The hardest thing about leaving my studio by far was having to paint over my Studio Dariolina mural that was the main feature of the workshop room. Designed by my wonderful friend and partner-in-craft, Daria, it is something that means so much to us. We were absolutely heartbroken to be honest! But at the same time, we know that the design will STILL continue to mean so much to us. It’s a symbol of our friendship, how we’ve worked together creatively and everything that we will do in the future too It’s not the end, just a new beginning!

You can read more about the process of leaving my old studio here, but in this post I want to document some of the wonderful photos that I took of the time we painted the mural.

The design stage

When I first asked Daria if she would design a mural for the workshop room in my studio, her initial reaction was that I must be crazy! She had never painted a mural before, and wasn’t sure if she felt confident in giving it a go. But I knew that if there was to be a mural, it had to be a Studio Dariolina mural! I was thrilled when she said that she would have a go at putting some ideas down on (digital) paper.

We decided pretty early on that the phrase ‘take time out to be creative’ should be included. It’s something that’s really important to us, as I wrote about in my first book Colourful Fun Embroidery, and it just felt right for it to be part of the design. After a few emails and conversations in person, she sent me the first draft and I was in love! We decided on a couple of tweaks and then it was ready to go.

Painting my Studio Dariolina mural

We began painting on 11th October 2021, and I think it’s fair to say that we were the most nervous about actually transferring the design onto the wall. Armed with a laptop and borrowed projector (thanks, Keith!) we got our pencils out and went for it. Having anticipated that this would be the most difficult part, we were actually pleasantly surprised at how quickly we transferred it.

Once the design was on the wall (and we’d had a cuppa, obviously), we started painting. It was so fun to match the colours, and painting was hard work but really fun. Lots of bits needed a really steady hand, and having never done this before we realised that this was another challenge! Our dear friend Louise also joined us to paint some of it too, and we had a brilliant few days. That time shared together creating this wonderful artwork is something that I’ll never forget.

Seeing the mural in the space just made it complete, and it was a real talking point when people came to the shop. The light in the room was amazing, and the mural really set it all off. It was an inspiring place to be, and I’m grateful for all the time that I had there.

All good things come to an end

When it came to moving out, the mural (very sadly) had to go. A few people have asked why I didn’t leave it there, and the answer to that is that I had to paint over it before moving out for two main reasons. Firstly, I didn’t want to leave the artwork there for future tenants to adapt, and Daria agreed that we didn’t want it to be altered in any way. Secondly, I knew the next tenant would probably redecorate too, and if I had left it underneath I think I would have felt so incredibly sad knowing it was still there. Passing by it to get to the shops would have been hard for me I think. It felt right to paint over it together, just as we had when we first painted it.

The Studio Dariolina mural lives on!

A few weeks before I closed the shop, I had the idea to stitch a fabric version of it. I had the design printed onto some fabric so it’s about 1m wide, and I’m absolutely thrilled with it! It took me about a year to finally start stitching it, mainly due to needing to processing it all really. But now I’m finally stitching it, it feels right and I’m so pleased.

This will be a long-term project for me, something that’s a personal project for me to work around everything else that’s going on. Here are a few photos so far! You can follow along with my stitching on Instagram and Facebook too, as I’ll be posting photos there when I’ve made more progress.

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to Daria for creating this mural for me. Although things didn’t work out as I’d hoped with my studio and shop, we always have this to treasure and I’m so grateful for your time and your love that you put into this. The design will live on and is still a symbol of so much for us, and I’m so thankful for you!

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It took me AGES to think of a title for this post, and it has been sitting in my drafts for even longer! It was a hard post to write, but the process has actually been therapeutic. We don’t always talk about what happens when dreams don’t work out. And my dream didn’t work out…but do you know what? It’s okay. I’m okay!

This week marked a whole year since I shut my physical shop, and it feels like the right time to finally get this post finished and published. The last 12 months have brought a lot of stress and anxiety, and I think it was actually harder to close than it was to open. But this period has also been a period of huge growth, and I’ve really had to dig deep to be resilient time and again. All that CBT work and everything I’ve been doing to work on myself over the past few years has been a hugely positive outcome of a really difficult time. I’m here 12 months later, and things look brighter than they did last August. For that, I’m truly thankful.

This post is a mix of thoughts from just before I closed, and during the past 12 months too. You might want to make yourself a cuppa, it’s gonna be a long one…

In April 2021, I got the keys to my new studio which was about 10 minutes from my home. I had thought about the possibility of having my own space for workshops for so long, perhaps with a little haberdashery shop alongside it too. So this felt like a real dream come true! But on Saturday, 13th August 2022, my little shop closed its doors for the last time. I’m so proud of everything that I’ve achieved, grateful for the new connections I’ve made here but also ready for the next chapter.

When dreams become reality

I honestly couldn’t believe it when I picked up the keys to my studio (as you can see from this photo!). It had been a real journey to get there, but basically my business had completely outgrown our home and it made sense to try to find somewhere to lease. The perfect place had come up; really close to home (within walking distance), and space to do ALL the things I dreamed of. I wanted to be able to host workshops in the light and airy room, use the small room for a little shop, and have an office and stock room upstairs. At this point, I was sending over 100 orders out a week and it gave me the space to do that. Perfect!

I worked super hard to get it all set up with the help of Tom, and my friends Louise and Daria. The studio needed a bit of work to get it looking how I wanted it to. Some things really needed updating, but I didn’t have the capital to do that so it was mainly cosmetic to make it Instagram-worthy! Tom was furloughed at the time, so I worked extra during th

Isn’t it amazing what a good lick of paint can do?! I was particularly chuffed with the workshop room, as the light is so lovely in there and brightening it up made it feel like a reality. It meant I could set up my thread wall too, which was extremely pleasing!

