100 Stitches - Buttonhole Insertion Stitch

This interesting stitch is the buttonhole insertion stitch. I am starting a brand new section of 100 Stitches - the Insertion Stitches category.

This stitch is for joining two pieces of fabric.  I practiced this stitch several times with disappointing results.  I had such a hard time keeping the two pieces of fabric the same distance apart while stitching them together.  I kept looking at the example in 100 Stitches and finally noticed that they recommended going back to the front of the book and reading the special instruction notes on Insertion Stitches before working them!  The special instructions are to stitch your fabric to a piece of stiff paper and then work your stitches.
For my demonstration, I just turned under the raw edge of the fabric 1/2" to act as a hem.  If I were making a finished product, I would actually hem each piece of fabric:

I used this green card stock and pinned my fabric in place at about 1/2" apart.   Then I stitched the pieces of fabric to the paper, leaving the folded edge free:

Next, I drew some guide lines.  I drew mine about 1/4" in from the folded over edge.  This line will help me keep my stitches the same size!

This stitch is really simple.  It is sets of four buttonhole stitches worked alternately on the two pieces of fabric.  Just start the first buttonhole stitch at one end - I hid my knot under the folded edge:

I stitched the buttonhole stitch, first on the left side:

and when I had four done, I moved to the fabric on the right side and did four stitches:

When those four were finished, back to the fabric on the left:

and so on until the two pieces of fabric were joined:

Then I took the joined fabric off the card stock and washed out the marker lines:

Beautiful! I think this stitch would be perfect for joining panels on a table runner or table cloth.  I can't wait to try it on a real project. 

This stitch is number 98 on the 100 Stitches list.  The floss I used is DMC pearl cotton color variations #4060.

Some Christmas Stitching

I just finished stitching this beautiful motif:

I used the back stitch as a filling stitch.  I really like the way this stitch worked as a fill:

I used three strands of cotton floss  {DMC #321} and everywhere you see gold glints, I added a few strands of gold blending filament {Kreinik Metallics #002HL}.  Now I have two more words to transfer and stitch - Peace and Noel.  I am trying to decide if I want to do all three in the red/gold or maybe each one in a different color combination.  Wouldn't these make a nice set of pillows for Christmas?

Gingerbread house completed

 Remember my gingerbread house wip?  I finished it!

Well, the stitching is finished anyway :)

I really like the pastel colors on this one

Can you see the sparkle in the gingerbread frosting?

I used my new favorite blending filament to add some sparkle.  I love this!!!

I didn't use too many advanced stitches, mainly back stitch and french knots.  For the candy tree trunk I used the open chain stitch.  I had to go back and review my own 100 Stitches post to remember how to do it!

I am really happy with the way this turned out! 

Now I just have two more gingerbread houses left to transfer and stitch:

Here is a list of the beautiful floss colors I used for this project:

100 Stitches - Seeding Stitch

The seeding stitch is the latest stitch on my 100 Stitches  journey.  This stitch should really be called the easiest stitch ever! 

This stitch is a filling stitch and is used to fill in blank spaces inside shapes.  For my shape, I used a template:

I copied the diamond shape onto my fabric:

I first outlined the shape using the back stitch. Now to the seeding stitch. The reason the seeding stitch is so easy is that it is just small straight stitches stitched in all different directions. The only concern is to make all the straight stitches the same length. The first step I took was to come up through the fabric. I started at the top but you could start anywhere inside the shape:

Then I just started taking small straight stitches:

in a random pattern:

 stitching, stitching, stitching until…

 the whole diamond shape was filled:

So easy, and really beautiful when finished:

The underside of the stitching looks almost like the top side:

This is definitely a stitch I will use!

The seeding stitch is #72 and is in the Couching and Filling category of 100 Stitches.

Retro style Christmas tags

I just listed some new Christmas tags in my Etsy shop.

I used the description retro style because of these color combinations.  I think of these as retro.  These tags are really nice because they are editable - you can type in the to/from information or a nice message and then print.  Or you can just hand write in your message.

