Little Happy Bag pattern

 

I wanted to share an idea for a bag front, using my pattern 'Little Happy Bag'. 

I have recently been completely captivated with cross stitch. This guy has been sitting & waiting for ten years or so, in my pinterest pins. So, one day, instead of doing all the things I was supposed to do....I had a wonderful time stitching him. I made the wreath around him as I went along. And changed some thread colors, to what I had on hand. So, that tells me...that I have gotten comfortable with this cross stitching adventure. This is only my second make and the other is still not finished. Oh My...
He is not perfect but makes me happy & the whole time I was stitching....I knew it was going to be a bag front. 

So here it is!

I cut 4 Strips from Outer Fabric to frame the stitching. The art measures 3" on this one & I allowed 1/2" or so all the way around. I sewed my side strips on first, then the top & bottom using a 1/2" SA. Pressed & Top Stitched.

Once, stitching is framed, cut panel to the original size per the pattern. Be sure to center the stitching Left-to-Right before cutting. My measures will place the stitching lower than center Top-to-Bottom. If you want the stitching centered both ways adjust the measure for top & bottom strips. 
Continue with the pattern to complete your bag.

CUT
2 -Sides - 3"w X 4-1/4"h
2 -Top & Bottom - 8-1/2"w X 3-1/4"h 

I totally enjoyed making this bag & will probably make more because I just have sooo many ideas.

Enjoy!

Get My Pattern - Little Happy Bag - Etsy - Link on sidebar & at the top.

Cross Stitch - Inspired by - Merry Christmas Book by Marie Anne Rethoret-Melin

New Pattern in my shop

Tea & Strawberries is my NEW pattern and in my Shop today. A fun, hand embroidery ready for you to stitch and add to your project. This pattern and my other....Strawberry Snookers, work well together. I see a strawberry quilt in my future. What fun it will be, to search for fabrics! 

There are many, cute, little, strawberry designs out there now. Oh what fun! I believe, I just created another project. Can't wait to get into my sewing room.

Strawberry Snookers PDF Pattern

Tea & Strawberries PDF Pattern

Pulling fabrics....I have more strawberry designs than I thought I did! Great! Love when that happens.

See you soon.....

Weekend with threads.....finally

It's been a while, where I could take a weekend...the whole weekend...and spend it in my sewing room. Today I am doing just that!
This is a preview of what I'm working on with my stitching and I have a pair of curtains that have been waiting for months. When I'm finished with this stitching...and I'm almost there....It will be a NEW pattern in my shop. Watch for it....it's coming soon.

My Shop has been growing this year. I recently added Miss Mousey Fabric Shopping in her cute, little red car. I have a total of 11 patterns now, with the #12 on the way. This makes me feel...Oh So Happy! and I am, so over joyed for all the support!

Thanks for the visit....See you soon!

Happy Stitching!

road trip stitching

Did you ever dream about taking a road trip, to buy all the fabric your heart desires?
Wouldn't that be one, fantastic trip!

My NEW stitching of Miss Mousey in her little red car, stuffed full of stitched fabrics is all ready to go! The hand embroidery pattern is an instant download and super fast & fun! I did a bit of color tinting to some areas & the pattern includes instructions for that.

I have more stitching on the way......

Join me on Instagram  @threadsonmysocks     

Happy Stitching!

Spring is here....

Happy Spring Everyone!

Birds are chirping, buds are blooming on the trees and bulbs are pushing thru the earth to give us that burst of color. Lasting for such a short time, it's one of my favorite seasons.

I have been truly busy, with every moment of the day, working and designing. I love to draw and could spend all day, doing just that but other things need to be done. I am sure that I am not alone here. Just not enough hours right?

A NEW pattern has been added to my shop. A woodland creature...the red fox. This drawing was on my list of 'Do a Pattern' and I got it all colored and stitched! The pattern goes so fast, I had it done in no time. Of course, after all the decisions were made on color and what not......that takes me the longest.
So, here's how I did it. The colors I chose are all listed in the pattern, along with instructions for the process. Colors can be altered for your project. In fact, you don't have to color tint at all. I think a bit of color adds to the stitching and it's very easy to do. It's your project....create away!
I draw my design with a micron pen on a cotton linen blend fabric. I use a light table to trace the design and iron my stabilizer to the back of the fabric. Now, it's ready to color tint. I color all areas to be tinted with white crayon, iron with a paper towel and begin the color tinting.
I chose bittersweet with a bit of blending using sepia, burnt orange and chestnut. I gave them a bit of rosey in their cheeks with wild strawberry and they are ready for stitching.
Copper and medium orange spice dmc threads are pulled and threaded with three strands to get started.

I pulled some greys & peach fabric and now I am ready, to sew the red fox family into a project. A nice tote is planned, I can never have enough bags to 'grab n go'. The stitching would look cute on a pillow or a quilt block too.

