A Little More Lavender and a Free Pattern!

Last week we traveled to Provence to see the amazing fields of lavender, and this week we are going to put that lavender into stitch form with a free pattern! This little circle of lavender can be stitched onto just about anything—a hand towel, an ornament, or a sachet—which is what I (Kara) am going to show you today.

Lets get started!

The first step was gathering my threads. I love it when I can use my Valdani threads, so I chose one of my favorite greens for the stems and then a solid black and a variegated gold for the little bees. It always seems that though you have lots of threads, you don't have the right one for a particular project. That was the case with my purples, so I made one up by using 2 strands of the lighter purple floss and 1 strand of the darker purple. This created the depth in the purple shades that I wanted.

Valdani 12 pearl cotton and Weeks DyeWorks floss

Using the pattern, I traced the circle onto a 4" piece of linen and then drew lines for the lavender. You can just mark the dots for the French knots as they are shown on the pattern. Then I used the green pearl cotton and did a stem stitch around the whole circle and added lazy daisies for the leaves. After that was finished, I added the French knots for the lavender. The bees were made by making a 3-wrap bullion knot using a strand each of gold and yellow threaded together. When you wrap the threads around the needle, wrap them carefully so the two colors alternate, and then pull through. White sewing thread and a lazy daisy stitch make the wings.

Stem stitch

French knots with 1 strand of dark purple, and 2 strands of light purple

Tiny bees!

Once the embroidery was finished,  I cut a 4" square backing piece to match the front. Then I marked a 3.75" circle on both pieces making sure I centered the lavender circle in the middle. When I cut out my circles, I left a 1/4" seam allowance on both. I put right sides together and used the drawn circle on my backing as a stitching guide, making sure I left an opening to turn.

4" squares front and back.

A 3.75" circle is drawn and then cut out with a 1/4" seam allowance.

Use the drawn circle on the backing as your stitching guide.
Leave a space open for turning.

Once I had turned the sachet, I dampened it to remove the blue marker and then let it dry before I stuffed it with the lavender and poly-stuffing. When it was dry, I gave it a bit of a press as the linen likes to wrinkle. I used a funnel and wooden skewer to put the lavender in the sachet. I only used about 4 tablespoons of lavender and then filled it with poly-stuffing until I was pleased with the shape.

I bought the lavender on Amazon for under $10
and should have plenty for more sachets.

I decided I wanted to add a hanger so it could be hung in a closet if needed. I cut a 2" piece of velvet ribbon and inserted the ends in before I stitched the opening closed.

All stuffed and ready to insert the hanger and stitch it closed. 

The finished sachet!

Voila! The sachet is finished! While I made mine as a circle, making a square would work as well. This will make a sweet and functional little gift, and for me it also provides a scented memory of my travels to Provence. 

You can download the pattern below. If you stitch this up, please send us pictures of your finished lavender. We would love to see them!

Lavender Circle Free Pattern

Stitching a Tea Cozy Garden

A few months ago, I (Teri) joined the local chapter of the Embroiderers' Guild of America. Each month at the meetings, an embroidery project is offered; at my first meeting it was a cute little tea cozy, made with buttons. I love tea, and I have a vast collections of buttons, so I gathered some fun buttons and threads and set off on my new adventure. 

I love to challenge myself to learn new stitches or to make them with different threads or applications. For this project, I chose to focus on using Painters Threads and floss by Weeks Dye Works. I had a wonderful time experimenting and just playing, without a real plan. The tea cozy went together pretty quickly, and I think it looks pretty happy sitting on my counter. I had intended to make it as a gift, so it will be a bit difficult to part with it! 

We were given a lovely kit that included the cut pieces of linen, the liner, and the insulating fabric. The butterfly buttons were available for us as well. This is how I created my button-embroidered tea cozy garden.

Choosing the buttons and arranging them was my biggest challenge.
Once I was pleased, I took a picture to follow as a guide.

Stems were lightly drawn with pencil and stitched with a stem stitch or chain stitch.
I used Painters Threads pearl #8, Turner. I then sewed all the buttons on with Weeks Dye Works floss, two strands of Saffron.

