Sunday, December 1, 2019

Happy December! The new stitch-a-long is up!




SURPRISE!!!! Another month with the stitch-a-long on time! I designed this one because I love pine and holly to decorate with at this time of year. The pinecones may give some of you trouble if you've never done any Brazilian embroidery. There are videos online on how to do the cast on stitch. One of my fav sites for how-tos is needlenthread.com. The rest of the embroidery is pretty basic. Hope you enjoy this one! 

Friday, November 1, 2019

November Stitch-a-Long, an easy one!

Yay! I'm finally listing a stitch-a-long on the first of the month :) This month is really easy so it's great for beginners. You can stop at the wheat or add the flowers.The flowers are fabric yo-yos but you could do embroidered raised spider web roses instead. I didn't mark the patterns with the flower circles or leaves so it's no problem not doing them.


Monday, October 21, 2019

The Fall Stall - Part 2 finally up




Here it is, part 2 of the fall stall. I think now that you've seen this photo you can now see why it took me so long to finish. This design has basic embroidery, bullion stitches, and some very easy silk ribbon embroidery. I used floss, silk ribbon, and crewel wool for the embroidery. I skipped adding embellishments to the piece so I could get it out sooner. Hope you enjoy it!


Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Hey, the Etsy store is open again!

I've been meaning to reopen the Etsy store since the beginning of the month but something always interupted me, but today I decided this was going to happen. Only a few things are listed right now. I'll add more when I can squeeze in time. I need to get up my new frog pincushion pattern. That's it below. He's sitting on a ball of crochet cotton. I love frogs and toads. It fact I have a new toad pattern drawn out. Maybe next year it will get done.



I'm also determined to start working on the directions for the next pincushion pattern. It's for a rabbit. Ever since Jack retired I'm finding it hard to get more than 1/2 hour to an hour to work on my designs. I have so much sewing for myself to do, too. As always too many projects with not much getting finished.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Halfway thru the month and here's the Sept. Stitch-a-long



Sorry for the delay. I now know I should have done the embroideries last year, that way I'd have them ready to list. Oh well, I'm just not that organized. To make it up to you I've put up a PDF of the pattern. Now instead of printing these blog pages you just need to download the PDF file and open it with a program like Adobe PDF Reader.

Here's part 1 of the Fall Market Stall. This month is applique and some weaving. The stall and bins are all sewn on by hand but go ahead and do it by machine if you prefer. There are 2 woven thread baskets. I give directions on how to do that in case you've never done that stitch.

Monday, September 2, 2019

Will be late with next stitch-a-long but there's news!


Above is a pic of my new pincushion pattern. He's Frederick the frog and he sits on an old crochet cotton ball I decorated. He's being sold at Dollmaker's Journey and Patternmart right now. I'll be putting him up at my Etsy store this week. That also means I'll finally be getting the store open again. 

The reason I'm behind in posting the directions for the next stitch-a-long is that my husband's BD was Aug 29, our anniversary was the next day, and now it's the holiday weekend. I'm stealing a little time to post this but have to get back to cooking.

BTW, I'm dividing the embroidery into 2 months. It's a project that keeps getting bigger so I decided it would be best to do that, especially at this time of year.

Friday, August 2, 2019

It's August & that means it's time for the next stitch-a-long



I thought this month should be easier than the June/July stitch-a-long so I pulled out an embroidered box I made back when silk ribbon embroidery was a new and favorite thing to do. I didn't have a scanner so I made a copy of the drawing of the girl and used a product (sorry can't remember the name)that transfered it onto fabric. That's why she's looking opposite the 2 new versions at the bottom of the photo.

This month’s design is another drawing from Dover’s copyright free collection. I’ve included 2 versions of the drawing. The name for this month’s design came from an old song called ‘The Flower Girl’ by The Cowsills. I was going thru my collection of vintage vinyls and found it. Seemed to fit her perfectly.

