Sigil to Protect Protestors Graph
This is a sigil created by LAURA TEMPEST ZAKROFF to protect protestors.
Her post about it is here:
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/tempest/2018/07/a-sigil-to-protect-protesters-those-detained-by-ice.html#disqus_thread
At this point in time, I thought people who enjoy working with thread may want to have this graphed to make.
All credit to Ms Zakroff. Feel free to use this for any use except commecial or for profit using these rules: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Shamrock and Thistle
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to those who celebrate it. As we’re in a weird situation right now, here’s a free pattern to combine your Scottish and Irish heritages while under this shutdown!
Have fun, and if you use it for anything, let me know!
TiNy Hands font graph
a free graph, based on the free true type font by BuzzFeed.
Enjoy!
Veterans’ Day Poppy
On November 11th of every year, many people in the Western world honor our veterans. Mostly by wearing poppies.
This year, I am making out own simple felt poppies to wear, and I am sharing it with you.
They take little time to make, so if you have red and black felt (or a black button) you can have one to wear in under an hour. A few people and an afternoon could have a basketful to donate, hand out, or sell to raise money.
You’ll need a strip of red felt and a disk of black felt (use your scraps!) and thread (I have used quilting thread, doubled sewing thread, and 2 strands of floss. It’s not seen, but will need to be strong to not break when pulled).
Of course, you’ll need a needle and scissors and possibly a tapestry needle to help pull the thread tightly.
I’ve included the pattern.
So the first thing you’ll need to do is cut out your poppy flower and center. You want to cut on the solid lines. The dashed lines are your stitching lines. You do not need to transfer them. You can scale the flower up or down at this point.
For the petals, you want to start at one corner with a knot, and stitch along the long curve and up each petal. This is a simple running stitch, and not too tightly. The dashed lines are a pretty good size to go by.
Then you want to carefully pull the thread so the felt bunches up on itself. This is where a toothpick or large needle can be helpful. You can use this time to nudge the petals into whatever shape you want to. When the flower is bunched, attach the end to the area you started, drawing the flower into a circle.
Then you can put that aside, and work on the center. The center can be a button or a disk of knots, or anything you want. Here I used a black felt disk. Stitch around the outside and pull it closed again. Then take a few stitches across the back so that it flattens out and sits well
Then you simply use the thread you have tightened and tack it to your petals.
Tie it off to finish it. At this point, you can add a pin back if you have one and want to. or, you tie the thread off and clip it
And you are done. If you make one, please show me! 🙂
My disk was 1.5 inches in diameter, if you want to get your pattern close to mine.
Holiday Angel for a quick stitch
Every once in a while, you need a homemade present you hadn’t thought of. It’s the realization that the holiday is closer than is appears, or that there will be an extra at a gift exchange, or that there’s a party you were just invited to. And people the people who we are, we often want to embroider one.
That’s where this little angel comes in.
A simple little dear made with bits you probably already have at home, that you’ve kept because they will be useful some day!
And today is that day! 🙂
This is my little angel made with red, gold and brown floss, and beads on natural colored felts. I stitched a face on her.
This is the same
And this one is actually made of old jeans off the scrap pile and Kreinik metals from the San Francisco School of Needlework and Design’s Burlesque Challenge.
I think she’d look best with both a face and a halo, but she is cute no matter what.
What you’d need for each angel is scraps of thread and felt (or anything that would not unravel too easily), anything you’d want to embellish with (ribbon, metals, beads), and of course, your needles and scissors and ‘regular stitching supplies’. And the pattern that is included below. You will want two of each pattern cut, to cover your stitching, unless you are in a real rush.
Just choose your favorite border stitches and go to town, embellishing until you are out of time. Stitch the two wings and bodies and faces together (if you have two faces) with a button hole stitch, and assemble with the face on the dress and dress over the wings with the hanger between the body and wings. And you are done.
If there is any interest, or even if there is not, I may get a full PDF together with how to do these angels.
Happy Holidays! And Happy Stitching!
