Embroidery Tutorials on Tuts+

Hey everyone! I know my posts here have been few and far between so far this year, and I just thought I'd take a minute to say hello and let you know what I have been up to. I am currently reworking a lot of my embroidery tutorials for the Crafts & DIY section of Tuts+. In addition, I have lots of projects and patterns in progress, that will be added to The Craftinomicon starting mid March through the rest of the year!

I am going to be steadily increasing the posts here on the blog, but if you are looking for daily doses of crafty inspiration feel free to follow me on Pinterest or instagram (where you will get a lot of in progress and sneak peek looks at what is going on here in Casa de Craftinomicon).

Embroidery How To: Satin Stitch

Welcome back for another embroidery tutorial! Today I am showing you the Satin Stitch. It has a few variations, but they are all used for pretty much the same thing: filling in an area of your embroidery with solid color. The satin stitch is basically a series of stitches made very close together, which leaves a solid block of color and a satin finish.

To start, I selected a little chevron pattern and transferred it to my fabric:

Next, select your embroidery floss, thread your needle and start your first stitch by pulling through your fabric from back to front, as shown below.

Finish the first stitch by going back into your fabric at the top of your end line. I am working this satin stitch in an up and down motion. You can work in any direction you like, but it is very important that all of your stitches be in the same direction and are made evenly. If you are just starting out, I recommend working either straight up and down, or straight side to side. Diagonals can be very hard to space evenly without practice.

Once you have made your first stitch, continue along in exactly the same way, following your pattern lines and spacing your stitches as closely and evenly as possible.

Once you are finished you will end up with a nice solid patch of color like this:

When starting out, you may find your outline is a little less than perfect, so you can always go back and outline it with a backstitch or some other stitch you like.

Fall Fabulous!

It is finally Fall! This has always been my favorite season, leaves changing colors, no more unbearable Summer heat, colorful cozy sweaters can once again be donned, and most importantly my birthday is in October! The 6th to be exact.

I turn 30 this year, and to celebrate I will be having a couple giveaways on the blog in October, as well as a super secret giveaway to those of you who follow me on my newsletter! If you aren't currently subscribed to the newsletter, it comes once a month and there is still plenty of time to sign up before the giveaway, just go here and enter your email address.

I have been busy getting ready for October, so I apologize for the lack in posts this Month, but soon the blog will once again be jam packed with great crafts, and some special Halloween tutorials (including a great tutorial on doing your own Zombie makeup from one of my super sweet cousins).





*Image taken from Life 123.

Roller Derby Fabric!

I apologize for the delay in posts, but I have been super busy this past week (as I'm sure you all have been as well!) I finally got off my lazy butt and designed some more fabrics on Spoonflower.com (as I have been meaning to do for quite awhile now). This one is for their current Roller Derby fabric contest, there are lots of great designs so feel free to go here and cast your votes for your favorites (even if it doesn't happen to be my design. I got some of this one in the mail last week and it looks pretty good. I have some swatches of different color combos, that I may or may not like better than this one in the mail so I hope to see them soon. I also did some coffee fabrics for next week's contest. They have lots of great design contests coming up, so I am sure you will see more fabrics from me soon, and feel free to join in the fun and design some of your own!

I will also be back to posting more regularly (I hope) in the next couple of weeks as I have many projects nearing completion. As long as I can get my photos taken and uploaded in a timely fashion the next couple weeks are just overflowing with new goodies, and I got a couple books in the mail this week that I am dying to look through and share with you!

Have any of you read or seen any great books lately, crafty or otherwise?

Adding to the Stash

Fabric Depot is having their Summer clearance sale, and I dropped by today to check it out. I don't get over there as often as I'd like, which is probably a good thing since I would be poorer than poor if I did. I can't leave without buying something.

If you are in the Portland area, I recommend checking it out. Lots of great fabrics, including a lot of heavy weight decorator fabrics (that I usually don't buy as I don't do a lot of upholstering or curtain making lately). They also have some great suiting fabrics for $5.50/yard. I even found some steals at $1/yard. I love fabric. Mmmm.

I also made trip to Cool Cottons on Wednesday and purchased a few things. Anyway, I wanted to share some of my new finds with you all and let you know I haven't fallen off the crafty planet.

If you have been following me for awhile, I am sure you have also noticed the new header and background image on the blog. I've been busy, and there will continue to be more improvements, so bear with me as some of my craft posts have been getting pushed back (but in good news, the Sun has returned so many pictures will be better quality--let there be light!).

Also, don't forget that Monday, May 23rd is Giveaway Day! I have a special project all ready to go and will be giving it away as part of Sew Mama Sew's promotion.