The pattern is drawn to include the grouping and individually for smaller projects.
I hope you enjoy this pattern and the many others in my shop. I'm working on getting more designs finished and have updated a few of them.

'Strawberry Snookers' pattern has been recently updated and now includes an extra sheet of tags. Print them on card stock, sticker sheets or fabric, to add a special touch to your project.

I'm having a lot of fun with my patterns here lately. I just love tags & special touches!

More 'Fun Patterns' are on the way!
Miss Mousey has been busy too ;)


If you purchased this pattern prior to the update, an email will be sent out to you. Thank you so much for the support♥♥♥

Happy Stitching! Happy Spring!

glance....the year

Stitched.... This was a BIG YEAR for my stitching and pattern writing. 5 patterns were created this year and entered their way into my Shop on Etsy. I fell in love with Miss Mousey and couldn't stop drawing her in different scenes. 

A BIG Thank You my friends for all the love & support...it means so much!! 

Quilts.... I managed to get 3 quilt tops sewn. All together 5 were started for the year...
High Hopes for the New Year!

and....Just Fun Sewing.....

Happy New Year! May you have many creative days ahead.....til next year....

Shop Update & Holiday Prices

Introducing 'Strawberry Snookers'. A NEW pattern, the last for this year and a BIG Thank You!
Holiday pricing has begun in my shop. I've lowered all prices on all my patterns to spread good cheer!

The mouseys have gotten into the strawberry jam and are having a berry fun afternoon! Don't you just love their cute plump bottoms? All stuck in the jam jar?
I'm modeling fabrics for a project and just love these with the mouseys! Milk, Sugar & Flower by Elea Lutz-Pennyrose Fabrics. The little strawberry in the fabric is just too cute & the colors are just what I want for this project. I love when it all comes together!

The pattern is in my shop and ready for instant download. A complete 5 page PDF Embroidery Pattern. I've included a color tinting sheet with this pattern, if you want to get your crayons out and have even more fun! If you don't want to color them, that's okay, they'll look just as cute! I;ve stitched just two mouseys here for this project but the pattern includes three mouseys.

The mouseys measure
3 1/4" X 5 1/2"
3 1/4" X 4 1/4"
3 1/4" X 3 1/4"
when printed @ 100%

They can be placed within your project however you wish.


The pattern includes stitching & color tinting suggestions. DMC thread list, preparation guide & full design sheet with mirror image.

Strawberry Snookers

Miss Mousey & Little Stitch

A Knitting Kind of Day

And there are more in the Shop....Go See!

Happy Stitching!

almost finished! and a sneak peek!

Miss Mousey & Miss Lily are all color tinted & stitched. Now, they are ready for the sewing machine! I still have to decide on fabrics but I have a good idea what I want to do. It's been very busy over here, trying to get three patterns finished, stitched and sewn together. Miss Mousey & Little Stitch are ready for some sewing too! The third design is just about finished and I am excited to share that one with you! It won't be long....and they are too cute, if I do say so myself. They are cheery and lots of fun!
So, off I go to do a bit of sewing and playing with fabric choices. I can't pick which process I like most. Each step is way too much fun!

Oh, I can't leave without giving you a bit of a peek! Here you go....a peek at the third design....soon to be another pattern.

Strawberries!!! and nice plump bottoms that get stuck in jam jars. Those mouseys are always into something! When Miss Mousey is away...the little ones play :)

Happy Stitching!

yarn, threads and crayons

Stitching some yarn today. My NEW embroidery pattern 'A Knitting Kind of Day', got a bit of coloring too. I decided to make the rocking chairs yellow and color tinted them with crayon.
Then I added more colors for the yarn balls and began stitching them. This pattern is fun to stitch!

The pattern includes an accessory sheet, great for smaller projects! Place the artwork anywhere in your project, to make it your own design. Color tinting adds a bit more fun and it's very easy to do. Experiment and have some fun! I have a bit more stitching to do and then it's to the sewing table. I haven't decided completely what sort of bag this will be....but I'm noodling ideas and sure to come up with a bag or a pouch.

A Knitting Kind of Day is an 8 page pdf embroidery pattern, here a few of the design pages.

I hope you will enjoy stitching it.

I'm off to get this one finished and to tell you about a new design coming up.

Happy Stitching and Knitting!

It's gonna bee a good day!

If you had a wall hanging nearby to remind you often....it's gonna be a good day...I think the day would at least begin with a smile. These little bees make me smile and I'm preparing it for a wall hanging in my sewing room.

I did some color tinting on this one also and I have to tell you....I love it. I will be doing a few more designs soon with tinting. If you want to join in with me...that would be nice.
I still need a bit of time to get things ready but it should be soon.

