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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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

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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

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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 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!.

I have been absolutely delighted to see lots of people joining in with The Happy Stitch Project this week. It has been so amazing to see you all enjoying some creative time, and so many of you learning a new skill. It feels like the perfect craft for 2021 to bring us a little peace, calm and creativity. These little moments and pockets of time are truly going to be invaluable for us all. Here in the UK as we are now in our third Covid lockdown, and I’ve had lots of lovely messages from people saying that they are looking forward to making time for themselves, and that’s really so important. It’s hard to believe we’re only seven days in to 2021 and everything has gone completely crazy!

Earlier this week, the lovely Helen from The Unicorn Factory shared a hoop design in her Instagram stories, which she had put together to be able to make a sampler for The Happy Stitch Project. It has 52 sections, and Helen said that she was going to use it to practice each of the stitches that we’re learning throughout the year. I just think this is the most brilliant idea! So I got in touch to ask if I could share them with you, and I’m very pleased to say that she said yes (thanks, Helen!).

Helen is a surface pattern designer, and you can buy fabrics from her beautiful first collection (called Rainforest Joy) on Fashion Formula and Spoonflower. I love the colours she has used in this collection, and they complement each other so well. Go and give her a follow on Instagram too!

Happy Stitch hoop templates

Helen has very kindly put the documents together for the Happy Stitch hoop templates, so they’re ready for you to download and print!  You can either stitch in an 20cm (8″) or a 25cm (10″) hoop, depending on what you feel most comfortable with. You can print both at 100% on A4 – the larger size will get chopped off slightly when printed, but the lines are clear enough for you to be able to draw this on anyway.

Click here to download the 20cm (8″) templates

Click here to download the 25cm (10″) templates

Week 1 project – in case you missed it!

Did you see the design for week 1 of The Happy Stitch Project? It’s this lovely little sprinkles hoop – I have loved seeing your creations over on Instagram this week. Keep sharing, as I’ll be sharing my favourites each week! And don’t forget that if you need some sewing supplies, you can find lots of lovely things in my haberdashery. Hoops are now available, and more things coming soon!

Have you stitched anything this week? Let me know in the comments! The week 2 stitch tutorial and project will be available tomorrow – yay!

You may also like…

Enjoy stitching the Do Your Thing hoop from week 7 of The Happy Stitch Project:

Do your thing embroidered hoop

Try out the first kit from The Happy Stitch Project here:

https://hellohooray.com/product/brighter-days-are-coming-kit/

Try out your own 100 Happy Days – perfect for practising gratitude:

100 Happy Days

The post Happy Stitch hoop templates appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Welcome to The Happy Stitch Project! I’m so excited to be launching today – yay! This whole project basically came about when I got stuck in a creative rut a couple of months ago, and I knew that I wanted to come up with something to get me out of it. It was during a period when I felt a bit lost and unmotivated creatively, and that’s never a great place to be in (but trusting in the process is key and I know that this will get me out of it). The last few weeks have been crazy busy (for which I am truly thankful!) but it didn’t leave me much time for being creative, and I felt like I didn’t know what to work on next anyway. Over the last couple of years I’ve come to understand that when I feel a bit lost, learning something new can help to encourage me to get creative again. It always feels like a big kickstart to get me going again, if that makes sense?!

So I decided to go big or go home and take on a year-long project in 2021. I went from feeling lost to feeling hugely motivated and excited before I’d even done a stitch! And I think this is a good sign, so I’m really hoping that it will not only get me going creatively but also encourage you to get involved as well – whether you’ve stitched before or not!

What is The Happy Stitch Project?

So in a nutshell, I am going to be learning (and teaching you!) a new embroidery stitch in every week of 2021. This is a project that you’ll be able to join in with in a way that suits you. It will be something that you can dip in and out of, use either as a refresher or as a way to learn completely new stitches. You’ll get to see all the outtakes of me learning new things along the way too – I really want to show you the full process throughout, whether it goes well or not! I have always done this on my blog and it’s a really important part of how I work creatively. We learn such a lot when things don’t quite go to plan, and I try to embrace this as much as possible. I’d love to encourage you to do the same!

There will be lots going on as part of the project, including:

• Blog posts full of ideas, tips and tricks
• Tutorial videos on YouTube and IGTV
• Free digital patterns for you to try out
• New kits available to purchase throughout the year
• Newsletter subscribers will also receive additional free patterns throughout the year – you can sign up in the footer or via the popup too!

Watch on YouTube!

The first videos are live on YouTube already – yay! You’ll find an introduction to the project below if you’d like to watch me talk about it The first two stitch tutorials are on there (you get a bonus one this week as it’s the first week!), so we’re starting with straight stitch and back stitch. I’ll be writing additional blog posts for these as well, so stay tuned.

The project in more detail

I really want #TheHappyStitchProject to be an exploration of stitching for us all, and something which encourages you to explore hand embroidery a little further. There are a few things that are super important to me, and I wanted to highlight them individually:

Work at your own pace

One of the key things about The Happy Stitch Project is that I want you to work at your own pace. Comparing your speed to other people can take some of the joy out of it, and I want this to be an enjoyable project for you! Try to enjoy the process, however fast or slow your stitching is going. There’s really no rush at all. Also, there isn’t a test at the end so remember that you don’t have to complete each week! Simply dip in and out and take what you need. You might skip a few weeks if you feel like you’ve mastered those stitches already. The content will be available afterwards anyway, so you can always come back later. It’s okay to change your mind!