My Kickstarter campaign and opening the shop

Last summer (summer 2021), I worked on my first Kickstarter campaign to raise money to open the shop. I was so nervous about it, but it was incredible! You can read more about that here. Having the support of people around the world was overwhelming, and smashing the target meant that I could open up. Louise helped me so much with this and I am so grateful to her – I couldn’t have done it without her! Lots of tea was drunk, and there were so many IKEA trips it was unreal

I remember just feeling completely overwhelmed that people wanted to support me in backing the Kickstarter. It was such an emotional time and it felt really exciting to be doing it! In just a couple of months the shop was kitted out, and we painted the amazing Studio Dariolina mural (more on that to come in a separate post). I managed to fall up the stairs and give myself a black eye about 5 days before opening (no lie!), but we did open on 23rd October 2021. It was the best day and I could have just burst at how proud I felt. It was a big moment for me and for my family, as it felt so far out of my comfort zone but also the right thing to do.

When things started to go downhill

Despite a really successful opening day and first couple of weeks, things started to go downhill from there. My UK online sales dropped off a cliff, and this was really unexpected. It had been pretty steady through the year with the usual quieter summer period, and I just wasn’t prepared for this at all. Brexit had put an end to my international sales already, but the UK sales had always been growing. It was a huge blow, and I was trying to do what I could to promote my kits and my shop, but nothing seemed to be working. I had to put an end to running ads at this point because I couldn’t afford to pay for them alongside the rent and bills. This was closely followed by the worst Christmas period I had ever experienced.

At this point I was trying to keep positive, because you don’t want to think about when dreams don’t work out. But in all honesty, I think I knew back in Christmas 2021 that I wasn’t going to be able to keep things afloat long term. I didn’t want to admit it; it felt like I was giving up on things before they had even begun. But I was genuinely really worried and I had no idea what to do about it.

We had Covid over Christmas that year, so it was pretty grim all round. But I tried to come into January 2022 with a positive energy, and a determination to keep going with things. I had workshops scheduled and decided to focus on those, as well as a couple of new kit designs. I worked on a new book pitch and that was accepted, which was amazing! Things were going okay (ish) in January sales-wise really, but the boiler at the studio started playing up a little and that bothered me because my lease terms meant that I was responsible for repairs. There wasn’t a lot coming in and I was worried that I’d end up having to replace it.

It did end up holding out a little longer, but in April I tried to get it repaired and the brilliant plumber I had basically had to condemn it. I was in floods of tears on the phone to the landlord, telling him I had no money to replace it. This is the thing with a lot of commercial leases that most people don’t realise, which is that when you sign you have to take on the responsibility of the repairs. Thankfully, he did eventually agree to replacing it but it was massively stressful. I think this was the tipping point for me really, and a couple of weeks later I chatted with Tom about closing. We agreed it was the right thing to do.

Closing my lovely shop

Closing the shop wasn’t as easy as it sounds. When I took on the lease I took it on for 5 years, and the landlord wouldn’t allow a break clause so I didn’t have an option to get out half way. It sounds so simple with hindsight doesn’t it? Why didn’t I just get a break clause? Why did I even sign in the first place? I’ve asked myself these things so many times, but ultimately my business was in a completely different place when I signed on the dotted line. I have beaten myself up a lot about this over the past 12 months, but healing is beginning and there’s no point in just berating myself for the ‘what ifs’. Anyway, my solicitor advised that I speak to the landlord to see if I would be allowed out. The answer was a resounding no. I needed to find another tenant to take it on.

I don’t want say too much about the ins and outs of this because I’m technically still tied in, except to say that it was a hugely stressful time (although I didn’t realise at the time that it would get worse). I was under the impression that I was about to find someone else to take it on, and that they would do just that – take on all the responsibility. But what that actually meant was me subletting to someone, therefore not getting out of the lease. I would effectively need to act as guarantor for the new tenant, which is far from ideal. The search for a new tenant began, and I was responsible for rent and bills in the meantime.

I was so sad on the day we closed, but also so relieved too. It was wonderful to have Caroline from Little Cherub Design run her embroidery workshop on the last day, and my friend Heather from The Peacock and the Printmaker came to use the workshop room so we could work on some product photography. Then Zoe from Postpartum Matters ran one for mums on the Sunday as I packed everything down. The workshop room in particular was everything I’d dreamed of and it was amazing to have it being booked out on the final weekend. Zoe even has her own space after being so inspired by my workshop room, and it’s so brilliant to see her making her dreams come true!

After the shop closed

The day after I packed my shop down, I started a new part-time job to help with our cash flow. It was really hard taking it on because I was still trying to keep Hello! Hooray! going online, working a few hours a week with Make & Mend Co., trying to work on my second book and home educating too, so it was a real squeeze on the mental load. I found it really hard juggling everything, but I knew that I needed that little bit of guaranteed money coming in every month so that we could cover everything at the shop and at home. It was a lot and I struggled. Not just with the 3 jobs and home ed, but with processing everything that had happened. I felt like I had failed, wasted all our money and got us into debt. It was not a happy time.

Finding a new tenant was ongoing and also really hard! I’d had a few viewings but nothing concrete. Because it was close to my home, I was doing all the viewings but it was driving me mad – people not turning up, people clearly just coming round for a quick nosey…so frustrating. And then one day after showing someone round, I was shutting up and a lady shouted out of her car to ask if it was up for rent. To cut a very long story short, Tina decided to take it on! She is honestly a reminder that good humans exists, and I’m forever grateful to her.

But even that wasn’t as easy as it sounds, as it took months for solicitors to work through things. Literally months, with me covering costs the whole time. I thought we were there and ready to sign, then there were issues with electrics and then a lack of an asbestos report right before Christmas 2022. If you ever consider signing a commercial lease then you must check this – unfortunately I wasn’t given good advice about this before I did and it cost me a lot of money for the survey (I won’t go into how I feel about this as you can probably guess anyway…). Ugh. It was horrendous.

Moving forward

Eventually we did hand over, and Tina took it on with her fabulous salon, Totally Polished Nails & Beauty. I had my nails done there for my second book shoot, and going back there it feels completely different to when I was there. It’s helped massively to see it looking like someone else’s space, and I’m so happy that she’s thriving – her team are amazing and they’ve been a fabulous addition to our community!

