Skeleton Bikers Embroidery

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.

Hey! You! Smile! Embroidery

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!

April Embroidery Giveaway NOW CLOSED

It is that time of month again…giveaway time!

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.

DIY: Fabric Wrapped Frame

Today I have a very simple tutorial to share, a fabric wrapped frame. I’m kind of a photoaholic of sorts, and am always in search of different and interesting ways to showcase them. This weekend I made this:

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.

The X-Files Notebook Paper Embroidery

A couple of years ago I made a few “notebook” embroideries. I always really liked them and had been meaning to make more, I just never got around to it. Recently I made a few more finally, one of which was an ode to The X-Files (I naturally love the X-Files).
I sewed the notebook paper lines on with the sewing machine, and hand embroidered the rest. It is The X-Files slogan “I want to believe” with a flying saucer above it.

A little fun fact: Gillian Anderson (who plays Scully) went to the High School that is just a mile down the road from my house!

 This piece is also up for sale for all of you fellow Mulder and Scully fans, you can check it out on etsy where you can see more photos!

xoxo.

Diamond Crewel Embroidery

It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve done any crewel embroidery, I’d like to say I had a good excuse…but really I’ve just been lazy. The pieces take a bit longer as you usually fill the entire piece in, but the result is usually much more favorable than an outline (in my opinion). If I didn’t have such a short attention span I’d probably do a lot more crewel work.

Last week I made this diamond:

I decided to do every section a different color to make it a little more interesting, and less traditional. I also wrapped the embroidery hoop in fabric to finish it.

You can see more photos on etsy, where the piece is also up for sale.

xoxo.

Shel Silverstein Onesies Embroidery

One of my sisters is pregnant right now, and due in just a couple of months now. Everyone in the family is very excited because her and her husband have been trying for awhile now, and they are having twins! A boy and a girl! How much more perfect could it possibly be?

I recently started working on embroidering a few onesies for the two of them. Like myself, my sister loves Shel Silverstein, and my brother-in-law is a big Star Wars nerd (this is not like myself, I’ve honestly never even seen a full Star Wars movie).

I have two Shel Silverstein onesies done to share with you today, and you might recognize these two illustrations from when I did Shel Silverstein week last summer.

The first one is from the poem “Hug O’ War:”

The second one I did is from the poem “The Worst:”

I’m working on a Stormtrooper for the Star Wars one right now, and I’m still undecided on what to do for the other one. Any suggestions?

xoxo.