You don’t have to be an expert

In my book, Colourful Fun Embroidery, I talk about using only a small number of stitches to be create a variety of different pieces. I only use about 5 different ones in my book, which are the stitches I have used for basically all of the projects I have ever stitched, and I’ll let you into a secret…they are actually the only ones I know! That’s right – I wrote a book, an ACTUAL BOOK that I am so so proud of, and I only used 5 stitches. Which firstly goes to show how how versatile hand embroidery is, and secondly that you can produce beautiful pieces without knowing everything there is to know about embroidery. I’m here to remind you that you don’t have to be an expert to get started; you certainly don’t need to be an expert to join in with The Happy Stitch Project. (Also if you haven’t got a copy and you’d like one, you’ll find them here!)

You may wonder why I’m telling you this, in a world where Instagram and social media in general presents us with perfect stitches and expert crafters. Well, I guess what I’m getting at is that this is a learning process for me as well as for lots of you, and that is absolutely okay. Being open to this is a really important part of being creative – we can’t expect to learn anything unless we are open to learning. We can’t become more expert at something until we learn and practise (and practise some more!). Making mistakes is key to this process, as we often learn more from making mistakes – or at least by allowing ourselves to see mistakes as a way to explore and develop creatively. Whatever stage of the creative process you find yourself in, keep going. You’ll get there, just trust in the process! 

There is more than one way of doing things

One of the things that I find frustrating about the creative world is that there can sometimes be this idea that there is only one way to do something. I firmly believe that there are plenty of ways to do things to achieve the same or similar results! You may find that I am teaching you stitches in a different way to how you’ve learnt before – you don’t have to follow what I’m doing, keep doing what you’ve always done if you have a technique that works. Feel free to adapt my methods in a way that suits you – we’re all different and that’s a good thing!

Get involved

This project isn’t just about me learning or teaching you new stitches – I’d love to see what you’re stitching too! Use the hashtag #TheHappyStitchProject and tag me @hellohoorayblog on social media because I would LOVE to see what you create! Please feel free to ask questions as well, as I’m happy to help.

Use what you have

I really want you to be able to make the most of materials and tools that you already have, so raid your fabric stash and see what you can use! I have a huge stash and I’ve been working on trying to use more of it before I buy anything new where I can. But, if you do need some additional supplies then I have loads in my haberdashery. Really excited to say that I have my first fabric available (only in one colour at the moment as we have no space here!) and more will be available soon. So if you do want to treat yourself to new supplies then that’s absolutely okay – no judgement here (and I’ll probably start doing the same haha!).

Are you ready to get started?!

Let me know if you’re joining in! I am so excited to feel inspired by learning new things, and by what you’re all stitching too. If you have any comments or questions, you can leave a comment below or get in touch by email, through Instagram or Facebook. Let’s make 2021 a happy, creative year!

The post The Happy Stitch Project appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

It has been a long, long time since I put together a new colour palette! I had such a lot of fun creating Crafty Colour Palette #5, which is inspired by my garden.  Sweet peas are my absolute favourite at this time of year (once peonies have gone, that is!). The last couple of years I have either completely forgotten to plant any, or just been a bit too busy with other things to remember to do it. But I know that making the effort is a part of self-care for me really. If I make the effort to plant in spring, July will be full of glorious colour and the beautiful, sweet smell of these delightful flowers. They also keep on giving, just by picking them more often! Nature is amazing, isn’t it? Having flowers in the house is something that really makes me feel good. When I realised that this was the case, I knew it was something I needed to keep doing.

Little One helped me pick these from our garden and we had a lovely time arranging them and matching up the colours. She really loves playing with my threads, so she didn’t take much persuading! It was actually a lovely colour matching activity, so we’ll definitely do it again. The sweet peas have gone now (the bugs got them), so this is a lovely reminder of them too.

Crafty Colour Palette #5

There is such variety in the colours of sweet peas! So this is quite a large colour palette here with 11 colours. You could select just a small selection for a project rather than using the whole thing, but the gradient of the colours from the bright coral red through to the really deep plum shades is just gorgeous.

The DMC thread colours in this palette are:

Cream 3865

Light red 3705

Bright coral 956

Medium bright pink 3806

Bright pink 3607

Magenta 33

Lilac 210

Light purple 155

Bright purple 333

Plum 35

Medium plum 34

Please note that the colour descriptions are my own – DMC might refer to them as slightly different names! If you need to convert to Anchor thread colours, you’ll find a handy chart on my website here.

Deciding what to stitch

I’m still deciding what to stitch with these colours. I’ve been so busy putting my latest kit together that I haven’t had the time to do much else recently! I thought it would be lovely to stitch something as a reminder of the summer, particularly as this one has been a little different to say the least. When I’ve worked out what this is, I’ll edit the post and let you know!

What would you stitch with these colours?

The post Crafty Colour Palette #5 appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

I am so excited to be sharing this post today. Introducing Colourful Fun Embroidery – my first book!  Colourful Fun Embroidery features 24 modern projects to bring joy and happiness to your life. I am hugely passionate about getting creative to improve mental health and well-being. My book focuses on how you can use hand embroidery to help you take time out to be creative in order to feel good. Mindfulness is something that many people are focussing on more now, especially in terms of how crafting can help you feel better. When I started writing my book back in 2018, I couldn’t have predicted how relevant this would be right now in 2020. But it feels like the right time for it to be released into the world!

My book will be released on 30th October 2020 by White Owl Books, and it’s the perfect book for complete beginners and more experienced embroiderers. So today I thought I’d write a post introducing Colourful Fun Embroidery to tell you a little bit more about it and share some photos of some projects from the book. You can pre-order your copy here, and there will be links to this at the end of the post too!

Introducing Colourful Fun Embroidery: book description 

Take time out to be creative and de-stress with these colourful, fun embroidery projects from Hello! Hooray! Ranging from things you could complete in an afternoon to others that you can take your time over, enjoy every step of the making process as you focus on feeling good through being creative. The finished makes will bring colour and joy to your home, workspace and wardrobe.

