A bit of embroidery practice . . .

Last weekend, I thought I'd have a bash at a bit of embroidery practice - I've been wanting to embroider the features on my Rag Dolls but haven't really had the time to practice. I had bought some embroidery thread and a hoop a few months back so I decided to take the bull by the horns! I actually used the same material I use to make my Rag Dolls which is a curtain lining fabric but used it double-fold.

I tried a bit of chain stitch to start off with . . .

Here's the book I used (but not this particular page - that's a bit too advanced!!). It had really good illustrations though.

. . . I just made up shapes as I went along to practice the stitches with,

I ended up with a piece of 'freeform' embroidery using chain stitch, french knots and finally stem stitch. I love the way 'french knots' add texture - it's a cute wee stitch!

I like the way that the embroidery hoop keeps the fabric taught and you feel like you're working on a piece of canvas. I almost felt like I could doodle away once I'd mastered some of the stitches. I did find it really time consuming though, but that's coming from an amateur embroiderer! 'Feeling Stitchy' is a great blog to see some really inspiring embroidery and has great tutorials if you get really interested!

I might adopt it as a new hobby to unwind from stuffing toys! Don't think I'll ever become a master 'embroiderer' though!

Bye for Now!

(I've just realised I've done en entire post without mentioning Harris Tweed - now we can't have that now - hee hee!!)

Sunny Sunday

We have beautiful blue skies here today in the Hebrides so I nipped out to take a few pics - we have to make the most of the good weather when it's here and document it for posterity!

This cute little sheep looked a little sad while I took my 'arty' shots . . .

. . . and a rusty latch on a broken gate, just because the colours caught my eye.

Hope you are having (or had) a relaxing Sunday!

Cheerio an Drasda!

Ooops!

My other half has gone off with the camera today, so I'm a bit stuck, but might as well use the opportunity to take a break from the daily (almost!) photo shoot. Well, I was half asleep this morning when he asked me where the camera case was . . . so my fault really for being a lazy so and so!

I'm going to finish off yesterday's project of my 'Big Grrrrr!' dinosaur and doing my favourite part of hand sewing the applique features and the finishing details. It's amazing how the features of a soft toy can make or break the project. Put the eyes in the wrong position or the mouth too low down or too high up can ruin a perfectly made toy - so it's really important to get this part right.

I'm gradually getting back into my sewing projects now and hope to build up my stock - which I may use to fill my Folksy shop for immediate purchase. Or even for that evasive craft fair - well you never know, I might actually manage some this year!

Here's a pic of my very first craft fair, over two years ago - the table looks a bit sparse, the dinosaurs (my first) look rather cumbersome now (but sold 2 out of the 3 that day!) - but I look very proud of my efforts! It felt like a big achievement at the time - mostly getting the family out and sorted that early in the morning and bundling all my creations into the car! I hope I can show another updated picture sometime this year of a current event. There, I've made a half promise to myself - we'll see!!

Hope you're having a nice day!

The CPSIA

Today, there is an organised 'Blog In' regarding the CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act). This American law is due to come into force on February 10th and will be devastating for all the small to medium American businesses who are involved in making children's products. The ruling came into being as a result of mass import of toys from China which contained dangerously high lead content. If the law comes into force, many of the sellers on the American website, Etsy, will have to shut up shop as a result.

The prohibitive costs of testing and certification will simply put them out of business. Even the manufacture of books will be affected by this bizarre ruling! I truly hope this ill-thought out law will be amended to accommodate the smaller businesses and my heart goes out to all the wonderful crafters/designers on Etsy who have been such an inspiration to me. Let's hope the powers-that-be see some sense and come to an agreement which will keep children's products safe but not penalise those least likely to produce unsafe products, many of whom are parents themselves!

If I were an American citizen, I would no longer be able to sell items such as these:

. . . made from 100% wool Harris Tweed, hand-embroidered features, soft polyester fibre stuffing (conforms to all safety standards), ribbon hand-stitched for extra security, no detachable parts. None of this would matter if I were an American citizen as, if the law goes through on February 10th, I would have to shut up shop. I really hope this all gets sorted out for all concerned. You can read more here.

Although I have not added my name to the list of bloggers involved in the 'Blog-In', I thought it was as good a time as any to bring the subject up!

I'm off to make a Harris Tweed dinosaur now (while I still can!) - Cheerio an Drasda!

Website Merry-go-Round

Sorry, I haven't blogged in 3 whole days!! I've been beavering away, filling up my little Etsy shop, taking photos, writing copy, repricing, regrouping, rethinking, not much re . . . laxing !! As many of my fellow crafters/bloggers are women, I guess we're all used to this multi-tasking milarky!! I've been focusing much of my attention on my websites for the last couple of days.

I finally decided at the weekend to link up my Etsy shop and my (as yet unstocked) Folksy shop to my own website. I thought this would give customers a choice of either buying made-to-order items from my own website with the advantage of being able to choose colour options and a wider choice of products OR purchasing ready-made, or one-off, items from Etsy or Folksy.

I've also update my own website with some of my new products eg. 'Beastie' Tweedie cards and a pic of 'Big Grrrrrr!' who I hope will be making his debut appearance very soon (I'll be tackling him later this week!).

I think I've sorted all this out in my little brain now, so I can concentrate on some good old crafting - after all, that's what it's all about!

(Sorry, if this post sounds like me thinking aloud a bit - I'm trying to clarify my online presence for my customers (and myself!!).

I can now get the scissors, thread and tweed out again and get stuck in - Yeah!

Hope you are having a lovely day wherever you are!

Any Ideas?

I won't be doing any crafting today as I have to attend a family event (not a happy one unfortunately) and would normally be at my 'other job' in any event. However, I thought I'd post this picture of a piece of embroidered text which I made in the early days when I rediscovered my 'crafty side' a couple of years ago. I'm not a great one for analysing web statistics (I haven't figured out half of them yet!) but I have noticed that this photo, which was one of the first I posted on Flickr, gets views EVERY day and more views than any of my other creations.

The text is of a Gaelic proverb which I took from a book and the blurb I added on Flickr is as follows "My first rudimentary efforts at embroidering text - recently rediscovered during a tidy-up. Gaelic proverb roughly translated says: "You don't know someone until you've shared a peat-stack with them". For peat-stack you could read "log-pile"? It's a comment on domestic bliss - or not?! I'd like to try more of these"

I'm not sure why it gets so many views - my embroidery skills are pretty basic at best, so I'm guessing it's the sentiments of the proverb or/and the fact that it's in Gaelic. All my creative efforts and people keep going back to this little piece of work! It makes me laugh to see it's continuing popularity but it's also quite intriguing. Any ideas??

Breagha!

An additional post, as promised (or hinted at!). I came across a lovely shop on Etsy this week, owned by a fellow Hebridean (not many of us about on Etsy!). The name of her shop, Breagha, caught my eye - this means 'beautiful, in Gaelic - very appropriate! Mairead uses Harris Tweed in her products as well as other quality fabrics. She has a lovely selection of bags, clutches and other accessories. The styling of her products really appealed to me and just have that certain something about them - I see so many Harris Tweed bags here in the Hebrides but none quite so stylish. I love them!

I love the 'bow' styling on both of these . . .

Very, very gorgeous!