I think the main reason it has taken me so long to be able to write this post is that it’s taken a long time to be able to begin processing it all. The grief and the stress of it all has been completely overwhelming a lot of the time. However, reaching the milestones of 1 year since closing has helped a lot. Maybe time was always going to be the key to that, and I just need to continue to be patient with myself. I’ll probably continue to go round in circles in my head for a while longer as I’m tied into the lease subletting it until April 2026, and that is still a bit terrifying if I’m honest. I think I’ll have a party when it’s finally over.

One of the questions I keep asking myself is ‘do I regret it?’ and it’s such a mixed answer. In financial terms, absolutely. This was a huge leap out of my comfort zone and I feel like I wasted all our money, and then had to bust a gut working 3 jobs to keep paying the rent to millionaires during a cost of living crisis. I don’t think I have the words to say quite how rubbish that makes me feel. But then I remember that I also had a dream and I went for it. Not many people get to say that, I suppose. Tom supported me in that dream, and even now he says that it’s a good thing that I tried. It’s hard to comprehend that really but I’m so grateful to him. Also hugely grateful to my family and friends for getting me through in more ways than one, and everyone who supported me on this journey! I’ve had so many wonderful messages from people I know and people I don’t, who followed and supported the Kickstarter or who have only recently discovered my embroidery work or blog. Please know that I’m grateful for every single message. Thank you.

Thank you if you got this far! I’m not sure what’s next for me, but I’m enjoying designing and writing. I’m desperate to get back into blogging more often, so hopefully there will be more posts soon. It’s definitely not the end for Hello! Hooray! as I’m just refocussing and deciding which direction to go in. My online shop is still open! Although I am only posting to UK addresses now (sorry!). My next book will be out in March 2024, so that’s something hugely positive – I’m currently working through the second proof now. I don’t think I want to make any concrete decisions about what’s next at the moment, so I’m just trying to enjoy the freelance work that I’ve got coming in and go from project to project. Perhaps I just need a break from the big stuff, and that’s okay. It’s okay when dreams don’t work out.

The post When dreams don’t work out appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Photo credit: Love Embroidery Magazine

It was a pleasure to stitch these fun, textural ice cream hoops for Love Embroidery Magazine! It’s the perfect summer project. And it’s also a really fun way to experiment with a few textures in your stitching too! The ice cream cones are stitched with a satin stitch base, with an open weave stitch over the top. I’m really pleased with how this effect came out. The lollies have a few more textures in there, with felt piecing and sprinkles for the FAB lolly, couching on the Twister and a whole load of French knots for the Nobbly Bobbly!

Ice cream hoops for Love Embroidery: materials

Most of the materials I used here are available in my shop:

• Find all DMC mouline stranded cotton shades here
• Tilda Solid Basics fabrics in sky teal and lilac
• 17cm (5”) embroidery hoops – these have been hand painted in Skye and Yolanda
• Some acrylic or wool felt
• Bondaweb, or similar

It was my first time using Bondaweb, and I honestly don’t know why I haven’t before! So easy to use and brilliant for small pieces like this. It was really good to be able to attach the felt pieces so that they didn’t move around while I was stitching. Initially,  I was worried about ironing it on over the stitches, but it was easy to plump it up again afterwards. If you’re experimenting with this, make sure you follow the manufacturer’s instructions! Ironing it on with a damp piece of fabric over the top was really helpful. Make sure to use DMC thread to do this as it is colourfast.

I hope you love having a go at these textural stitches in the ice lolly hoop!

If you have never couched before, I promise it is easier than it looks There is a handy stitch guide at the back of every issue of Love Embroidery Magazine so you can see how it’s done. Why not sign up to The Happy Stitch Project and learn a few new stitches along the way too!

To get the templates and full instructions for these hoops, get your copy of issue 29 here today! And if you try out the project, don’t forget to share with me – I’m @hellohoorayblog on Instagram

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I was really scared about launching my Kickstarter campaign, but it has been incredible. Thank you to everyone who has supported my dream so far – my haberdashery will definitely be opening!

I thought I’d share a quick post about my Kickstarter today as there are 7 days left to pledge to help me open up my dream bricks-and-mortar haberdashery shop at my studio. Currently, 141 people have made a pledge to support it and it’s 844% funded – how amazing is that?! I was honestly so nervous about launching my Kickstarter campaign because I had absolutely no idea what to expect. My initial target was £500 (to be able to buy shelving for the shop) and I planned to add another goal of £500 for wheelchair ramps and some signage. The first target was smashed in 41 minutes!

Kickstarter launch video

When I launched my campaign, I shared this video on YouTube to share a bit more about it. You can see the space and I talk you through what my plans for the shop are. Since filming, I’ve been decorating a bit more (and had a few days off) so I’m planning to do another video soon! With the extra funds already pledged, I’m planning to purchase a till system that works with my website, some new blinds and window vinyls. It’s looking bright and colourful already! Once I’ve received the money from Kickstarter, I’ll be working hard to open towards the end of October (exact date TBC).

Click here to pledge!

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has pledged, shared and liked my campaign. I’ve been speaking to lots of local people recently and it’s lovely to know that people are excited. YAY! It ends at 17:59 on 10th September 2021.

If you have any questions, please do get in touch. Everything in the shop will be available online too, so if you’re not able to visit in person then I’ve still got you covered!

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So today I’m really excited to tell you more about the recent big commission I was working on. It was this Top 50 Stitches booklet with Love Embroidery magazine, and it’s free with Issue 16 in July!

It’s SO hard not being able to share things when you’re working on a commission, especially when it’s this exciting! This free booklet contains so much embroidery goodness. And if you’re joining in with The Happy Stitch Project then you’ll definitely want to pick up a copy! It includes step-by-step photos and instructions to be able to stitch the Top 50 stitches, and if that wasn’t enough there are 3 mini rainbow-themed projects for you to stitch too. Yay! This booklet is sponsored by Anchor thread, and they kindly sent me the thread to be able to stitch this. It’s stitched in an 8″ hoop, and I’ve painted this in one of my favourite shades called ‘Alfie’. You can find the painted hoops here in my haberdashery.