The projects in this book allow you to craft your creative time by selecting makes according to timescale. Choose one of the ‘crafternoon makes’ if you want that sense of joy at finishing something, a ‘medium makes’ project for the days where you have a little more time for crafting, or for something to really take your time over you could stitch one of the longer ‘pick me up’ projects.

Each project includes step-by-step instructions, beautiful photos and inspirational ideas for how to make each project your own. So take time to be creative with this colourful, feel-good craft book!

Take time out to be creative

If I had to sum up the main theme of the book very briefly, it would be that my book focusses on the idea of taking time out to be creative. Over the last few years, I really struggled with work-related mental health issues. One of the things that really helped me to get through the day at the day job was to do some hand embroidery on my lunch break. I would take whatever I was working on and sit with a cup of tea and stitch. Even if it was just for 10 minutes, it made a huge difference. It slowed me down, allowed me to focus on something that I loved and I could always see progress even during a short time. For that short period of time I felt less stressed and much happier. Lots of my colleagues said how much they enjoyed watching me stitch too!

One of the main things that I love about hand embroidery is that you can fit it into little pockets of time here and there. I first got into it after our daughter (known as Little One here on my blog) was born in 2016. It was naturally a very busy time, but I felt a huge urge to do something creative. Hand embroidery was the perfect craft for me at this point. Being able to stop and start stitching without having to count stitches to work out where to continue was brilliant! Counting and measuring have never been my strongest skills anyway, and hand embroidery gave me much more freedom than other forms of stitching. I could pick it up for a little while when she napped, drop it mid stitch and then pick it up later. Even if later wasn’t for another couple of weeks!

When I started writing my book Little One was two, and whilst writing I fell pregnant with our second. They are now aged four and one and I feel more passionate about having creative time than ever before! Being creative makes my soul happy and I can’t imagine not doing something creative each day. It’s important to me individually but also to us as a family (see our creative family manifesto). Finding little pockets of time to be creative is super important for me. I’m not saying it’s always easy to do, because it isn’t! But by prioritising it, you can give yourself some time each day to focus on doing something that makes you feel good.

Introducing Colourful Fun Embroidery: the projects

I divided the sections of my book into three, based on the amount of time that it takes to complete each project. So there are ‘Crafternoons’, ‘Medium Makes’ and ‘Pick Me Up’ projects. This was really important to me, and was one of the first decisions I made when writing my book pitch back in 2018. I really wanted readers to feel like they could dip into my book, and pick the perfect project for them to start working on based on how much time they had. 

Sometimes you really just want to sit down and make something in an afternoon. You don’t want a project that’s going to take loads of prep before you can get started. Neither do you want it to drag on for ages! So the Crafternoon projects are perfect for this. You could get together with a friend for tea, cake and stitching (once we’re allowed to do that safely in person – or just do it virtually!).

Other times you want to spend a bit longer on a project. You might be going away for a few days, or just fancy doing some stitching at the end of each day. My Medium Makes projects are things that take a little more time to make than the projects in Crafternoons, but they can easily be finished in a few days. But the beauty of these projects is that you can take more time over them if you wish! There’s no rush, just enjoy the process – it is just as important as the thing you’re making.

My Pick Me Up projects take much longer, and that’s ok. Sometimes it’s nice to have something to keep working on, because you see it come together over time. You put so much love into it, and you’re really proud of it when it’s done. Some of these projects are heirloom pieces, and I hope that you love stitching them.

Make it your own

Another big thing that I wanted to emphasise with the projects in Colourful Fun Embroidery is that you can take them, play around and adapt them to make something else if you wish. When it comes to creativity, the best thing we can do to encourage it is to play around with it. Play with colour, pattern, technique, style – whatever. Don’t worry about getting things ‘right’, just go for it! I really want my book to be a source of creative inspiration for you, and I hope that it encourages you to be creative in your approach! You might look at one of the projects and like the design, but not want to display it in a hoop, for example. That’s absolutely ok! Take what you like and adapt it to suit you (please remember that the projects are for personal use only though!).

To make this a little easier and give you a starting point, each project comes with suggestions for how to make it your own. It might be that you take an element of one design and turn it into a different project altogether. Or you might take a colour palette from one, and use that for another project. This is wonderful! I can’t wait to see the results, so please share with me on Instagram @hellohoorayblog or via Facebook or Twitter.

Colourful Fun Embroidery: FAQs

I’ve had a few questions about my book already, and thought it would be good to end with a little FAQ section. I’ll be adding to these every now and again when I can.

Will I enjoy this book if I’m a beginner?

Yes! It doesn’t matter if you have never stitched before, so don’t worry if you’re a beginner. There are handy stitch guides as well as lots of information about getting started with hand embroidery. So don’t be afraid to give it a go! And don’t be afraid to make mistakes – it’s how we learn. My book will give you lots of ideas in terms of exploring your creativity and experimenting, and that’s all part of the fun! 

Does that mean it’s not a book for experienced stitchers?

Not at all! Lots of the people who have reviewed my book before release have said that they aren’t beginners but that they found it really inspiring. As I explained earlier in the post, I wanted to make the designs adaptable so you can use the project ideas as a starting point and customise it from there. I’m sure that experienced stitchers will feel inspired by my book too!

Is this book suitable for children?

Although several of the pre-release reviews have stated that the book is suitable for children (maybe because of the fun designs and bright colours?!), it wasn’t designed with children in mind. Of course, you can stitch the projects with children if you supervise your child, but some of the projects would be very tricky with children. Little One loves playing with thread and fabric, but I personally won’t be teaching her for a while! 

Will I need loads of different materials?