Happy World Embroidery Day!
In honor of World Embroidery Day, here’s a beginner’s design. Even if you have never stitched before, you can do this one.
Symbolism in Needlework compilation
Sometimes when I am designing a piece, no matter how big or small it may be, I want to include some symbolism. Either as a special meaning, an inside joke, or merely to continue a tradition that has spanned millennia of embroidery, I want the item I am stitching to just say something *more*.
What I have had to help me in this has been volumes of mythology, the internet, and notes on little scraps of paper. But that has meant I spend more time looking for my notes or relooking on the internet for information I have already collected. I actually just did a ‘files that contain the word’ search in order to find some notes while writing this blog post.
So, here is a work in progress of thoughts I may want to symbolize in my stitching, compiled over years of studying embroidery and art, and far from complete. So if you also want to add a concept or a deeper meaning to your work, this will be at least a good place to start looking.
If there is a concept I have not yet touched on, please let me know. This is a work in progress and certainly not a finished collection.
Authority: staff
Beauty: rose, shell
Betrothal: clasped hands, red carnation, ring
Blindness: beetle
Charity: bread, child, cornucopia, dove, fruit, heart, hen, lamb, lioness, pelican, phoenix, hen, stag
Cleverness: cat, serpent, squirrel
Compassion: milk
Courage: bees, eagle, leopard, lion, salamander, thyme, edelweiss
Cruelty: Bear, crab
The Dead: cherries, cherry trees
Death: crow, swan (good death), primrose (early death), butterfly (early death)
Deceit: cat, crab, daisy, duck
Devil: locust, dragon, serpent, pig, frog, goat, leopard, monkey/ape, owl, toad
Devotion: candle
Diligence: Bees, ants, human arms, chair, dolphin
Discipline: valerian (readiness), scythe, spider
Eternity: circle
Evil: crow, dragon, fly
Fertility: barley, cornucopia, lotus, strawberry
Friendship: basket of flowers, forget-me-not, garland of roses
Gentle: hare, hart, lamb
Gluttony: pig
Goal: castle
Gossip: parrot
Grace: swan
Greed: toad
Grief: anemone, tomb, urn, weeping willow
Happiness: basket of fruit, cherries, butterflies, holly
Health: cornucopia, basket of fruit, caduceus, cherry tree
Honor: Hyssop, anvil, castle, crescent moon (hope for)
Hope: bees, birdcage, crow, holly, anchor, bread and wine, crown, fish, lion, phoenix, rainbow, scallop shell, ship
Hospitality: candle, chair, pineapple, table, bread, wine, apple, barrel
Humility: donkey, camel, daisy, dove, lamb, ox, violet
Ill temper: bear
Immortality: phoenix, peacock, ivy, kingfisher, milk, pomegranate, scallop
Innocence: crown, flowers, garland, lily, strawberry, violet, lamb, child
Jealousy: crocodile, rat
Justice: lion, scepter, thunderbolt, scales
Knowledge: fountain, key, sun
Lazy: monkey/ape, snail
Liberty: butterfly, cat, hawk, bell, fish, wings
Life: fountain, water, well
Life after death: barley, pair of birds, butterfly, phoenix, wheat, corn, holly, ivy, lizard, octagon
Longevity: trees, apple, pine, oak, basket of flowers, deer, dove, elephant, hare, knot, marigold, stork, tortoise/turtle
Love: bird, bows and ribbons, dolphin, apple, basket of fruit or flowers, birds, carnation, heart, shell, swan, rose, tulip
Loyalty: dog, dove, anchor, elephant, goose, forget-me-not, kingfisher, key, pine, ivy, swan, violet, cumin, ring
Luck: clover, horseshoe, ship, vase of carnations, crow (bad), peacock (bad)
Lust: monkey/ape, toad
Marriage: clasped hands, dove, pair of ducks, ship, geese
Masculinity: horse
Melancholy: violet
Metamorphosis: caterpillar, butterfly
Mischief: squirrel
Moderation: clock
Mortality scissors (open)
Motherhood: basket, beehive, pink carnations, cow
Old age: grasshopper, oak tree
Overcoming trials: Acanthus, heron
Patience: donkey, ox, ram, rose