Print and cut them out:

Then use them on a gift:

They are really easy to use.

and I love all these colors!  The gift tags packet has 20 different tags.  This is what the packet looks like:

A few changes...

I'm making a few changes. I have created my own website! I wanted to bring all my different profiles together on one landing page. I have included links to this blog, my flickr photo stream and my etsy shop.

You may have noticed that the name of my blog has changed too.  While I have loved having everything named "big B" after this big sweetie:


Berit

it turns out this has been more than a little confusing!  When I first started blogging, the name big B was already taken in every form possible, so I went with bigbgsd (German Shepherd Dog).  Bigbgsd as a name doesn't really make sense, so to clear up the confusion, I'm just going with my own name!  Since it already has the word "yes" in it, I think it is a positive change :) 

Make sure to visit the new site - I would love to hear what you think!

Gingerbread Houses

I am stitching up another gingerbread house. I am using some interesting color combinations with this one.  Do you like the rosy pink color with the lavender and pink?  I am just getting started so there is still time to change colors!   

You may remember these three already completed houses - actually two cottages and a town house ;)

I am really liking this new one, especially with the upstairs balcony.   I am adding my new favorite blending filament floss to add some sparkle to the "frosting" on the eaves and roof!  After I finish stitching this, I have two more houses to complete and when those are done I'm going to plan out a design for a quilt similar to this one.   

100 Stitches - Punch Stitch

No, this is not a little embroidered window, this is the Punch Stitch!  This is the latest stitch I have learned from my 100 Stitches book. 

I say learned but I am not really sure that I am doing the stitch correctly!

According to 100 Stitches, this stitch is used in a variety of ways.  It can be used as a filling stitch over an image of squares or dots in a grid.  It can also be used in Drawn Fabric Embroidery {I don't know anything about Drawn Fabric embroidery but I see that there are nine different stitches in the Drawn Fabric section of 100 Stitches so I will know about it soon enough!}

If this stitch is used as a filling stitch, a punch needle is supposed to be used to make holes to stitch multiple times through.   I don't have a punch needle so I used a wider woven fabric - 22 count Aida cloth - {I first learned about this cloth here} to try to compensate for the holes.  I drew the grid that is shown in 100 Stitches:

The stitch starts out being worked from right to left.  So I came up through the fabric on the right hole of the second row.

Then back into the fabric on the right hole of the top row:

Come back out of the fabric in the same hole where the thread first emerged - the middle row right:

Pull all the way through and this creates a straight stitch:

Now go back into the fabric in the top row right hole and come back out at a diagonal in the next hole to the left of the second row:

Pull all the way through and a second straight stitch is formed and you are ready to start the whole process again:

Just like before, go back into the fabric on the top hole and stitch to the left to finish the row.

This ends up with three sets of two straight stitches. 

There were no instructions about what to do with the thread at this point, just that you turn the hoop upside down and work the same way as before making the next vertical row:

Starting on the right again:

and working your way across the row:

Now turn the hoop right side up again and start across the third row:

When you complete that row it should look like this:

The next step is to turn the hoop sideways {!} and start at what is now the right side hole of the second row:

Just stitch across in the same fashion:

as before:

and when you complete that row, turn the hoop upside down and start stitching from right to left:

Just like before - stitch all the way across:

When you are done, you will have a completed punch stitch:

It is a beautiful stitch:

and is really interesting on the underside:

I think the reason I don't know if I am doing this stitch correctly is that there was no mention of what to do with the thread at the left end of each row...there isn't another hole to take a diagonal stitch to so I just took a second straight stitch.  I think that is the obvious way to finish, but if anyone knows anything about this stitch or if I am doing something wrong, I would love to hear from you!

The floss I used is floss - pearl cotton DMC color variations #4210 - radiant ruby.  This stitch is #74 and is in the Couching and Filling Stitches section of 100 Stitches.