From left to right, these are the stitches and threads I used for each flower.

Picot stitch with Weeks Dye Works floss, Grenadine

Pistil stitches with Painters Threads pearl #5, Van Gogh

Colonial knots with Painters Threads pearl #8, Grandma Moses
and lazy daisy stitches with Weeks floss, Grenadine

Lazy daisy petals with Painters Threads metallic braid #4, Grandma Moses;
 ribbon stitch leaves with Painters Threads 7mm ribbon, Turner

 

The bee is made with DMC pearl #12, a bullion knot made with one strand each of black and yellow, with wings of loops made with Painters Threads metallic braid #4, Longan. To see a tutorial on making the bee, read our Garden Gate post by clicking here.

Drizzle stitches with Weeks floss, Autumn Leaves

Colonial knots and fly stitches with Weeks floss, Grenadine

This button is ringed with cast-on stitches that overlap to create the petals,
made with Painters Threads metallic braid #4, Van Gogh.

Left leaf—fishbone stitch, right—stacked fly stitches
Painters Threads pearl #8, Turner

Leaves, left to right: lazy daisy stitch with 7mm ribbon, stacked fly stitches with pearl #8, stacked lazy daisy stitches with Weeks floss, ribbon stitches with 7mm ribbon. Straight stitches with metallic braid #4 makes the flower. (All but floss is Painters Threads.) 

Pekinese stitch with Painters Threads pearl #8, Grandma Moses

Bullion stitches with Painters Threads pearl #5, Van Gogh

I changed the position of the butterfly button from my original plan; it seemed to be more balanced amidst the flowers. And the bees just completed my garden. As I write this, the weather is dreary and damp. I think I will go make some tea! Won't you join me?

Lovely Botanicals: The Academy of Appliqué 2019

How can a week possibly fly by so quickly?! When you are having an outstanding time, that's how! That was our experience last week in Williamsburg, Virginia, at the Academy of Appliqué. One minute, we were unpacking and setting up to teach, and in two stitches with our needles, we were packing to come home. Well, my home; Kara came here with me (Teri) for a few more days before heading back to Germany.

As always, we want to thank Barbara Blanton, left, for all her work in creating this spectacular venue where lovers of appliqué can gather to stitch, learn new skills, and catch up with stitching sisters from around the globe. It always amazes me that I can feel an instant kindred spirit when meeting another who shares a similar needle passion. That sense is almost indescribable to one who hasn't shared the experience. If you love to appliqué, we encourage you to put this week—or half-week—on your bucket list. You, too, will be amazed! We have made some dear friends over our years of attending the Academy.

Here are a few photo highlights of our week. I'm afraid we didn't get many general event photos, as we were pretty busy in our classroom, but hopefully, you will get a feel for the fun we had.

Kara demos the drizzle stitch in our first class.

 

The sweet pea bloom is easier to create with wired ribbon than it looks!

A lovely ombré ribbon leaf

Mastering stems, leaves, and petals

We have zinnias!

And tulips!

The beginnings of a stumpwork ladybug

Announcements at lunch

Our "chat" during one of our lunch sessions, sharing this year's project:
Lovely Botanicals

Hanging in our classroom

Marking our patterns on the background fabric in our second class

Using tools to mark the edges of the transfer paper—
what a great idea!

Rose-making demo

Working on those roses

     

Mastering the "gimping" for the center of the sunflower

Marking the wings on organza for the stumpwork bee

We have another bee!

     

    

On the last day, we laid out some of our off-block units to see how much progress we made on our Lovely Vases. Don't they look awesome?

We stitched, created, shared, laughed (and punned), shopped, and inspired each other. It was an all-around fabulous week. And we are already planning for next year! Those creative ideas just keep coming. 

We'd love to hear from you. What skills would entice you to join us in a class? Please tell us in the comments below. It would be such fun to stitch together!

Back in Maryland, doing inventory on our Painters Threads—
and maybe doing a bit of shopping. Such yummy threads!