You can start hand embroidery with just a few basics. In my book I share a materials list, as well as a list of some of my favourite suppliers. I will also be stocking some of these things in the Haberdashery section on my website.

Will you be selling kits?

Yes! Some of the projects will be available as kits, and these will only be available through my website. Preorder book and kit bundles include the Good Vibes hoop, the Snail Mail hoop and the Long Player hoop – click here to order. Other projects will be available after release.

If you enjoyed reading this post, preorder your copy of Colourful Fun Embroidery today!

Preorders will be posted out once the book has been released – the release date is 30th October 2020. 

If you have any comments or questions, please get in touch. I’d love to hear from you!

The post Introducing Colourful Fun Embroidery! appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Well, I wasn’t expecting to write a post with the title ‘Life in lock down’ in 2020, but I’m guessing that this is pretty much how we all feel about the current situation! I’ve been drafting this post over the last few weeks, thinking about what to say about life in lock down. These are obviously unprecedented times for everyone, and with lock down easing recently (here in the UK at least) things feel even more uncertain in many ways. After much thought, I decided the best way to start was to ask: How are you feeling today? It’s a question I ask a lot over on my Instagram account, because I feel that it’s an important one to ask each other and particularly yourself. Personally, I’ve found that it is important to allow myself to feel whatever it is that I’m feeling. It has been a complete roller-coaster over the last few months, hasn’t it?! If I have tried not to feel angry or frustrated, I’ve actually made myself feel worse. So I hope today has been a good day for you. If not, there’s always tomorrow.

Documenting life in lock down

I really wanted to document life in lock down here on my blog, but as usual I’ve mainly been doing that on Instagram! Although not every day. Because being present in real life has felt much more important. Even though there hasn’t been much going on in the diary, there has been a lot going on in life. Two days before we first went into lock down back in March, we had to unexpectedly leave our house due to some unwanted visitors in our bathroom (an ongoing problem, but they finally got into the house – ugh!). On Mother’s Day, of all days! Don’t think I’ll forget that in a hurry. It was a big and sudden upheaval, and we were very lucky that we were able to go and stay with Tom’s Dad. It made a surreal situation even more surreal!

We celebrated both our kids’ birthdays during the two weeks we were there, I tried to keep my small business running, was in the process of final edits for my book (more on that later) and having to deal with sorting out the house remotely. But despite all the stress, it meant that we were together to adjust to life in lock down for the first two weeks and I think it actually helped us all. I look back on it now and it feels like years ago!

When we got back home, we then had to adjust to new normal again. This was the hardest part for all of us – Little One missed nursery so much, and I found it really hard to get my head around not being able to do normal things. This actually felt harder than adjusting the first time for me, and it felt like we were starting from scratch again. But it got easier, although it definitely comes in waves. Have you found that? Some weeks seem fine and then others are really hard. Someone described it as like having a newborn again, when the days are long but they weeks fly by. This sums it up perfectly for me! I’ve been trying to be extra kind to myself and take time off if I need to. Being self-employed now does make this more difficult, but I know I need to do this and have the evening off a couple of times a week to recharge.

One of the huge positives for us is that Littlest One has had the time of his life all the way through, which has been wonderful to see. He just loves that we are together all of the time. He has learnt to walk, explore and has started babbling away. It’s a reminder that in all this, there are some amazing things to hold on to! Another was a day spent celebrating a friend’s birthday with a relay run/walk (we obviously chose to walk). It was such a beautiful day, and we took a balloon on our leg of the relay too! So lovely to see photos from everyone else’s walk, and it felt like we were in touch with friends and seeing different places. Amazing!

Keep Going kits

You may already know that I went self-employed in January this year (I mean, what a year to choose, but never mind!). I miss teaching my workshops so much, and it has been sad seeing all the reminders popping up in my phone about ones I had booked in. One of the things I had wanted to develop this year was my range of hand embroidery kits, and this Keep Going hoop seemed like a perfect one to work on in lock down. Back in April, I launched it on pre-order and was so overwhelmed by the response! I needed to sell 10 to be able to afford to purchase the thread, and I had sold way more than that by the end of the first day. Incredible! I had a massive stress when the thread went back to France – twice – but thankfully, my lovely customers were so patient and kind. It has been wonderful to see people stitching them and knowing how much they are enjoying it during this difficult time.

If you’d like to purchase a Keep Going kit, you can find them here. 15% of sales in June will be donated to The Black Curriculum.

Black Lives Matter

We all need to be having more conversations about racism. Black Lives Matter. Over the last few weeks I have been reading, listening and learning to find out how I can be an ally and be actively anti-racist. I’ve posted once or twice about it on Instagram, but when I haven’t it doesn’t mean that I haven’t been doing something behind the scenes. I’m in this for the long run. As a white woman I can never fully put myself in the position of a Black person to understand what they experience every day. But I can recognise my privilege, speak out, apologise when I get things wrong (we ALL get things wrong – admitting it and saying sorry is important), and learn. We all need to do the work. Racism runs way deeper than you think. I am guilty of not realising this sooner, and I am sorry. If you think that this isn’t a problem in the UK, then you really need to read up on this and realise that it is something that we all need to work together to fight against.

I want to work out how I can use my work to support Black communities, and this is something ongoing. That’s why I’m donating to The Black Curriculum this month, and I’ll give you more info about what I’ll be doing in future when I can. There are lots of really helpful resources out there at the moment – Leonie Flower has shared some excellent ones if you’re looking for a place to start. I have recently discovered the work of Aurelia Durand, and you must check her out. She has illustrated some excellent books which deal with racism, which you should also add to your bookshelves. I’ll be talking about what I’m reading in a future post, but I’d love to know what you’d recommend so let me know in the comments.