Peace: kingfisher, olive, apple, caduceus, cornucopia, elephant, flowers, lion & lamb, rainbow, instruments
Perfection: circle
Perseverance: ram, bee, cock, camel, hawk
Playfulness: butterfly
Pleasure: butterfly, moth
Power: bull
Pride: cock, falcon, hart, horse, mirror, ox
Prosperity: acorn, fruit, olive, pomegranate, moth (destruction of)
Protection: iris, thistle, woodpecker
Prudence: camel, hedgehog, anchor, deer, dolphin, elephant
Purity: iris, lamb, lily, peacock, harp, hart, lily, marigold, stork, strawberry, unicorn, milkmaid
Resurrection: lizard, swallow
Salvation: dolphin, well
Selflessness: bees
Self Reliance: acorn, duck
Servitude: chain
Sobriety/temperance: bees, camel, clock, elephant
Solitude: crow, hart
Straightforwardness: bull
Stealth: cat
Strength: acorn, bull olive, pillar (support)
Stubbornness: donkey, turtle (good)
Stupidity: donkey
Trust: robin
Truth: bell, lamp, well, heart, lozenge, raven
Vanity: mermaid, mirror, peacock, poppy (all looks, no value)
Vengeance: bear
Victory: garland
Watchfulness: candle, cock, griffin, dog, dragon, goose, hare, lion, peacock, weathercock
Wisdom: bees, book, lamp, lion, owl, serpent, elephant, fox,
Women: pincushion (virtuous), vase
Youth: primrose, sun, lamb
Winter Warmth: A Fiber Art Show
I am very happy to say that I have had three pieces included in the Springville Center for the Arts fiber art show this year. They are on display right now in their great gallery space.
These are my shoes, which are one of my favorite pieces.
My shawl, which was actually designed fro Stevie Nicks, although not chosen by her for use.
This is my Anne Boleyn at Traitor’s Gate
And these are my men and me.
I am going to see if I can upload a gallery, where I can explain these pieces in detail.
Other than that, I am very thrilled and happy.
First (and probably oldest) Throwback Thursday!
What is this?
I am willing to bet, you can not only name the tool just by looking at it, you have one in your home, and you know the basics of how to use it. You have probably used it in the past, yourself.
You know they are old. After all, your grandmother and her grandmother used them. What you probably don’t realize is how very old they are.
This one is at least 50,000 years old and is the oldest needle we have found yet.
Yes this one was hand carved from a bird’s bone, while the ones you have tucked away were probably mass produced by machine from metal (here’s a video showing it) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZJPpuL2sqQ
What amazes me is not just that scientists working at the Denisova cave in Siberia have found the world’s oldest (so far) needle, it’s how very old the technology is. We are all amazed by living fossils, those plants and animals that haven’t changed in thousands or millions of years, but this is a living fossil of technology. It wasn’t even made by our human ancestors, but by other hominids who have since died out. And it most likely predates string, as the need for a needle is caused by the use of sinew, hair, and plant fibers, prior to those items becoming thread. To me, the jump from sewing practical stitches to sewing decorative stitches (the essence of embroidery) is so minimal, I doubt this lovely needle wasn’t used for embroidery work.
And even though the materials have changed as our ability to work new materials has developed, the tool itself and the way it’s used has not changed at all. Please let me know if you know of any other tool still in common use today that hasn’t changed from in 50,000 years. And you can still purchase brand new ones made of bone:
For more info, here’s the Siberian Times article about the needle. And very cool jade bracelets.
http://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/news/n0711-worlds-oldest-needle-found-in-siberian-cave-that-stitches-together-human-history/
I think that makes for a good first Throw Back Thursday. I’m not sure it’d be possible to take needlework any further back.
