Lined Fabric Envelopes

I've been experimenting...  Once I make another one, and have a slightly better idea of what I'm doing, I'll post instructions!  This was fun to make and looks okay, but I made several mistakes and had to do some altering to make it work.  

This envelope became "gift wrap" for this little yellow angel. 

Free-stitched Chinese Lantern Cards

New embroidery design--free-stitched Chinese Lanterns.

Hand-dyed felted wool, cotton floss. 2.5" square

 Previous design, mounted and

                                                               placed with a mailing envelope in a cellophane envelope.

This is a great on-the-go project. The designs are small and free-stitched, making it easy to grab a few fabric scraps (I prefer linen or wool, but anything could work), floss or crewel yarn, needle, hoop and scissors and go. 

The first set of cards is finished. I mounted them by fusing a fabric backing and then using double-sided tape to attach them. Japanese paper tape was added as a functional frame to secure the fiber to the cardstock.

I'm working on putting together a tutorial of all the steps along the way. These are really special cards for special people and occasions. 

Watch for the directions...coming soon!

Faking It (Improvisation!)

Garnering inspiration from Kristin Nicholas' Colorful Stitchery, I set out to recreate some of her on-the-wild-side type crewel flowers last night. I did it, albeit sans wool crewel yarn or wool.  So maybe I didn't "do it"-- maybe I just faked it, using a linen tea towel (I bought a dozen at a local bargain store last year) and embroidery floss on hand.

I used a four inch hoop, new linen fabric, and embroidery floss.

Detail

Stock cards, with 2" x 2" opening. 

I'm not sure if I'll finish these cards or use the embroidery for something else--perhaps small squares in a patchwork pillow? I didn't trace or copy patterns, I just looked at the pictures and made the designs as I went. The detailed image is a flower design from Nicholas' book; the other two designs are my adaptations. There were more than two adaptations at the end of the night, but they were promptly deconstructed. I do have to learn that stitching, like writing, sometimes works using what Peter Elbow calls the "dangerous method" (winging it without much direction at the last minute), but not often. Today I'll work on a pattern I have in mind for Chinese Lantern flowers (I don't know if that's really their name, it's just what I've always called them.)