Colourful Fun Embroidery

I mentioned earlier in my post that I was editing my book when we went into lock down – well, here it is! Colourful Fun Embroidery will be released on 30th August by White Owl Books and I am beyond excited! It features 24 projects, and is designed to help you take time out to be creative. I’ll be writing a much more in-depth post about it really soon, but you can pre-order it now! I also have book and kit bundles that you can pre-order too, if you fancy getting some materials for one of the projects.

Easing into more normal things

I must admit that I feel a bit strange getting back into doing a few normal things. The biggest step for us was getting Little One back into nursery at the start of June. She was absolutely thrilled! We agonised over it to be honest, as the biggest challenge for us is getting her there on public transport. But thankfully, it has been quieter than we expected overall. Little One has been amazing at wearing her masks, and we couldn’t be more proud. She’s leaving at the end of the month, and we’ll be starting our home education journey. More on that in a future post too!

Being on the bus again has been weird. So many people without masks, even though it is compulsory (although I completely understand the bus drivers not being able to enforce anything). So many people with masks only over their mouths, but not their noses! I can’t get my head around that. We always wear them on the bus and in shops, and on the 2 occasions that I have braved the city centre. We don’t do these trips frequently, but without a car we have to do it sometimes now. Whatever you’re doing to keep your family safe, do what’s best for you. If you need to stay at home then do it.

Our key workers are absolutely amazing and we really do appreciate all that you do. Thank you!

I’ll probably leave it there for today, as I have rambled on for a while now (thank you, if you’re still here!). I wonder what it will feel like reading this on 25th June 2021?

What has your experience of lock down been like? How are you feeling about unlocking a bit now?

The post Life in lock down appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

It has been a week since my new look website launch, and I can’t believe how that time has flown! I had intended to write this blog post a little sooner to coincide with the launch, but life happens and it kept getting pushed back. I’m in full-on market prep mode for our Etsy Made Local events here in Newcastle, but it has been in the back of my mind that I wanted to at least say hello again before then. So, hello! I’m back – yay!

I really hope that you love my new site as much as I do. I have to say that I’ve had some wonderful feedback about it over the last 7 days, so thanks to everyone who got in touch via social media! It has been a labour of love as I’ve been building it myself since the end of September. I’m not going to lie, fitting it around family life has been a bit tricky at times. But Tom has been amazing as ever, and we worked out days where I could have decent chunks of time to work on it. This has actually been a gamechanger to be honest, and we now try and work it out each week. I find that it’s a great way to avoid procrastination and I can approach the week much more positively when I know that there will be time to work on my business.

Crafty Commerce

I basically have no coding experience whatsoever, except for the odd occasion when I’ve managed to copy some code to sort out spacing (haha!). My friend Dan from Baltic Design (who has hosted my blog for years) and said he wanted to create a platform for creatives to build their website, and I have basically been testing this out for him. I am so thrilled with the results! It has all been done front-end and I have created something which is unique to me. I now have my own shop, where you can purchase my embroidered items, kits, workshops and more! My blog is much more appealing and I feel like I can actually share it with people again (it was a bit of a mess after I tried to change the theme – nightmare!). So yes, this platform is coming but it needs a bit more set-up before it’s widely available. If you’re interested, you can find out more about Crafty Commerce here.

In other news…

So there are a LOT of other things going on, some of which you’ll already know about if you follow me on Instagram. We are getting used to life with 2 children and our baby boy is just the sweetest. He is in love with his big sister, crawled at 6 months and his current favourite thing is waving. We can’t remember life without him now!

I also handed my notice in at the day job in September, so will be fully working on Hello! Hooray! from January! I am beyond excited about this – my book comes out next summer and it just felt like the right time to go for it. That and the fact that it has been making me feel like rubbish for longer than I should have let it. That’s all I’ll say about it for now – onwards and upwards!

These little rainbows are my current favourite make and they have been popular in the shop! Custom versions are available, and I’m working on getting more ready to ship hoops too. Once my markets are done at the end of the month, I’ll list any here so you can snap them up. I have too many ideas and not enough time right now, but I’m hoping to use some time in January to get some more things made.

I have embroidery workshops listed in my shop, and I’m delighted to be hosting some at For the Love of the North in the New Year. I’m a huge fan of Lucy and Paul and how they support North East creatives. They have just opened another shop at Spanish City in Whitley Bay, and we’ll be stitching there at my workshops. So excited!

YAY it’s good to be back!

Sign up to my newsletter (link in footer or sidebar) if you’d like to be kept up-to-date with more happenings, and find out first about new products and special offers. And look out for more blog posts coming soon…

Tell me what you’ve been up to – I’d love to know what you’ve been doing, seeing and making!

The post My new look website launch appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

This post is a bit more personal than the ones I usually write, but I have found that during this time, talking has helped so much and I want to reflect that more on my blog too. I have been using my Instagram as a micro blog over the past few months, mainly because it is often easier to write a caption than a full post. Here, I can write in a bit more detail about things that I want to share. I won’t be sharing all the things, but I hope that what I do share will be helpful to others. The support from people I know well, people I know a little and also from complete strangers has been amazing! Thank you so much to everyone who has contacted me. So if you want to get in touch about anything, do just drop me a message in the comments or email me if you’d rather.

Coping with miscarriage

It was the Friday of the late May Bank Holiday in 2018 and I knew that something wasn’t quite right. I had felt a bit weird all week, but I had just kept going. We walked along the river to the park that day and Little One had the best time! It’s a good 30 minute walk and I remember at the time thinking that I had overdone it, but looking back I don’t think it was that. I had a phone appointment with the GP later that afternoon, having rung in tears when we got back. He told me what to expect, noting that as a middle-aged man he couldn’t explain exactly because he obviously didn’t have first-hand experience (which stuck with me as he was just so kind when he was explaining), but that I could go to A&E if I felt worried over the weekend. I didn’t end up going because I knew.

