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.

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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

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

Crafty Colour Palette #4: Colour list

Pale gold = DMC 726 / Anchor 295

Mid gold = DMC 743 / Anchor 302

Dark gold = DMC 742 / Anchor 303

Orange = DMC 740 / Anchor 316

Dark orange = DMC 947 / Anchor 330

Coral = DMC 3705 / Anchor 35

Hot pink = DMC 600 / Anchor 59

Plum = DMC 917 / Anchor 89

Purple = DMC 3837 / Anchor 100

Violet = DMC 333 / Anchor 119

If you look really carefully, you’ll notice that there’s actually a hint of blue in the Instagram logo in the top left corner. I used a few strands of DMC 792 (Anchor 941) in this logo, but I haven’t included it in this colour palette. One reason is that I wanted an even number of colours! The second is that I love the summer vibe of this colour palette, and preferred it without the blue.

Crafty Colour Palette #4: Eat Sleep Craft Repeat

So to celebrate the beauty of these gorgeous colours, I designed a little hoop to use them to full effect. This quote is a fun way to use an ombre effect, but you could use any quote really. My tip would be to keep it short enough not to be stitching forever, but long enough to be able to use a good range of colours. There are 10 in this project using the colour list earlier in the post.

You will need

The printed templates (click here to download for free!)

15cm (6″) embroidery hoop

20 x 20cm (8 x 8″) piece of white linen fabric

Your preferred method of transferring designs to fabric (a permanent method is ideal)

DMC threads as listed above (I use DMC but have given Anchor numbers in the list above too)

Needle and some small sharp scissors

Optional paint for your hoop

Step 1

Transfer the design on to the fabric and place it in the centre of your hoop. Thread your needle with 3 strands of the colour you want to use at the top of the word ‘eat’ (I used DMC 726 for this).

Bring the needle up at one side of the letter, and make a stitch by pushing it through at the other side of the letter. Keep your stitch nice and level – if you’re using linen, follow the line of the fabric as a guide. Make another stitch, leaving a gap between. Repeat to fill in the stitches until you have a clear band of this colour at the top of the letter.

Now thread your needle with three strands of the second colour, and stitch a band in the middle of the letter. Repeat with the third colour, as shown in the photo:

Step 2

When you have stitched blocks of each colour with gaps in between, fill in with stitches in between to blend the colours. Leave gaps between the stitches so that you can fill in with a lighter or darker shade – like this:

Don’t worry if you have any wonky edges – you can always correct these later!

Step 3

I used a lot of colours here, so stitched the first letters to show the finished effect, then the second with colour blocks so you can see the main colours. The colours are allocated like this:

EAT = shades 726, 743 and 742

SLEEP = shades 742, 740 and 947

CRAFT = shades 947, 3705, 600 and 917

REPEAT = shades 917, 3387 and 333

I put a hint of the darkest orange at the top of ‘craft’ and I think that helps with the ombré effect through the lettering, rather than having yellows and oranges in the top half and pinks and purples in the bottom.

Keep filling in the letters until everything is complete. I actually found it easier to block one colour at a time and then fill in the gaps – I only did it like this at first to be able to check it worked and to take a photo for this post!

Step 4

Once you’ve finished stitching, you’re ready to finish the back of your hoop. If you want to paint it, now is the time! I originally thought I’d put this in a yellow hoop, but it didn’t quite look right for me. The colour I used for my social media hoops gives a really lovely contrast, so I just repainted it. I finished the back by trimming the fabric about 1” from the edge, and then gathering with some white thread.

Ta-dah!

Your hoop is now ready to display.

Do let me know if you have a go at stitching this project!

I would love to see how you interpret this fun project – it would look great in any crafty space. Or if you use this ombre effect on your own project, let me know! Tag me @hellohoorayblog if you share on social media. Happy stitching!

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