X Stitch Magazine ‘Final Twist’

I am home from a fantastic Spring Knitting & Stitching Show at Olympia. It always seems to take me a few days to resurface after such a intense week, but I love it!!!

One of my favourite aspects of the shows is that it is such a wonderful opportunity to meet up with like minded makers, to swap ideas, to be inspired by a varied selection of work and to sometimes kick myself for not coming up with a particularly brilliant design first!!!

Jamie Chalmers aka Mr X Stitch is always on hand with his Royal School of Needlework students to showcase the best in funky, contemporary embroidery. His latest venture is a ‘cross stitch magazine for the modern world’ embracing contemporary cross stitch with contributions from some of the best known designers as well as some newbies like myself.

The first edition has the theme of ‘revolution’
I have moved away from my usual critters and come up with an optical art design based on a torus donut to give the impression of a twisting, three dimensional shape. There is a sneak peek of a corner of the design below as well as the header for the Kickstarter site for this new publication .

Please take a look as it should shake up the world of cross stitch – just click below

Funky Chunky Cross Stitch

For such a long time I have wanted to make some cross stitch kits that would appeal to children. Having started sewing at a very young age I was keen to encourage a new generation to fall in love with needles and thread.

Much of what I have seen for children has been disappointing, cutesy designs in bubblegum pink shades of acrylic yarn that is impossible to work with and never gives a quality finish….. It always worries me that an early disappointment puts children off sewing for life.

I came across the plastic canvas, quite by chance, in my local craft shop and it immediately fired my imagination. It is really firm so no need for a frame and the holes are well spaced giving a really easy surface for stitching. All the designs are stitched in just four or five colours of beautiful wool tapestry thread from Anchor and to give these critters some extra cheekiness I have added wooden beady eyes.

I hope you like these fellows and remember they don’t need to be just for the children!

A Christmas Muffin

Some of you may have already seen this little Muffin the Mule as I started him last spring after finding the vintage pattern in a local charity shop. He was a project I kept by the computer so a little stitching could be squeezed into the odd moment of light relief from spreadsheets!

My mother would occasionally look in to ‘see how he was coming along’ and then in the autumn, when half finished, he simply disappeared – she had snaffled him! I didn’t see him again for a few weeks but then he reappeared, the majority of the stitching complete and some muttering about the pattern being wrong – the Pelham puppet version, her childhood love, only had four strings.

So, a quick Google search for a picture and I was able to put the four strings in the correct place, remove the waste canvas, pop him in a beautiful Victorian maple wood frame and here he is in his full glory – I managed to take a quick photograph before wrapping him up and returning him to my mother for her Christmas present!

 

We Have Some Winners!!!

Many congratulations to Leigh Bowser and Becca Crabbe, winners of the complimentary tickets to the Knitting and Stitching Show, Harrogate.

I am stitching, embroidering and crocheting like crazy at the moment so as well as all the old favourites there should be some new goodies on display at the show. Give us a wave if you are about – we are on C530.

I am also working on a little Christmas giveaway which should make an appearance as a PDF file in the coming weeks – hopefully giving you enough time to stitch it up for the festive period!

WIN!!! Tickets for the Knitting & Stitching Show, Harrogate

Oh my goodness, where is the time going to? It is the 1st of November and just three weeks until I head to Harrogate for the Knitting and Stitching Show.

My husband is under strict instructions not to go jetting off for work as he has to take over domestic duties and herding teenagers. Meanwhile, I shall have a lovely time with my parents, who tend to look after me very well, whilst enjoying this fabulous festival of textiles and all Harrogate has to offer in the run up to Christmas.

If you would like the chance to win a pair of tickets to this event as well as a mini beadwork kit and frame of your choice then simply drop me a line…. Comment here, email me at epavier@annsorchard.co.uk, use the handy message box on the website or simply like my competition post on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

All entries need to be in by midnight on Friday 4th November and two lucky winners will be drawn at random on Saturday 5th November….Good Luck!

Win!!! Tickets for the Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London

My children have finally gone back to school after a two month summer holiday.
BUT….no time to catch my breath as I have just a matter of weeks before the Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace, London, 5th to 9th October.

This is probably the biggest show of the year, absolutely jam packed with fabrics, wool, haberdashery and crafty notions as well as showcasing some of the most inspirational textiles from designers, graduates and students.

It really is a wonderful event to spark new ideas, try new crafts or to simply stock up on some really beautiful fabrics and yarns.

If you would like a chance to win a pair of tickets to this fantastic event as well as a mini beadwork kit and frame of your choice simply comment here or leave a message on the contact page of my website.

All entries need to be in by midnight Friday 9th September and two lucky winners will be drawn on Saturday 10th September … Good Luck!

A Room of One’s Own

Sorry for the lack of blogging, I seem to have spent most of this summer enjoying the sights and sounds of Europe with my family….But there is something quite magical about coming home to all that is familiar and personal.

Perhaps the most personal part of our home for me is my very own room, a beautiful green oak studio we built at the bottom of our garden. My long suffering husband was perhaps hoping all my wool, threads and beads might finally be contained in one space! To a degree he was right, it is such a lovely peaceful and light space that I do spend hours working here but I have to admit that late in the evening part finished projects tend to follow me back into the house.

Doggie Bags

I really should stick to one type of packaging, but I flip between so many different project ideas that the each requires rethinking. I have customised these cotton tote doggie bags using inkjet transfers and I am rather pleased with how they have turned out….

I just have to finish putting together the contents. The most beautiful fabric, printed with the dog and cat designs, arrived on a couple of very large bolts yesterday morning. I have industrial quantities of needles, beads, embroidery thread and bobble trim.

All I have to do now is finish sewing the samples, photographing, writing and printing the instructions – better get my skates on if they are to be ready for the Knitting & Stitching Shows this autumn!

Crocodile Feet

Oh my goodness, over three weeks in and these Easter holidays still haven’t finished, hence the lack of blogging.

However, I have been squeezing in a little bit of crochet. I am currently working on several projects at once and yet another, a glorious floral bag, came to mind last night, but is currently just a very rough sketch in one of my many notebooks.

This morning I have finally created a crocodile leg in yarn. It proved quite a challenge as it is crocheted in spirals and it took rather a long time to work out how to bend the shape into an elbow, essential as his legs need to be able to dangle if his body is to work as a scarf. I now have to turn my attention to his head and I would really like him to make me smile so his teeth might be little wonky and his eyes need to have a bit of sparkle.

Fingers crossed the yarn will twist itself into the correct shapes and I should be able to write up a pattern and possibly put together a kit.

A Weekend WIP Update

Wow, this has been stitched so carefully, it is going to look quite beautiful and it is a real treat to see one of my little designs on another blog – thank you Catherine.

 

Hillview Embroidery

I hope everyone had a lovely festive season, and are continuing to enjoy the relaxed and happy atmosphere this time of year brings!

I have returned from my wonderful (and overdue) trip back to Australia where I spent time with my family and friends. Not surprisingly, it was a lot hotter there than in the UK, something I really struggled with! Thankfully, there was some good rainfall, which brought with it some welcome cooler weather! (Well I certainly welcomed it anyway!).

Not surprisingly, most of my time was spent enjoying the precious time with family and friends, catching up with everyone, and meeting my new niece and nephews for the first time. So, not a lot to update you on with my progress of the Ann’s Orchard Clutch, however I did spend some very enjoyable time stitching a couple of the leaves.

You may recall that I had decided…

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