Subscribe to Love Embroidery magazine today!

Subscribe to Love Embroidery by 29^th June to receive my exclusive Top 50 Stitches booklet! Master the art of modern embroidery with this essential 64-page guide, including rainbow-inspired projects, step-by-step tutorials, expert tips, templates and more. This is ONLY available with issue 16 of Love Embroidery magazine, so sign up here today to get yours! By clicking on this link you will receive 6 issues for £9.99 which is a bargain (UK only) I can’t wait for you to read it! I’ll add more to this post once the issue is out in the world.

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Crafty Colour Palette #6 is inspired by David Seaman’s amazing technicolour jerseys from Euro ’96. If you haven’t seen them, they are a sight to behold and they definitely don’t make them as cool as this anymore!

Both images from Classic Football Shirts – top right here and bottom left here.

It’s 25 years since the men’s European football championships were held in England, and the final of the 2020 tournament will take place this year at Wembley. Back in 1996 I was 10 years old, and I can remember the excitement of the tournament. I won a competition at my primary school to go to one of the matches at Elland Road in Leeds, and we saw Spain vs Romania – this was my first ever live match and it was such a brilliant experience!

Crafty Colour Palette #6: the colours

I haven’t made a Crafty Colour Palette for ages, so when Tom suggested Seaman’s goalkeeper jerseys for inspiration I thought it would be really fun. He also had an idea for a hoop that I thought would make a nice design to be able to combine the colours from both of the jerseys. I’ll be stitching this during the tournament and will hopefully get it finished before the end!

This is the first colour palette, which features the following DMC shades:

Yellow 307

Purple 553

Light teal 3851

Dark teal 991

Royal blue 312

Dark navy 3750

Find a DMC to Anchor thread conversion chart here if you need it!

This is the second colour palette, which uses the following DMC shades:

Red 606

Orange 742

Yellow 444

Green 704

Purple 333

Burgundy 815

Dark navy 939

Find a DMC to Anchor thread conversion chart here if you need it!

Euro ’96 jerseys hoop project

The design that I came up with is inspired by both of the jerseys. It will feature a negative space jersey in the centre, and I’ll stitch patterns inspired by the jerseys around the edge. It’s fun to combine the two different designs! It might look a bit crazy in the end But we’ll see! I haven’t decided on exact stitches yet, but you can follow my progress on Instagram.

Download the project templates here!

I’ve used a Sublime Stitching pen and some embroidery transfer paper to transfer the design on to my fabric – both of these can be found in the marking products section of my haberdashery. Please note that the template is just currently the design as I haven’t yet filled in any of the colours! I will edit this post soon to add that in

You may also like…

This colour palette inspired by an IKEA purchase:

Crafty Colour Palette #1

Or this one with an Easter theme!

Crafty Colour Palette #3

This is still one of my favourite colour palettes inspired by stationery:

Crafty Colour Palette #2

This colour palette is inspired by my garden!

Crafty Colour Palette #5

The post Crafty Colour Palette #6 appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

If there’s one phrase that sums up how I currently feel about a lot of stuff it’s this one. Because I’m basically ‘making it up as I go’! It seemed like the perfect quote for this week in The Happy Stitch Project. It has resonated a lot with my Instagram followers too!I’ve been chatting with a friend about what she might want to do in terms of setting up her creative business (she’s a brilliant crafter and has a lot of options!), and it came up then. I think when I was a musician I had more of a clear plan. I worked towards my goals, practiced everyday and ended up in a job that I loved. But when I left that job it all got thrown up in the air. There was no clear plan, I didn’t know where I’d end up and it took me a while to let goof not having that clear map ahead. Now I completely embrace it,  the it has taken a long time to get there! Who knew I’d end up being an embroidery artist?! No me, that’s for sure! I’m definitely making it up as I go.

This week, we’re learning seeding stitch. It’s basically two straight stitches stitched close together, and it’s

Making it up as I go: materials

A 12cm (5″) embroidery hoop – mine is hand painted in the shade ‘Beryl’

A piece of white linen fabric, roughly 20 x 20cm

DMC threads – I have used the colours from my rainbow brights thread pack

An air erasable pen

Needle

Small sharp scissors

Larger pair of fabric scissors

White perle thread to finish the back

Project template – click to download the free pdf!

Watch this week’s tutorial videos

Find the stitch tutorial here:

Watch the full project tutorial here:

I loved stitching this stitch – it’s really relaxing once you get into a groove with it. I used back stitch and French knots for the text, so go back to those tutorials if you need to. You may know seed stitch already, which is where you used single stitches quite close together to fill in a space. It surprises me how much overlap there is in terms of names for stitches, and also how different stitches can have the same name! It’s a bit confusing, but stick to the terms you know if you know them already. Let me know how you get on with this design!

You may also like…

This pumpkin, lemon and poppy seed loaf (a bit unseasonal, but it’s one to save!):

Pumpkin lemon and poppy seed loaf

Make some felt paper chains:

Perpetual paper chains

Stitch Brick and Cross stitch from week 19:

Brick and cross stitch hoop

Find all of the previous projects for The Happy Stitch Project here.

The post Making it up as I go appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Brick and cross stitch hoop: materials

A 10cm (4”) Embroidery hoop (I’m using a hand painted hoop in Prince)

A piece of fabric – I’m using a piece of pink linen

Template – click here to download the free pdf!

Some DMC thread (this is shade 3837)

A needle

Small scissors

Some larger scissors

Perle thread to finish the back

Watch this week’s tutorials

You’ll find this week’s stitch tutorial here on YouTube – I’m doing it freestyle here, but I’d recommend tracing the pattern and seeing which method you prefer. Drawing the design onto the fabric definitely makes it neater!

Watch the brick and cross stitch hoop project tutorial here:

Want some more inspiration?

Brick and cross stitch is really versatile, even though it is a set, repeated pattern. If you fancy experimenting a little, why not try one of these projects?!

