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!

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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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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!

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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!.

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.

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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.

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