon just like before. 1 ½" wide and I went 15 times around the rods of the bow maker. Sewed it in the center and glue a yellow ribbon loop on top of it.  I made two little loops for the ears. Glued the eyes and embroidered the nose and mouth. I glued an alligator pin on the back. 

Have fun creating!

Ribbon Flower - Daisy

Today I want to share with you a tutorial of a daisy made of ribbon I saw on the internet. I search for a tutorial and did not find it, so I decided to do it a tutorial. This one is specially made for a special friend who loves making bows for her granddaughters and friends.

Materials

Bow maker

(My husband bought me this bow maker on Ebay for less than $10 and free shipping)

¼" wide ribbon

Hot glue gun

Button

Scissors

Tapestry needle 

   (You can use the biggest and sharp needle you have)

Thread

First of all I decided the size of the flower I was going to make. Then I moved the rods of the bow maker to meet that size. My flower is 1 ½" of diameter. Then I place the needle in the center of both rods. I place the needle with some facial tissue to make the needle stable enough to work on it.  Make sure the needle is threaded before starting or else it would be difficult to do it later. Trust me on this one! Hahaha!

Next, without cutting the ribbon, I started in between the rods, piercing (securing) the ribbon with the needle and going around the rods. I went around each rod 15 times. You can do it as many times you like. It would look more thick as more you go around. 

NOTE:

Do not forget to secure the ribbon in the center every time you cross in between the rods.

When you finish that last step, you are going to pull the needle through the ribbon and take the ribbon out of the ribbon maker. 

NOTE: The needle should be thread it and the thread should be knotted at the end to prevent to go through without holding the ribbon.

Working very carefully, twist the ribbon to the sides forming the daisy.  Sew the center of the daisy when you feel satisfied with the look of it.

At this point, you can glue the button in the center or make another one, smaller or the same size to make it look fuller. 

I made two daisies and glue them together. The bigger one is 1 ½" wide and I went 15 times around the rods of the bow maker and the smaller one is 1" wide and I went 10 times around the rods.

 I hope you like it and want to try to make this beautiful flower. You can sew it to a dress, glue it to a hair pin or headband or use it to accent any piece of decoration.

Beads!

One of my favorites crafts is embroidery, but the one that stole my heart was bead embroidery.

At one point in my life I decided to go back to school and take sewing classes at college. As a part of the course, I had to take a bead embroidery class. It was my favorite class ever. I already knew how to embroidered with stem stitch, but I had never tried embroidering with beads. 

I started experimenting with round and tubes beads, little pearls, sequins and ribbons. I learned how to use this technique from simple napkins or handkerchief to a cathedral wedding veil.

These are samples I made in college

I hope this will awaken your curiosity on embroidery that its an art expression that can be done in different ways.