I made 2 more embroideries because I wanted to show that you can use different threads to make whatever flowers you like. I love to make lazy daisy stitches so tend to use that stitch a lot. I used the crewel wool to make blue roses just because I wanted blue roses. Choose whatever you like. Same with the flowers, make whatever you like.


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Disclaimer:

I have edited the copyright free drawing of the flower lady. It is from a Dover Publication book. I recommend their books for copyright free drawings and pictures. I’ve found some pictures on the net that say they are copyright free but after doing some research find they aren’t. Dover makes them safe to use at a good price.

So this means that although the original drawing is copyright free, what I’ve done with it is not. The embroidery design is my own. I have not knowingly copied anyone else's work.


©Billie Jo Heisler 2019
All rights reserved
No part of this pattern may be reproduced or sold without written permission of the author. You have permission to print copies for yourself.


Wednesday, July 3, 2019

June/July Stitch-a-Long, Part 2


 For the flowers on the birdhouse I used buttonhole cast-on stitches. They are a Brazilan embroidery stitch.
This pattern is no longer a free one.
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Disclaimer:
I used a software program to draw this design. The frame was a simple rounded corner square with a curly font for the corners.
Please consider the drawing and directions copyrighted. You have my permission to print copies of the drawing in any size for your own use but not to share or sell. If you want to share the pattern please link to the blog pages with the directions.
This is NOT a copyright free design.

 ------------------------------------------------------


©Billie Jo Heisler 2019
All rights reserved
No part of this pattern may be reproduced or sold without written permission of the author.

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

June/July Stitch-a-Long, Part One

Since this is a really busy time for me and this project is larger I decided to divide it into a June/July pattern. This month will be the applique part and next month will be embroidering the flowers. I'm hoping that by doing this it will give me time to catch up on things.

Welcome to the third design in my stitch-a-long. I hope you will enjoy working on the projects I’ll be putting here on my blog each month. I plan on doing one design per month till next March. They will be free until March 31, 2020. After that I will combine them into one large PDF file and put it up for sale at my Etsy store and at Ebay.

This pattern is my own design. I drew the hive and birdhouse. I used a font to make the corner designs. Since this project has a lot of steps I decided to separate them into 2 posts on my blog. The June posting is the doing the bird house and bee hive. The second posting which will be up in July is for the flowers and finishing.

I made 2 finished embroideries because I wanted to show that you can use fabric, felt, and ribbon for the appliqué. Choose whatever you like. Same with the flowers, make whatever you like. I don’t give exact sizes of items in the materials list because other than the ribbon hive the rest is made with small scrappy pieces of felt, fabric and ribbon.
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©Billie Jo Heisler 2019
All rights reserved
No part of this pattern may be reproduced or sold without written permission of the author.


Sunday, June 9, 2019

Way too busy - how about you?

The project I picked for June ended up being more than I planned so I'm dividing it into 2 months. The directions for this month are almost done. It's hard to finish with all the interuptions. I designed this one myself, no copyright free graphic.

Life just keeps on getting in the way. I'm finding I'm not getting on the computer but once a week for a quick look at mail. I missed an order at etsy because of this so I put the store on vaction until things get back to normal.

I'm working on gardens and cutting grass at 2 different places, house and dog sitting for friends when they go out of town, and helping my husband build a chicken coop. Then there's all the regular stuff that needs done like taking care of my dogs and cat, cleaning, laundry, cooking, and dishes. For 2 people we do have a lot of dishes.Sewing is piling up but in the evenings I'm working on the embroidery designs and new patterns. I just finished a frog pincushion. Just have to find time to write up the directions. Here's a pic of him.


Thursday, May 16, 2019

The May Stitch-a-long - finally here


I know I'm SOOOOOOO late with the May stitch-a-long. Between getting the garden going and talking care of the newest members of the family I haven't had time or energy for crafting. The new members are 9 chicks! They are getting so big so we're building a coop next to the ducks (10 of those).