I had a midwife appointment booked for the following Tuesday. When I arrived, I could see what would have been my book of notes on the desk – as I explained what had happened, the midwife moved it away and took my hands before giving me the biggest hug. I asked what I thought were ridiculous questions, and she very kindly talked me through everything. The thing is, nobody really talks about miscarriage, so you have absolutely no idea what to expect. You feel so alone, so helpless, like your world has stopped when everyone else’s is carrying on around you. It’s a  bit like with pregnancy, in the sense that everyone has a different experience for something that has a general term. I had extremely painful contractions later in the week – having given birth before, I knew exactly what they were once they had started. I felt like I had all of the pregnancy symptoms, with nothing left to show for it at the end. We were heartbroken.

I was on holiday when it happened, and went back to the day job the following week. With hindsight this was not a good idea, but hindsight is a wonderful thing! I think I just felt a pressure to get back, to try to get into normal routine even though nothing felt normal. I knew that going back was going to be really hard, and I just wanted to go back and get it over with. But it was hard, and looking back I realize that I could hardly concentrate, so it’s a wonder anything got done anyway.

To anyone experiencing miscarriage, please give yourself the space and time that you need. I wish I had done this. Be kind to yourself and know that you will get through it, even though it is one of the most painful experiences both physically and mentally. Talk about it if you can. I had the support of Tom and my family and that really got me through. Little One was amazing too – she was two at the time, and kept asking why I felt sad and giving me cuddles. We hadn’t worked out what the due date would have been, and in many ways I’m glad that we don’t know. But late January/early February will always be a sad time now, as will that second May Bank Holiday. I found it really hard this year, but maybe next year will be a little easier. The letter board quote in the photo above is something I reposted on Instagram this year to mark the first anniversary, and you can read that post here if you like.

I’ve written a book!

In case you missed it, last year I wrote a book! At the start of 2018, I was contacted by someone who is working with my publisher to discover work by new crafts people, and I was one of them. I was just so thrilled! After that there was a lot of working on top secret stuff, and it has been really really hard not to share. My book will feature lots of colourful embroidery projects, and I’m so immensely proud of it. It still feels a little bit surreal talking about it to be honest, even though I have written it – this is really the stuff of dreams and I can’t believe it’s happening to me! The photos are being taken by an amazing team, and I can’t wait to see them. It won’t be coming out until August 2020 so there’s a little while to wait yet, but it will be worth it! I’ll be keeping you updated here and on Instagram as I find out more, and you can also sign up to my newsletter too.

Let’s talk about mental health

In September last year, I decided to take some time out from the day job because of my mental heatlh. I have really struggled there for years for various reasons, and basically there was a big thing that happened and it was the tipping point really. Admitting that you need to take time out is really hard, and being more open about it to more people has been hard too. But it is the best thing I could have done. I kept thinking that I needed to keep powering on through, but that was making everything worse – especially when it started to affect my home and family life more significantly than it had done previously. I realised that I needed to put myself first and took myself out of that situation. I had some CBT counselling at the start of the year, and it has helped enormously, and I feel like the practical tools that I’ve been given are really helpful. There’s still a way for me to go, but I have come such a long way and I feel so proud of that. Here’s me in my amazing tee by Kayley Mills, which I absolutely love!

A new addition to our family

When we found out we were expecting again after my miscarriage last year, I couldn’t believe it! We were so lucky that it happened so quickly, as this doesn’t happen for lots of families and it’s such a tough time. The pregnancy felt a lot different this time around. We didn’t tell people until much later this time just to be sure, and I felt really nervous the whole time. It just changes your perspective on pregnancy once you’ve lost one, and it’s a very strange mix of excitement and fear. I was also worried that people at work would just think that I was taking time off because of my pregnancy, but the majority of people have been so supportive and I’m so grateful for that.

We found out that we were having a boy and were just so excited. We didn’t find out when I was pregnant with Little One, but this way it meant that we could prepare her for his arrival. She kept kissing my bump and talking to him and it was just amazing. Our little rainbow arrived in March – yay! He is such a poppet and he adores his big sister, which is wonderful to see. He is a very long baby and has inherited our big feet (!!), loves cuddles, singing and gets very excited about reading books!

I had such a terrible time with breastfeeding this time around, which I wrote a lot about on Instagram at the time (see this post). It just completely took me by surprise because I fully expected it to be like riding a bike and it really wasn’t. I’m intending to write a blog post about our journey this time around as I ended up exclusively pumping for a while, and I thought it would be helpful to share my experience. Let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to include in that post in the comments or by email.

Conversations I didn’t expect to have with a 3-year-old

When Littlest One was only 3 weeks old, Tom’s mum was diagnosed with cancer. It was a huge shock and an absolutely devastating blow for our family, especially after just bringing a new life into the world. Experiencing the beginning and the end of life simultaneously is a very overwhelming thing, but it makes you realise that there are significant parallels between the two stages. One brings you unbounded joy; the other brings an overwhelming sense of sadness and helplessness. At the time I was struggling with feeding and my hormones were all over the place, and it was a particularly difficult few weeks. I really wanted to support Tom and his family the very best that I could, but I just felt so frustrated because I didn’t feel like I was in a position to do a lot. That feeling of helplessness is so, so hard.