• Stitch the pattern around the neckline of a top, or maybe add details on the cuffs too
• Create a stitched picture with different patterns (use the Alphabet project from Colourful Fun Embroidery for inspiration
• Make a stitched bookmark
• Stitch on a denim jacket like we did in week 2 with this project

I’d absolutely love to see what you stitch, so don’t forget to share it with me! I’m @hellohoorayblog on Instagram

You may also like…

This post where I have a natter with Hannah from Hannah Hand Makes!

A natter with…Hannah from Hannah Hand Makes

These hot cross buns (which I should have made at Easter but forgot this year!)

Mini chocolate and orange hot cross buns

Make these super fabric covered magazine files:

Fabric covered magazine files

The post Brick and cross stitch hoop appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

This week in The Happy Stitch Project, we’re learning long and short stitch. It’s a beautiful stitch for shading, so you can achieve an ombre effect with different shades of the same colour, or blend different colours together. Our project this week is long and short stitch lettering, and I’ll show you how to stitch long and short stitch in blocks and around the curves. Yay!

Long and short stitch lettering: materials

A piece of patterned fabric, roughly 22 x 22cm 

A 12cm (5″) embroidery hoop

An aqua trick pen

Templates – click here for the free download!!

DMC thread in shades 3845, 3843 and 3842

A needle

Some small sharp scissors (I use these Fiskars ones and they’re fab!)

Some perle thread to finish the back (although I haven’t finished the back yet )

Watch the long and short stitch letting tutorial

You’ll find the stitch tutorial video here, and I quickly talk you through the basics of the stitch:

The full tutorial is here:

https://youtu.be/ZajU3HOJBYA

It’s a slow stitching video this week, which I haven’t done in a while! So make yourself a cuppa and I’ll talk you through the lettering. Feel free to pause and go back, or stitch along with me! I stitched the first letter before filming so that you can use it as a guide. If you have any questions along the way, do ask in the comments below or get in touch via Instagram or by email.

If you use Anchor thread instead of DMC, no problem! I’ve got a conversion chart right here.

You may also like…

This Crafty Colour Palette for some colour inspiration!

Crafty Colour Palette #4

These fabric covered letters:

Fabric covered letters

Read all about the magic of the to-done list:

The magic of the to-done list

Stitch some alternative lettering with this design from earlier in The Happy Stitch Project:

Do your thing embroidered hoop

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This week in The Happy Stitch Project, we’ll be mastering the bullion knot! I tried these a couple of weeks ago and failed. It was so frustrating, and I thought that I might not ever be able to stitch them! But I’ve actually worked out why that is now (after a big discussion with my friend Louise, who works a few hours for me, yay!), so I can pass on a few tips to you as you give this one a go.

So, I think the first thing to say is that mastering the bullion knot will take a bit of patience. You’ll need good light, and you should try to make sure that you’re not too tired when you start doing them. You’ll need full concentration levels, so a cup of tea and a biscuit may also help! I used 3 strands of thread for my bullion knots, but you might want to try using more if you wish. During my first attempts, I wondered if the number of strands was affecting my ability to stitch them. But I think it was more the stitcher than the stitch that was the problem!

Mastering the bullion knot

You can watch this week’s tutorial video here on YouTube:

It will also be on IGTV later today (I usually post around lunchtime there). The sampler design used in the main photo at the top of this page is the one I use in my IGTV videos – it was designed by Helen from @unicornfactoryuk, who is taking part in The Happy Stitch Project too! Helen kindly put the templates together for a free download, which you can find here. It’s not too late to join in if you fancy getting started.

Adding bullion knots to our knot sampler

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been busy moving into my studio (more on that in another post). This has meant that I haven’t done additional videos to show me adding stitches to the knot sampler hoop. But I’m mostly set up now, so you’ll be pleased to know that there is a video for bullion knots – yay! You can watch it here:

It has been brilliant seeing your knot sampler hoops so far! I know that some of the knots have proven to be a bit tricky (we’re looking at you, Danish knots!). Please remember that with this project, you don’t have to stitch everything and you don’t have to love all the stitches. I’ve said before that I found that herringbone stitch really didn’t come naturally to me, and I know that this will take practice for me to make it look good. That’s absolutely fine! We all have our favourites and others that we won’t really use once we’ve done it a few times. The most important aspects of The Happy Stitch Project are learning together, learning from our mistakes, and learning to embrace the whole process – even if we don’t get things right the first time. Or even the second, third, or twentieth! Don’t forget that you can find all the posts via my links page, or through the blog section of the drop down menu at the top of each page.

Find my projects in Love Embroidery and Be Creative with Workbox this month!

I don’t think I’ll ever get over the excitement of seeing my work in print, and this month I have projects in two magazines! The first is these wonderful positive pin badges, which I designed for Love Embroidery magazine. This is my first commission for them and I am so excited! I have read craft magazines for YEARS, and to be actually designing for them is really a dream come true. Yay! The retro floral patterns and lovely colours will be a perfect spring project. I also have the little hoops available here in my haberdashery too You can buy a copy here or subscribe here.

My Keep Going hoop is also in issue 199 of Be Creative with Workbox, and it made the cover! So exciting! You’ll find all the info, instructions and template in the magazine. It is also available as a kit here if you prefer. Sadly, this magazine won’t be continuing after issue 200. It’s such a shame – I recently discovered this wonderful magazine, and it’s so sad that there won’t be any more. If you love a magazine then do keep buying it!

You may also like…

This post about how to stitch French knots:

Adding French knots to the geo hoop

This sewing machine cover:

Sewing machine cover

Make a delicious cake this weekend!