This is my birthday month so I wanted to do a may pole. It's pretty simple since I didn't embroider the children. I know a PDF is easier for you but I decided to put the directions up here. I'll offer all the patterns as a large PDF at my Etsy store when the year is done.

For this pattern I decided to do simple embroidery but you can do whatever you like. Brazilian, silk ribbon, and bullion stitch embroideries would also work. I also decided not to embroider or color in the children but go ahead if you want to!


________________________________________________________

Disclaimer:

I have edited the copyright free drawing of the May pole. It is from a Dover Publication book. I recommend their books for copyright free drawings and pictures. I’ve found some pictures on the net that say they are copyright free but after doing some research find they aren’t. Dover makes them safe to use at a good price.

So this means that although the original drawing is copyright free, what I’ve done with it is not. The embroidery design is my own. I have not knowingly copied anyone else's work.

___________________________________________________________

© Billie Jo Heisler 2019
All rights reserved
No part of this pattern may be reproduced or
sold without written permission of the author. 
You have permission to print it for your own use.



Friday, April 5, 2019

Stitch-a-long 1 - Spring Rabbit



Welcome to the first in a year of stitch-a-longs I'm doing. This one is very simple to embroider but have fun and make it with the threads and stitches you like. I've done the pattern as a PDF so it would be easier for you to print. I'll put up a link at the top so you'll be able to find the monthly designs without having to search the blog.

Friday, March 22, 2019

Have you ever been to Ravelry?

I recently realized that I never uploaded my crochet lucky penny charm patterns to Ravelry so I just did it. This is a great site to find all kind of free and buy patterns for knitting and crochet. https://www.ravelry.com/

I was looking for patterns for infinity scarves for some yarns I had when it hit me I never added them to the site. Ever since craftsy changed and I no longer sell there it's made me rethink a lot about where I have my patterns.

I'm thinking about using my ebay name to de-stash all the craft stuff and mags I no longer want. I even have some vintage dolls someone left with me back in the 80's but never answered my calls to come and get them once they were cleaned up. I have the same problem with 2 mink bears I made for a customer from a gorgeous short jacket that was from the 40's or 50's. I hated to cut it up it was so nice but I did and made 2 large teddy bears with glass eyes. I called and left messages to her, too. I even sent cards to both of these customers thinking maybe they weren't getting the messages on their answering machines. Never heard back. Do you think I can consider them mine by now? I'm not a fan of really old dolls from the 50's and earlier like these old dolls are. Some of them kinda creep me out. Not as much as old porcelain ones, they make me shiver just thinking about those.

I'll post here when I finally start selling off my mags and supplies.

Still working on the new frog pattern. I wasn't happy with the legs and feet so re-designed them.

I'm also working on something free I'll be putting on the blog next month. I joined an embroidery facebook group but have found I'm not interested in most of the monthly stitch-a-longs so I've decided to start one here! Hope you'll come back and have a look.

Monday, February 18, 2019

New Elephant pincushion pattern up at Etsy


This is my new pincushion pattern. I still have to get it up here at blogger, at my tripod site, Patternmart, and at Dollmaker's Journey. It should be at these places by next week.

Pansy is made from felt and is cute enough to make without the pincushions. I used large mouth canning jars this time and I decorated them with stickers. I tell how to keep them stuck on the jars, too!

Friday, January 4, 2019

Finally updated crochet chatelaine pattern done and up!


I finally forced myself to sit and finish the directions for this chatelaine. There aren't many changes from the original done in size 10 thread. This one is in size 3 lizbeth. The pockets are much larger. In fact it took almost the entire ball to make both.I also added directions for a thimble holder like the wood needle case cover.

For a limited time (until April) I'm offering to send a replacment PDF of this pattern to anyone who bought it previously. Now I have to have proof of your purchase. I can check thru my records to find your order.

You can get the pattern at my Etsy store and at Patternmart. If you prefer ebay just message me (creativestitches) there.