We were open and honest with Little One about Grandma Helen being poorly. Little One visited her a couple of times, but not towards the end as we want her to remember her how she knew her. Little One is 3 now and is inquisitive, so she asked lots of questions. We were amazed by her resilience and compassion; she knew that something wasn’t right, and she was kind and caring. When we told her that Grandma Helen had died, we all cried and held each other tightly. She was very matter-of-fact about the whole thing, as only a 3-year-old can be, but the way that she processed the situation is just amazing. I’ll never forget having a conversation with her where I explained what the word ‘grief’meant and how it made us feel at different times. This was prompted by her saying that she was “frustressed about Grandma Helen”, and I think that is just the most amazing word to describe how we all felt! She still talks about these feelings now, but also about the things that she did with Grandma Helen too. I feel so sad that Helen and Littlest One won’t get to know each other, but so very happy that they did meet. Those precious moments will stay with me always.

So what’s coming next?

During the past few weeks, we’ve had a bit of time to settle into a new routine and work out what new normal is for us (on so many levels). The kids are doing great, and now that Littlest One is 3 months old he’s a bit more settled. We’re getting to the point of predicting feed times, which is super helpful for planning time and activities! As Tom and I are both creatives, we need to make sure that we’re both getting time to work on our things. I feel really strongly that just because we’ve got a bigger family now, it doesn’t mean that we should stop following our own interests or doing things that make us happy. So Tom is finding time to compose music again, which I am thrilled about. I am working on my blog again, and stitching and designing embroideries for my shop. I’m currently working on developing my website shop too, which is really exciting! I have kind of half done this in the past and taken it down, so to get it up and running on a small amount of time will feel like a HUGE achievement. We’re taking each day as it comes, being thankful for our time together as a family and the time spent following our creative dreams.

If you’ve read this far, thank you for staying with me! I hope to post again really soon

The post My goodness, what a year (and a bit)! appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Indie Roller Keep Going

In case you don’t know about Indie Roller, I’ll brief you on the basics! The Facebook group The Indie Rollercoaster was set up by Leona from Lucky Dip Club as ‘a supportive community for creative independent business owners to share information, experience and cheerlead one another!’. It’s an amazing community, and what I love about it the most is how supportive people are. You definitely get that sense of community over competition, and in the creative world that’s becoming so much more important. The ‘Keep Going’ idea grew from that, and people have been submitting their own pieces to provide daily motivation and to share what inspires them to keep sharing their work with the world. I’m always really interested to hear about that, and the contributions have been amazing! You can check out the Keep Going Indie Roller Instagram if you want to see more of the submissions so far.

My Indie Rollercoaster Keep Going hoop

So my hoop uses quite a few colours (36 in total!) in order to create the 3D effect of the geometric pattern. I did play around with them a little bit to take some photos – putting things in rainbow order is always fun (like my rainbow shelf in my craft room!). The hoop is stitched entirely with satin stitch, so it took a little while to put together. I think I spent about 2 and a half weeks stitching on an evening and when Little One was asleep, so it was a big project to finish even though it’s in a 6″ hoop.

I started by stitching around the letters first, to make sure that I was happy with the negative space and the tension around it. There were a few tiny patches of colour and fiddly bits to stitch. I find the middle of the letter ‘o’ quite pleasing! To keep the stitching consistent, I stitched each shade in the same direction to make it look nice and neat. When I had almost finished, I realised that there was one purple side going in the wrong direction…so I had to unpick it and do it again! Otherwise it would have bugged me forever… I decided to use a royal blue paint to paint my hoop, and I think it sets off all the colours nicely.

Keep Going cards from hellohoorayshop

This piece is a bit too time consuming to make them to order, so I decided to have some cards made with this design! It comes in three different colours and they are currently available to pre-order here (I’m hoping to have them ready to ship over the next couple of weeks). Which one is your favourite?! I keep changing my mind haha!

This card would be a perfect reminder to keep going – a daily dose of inspiration and colour. Thanks to everyone who has ordered so far! And a big thank you to Indie Roller for such a fantastic campaign. I can’t wait to see more of these super illustrations and designs!

The post Indie Rollercoaster Keep Going hoop 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!

The post Crafty Colour Palette #4 appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Hand embroidered social media icons: basic materials

I started stitching 4″ versions of these hoops last year, but they were a complete mess. Especially the Pinterest hoop…so I decided to make it a little easier this time by going smaller. Each hoop is 3″ (7.5cm) and I’ve used satin stitch for each one using 3 strands of embroidery thread. It’s actually quite tricky to get hold of 3″ wooden hoops in the UK, and when I looked in my usual sources they had all run out. Thankfully, they came back in stock at Cloud Craft so I ordered a few to keep me going!

I also wanted to paint each hoop, and originally wanted to colour match to the icon colours but this proved to be quite difficult. So instead, I chose a lovely bright turquoise – something different to all the icon colours that would tie them all together.

Facebook hoop

The Facebook hoop looks like it could be the easiest of the four, but it was actually quite tricky. The curve of the F was a bit challenging, and I spent ages trying to get the top of the circle right. It seems that I’m better at sewing the bottom of a circle rather than the top, strangely! Eventually, I decided that slight lumps and bumps don’t matter. They are hand embroidered social media icons after all

Only one colour was needed for this hoop, and I used DMC 312 (Anchor match is 979).

Pinterest hoop

As I said at the start of the post, when I made my first version of this Pinterest logo it was SO bad! When I stitched it the first time, I didn’t go straight across around the circle but stitched outside in, if that makes sense?! Like the Instagram hoop later in this post. But that made it look so messy, as it was hard to get a neat edge. So this time I just stitched straight across from left to right, and I think it’s much neater. That’s the key to consistent satin stitch I think!

Only one colour was needed for this hoop, and I used DMC 304 (Anchor match is 1006).

Twitter hoop

This was probably the simplest of all 4 of my hand embroidered social media icons, which I wasn’t expecting! This is one of my favourite shades of DMC thread – the blue is just so vibrant. I was wondering if the detail of the beak would come out clearly in such a small hoop, but it is fine. Again, I kept my stitches consistent going left to right across the hoop.