Nigella’s chocolate olive oil cake

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This week, we’re adding Danish knots to the knot sampler that we started last week in The Happy Stitch Project. They take a little practice, but once you’ve got the knack then you’ll be stitching them in no time!  The Danish knots are triangular in shape, and they’d be great for filling in other shapes or for using in borders. I’ve just stitched them in one colour on my knot sampler, but you can use as many as you like! If you missed last week, we stitched cable stitch around the edges. You’ll find the knot sampler templates in this post if you want to join in. I’m also going to stitch French knots in the smallest circle at the top – this week was super busy so I didn’t get the chance, but that’s okay! Work at your own pace too

Watch the Danish knot videos from week 14

The Danish knot stitch tutorial is here:

And the project tutorial (where I add Danish knots to the knot sampler hoop) is here:

The Hello! Hooray! studio is coming

So this week has been super busy for me, because I finally completed and signed the lease on my new studio space! Yay! I’ve been working on this for several months now, but with the pandemic it has taken slightly longer than I’d hoped. But the solicitors have done their thing and I got the keys yesterday morning (nope, not an April fool!) and I can’t wait. I’ll be writing a separate post about that once I’ve decorated, but keep an eye on Instagram to see decorating progress in the coming week

You may also like…

This teapot kit by Nancy Nicholson was really fun to stitch:

Nancy Nicholson – teapot sew kit review

Make these treats in time for Easter this weekend:

Mini Egg rocky road

Find out more about my book or buy a copy here!

Introducing Colourful Fun Embroidery!

Find all the posts from The Happy Stitch Project and other useful links here.

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This week in The Happy Stitch Project, I’m showing you how to stitch a cable stitch. It’s a bit like stem stitch from week 8, but you alternate the sides of the loops when making the stitches and this gives a slightly thicker effect.  Cable stitch is also known as alternating stem stitch or side-to-side stem stitch, and that makes complete sense! Although it is a bit confusing when stitches have a lot of different names isn’t it?! Just knowing that there are a few different names can help when it comes to identifying them.

The design that we’re working on from this week is something that we’re going to be building on over the next few weeks. I really wanted to learn some knots, because I only know one and that’s the French knot (from week 4). It felt like a good time to learn a few more! I thought it would be fun to stitch them all on one project, and this is a fun way to display them in a sort of sampler. As I said in this week’s project tutorial video, I wanted to come up with a snazzy name for it but I couldn’t – so ‘knot sampler’ it is!

How to stitch a cable stitch: materials list

A 15cm (6″) embroidery hoop

Some white linen fabric, or quilting cotton

An aqua trick marker pen, or another semi-permanent method of design transfer

Some DMC thread – I’m using shade 3810 here

Needle

Sharp scissors

Templates (click here to download)

Watch the tutorial videos

Watch the cable stitch tutorial here:

Watch the video for this week’s hoop here:

Step 1

Trace the design onto your fabric, and then place the fabric in your hoop. Thread a needle with 3 strands of embroidery thread, knot the end and trim the excess.

Step 2

Stitch a cable stitch around the edge of each circle as shown in the video. I have found that smaller stitches work best for curved edges – have a play around and see what works best for you!

What’s next?

So over the next few weeks, we’ll be learning different knots each week and filling in the circles. You could choose one of the circles this week and fill it in with French knots if you like – it doesn’t matter what colour you choose, just pick a circle and get stitching! If you want to see any of the other posts from The Happy Stitch Project, you can find them all here or via my links page.

You may also like…

See how we added French knots to the geo hoop earlier in The Happy Stitch Project:

Adding French knots to the geo hoop

Make your own floral buttonholes:

Make your own floral buttonholes

Or have a go at painting some simple watercolour birthday cards:

Watercolour birthday cards

The post How to stitch a cable stitch appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

This week’s hoop design for The Happy Stitch Project is a spring mandala with picot and tulip stitch, stitched in a gorgeous spring-inspired colour palette.  I love the symmetry of mandalas and this is the first one that I’ve ever designed! I knew that picot stitch  and tulip stitch would work really well for this sort of pattern, so once I’d come up with the centre pattern with the tulips I built it up from there. Picot stitch is also known as long tailed link stitch, because like many other stitches it has two names! If you can stitch a link stitch, then you can stitch a picot and a tulip too. Yay!

Spring is my favourite season, and this spring mandala is a lovely way to show off those beautiful tulip stitches. I have stitched this mandala in just one colour (which is unusual for me!) and I think it looks fab. But this design would look amazing in a variety of colours, so use as many as you like!

Spring mandala with picot and tulip stitch: materials list

Some good quality cotton fabric (I’m using some quilting cotton here)

A 10cm (4″) hoop to display and a 12cm (5″) hoop for stitching (or a 15cm/6″ for stitching in if you’re stitching the larger version)

A method of design transfer – I’m using a Sublime Stitching pen and some transfer paper here, but you could use something semi-permanent if you prefer

Templates – click here to download the pdf

Some embroidery thread (this is DMC 3851, which is available here)

Needle

Sharp scissors

Some perle cotton to finish the back

Watch this week’s tutorial videos

You can watch the picot and tulip tutorial video here:

The project video for the spring mandala hoop is here:

Step 1

Transfer the design onto fabric using your preferred method of design transfer. Place the fabric in the larger hoop for stitching. Thread your needle with 2 strands of thread (I’m using 2 strands throughout here).

Step 2

Stitch the tulips in the centre first, being careful not to pull the thread too tightly or it will go out of shape. When complete, stitch the centre circle with small back stitches.

Step 3

Work outwards with your stitching to complete the design (see video to see how I stitch the pattern between the two big circles in the design).

Step 4

Once the stitching is complete, finish the back and it’s ready to display.

I hope you enjoy stitching this spring mandala as much as I did!

I can’t wait to see your creations, so please use the hashtag #TheHappyStitchProject on Instagram and I’ll be able to see it. I’m catching up a bit this week after a tough week, so I’m sorry if you’ve shared something over the past week and I haven’t commented yet. Lockdown life has taken its toll a bit over the last week and the juggle is real! Thanks so much for joining in – it really means the world. Have a good week!

You may also like…

These geometric roll-up blinds:

Geometric painted roll-up blinds

Make a delicious Easter treat with this recipe:

Mini Egg rocky road

Make your own creative family manifesto:

Our creative family manifesto

Treat yourself to some lovely new DMC thread!

DMC mouline stranded cotton

Read all about my first book, Colourful Fun Embroidery!

Introducing Colourful Fun Embroidery!

