Today I have another piece to share that I did on fabric that I acid washed. This time around it is a Michigan embroidery on brown fabric, placed in a thrifted oval frame.

 The thrifted frame works well with this piece, as it gives it an antique feel.

 I did a double layer of the back stitch because one line was just too thin and it just sort of got lost in the frame.

I’m really happy with the way this one turned out. I have a second frame that is exactly the same, and I’m working on a cruiser bike (similar to the one I made in the past) to go into it. I’ll have that to share next week!

xoxo.

Recently I played around with acid washing fabrics, and I was pretty happy with all of the results. This piece of fabric turned out to be one of my favorites.

One of my girlfriends pointed out that it turned out looking like clouds with the acid wash, and I have to agree. I embroidered the message “home sweet home” next to a simple outlined house.

I hung the embroidery from a stick that I painted, and backed the fabric with a piece of tan denim to make it a little heavier. My thoughts were that this could be a piece hung by your front door or entry way as a welcome message.

This piece was a fun one to do because it was so different from anything else that I have made. I have another stick to paint so I’m thinking I’m going to make another piece similar to this one.

xoxo.

A while back I was contacted by Beth of the wonderful DIY design blog Lula Louise. She is amazing with the sewing machine, and has tons of tutorials on her blog for anything from jewelry to dresses. I was pretty excited when she asked me to do a collaboration piece when I checked out her blog and was able to see how talented she is.

We ended up deciding on a clutch, and after sending photos of our sketches and discussing color palettes via email this is what we came up with:
I did the embroidery on the outside of the clutch, and Beth did the construction and the running stitch on the inside. It turned out pretty cute, right?

In honor of our collaboration we are giving this clutch away to one winner! You can find out how to enter over on Beth’s blog (Lula Louise). This giveaway is open today (May 1st, 2013) through May 15, 2013.

xoxo.

A couple of weeks ago I was trying to brainstorm how I could make a pin cushion that I could attach to the wall by my sewing machine. In the past I made one that I could wear on my wrist, but I felt it got in the way. The ones I had made for the table (out of a mason jar) always got knocked off, so I was on a mission to find an alternative. I decided to keep it simple and go with a pin cushion out of an embroidery hoop.

Here is what you need to make your own:

Once you gather your supplies you just need to follow a few simple steps…

Step One:

 First get your embroidery hoop and cut two pieces of fabric with about an inch extra all the way around. One piece is for the front, and one piece is for the back.

Step Two:

 Next you make a sandwich out of your pieces so far. On the bottom is your back piece of the embroidery hoop, then your back piece of fabric, about a handful and a half of stuffing, your front fabric, and lastly the front piece of the embroidery hoop.

Step Three:

 Once your ‘sandwhich’ is put together take your needle and thread and sew in a single stitch all the way around (twice) to tighten the fabric). Knot and cut.

Step Four:

 Take your piece of felt, cut to size of the embroidery hoop, and hot glue to the back to hide the mess.

That’s it! Next just hang and sew!

Happy Sewing!

xoxo.

The April giveaway of the “Celebrate” embroidery is now closed and we have a winner!
Lorraine M., you are the lucky winner of this piece!
Please send me an email (toocrewel AT gmail.com) to claim your prize.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

xoxo.

A couple of weeks ago I shared some embroidered onesies I made for my sister  for their very soon to be twins along with the promise I would have a new one to share very soon. My brother-in-law is a huge Star Wars fan, so his request was a Stormtrooper.

I decided to use crewel embroidery on it, with just the outline it looked pretty boring and incomplete.

It worked in my benefit that the onesies were white that I bought, because then I did not have to worry about embroidering the white parts of the Stormtrooper.

  Isn’t my soon to be nephew, Willem, going to look so freaking cute in this? I can’t wait to see him wearing this, and Hannah wearing some of the other ones I made.

ps. Today is the last day to enter THIS giveaway!

xoxo.

A couple of years ago now Bryan illustrated a few skeleton biker guys for a class project, and recently I found a copy of them again. I’ve always wanted to try and do a collaboration piece with him, so this was a good place to start. His line work and style lend themselves well to embroidery as a medium.

 It was also a nice way for me to practice doing something that guys may also like, as embroidery is usually most appealing to the ladies.

 I decided to keep these guys as outlines in black to keep it similar to the original. After I was finished with the embroidery I sprayed it with bleach to give it a little bit of acid wash. I wanted to make it a little more interesting to look at, I think it turned out pretty well (all of the skulls heads ended up turning white!).

The best part of the whole piece is that it is something my man and I both put something into.

ps. After this I went on a bleach frenzy with my fabrics…get ready for a bunch of acid wash pieces in the next couple of weeks!

pps. Don’t forget to enter this month’s giveaway! It closes tomorrow night at midnight!

xoxo.

Happy Thursday, everyone! Sometimes when things are a bit difficult and we are feeling down we just need someone to remind us to smile. This little reminder can sometimes do wonders, so I decided to use some of the ‘notebook paper’ fabric I made and embroider up this thought.

 This really is a little piece, it hangs in a 2.5″ embroidery hoop. The hoop was thrifted, and a flexi-hoop with a wood grain. I love when I’m actually able to find flexi-hoops, I wish you could buy them at the craft store!

I think it turned out pretty cute and simple. You can check out more in my shop, where it is up for sale!

xoxo.

ps. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for this month!

This time around I’m giving away an embroidery that simply states “Celebrate,” with a party banner on it. It hangs in a 10″ wooden hoop, so it is a pretty large piece.

 Interested in entering? Here is what you do!…

 The giveaway is open Tuesday, April 16-Tuesday, April 23.

How to Enter:

• Leave a comment simply saying hello! (Mandatory- 1 Entry)
• Tweet about this giveaway (mention @toocrewel in the tweet) (1 Extra Entry)
• Follow Too Crewel on Twitter (1 Extra Entry)
• Follow Too Crewel on Instagram (1 Extra Entry)
• Like Too Crewel on Facebook (1 Extra Entry)
• Follow Too Crewel’s blog (1 Extra Entry)

That is a total of six ways to enter. In order for each entry to count you must leave them in a separate comment, otherwise they will be counted as one. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, April 24th.

Good luck!

xoxo.

It was seriously inexpensive, and adds a little personality to an otherwise boring (and outdated) frame. The frame is from Salvation Army, I used scraps of fabric, hemp, and a clothes pin so all together this project was done on under $5.00 (probably more like $3.00).

Here is what you need:

Step One:
Cut your fabric into thin strips (about 1″ wide). I used five strips for this, each about a yard in length.

Step Two:
Thread your string/hemp/yarn (whatever you chose to use) through the clothes pin.

Step Three:
Tie each side of your string to each side of the top of your frame.

Step Four:
Hot glue your fabric to your starting point. I hot glued onto the backside of the frame to hide it.

Step Five:
Wrap your fabric around the frame. When you run out hot glue the fabric to the frame, and repeat with a new piece of fabric until the frame is covered.

All that is left is to put your photo in the clothes pin and hang, or display on your shelf.

Happy making, everyone!

xoxo.