Valentine’s Vignette, Hearts, Flower

February 14, 2013 by mymateriallife

Happy Valentine’s Day 2013!  I had a few things I wanted to try this year, like the scene above.  Here you can see two more champagne chairs – one with a few beads, one without (the red cap is from a bottle of Lambrusco I bought to go with a pizza we had last week).  The table is made from one of those plastic things you find in your pizza box to keep the pizza from getting crushed and a […]

Categories: Embroidery, Kid Stuff, Knitting, Miniatures, Other Holidays, Paper • Tags: champagne chairs, crafts, diy, embroidery, knitting, miniatures, mobiles, valentine's crafts, valentine's day

Embroidered Gloves

December 8, 2012 by mymateriallife

I recently rediscovered this wonderful article from the January 1994 issue of Threads magazine.  I have a big stash of inexpensive acrylic gloves from Target that I was planning to use to make some things from Miyako Kanamori’s book, Happy Gloves.  But I never did get around to that, so I figured this would be something else to try with them.   It’s funny to compare mine with Rosella Paletti’s (the article’s author).  Hers are so out there, so free-spirited […]

Categories: Clothing & Accessories, Embroidery • Tags: design, embroidering gloves, rosella paletti, threads magazine

Meet Henri

September 3, 2012 by mymateriallife

He’s a charming little fellow, isn’t he?  I neither intended him to be a) male or b) French, but that’s how he turned out.  I found this project on a blog post that included the beach towel blanket I made last summer. The post was all about cool things to make with towels.  The funny thing is I can’t find it now; maybe it was deleted?  No matter, I searched up “towel kitty” or something like that and easily found […]

Categories: Cats, Embroidery, Kid Stuff, Sewing • Tags: sewing stuffed animals, stuffed scottie dog, terry cat

Embroidered Sleep Sachet

August 31, 2012 by mymateriallife

   I gave this to my niece Katie yesterday.  She’s a linguistics student and she’s flying to St. Petersburg, Russia next week where she’ll spend her junior year.  Isn’t that exciting?  She’s a real self-made young woman and we’re so happy for her.  Still, I might be a little nervous if I was flying off to Russia from California for nine months or so – wouldn’t you?  I suggested that this little lavender sachet I made for her might help […]

Categories: Embroidery, Sewing • Tags: hand made charms, sleep sachets

Diamond Jubilee Embroidery

August 1, 2012 by mymateriallife

This is my way of commemorating Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee – French DMC floss on a disassembled Target organic pillow case to be reassembled at some later date.  I know she’s not my queen, but I couldn’t resist, not after I rediscovered that gorgeous crown pattern in an old set of transfer patterns that once belonged to my mother-in-law, Darlene.  I figured it would be so much easier than knitting QE II and her corgis from the patterns in this […]

Categories: Embroidery • Tags: crown embroidery pattern, diamond jubilee embroidery

Awesome Art Kits & Supplies

June 22, 2012 by mymateriallife

I’ve written about how much I love Todd Oldham and his Kid Made Modern book before (click here for previous projects), so it’s no surprise that I was delighted to see his line of Kid Made Modern art supplies and reference material at Target.  In fact, I loaded up on printed tape, paper, paint, and multi-colored colored pencils when the collection hit the stores last month.  Then I took a look at the line again this week and I found […]

Categories: Embroidery, Kid Stuff • Tags: all about embroidery, colored tape, kid made modern, target, todd oldham

More Illustration by Embroidery

November 5, 2011 by mymateriallife

I just had the inspiration to take a look at The Purl Bee blog after a long absence and look what I found – more stitched illustration!  This one is by Jillian Tamaki. She also produced cover illustrations for the books Emma and Black Beauty, all of them commissioned by Penguin Books for a reissue of some of their classics. See and learn more at The Purl Bee blog post here.  These book covers seem a bit more complex that the […]

Categories: Embroidery • Tags: embroidered illustrations, stitched illustrations

Stitched Illustrations by Stephen Campbell

October 23, 2011 by mymateriallife

I usually don’t bother to pick up Oprah’s magazine, O, because for one thing, my sister gets it, and I know I can usually look at an issue or two the next time I visit.   But last week, I decided to take a peek at the November issue in the store anyway, and then went on to buy my own copy when I saw the embroidery on this spread about favorite Thanksgiving side dishes of “star” chefs.  (Also, I’ve […]

Categories: Embroidery • Tags: stephen campbell, stitched illustrations

Fun Felt Valentine Projects

February 11, 2011 by mymateriallife

Aren’t these great?  They come from two favorite craft blogs, Living Crafts (from the magazine by the same name) and The Purl Bee (from the Purl Soho shop in New York).  The heart that’s hanging on top is actually a little pocket that I’ll use to hold the hair clips and maybe a couple of white chocolate hearts for Samantha. Then she can wear it as a necklace.  It was fun to practice a little beading which adds so much […]

Categories: Embroidery, Kid Stuff, Other Holidays, Sewing • Tags: doll accessories, felt heart hair clip, felt heart pocket, felt valentines, living crafts, the purl bee