Autumn Napkins and A Tea Towel Calendar

One napkin done!  You may remember this project that I first posted about here.  
Since that post, I finished the embroidery - I used Fishbone Stitch for each of the leaves and Stem Stitch for the stems.  
To finish, I turned the raw edges of the napkins under and top stitched a 1/4" hem around the napkin edges.  

This was a really quick project to do and I plan to make a full set.  I think I will mix in some of these other motifs:

The autumn colors I used are:

I also wanted to share a quick look at the 2016 tea towel calendar I designed for the weekly Spoonflower contest.  
It was really fun to make!  

Here is a closer look at the top.  You may recognize a few of the vegetables from my Salad Fixings embroidery pattern:

Whipped Stem Stitch

This interesting stitch is the Whipped Stem Stitch.  It is the latest addition to my 100 Stitches Plus list.


As the name suggests, this stitch is made up of a single line of Stem Stitch that is whipped.  The whip is very effective when done with a contrasting color floss.  
The floss that I used for my stitching is perle cotton. The colors numbers are DMC 414 {gray} and DMC color variations 4180 {pink} 

Once the line of Stem Stitching is done, the next step is to whip it.  I used the gray for the Stem Stitching and now the pink to whip:

I worked the whip from left to right.  I came up through the fabric on the left side of and right below the Stem Stitching line:

I pulled all the way through:

Then I brought the needle around to the top of the stitching line and passed the needle under the stitching line.  I just slid it under the Stem Stitch and did not pick up any fabric: 

I pulled the floss all the way, creating the first whip:

Then I brought the needle back around and did the second whip in the same way, sliding under the next Stem Stitch:

Here is a good view of the needle sliding under the next Stem Stitch:

I just continued the same steps until the end of the stitching line:

To finish, I brought the needle around and went back into the fabric:

and secured my floss on the underside:

This is a really simple way to embellish Stem Stitching.  I think I will like using this on a lot of different projects.

This stitch is from the book Embroidery Stitches by Mary Webb.

Simply Sewing Magazine

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that I posted a picture of Simply Sewing magazine.  
I am so happy that the Sewing Room embroidery pattern set was included in their "Fab Finds" section!

Thank you Simply Sewing Magazine!  

Two New Works In Progress

I have two new works in progress to share.  The first one a set of napkins.  I will be embroidering an Autumn motif on each one.
For my first napkin, I am stitching this beautiful leaf garland.

This is the Fishbone Stitch that I am using for the leaves.  I love this stitch because it is easy to do and fills a leaf shape so nicely! 

I really like the cream colored fabric that I am using for the napkins.  This is a fabric I have had for a long time and I think it will be perfect sewn up into napkins.  I have already used some of this fabric for a table topper.  You can see that project {here}.  

My next project is a tea towel embroidered with tiki-statues and interesting border.  You may remember when I was planning this - you can read about it {here}.  Since that post, I have made some progress:

I have finished the border. I did the whole thing in Stem Stitch.  The floss is perle cotton {dmc color variations 4200}.  

Now I need to choose the floss colors for these three.  Should be fun!