Ladybug Embroidery Project Part Two

I finished my ladybug embroidery project.  I first blogged about this {here}.

I had wanted to challenge myself to use as many different stitches as possible.  By my count, I ended up using eight different stitches.

The ladybug's antennae and body outline are Stem Stitch, her wings are outlined in Double Knot Stitch and filled with lines of Running Stitch. The spots on her wings are Satin Stitch and French Knots.  For her body, I used Trellis Couching Stitch:

For the flowers, I outlined the petals in Blanket Stitch, and put in a Lazy Daisy Stitch.  For the flower centers I used three French Knots.  I also used French Knots for the blue accent dots spaced randomly round the motif:

I am really pleased with the variety of stitches I included on this project!

I think this project would look really sweet framed in this hoop - maybe embellished with some matching trim?  This is a 6" hoop and is the perfect size for this motif.

Here are the floss colors and numbers I used for this project:

Ladybug Embroidery Project Part One

I selected this little ladybug and flowers motif from my Ladybug Embroidery Pattern and I am getting ready to stitch it up. 

This is a sweet little motif with a lot of room for interesting stitches.  I am going to challenge myself to use as large a variety as possible!

 I have transferred the pattern to my fabric with a water soluble marker.  {You can read about my methods for transferring motifs to fabric here}

Now I am selecting my color palette.  I think I will go with red and black for the ladybug and maybe some yellow and cool blues for the flowers?

I will be sure to post my progress!

Applique - A very happy discovery!

Isn't this a sweet mushroom? This mushroom is the result of a happy discovery I recently made.

 

I've been wanting to cut some of my patterns out of fabric and use them as an applique on another piece of fabric.  But I wondered how to attach the fabric to fabric without stitching or having to finish any of the cut and raw edges.  I did a little online research and I saw several references to a paper backed fusible.  Although I have used fusible interfacing and fusible web, I really liked that with the paper backed fusible, you can trace a pattern onto the paper backing, cut out the shape, peel the paper backing off and fuse the shape to another piece of  fabric :)  I bought some at the fabric store:

I also bought this red and white polka dot fabric - I thought the red and white would be perfect for a mushroom top.  I decided to use one of the mushrooms from the Ladybug pattern packet:

I first cut out a small piece of the fusible web. The directions said to put the rough side of the fusible web onto the wrong side of the fabric:

Then I ironed it onto the wrong side of the fabric.  I used a dry iron on the cotton or hot setting, according to the instructions.  It worked really well and is firmly fused to the fabric:

Next, I cut the mushroom top off of my pattern:

I put it face down onto the fusible web and used a regular pencil to

trace the mushroom top onto the fusible web:

Then I cut the traced muhroom top out of the fused fabric:

I did the exact same steps with the mushroom stem on some white fabric.  Here are both the cut pieces right side up:

Since the stem has to be under the mushroom top, I put it onto the fabric first.  I peeled the paper backing off:

positioned it into place and then peeled the paper backing off the mushroom top:

and set it on top of the stem:

Then, I ironed them both down onto the fabric.  The directions said to use a cooler "wool setting" on the iron and to use a damp press cloth.  I did that and this is the result:

And now for some grass around the base of the mushroom:

This fused fabric is fairly easy to stitch through, {I used a smaller eye embroidery needle} so I stitched some of the grass right over the mushroom stem.

 
I am really happy with the result and I think I will go on to embellish this a little more, maybe with some more grass, a few flowers and a ladybug.  I am really pleased that these patterns can so easily be used as applique shapes too!

Ladybug Embroidery Pattern Packet

I really enjoyed stitching this little ladybug and whimsical mushrooms: This is one of the images from the new Ladybug Embroidery Pattern Packet:Can you spot all the different stitches I used? I used the back stitch, french knots, chain stitch, satin stitch and the long and short stitch! One of my favorite parts of a new embroidery project is the selecting of colors! I knew red and black would be on the short list...but for the rest, I relied on my color wheel:
I selected red as the "pure color"
according to the color wheel, the tetrad, or four colors that will make a nice relationship with red are orange, yellow, purple and blue. I didn't want to use blue, so I tried again, using orange as the pure color:
The four colors for orange are red, yellow, purple and green! Perfect!I have listed the pattern packet in the big B Etsy shop.