Unicorn Girl & The Floss Box

Today I'd like to tell you about one of my favorite websites for embroidery and cross stitch designs, The Floss Box! Emily is the cute creator behind The Floss Box, and I never get tired of looking at all the designs and saying, "AWW!!"

She's been around for a while, and I remember hearing about her a couple of years ago from my pal Rachel of Average Jane Crafter. If you keep up to date with Rachel, then you're aware that she's not only a craft geek, but a space geek. I think Rachel mentioned "The Planets" embroidery patterns, and I remember thinking how cute and clever the entire series of Science embroidery patterns were.

I'm sure a lot of you have been loving and stitching tons of patterns from The Floss Box for a while now. But just in case you've never heard of her, I think you'll like what you see.

She has lots of embroidery and cross stitch designs, and last week this cross stitch design caught my eye on Pinterest.

Spring Unicorn Girl cross stitch by The Floss Box.

I quickly bought it after seeing it. But last week, she released the embroidery pattern! Yee-haw! I jumped on that project immediately.  Darcy is pretty much obsessed with unicorns right now, and she was pretty excited. 

The one below is the embroidered version stitched by me.

Darcy insisted on lots of pink and purple for the girl and the unicorn. I love the way it turned out & so does my little Unicorn Girl.

Come back tomorrow for another vintage pattern share, won't you?

xoxo,
Amy

Pretty Kitty

First of all, great response on the Mystery Stitch! I think Sue May may have figured it out. She asked if it was a Peking Knot, and after doing an image search on Google, it certainly looks like it.  She even posted a nice little photo tutorial on her blog on how to make a Peking Knot. I had never visited her blog before, and I'm glad she left a comment, because she's made some really cute stuff! Be sure to take a look when you have time.

It's been a while since I've posted a project, but today is "Sew & Tell!" This is the first of a few projects I've finished recently.

Project: Birthday project for Alina.

Pattern: Ryan Berkley Artist Series from Sublime Stitching.

Stitching Time: Approximately 4 hours.

Date Started: May 2011

Date Completed: May 2011

Well, OKC is in a tornado watch this afternoon, and I'm keeping things short and sweet around here. Wish us luck, and send lots of love to those in Joplin.

xoxo,

Amy

Mystery Stitch

Hey-oh! I'm glad so many of you like the bike pattern. Your kind words, re-posts, and links to the pattern are encouraging. Be on the lookout for pattern shares to be a regular theme around here.

The other night my friend Alina came over for a crafty brainstorm session, and I brought out my Japanese embroidery books to share. These are always my favorite source for designs and inspiration. She reminded me of one of my favorite images in the book and asked what stitch was used. I told her I didn't know, but I've always admired it and wondered what it was.

So I'm asking you stitchy friends, can you name this stitch?

 

We played around with a few moves, and Alina almost had it. We think it's a really l-o-o-s-e French knot.  But does it have a name? An official technique? I'd love to know more about it. It's too lovely not to incorporate it in to more projects, don't you think? I'm not giving up on figuring this one out. 

xoxo,

Amy

Free Bicycle Embroidery Pattern

The month of May is National Bike Month, and this week, May 16-20 is Bike to Work Week. Friday, May 20 is Bike to Work Day.  Quite a few of you said you already ride your bikes to work as a way to lessen your carbon footprint.  Good for you!

My husband rides his bike to work on a regular basis too. His ride is a little over 20 miles round trip each day, totaling over 100 miles in a typical work week.  When he first started riding, I was nervous and concerned for his safety. Now a feeling of pride has replaced the fear I once had.

Sure he has come home late a few times, telling me about the stupidity and cruelness of some drivers.  He's been spit at, yelled at, and "tailgated" by drivers, all for riding a bike.  But most of the time he tells me about how beautiful, exhilarating, and amazing his bike rides are.

Recently I sketched a few bikes for embroidery patterns.  I've been working on getting them cleaned up, and I'm happy to share this one with you today.

 

Just click on the image above or here to download the pdf.  In return, I kindly ask that you use the design for personal projects only, and if you'd like to share this design with others, please share this blog post.

I was hoping to have this design stitched up already, but I haven't started it yet.  Anyone up for a stitch-along?

xoxo,

Amy

Edit: Had to tinker with the image download options on this post. For some reason, Blogger wasn't allowing the image to be enlarged, so I created a .pdf for Scribed. 

Free Embroidery Pattern - Lovely Lotus

Hi there. A sweet reader emailed me a couple of weeks ago, telling me she had some vintage embroidery patterns that needed a home, and asked if she could send them to me. I told her I'd be happy to give them a home and put them to use. This is just one of the many beautiful patterns I received.

Just click on the image above, and you'll be able to save the jpg. I thought this could be lovely for Mother's Day, or any time at all really.  If you reposition the scroll design, or embroider just the lotus, it would look really great in a hoop frame! Or transfer the design as it is on a tea towel or a tote bag.  I'm hoping to stitch this design up for myself soon. I hope you enjoy it!

If you need tips or information on transferring the design, be sure to check out my post on Embroidery 101: Transfer Techniques.

Please note: I do not have a steady hand when it comes to tracing, and I am still learning the basics for making line drawings cleaner. So please forgive my wonky lines, stitchy friends.

Happy Stitching,

Amy