Only one colour was needed for this hoop, and I used DMC 996 (Anchor match is 433).

Instagram hoop

Finally, it’s my favourite – Instagram! This was the most challenging by far, just because of the number of colours and getting the shading right between each one. But I LOVE how it has turned out! I have been a bit cheeky with this one, because I’ve used the colours from the new (ish) logo, but the shape of the old one. I just prefer the design of the original logo – what can I say?! So sorry, Instagram! I love the combination of colours in this one – yellow, oranges through to pink and purple. Can you spot the tiny hint of blue at the top? Just a small amount but it sets it off nicely

I’m actually going to use this colour palette for the next in the series of #craftycolourpalettes so you’ll have to wait to find out what they are…

Which one is your favourite?

You can follow me on Facebook, Pinterest (I really LOVE the new-look Pinterest!), Twitter and Instagram. Do pop over and say hello! What are you up to this weekend?

The post Hand embroidered social media icons appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Describe your work in 3 words.

Cheerful, charming and colourful.

How did you first become interested in embroidery?

My love for embroidery began in my second year at Uni. I had done a short course, learning all the different stitches and techniques. From then on I started to use embroidery in my assignments. I really enjoyed it; I had found my creative niche.

You studied printed textiles and surface pattern design at Leeds College of Art – how do these things influence your embroidery?

My textile course was so inspiring; we had a lot of freedom to do what came naturally to us. For our tutors it was very important that we experimented and perfected our own style. My studies influence my work a lot, especially with repeat pattern and composition of a design.

Tell us about your design process. How do you turn something from an idea to a finished project?

I gather inspiration and ideas from being out and about. I take pictures of things I’d seen and draw from my findings. I embroider from drawings of flowers and birds. I often embroider first and then play around with my final designs on the computer to create designs for fabric and greetings cards. I also sell my embroideries as made to order hoop art’s.

What are your must have sewing essentials?

I have a pair of small sewing scissors that I was gifted a few years ago for my birthday from a friend. They are they really lovely to work with. My other essentials would have to be DMC embroidery thread, a needle, embroidery hoop, music and a cup of coffee.

One of your long-term projects is a family patchwork quilt. What are your favourite and least favourite things about working on such a large-scale piece?

I have been working on it for the past 8 years, I’m not sure when I’ll ever finish it. My favourite thing about it is that I dip in and out of it when I have a creative block and in need of a change and inspiration. I wouldn’t say there was a downside to it as I love working on it but if there had to be one it would be that it’s taking me so long.

Finally, what advice would you give to anyone starting out selling their wares?

The main thing is to create work that you thoroughly enjoy making. Create what makes you happy. Etsy is a great creative platform to sell your items. Instagram is an even greater place to market, promote and create a brand for work. It is also an amazing place to find like-minded makers like you and to have a sense of a creative community.

Thank you SO much for chatting to us, Sally!

It has been great to find out more about your creative process. I think that creating what makes you happy is such an important thing, especially when it’s easy to compare yourself to others on social media. I can’t wait to see what you make next!

For more Sew Sal loveliness, follow Sally on Instagram, read her blog, or support her small business by making a purchase from her Etsy shop. You won’t regret it!

Please note that all photos are copyright Sally Mayer and have been used with permission. Post updated 12th February 2020.

The post A natter with Sally Mayer from Sew Sal appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Using the Brynn and Co LOVE embroidery hoop pattern

This pattern is really well-designed and it’s easy to follow if you have some embroidery experience already. For beginners, Amanda advises that you look on YouTube for some simple stitch tutorials to get going. You don’t actually need to know loads of stitched to do this – back stitch, satin stitch and French knots are all that is needed to stitch this hoop. So if you are a beginner, you can easily pick up how to do these stitches.

I decided to stitch this from left to right, adding the leaf details right at the end. As with all my projects, I used a permanent fabric marker and vellum to transfer the design. This meant that I could take my time and not worry about it disappearing! I don’t ever wash my projects afterwards (is that a bad thing?!) so I made sure that the stitches covered the lines. If you are a beginner, I would suggest using a more permanent method of transferring just so that you don’t keep having to draw it in again. I really love the French knots – they really set off the design! I made the yellow ones in the word LOVE slightly bigger, by wrapping the thread around the needle three times instead of two (like the ones around the edges). I finished the back of my hoop like this so that you can see the reverse:

This is my finished hoop! As you can see, I painted the bright pink for an extra pop of colour.

Brynn and Co LOVE embroidery hoop pattern with new DMC colours

For the next version of this hoop, I selected a palette from the new DMC colours (I got mine from Cloud Craft). There are some beautiful colours in the new selection, and I must admit that I’m particularly excited about some of the new greens! The selection of new colours made me use some colours that I’m not used to working with, but I’m pleased with how it turned out. This pattern is so versatile, so I’d definitely suggest making one in your own colour palette!

So these are the new colours I picked out:

Yellow = DMC 17

Pale green = DMC 14

Mid green = DMC 16

Coral = DMC 21

Bright purple = DMC 33

Pale lavender = DMC 30

Dark lavender = DMC 32

Grey = DMC 04

I think they compliment each other really well! If I were to stitch it in these colours again, I’d probably add an additional darker green for the leaf detail, as the light green doesn’t contrast hugely with the mid green.

What do you think of these new colours! I’d love to know – leave a comment below. Thanks to Amanda for designing such a wonderful pattern! I’ve got plans to stitch another one in some bright pastels… If you’d like to purchase this pattern, just head over to the Brynn and Co Etsy shop. It’s such a joy to stitch and you’ll have something beautiful to display in your home! Also, if you missed the Brynn and Co Mollie Makes takeover last weekend, you can find out more here.

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