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Old Hand Stitched Projects, What to Do?

Old Hand Stitched Projects, What to Do?

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In the quest to clean out some of the “stuff” in my studio, I found a couple of old projects that are hanging around either not finished or in the “why did I think this was a good idea” pile. The first is a printed sample from one of my online classes and I added some hand stitching.

I wanted to brighten it up a bit but then I think I might have gone past my comfort zone. I couldn’t decide if I should just keep adding more stitching or if it should be left as it is.

As you can see by the side view it is lumpy, wavy and uneven. The circles stitched on the felt caused the felt to buckle and push outward.

What would you suggest? Would you add more stitching? Just use it as is? Cut it up? Throw it away? What would you make out of it? I’ve love to hear your suggestions.

Here’s a little felt book that I started. I think I was mainly using this to make the binding but then decided I should stitch on the pages. The photo above shows the front cover.

And here’s the second page. I have three more pages that are not finished. I either got bored or couldn’t decide what to do on the last three pages. Perhaps I will look through my floral sketches and find some patterns that might work for those last three pages. The felt on this book is commercial felt in case you were wondering.

And I thought I would show this hand felted hat that I completed with embroidery. I’m not sure I have shown it before and it was hanging out in the studio with no better place to be. What do you do with finished pieces that are taking up space in your studio?

 

Another UFO Bites the Dust

Another UFO Bites the Dust

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I’m still working on trying to re-do and re-work some old pieces that have just been sitting around the studio.

I found this piece that has been screen printed, stenciled and stitched. I decided to cut it up into smaller sections and make note cards out of it. It needed a background for each card so I found a piece of fabric that I could tear and fray the edges.

Here’s the background fabric. You can see on the left that it was rust screen printed with a design that was originally developed from a birch tree. At some point, I over dyed it, as you can see on the right.

And here are the four cards that I made from the one piece. I used fusible web to stick it all together, I find that to be the quickest, most reliable “glue”.  Now I will put them with an envelope in a clear sleeve and sell them at the store. They fit right in with the fall season.

We took a hike last weekend and the aspen and birch trees were just gorgeous. It’s definitely fall in Montana.

UFO’s Are Taking Over

UFO’s Are Taking Over

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I have tons of UFO’s (unfinished objects) in my studio space. I need to either get rid of some or do something with them to make them more functional.

This is a piece of felt that has been printed with thickened dye and then free motion machine stitched. It’s been hanging around for more than a year. I thought about framing it but decided against that.

So I had this tea tin that it wrapped around and fit perfectly.

Here it is getting ready to stitch. I used safety pins to hold it together and then used two needles to lace up the back. I can easily remove the stitching if I want to use the felt for something else.

Here it is after stitching. It’s a bit wonky but the edges weren’t even and I wasn’t really worrying about being straight.

And here’s the tea tin in my kitchen, all finished and looking pretty 🙂

Do you have any UFO’s that you need to complete? Show us some of your unfinished projects over on the forum. Maybe we’ll be able to give you some ideas of getting it finished or made into something useful.

More experiments with UFOs

More experiments with UFOs

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A couple of years ago, I was making silk paper just for practice.  I decided to try to cover a bowl and make some ruffle edges.  But it was a disaster. I used an acrylic medium to help give it substance, but all that did was make it stiff and unmanageable.  I tried soaking it in soapy water for a couple of days, but that didn’t do anything either.  So it went into the “pile.”  I’ve picked it up a couple of times thinking I could use it for something, but nothing came to mind. Sorry about the fuzzy picture.

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Recently, with the Second Quarter challenge to revisit our UFO stash, I pulled it out again. This time as I thought about it I started pulling it apart, peeling off layers.  I wondered if it would still felt, so I looked through my stash and found some yellow batts with unknown fibers.

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It felted just fine, some parts are still stiff, but most of the thinner areas still had the silk shine. This piece will probably be made into a coin purse.

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But what to do with the rest?

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Another UFO was a piece of prefelt I had cut for “lace” in Fiona Duthie’s Surface Design class.  I put a piece of habatoi silk under it and felted them together.  I’m not sure what I’ll do with it.  But I like the bubbly effect of the silk through the holes.

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Then I found a frame for the cityscape.

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While I haven’t made a big dent in the scraps and UFO pile, I feel good about trying some new things.

2nd Quarter Challenge 2016

2nd Quarter Challenge 2016

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Remember the credit card wallet disaster I told you about earlier this year?

 

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I decided I would recycle part of this piece into an earbud case for the 2nd Quarter Challenge. So I cut it up.

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I used a blanket stitch to sew it together and finish off the edges.

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Then I added a snap as a closure.

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Its a little bigger than needed, but I figure I’ll find something else to stuff in there if necessary. Perhaps a few business cards.  I feel better knowing I’ve been able to use some of the material for something useful rather than sitting in a pile.

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If you’ve done something for the 2nd Quarter Challenge, be sure to post it on the forum! Or contact one of us to write a blog about it!

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