This embroidery design is another new pattern and in my shop. I started with white linen,
traced my design with a micron pen, using my light table. Then I ironed light-weight stabilizer to the back. I chose some crayons and I used everyday crayola. I colored in all the areas to be tinted with white. This gives the fabric a nice, smooth surface. The wax from the crayon coats the fabric. I gave the bees pink shading in their cheeks and added yellow around their wings and in the body sections. I began layering the colors, pink & yellow.

For the flowers, I chose colors to match my threads. After coloring, I placed a paper towel over the areas that were tinted and pressed with a hot iron----no steam. Press and pick up the iron, moving from one area to another. Do not go back and forth, pushing the iron across the design. The heat will warm the wax and any residue will cling to the paper towel, leaving a nice color tint. Then it's ready for stitching! Fun stuff!

Bee back soon........ Happy Stitching!

a New pattern +

The weather is fine and I have been drawing til wee hours in the morning. I love Fall, my cup of vanilla coffee, my socks, my studio and my drawing board. My pencils are nubs!

I've been busy with new designs and decided to do a little shop cleaning. Some patterns will get some enhancements, bringing color to those red-work designs. I have been asked many times to consider this and well, I finally got that all organized. You will see some new things too, in the next few weeks. I have been experimenting with color tinting my designs. This method has been around for many years and I even dabbled with it through the years. I think, it will add a whole new look to my stitches and I am super excited about all the new things headed for the shop soon!

My new pattern is in the shop today. 'A Knitting Kind of Day' .....Miss Lily & Miss Mousey get together for tea and have a knitting kind of day. The pattern includes full size design sheets and this one includes two different designs. Also, I have included a design sheet of all the accessories, so that you can place them within your project, where you like. Sometimes, we may only need a small design to whip up fast....so there you are. I hope you will enjoy stitching it!

Off I go, to get more done.....busy....busy. Have a Knitting Kind of Day!

catch little bird while you can....

Little Bird is moving......

Wow, I had no idea, so many of you would love 'Little Bird' so much. Thanks for all the love! I made this pouch a while back and stitched the little birdie for the front. When it was all finished, I decided to offer it as a free stitchery. You can find it on Craftsy now. The link is in my 'Make Things' tab. A really quick little design, that can be placed on any project you do.
But.... I will be moving the little guy to another platform soon. He will no longer be available on Craftsy after August 5th....as I am discontinuing my Craftsy Pattern Store.
'Little Bird' will still be free and the link to download will be right here on my blog.
I'm in the process of changing a few things around and looking into other venues. The dust will settle soon.....I'll keep you posted ;)
Happy Stitching!

needle keep & little stitch

The other afternoon, I reached for softer, colored threads, instead of red. The need to sew was brewing inside and I think, subconsciously planned. I'm still working on my pile of  'Tilda' fabrics and have 9 blocks done so far. They will become a quilt this winter...with any spare time I can squeeze from my day.

A little needle book has been on my To Do List for way too long. I stitched the little mousey in brown this time and added a cute aqua apron with pink buds & dots, even on her booties. She's quietly named 'Little Stitch'. The red work mouseys are beside her and have a final check to go yet, before the pattern is released. They will be placed top-center of the red work quilt. Miss Mousey will be sitting on her cushion in both top-corners.  

Once 'Little Stitch' was all stitched in all her colors, I began cutting and playing with different fabrics. Making pockets, quilting and lots of playing. A good mental therapy day this was! Just what I needed.......quiet creative sewing. It reminded me, of the days a girlfriend and I sat out in the back yard, at a picnic table and designed, sewed and glued a complete Barbie apartment. We were ten years young and boy I wish, I still had some of those things. I'd laugh my head off....

For some reason and I think because, it has more excitement. I started with the inside of the book.

Thinking about, how I intend to use the book and how I work, when I'm stitching...it soon came together. The book would be great, to take along on shopping trips. Matching fabrics with threads, that sort of thing. So, yes...pockets for sure. I made a small one for scissors on top of a long one, the width of the back inside. I made another for the front inside and decided my book page would also be a pocket. 

Did I tell you, this was going to take awhile...?... 

longer to write the post, than making the entire needle book....I think. ;)

and since I take my I-Pod along on most fabric sprees.....I made a pocket for it as well. The I-Pod will fit in the zipper-page pocket, but I just had to go one more step and make a separate one. A phone fits in the zip pocket too....just in case. The pocket on the front inside is great for fabric swatches. How many times did I go to buy interfacing or stabilizer or try to match colors of one fabric line to another? Perfect....problem solved now I have the right weight and I have my fabric swatches.

I used some hexies and sprinkled them around. The inside hexie has a bit of batting beneath it and is perfect for my needle cushion. The other.... is centered on the back and may get a bit of hand stitching yet. I found a pretty pink button in my jar and made a loop of fabric and there you have it...
My little needle/sewing book is ready to go out on a trip or two and probably soon. Need stuff ya know....Christmas is coming.

.......til next time...Be Happy with Everything you do......Happy Stitching!