The post Spring mandala with picot and tulip stitch appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

What a week it has been. Everything feels really heavy at the moment doesn’t it? I said this last week in my newsletter too, but it still applies: it’s okay to take time out and switch off if you need to. Hopefully, this little woven rose bouquet hoop will provide you with the perfect crafty antidote to the world this weekend.

I’ve been juggling so many things this week with an approaching deadline, that I’m only just putting this post together after lunch on Friday when it has normally been live for several hours! I had always planned to try to get ahead with The Happy Stitch Project, but this hasn’t happened yet – I’m hoping that I will be able to at some point but equally trying not to put too much pressure on myself. I still need to add some text to my chain stitch spiral hoop that I made last week, and I’m hoping to do that this weekend too.

I decided to stitch this project in a bright, fresh palette which is perfect for spring. I really love this blue fabric, and the colours really pop on it! I’ll be displaying it in a hoop the same colour, but I didn’t have it painted in time for today. It’s the ‘Azure’ shade of the hand painted hoops in my shop if you fancy it, and the other materials are in my haberdashery too – see below for the details and keep scrolling for a photo of the hoop colour!

Woven rose bouquet hoop: materials list

18x18cm piece of quilting cotton – this is Aero Blue from the Pure Solids range

12cm (5″) wooden embroidery hoop (will be displayed in a hand painted hoop in ‘Azure’)

DMC stranded cotton thread in the following shades: 335 (dark pink), blanc (white), 3839 (cornflower), 3851 (green) and 604 (light pink)

An aqua trick marker, or your preferred method of drawing onto fabric

Needle and small scissors

Some perle thread to finish the back (not shown on the video this week, but you can see it on this tutorial). Shade 793 matches this fabric perfectly!

Flower templates – this design in my hoop is freehand, but you can download a template to create your own here.

Watch the tutorial video for the woven rose bouquet hoop

Find this week’s project tutorial video here:

And if you want to watch the stitch tutorial video first (to see a 7-spoke web being stitched in real time), you’ll find that here:

Step 1

Place your pre-ironed fabric in the embroidery hoop and tighten the screw to secure in position. Take your aqua trick marker (or similar pen) and draw on a bouquet design. If you prefer, you can use the templates to help – see materials list above for the link to download.

Step 2

Thread a needle with 6 strands of 335, the dark pink shade. Using a straight stitch, stitch over the spokes of one of the webs before weaving around the create the rose. Repeat with any remaining roses in your bouquet.

Step 3

Stitch the white daisies with 6 strands of blanc thread for the petals, and add some little French knots in the centre. Use 3 strands of the cornflower blue thread (shade 3839) for the knots.

Step 4

Stitch stem stitch for the stems of the flowers, using 3 strands of shade 3851 (I think I said this is shade 959 in the video, but it’s actually the darker 3831 – sorry!).

Step 5

Use 6 strands of the light pink (shade 604) to tie a ribbon around the bouquet. Stitch a few stitches over the section where the stems overlap so it looks like they have been tied together. Adjust the bow once tied, and add a tie stitch at the end of the loops if you need to secure them in place.

Share your stitching!

Don’t forget to share your makes with me – I’m @hellohoorayblog on Instagram, but you’ll find me on Facebook and Twitter too. Or drop me an email if you prefer! I can’t wait to see your beautiful bouquets this week.

You may also like…

These rose shortbread hearts make a lovely gift:

Rose shortbread hearts

Make a bouquet with real flowers with this simple tutorial!

Tutorial: how to make a floral bouquet

These perpetual paper chains are a brilliant project:

Perpetual paper chains

Or bake your own bread – it’s easier than you think!

Bake your own bread

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We’re embracing a bit of freestyle design and stitching with this chain stitch spiral hoop! It’s a perfect project for using some of your loose ends (the useable bits of thread left over from other projects) and it’s so relaxing to stitch. It’s week 10 of The Happy Stitch Project – can you believe we’re in double figures?! Thank you so much for all your lovely messages this week It has been brilliant to see so many lovely projects, and to hear that lots of you are feeling more confident in experimenting with new stitches and your own designs. That’s what this project is all about! So this week, I wanted to create something that would allow us all to be free in our approach to the design and not worry about any imperfections (you might find this post interesting if you’re trying to let go of ideas of perfection).

Chain stitch spiral hoop: materials list

10cm (4″) embroidery hoop

18x18cm piece of fabric – I’m using linen here, but a good quality quilting cotton would work well

An air erasable pen

Some of your loose ends threads, or a chosen selection of thread if you prefer

Needle

Small sharp scissors

Watch the tutorial videos here!

If you’d like to watch the stitch tutorial video first, you’ll find it here:

And you can find the chain stitch spiral hoop tutorial here:

In the video I mentioned that I have a thread conversion chart on my blog if you need it, and actually I have two! There’s an Anchor to DMC chart and a DMC to Anchor chart for your reference if you need it.

Step 1

Position your pre-ironed fabric in your hoop, and tighten the screw to make sure it’s firmly in position. Take your air erasable pen, and draw a spiral shape – start in the middle here as it’s easier to see where you’re going that way!

Step 2

Thread a needle with 3 strands of embroidery thread, and trim the excess. Start your chain stitches from the edge and stitch towards the middle. I’ve used the darkest red first, and have worked through the rainbow colours towards the middle.

Step 3

When complete, you can finish the back of your hoop and display it as it is. I am actually going to be stitching some text on the inside of the spiral this week, as I think it will look really nice! I’m planning to use the air erasable pen again to write something out by hand, and I’ll also display it in a hand painted hoop too but I still haven’t decided which colour to use for that yet.

You may also like…

Sticking with the spiral theme, you might enjoy this yummy recipe:

Spiral courgette tart

Make some beautiful heirloom perpetual paper chains:

Perpetual paper chains

Find the previous project here:

Do your thing embroidered hoop

And if you need any of the links to the other posts from The Happy Stitch Project, you’ll find them on my links page.

The post Chain stitch spiral hoop appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

After three weeks of stitching this hoop together, this week I’ll show you how to stitch a star stitch in The Happy Stitch Project so we can finish this lovely, motivational hoop!  I have really enjoyed stitching this piece, and I don’t know about you but I have found it has been lovely to keep coming back to it over the past few weeks. There’s something so nice about being able to put it down and pick it up again – it’s one of my favourite things about hand embroidery. It’s something I talk about a bit in my book, but I feel like my love for this aspect of embroidery has grown even more this month.

Last week (which was week 8) we learnt how to stitch a stem stitch. It has been brilliant seeing you try it out over on Instagram, and I’m so pleased that the loopy technique helped! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’ll have to watch the tutorial on YouTube. I have definitely got better with practice! Thanks so much for sharing all of your photos – it really does make me so happy to see you enjoying the creative process during these difficult times.

How to stitch a star stitch

Watch the tutorial here:

In the tutorial, you’ll notice that star stitch is kind of two stitches in one! By making the horizontal and vertical lines, you can stitch a stitch that’s known as the St George Cross (which makes complete sense!). We aren’t learning this as a separate stitch in the project, but I thought it was worth mentioning in car you fancy using it at some point.

Watch me add star stitch to the Do Your Thing hoop here:

As you can see, I’ve used white thread on the white fabric to create the star stitch here. I have wanted to try this on something for ages, but as my projects are usually full of colour, I haven’t got around to it before now! I really love the effect of it – it is subtle but the stars still stand out. It was the final colour from the perfect pastels thread pack which I used for the rest of the project, so it was good to make sure it wasn’t left out. I really want to experiment with this more so I’m sure it will pop up in a future design.

Happy stitching!

I’m really looking forward to seeing you try out this stitch this week – don’t forget to tag me @hellohoorayblog on Instagram. And do let me know if you have any questions along the way.

Have you seen the first kit to accompany The Happy Stitch Project?

The Brighter Days Are Coming kit is the perfect way to put all your new stitches into practice! This kit gives you the right combination of freedom and guidance to create your own piece. Use the tutorial videos to help you to stitch your own design

You may also love…

My best-selling Keep Going kit is a lovely kit to work on over time:

https://hellohooray.com/product/keep-going-hand-embroidery-kit/

Or try a slightly smaller version with this design from my book, Colourful Fun Embroidery:

https://hellohooray.com/product/one-step-at-a-time-embroidery-kit/

If you need a thread conversion chart, I’ve got you covered:

DMC to Anchor thread conversion chart

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This week in The Happy Stitch Project, we’re learning how to stitch a stem stitch. I’m wondering why I haven’t learnt this one before to be honest, as it’s such a lovely stitch! Here it is in red on the sampler designed by Helen from @unicornfactoryuk – you can download it here.I have added it to the edges of the Do Your Thing hoop that we started last week when we learnt arrowhead stitch. I really love the look of the stem stitching around the edges because it makes it pop so much! I have really enjoyed practising it this week, and I have managed to perfect my technique as I’ve gone along. In this week’s tutorial videos, I started by stitching this stitch in a couple of different ways. But as the week went on, I came up with a third one that works much better for me! Rather than changing everything I’ve just added it to the project video, because I want to show you an honest account of how I’m learning these stitches. We get better with practice and that’s a good thing! I’d recommend giving each one a try and seeing which technique works best for you. I’m really happy with my loop technique because I feel like I can get much more even stem stitches by doing it this way.

How to stitch stem stitch: tutorial videos

Watch the stem stitch tutorial video here:

Watch the project video here:

If you missed the first part of this project, you’ll find all the info and free templates here.

Next week, we’ll add some more embellishments around the edges with another new stitch. I’ve decided to put this in a peach hoop (the ‘Peaches’ shade) to match shade 20 from the perfect pastels thread pack that I used in the project, so you’ll get to see that next week too! I hope you’ve enjoyed learning stem stitch this week – don’t forget to share what you’ve been stitching on Instagram by tagging me @hellohoorayblog

You may also like…

Try making these yummy breakfast bars this weekend:

Nigella Lawson’s breakfast bars

Make your own floral buttonholes like we did for our wedding:

Make your own floral buttonholes

Treat yourself to a Keep Going embroidery kit!

https://hellohooray.com/product/keep-going-hand-embroidery-kit/

The post How to stitch a stem stitch appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

I picked these words for this week because I’ve been hearing lots of small business friends saying that they’re suffering with the dreaded comparison at the moment. But it’s not just people who run a small business; anyone can feel it, and life in lockdown is making this more difficult. I think because everything is online at the moment, it’s easy to only present the best bits on social media. It’s something I talked about this week in this blog post. So this hoop is designed to be a little reminder to us all to keep doing our own thing. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing; we’re all on our own journey and doing what works for us. Just keep doing you!

Do Your Thing embroidered hoop: materials list

17cm (7″) embroidery hoop

A piece of white cotton or linen fabric, measuring 25 x 25cm (10 x 10″)

Templates (click to download)

A permanent method of design transfer, such as a Sublime Stitching pen and hand embroidery transfer paper

DMC shades from perfect pastels thread pack – next week we’ll also use shade 03 to stitch around the edges of the letters

Needle

Some embroidery scissors

Watch the Do Your Thing embroidered hoop tutorial video

Watch the arrowhead stitch tutorial here first if you want to practice first.

Step 1

Trace the templates (see the materials list for the link to download) onto the fabric using your chosen method. If you’re using a heat pen and transfer paper, check out my tutorial video here. Place your fabric in your hoop.

Step 2

Thread your needle with 3 strands of the first colour of thread. Starting at the bottom of the letter ‘D’, stitch arrowhead stitches moving upwards and around in the direction of the letter. Think about the direction as though you were writing it and follow that! Make sure you don’t stitch over the lines around the edges, as we’ll be adding stem stitches around the edges next week.

Step 3

Repeat with the remaining letters, until all of them are filled in. And that’s it for this week! If you don’t want to add stem stitch, you could always stitch a back stitch around the edges instead this week

You may also like…

See my hand stitched social media icons!

Hand embroidered social media icons

See one of my first ever embroidered banners here:

Embroidered banner

Make some simple decorations for your home with these fabric covered letters:

Fabric covered letters

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