The Voting Booth Is Open!

embroidery by iSewpose

That's it, stitchy challengers, the submission time for the April creative challenge has ended! Leave your votes in the comments below (one vote per person, please). Submissions can be found here. Voting will go until Friday, May 6. Get to it!

(You can still link to your projects from this week below as well.)

Weekly Team Treasury

Happy Thursday everyone! 

This week's treasury features some of the lovely accessories made by our fellow teammates! 

I hope you all enjoy!

Til next week!

♥, Pilous



Featured Member spincushions

Our Current featured member is spincushions

 

 

Q.  Tell us a bit about yourself and your shop.

A.  I am a long time crafter. I have had a go at nearly everything you could possibly think of. Paper making, candles, decoupage, tassles, cross stitch the list goes on. In amongst all of this, a recurring theme has always been hand sewing. I love to embroider and hand sew and so when I made my first pincushion it felt so right, I just could not stop at one. Over the last few years I have made literally hundreds of pincushions. You can only give so many away though and so my etsy shop began.

Q.  What or Who inspires you?

A.  My materials inspire me. I love to sit down with my giant pile of felt in all its wonderous colours and my stash of embroidery thread and see what emerges. I am always brimming with ideas for new designs and never enough time to create them.

 

Q.  When you're not doing things for your shop can we find you around the internet?

A.  I can be found on Facebook  and Twitter

Q.  What tool could you not live without?

A.  My needle! Well make that needles. I have many - all threaded with lots of different colours.

~Bekah

April Team Challenge Submissions

Oh, oops! Please forgive me, stitchers. I've been so busy lately, I've really been dropping the ball with the blog posts. Though I did post on Friday, I totally forgot it was supposed to be the starting date for submissions of your April team challenge projects. So, so sorry!

So the modified schedule will be as follows:

Submissions start: NOW!
Submissions close & voting begins: Friday, April 29
Voting closes & winner announced: Friday, May 6

Thanks for your patience. Now, link away!

Tips and Tricks Tuesday: Tools You'll Love

Today I'm going to feature several tools that every stitcher should have in her needlework basket.

1) THREAD HEAVEN. It costs between $3-$5 and comes in a little tiny blue plastic box. It is basically a little square of glycerin, and it's useful for smoothing stubborn threads like rayon or metallics.

2) CURVED EMBROIDERY SCISSORS - These are a pricier version, but Gingher are the best! I have a cheap pair of orange-handled Fiskars and they do the job too. The curved scissors are perfect for snipping the small ends of threads RIGHT up next to the fabric. These are especially useful for any kind of apparel since you don't want even tiny thread hanging off the back.

3) TEAR AWAY STABILIZER - A must for stitching on Onesies, t-shirts, or very thinly woven fabrics.

4) DISAPPEARING INK MARKING PEN - The blue side comes out with water; the purple side will eventually disappear by itself, but water works on it as well. This is the perfect tool to touch up patterns or create your own patterns on light colored fabrics.

5) EMERY PIN CUSHION - These come alone or are often found as a little "strawberry" next to the tomato on a traditional tomato pin cushion. The emery material inside sharpens needles. It's important to keep your needles sharp to avoid ruining your fabric or threads. Also, sharp needles pass through fabric more quickly.

6) A CUTE PIN CUSHION - Because you can never have too many cute pin cushions.

Friday Linkies

embroidery by Amanda Miller, posted in the EtsyNEAT flickr group

It's Friday, again, stitchers, time to share what you've been working on!

Weekly Treasury Post

This week's theme is "We're So Hot, We're Seeing Red".  I have been on a real red kick lately, maybe because its my son's favorite color?  Either way, please click the photo above to see the treasury.

I hope every one is having a wonderful week...for those who work, only one more day!

See you all next week!

Cheers,

Pilous

Featured Member SnowBerryArts

Our current featured member is SnowBerryArts

Q.  Tell us a bit about yourself and your shop.

A.  I am a wife and mother of two college age daughters and now live in the Denver, Colorado area after growing up in Wisconsin and spending my early years in San Diego. My grandmother taught me to crochet at about 8 years old...scarves, afghans, pillows all bring back fond memories. I started stamped cross stitching shortly after (nearly 40 years ago) and always find cross stitching to be my favorite and most relaxing...perhaps because I'm a huge sports fan (basketball and football) it allows me to watch an event AND feel productive. Tatting, quilting, quilling, knitting, tole painting, needle felting and woodworking are some of my more interesting crafts and hobbies...and ones that round out a craft fair booth nicely. With my youngest heading off to her freshman year of college a year ago, I decided to take on the challenge of an online selling venue and that's what brought me to etsy. I owned my own desktop publishing business, taught typing to elementary school students, and have been active in the schools and community here in Denver.

 

Q.  What or Who inspires you?

A.   Cross stitching remains my number one passion; patterns, fibers and materials are so beautiful and adaptable! The things that inspire me and catch my attention are those things that have an element of nature to them...whether it be the subject matter (a pattern of a bird for example) or the materials (twigs for the nest). I thoroughly enjoy altering, modifying and putting my own twist on pieces and while all the felt pieces in my shop are created in my mind, drawn out, and finished, I haven't quite mastered designing a cross stitch piece in this manner. That remains a goal and the direction I would like to take this endeavor. Bent Creek, Little House Needleworks, Trilogy and Twisted Threads are a few of my favorite designers.

Q.  When you're not doing things for your shop can we find you around the internet?

A.  Even with my background in computers, I haven't yet stepped up to the twitter/facebook/blog era. I think a part of me doesn't find my life "interesting" enough for people to want to follow along though I am beginning to understand the value of each as a business tool and have thus been trying to educate myself.

Q.  What tool could you not live without?

A. As far as the tool I couldn't live with... well it sounds rather ridiculous, but it would have to be my little Olfa hand rotary cutter. Clean lines (and speedy) it has made the most difference!

~Bekah

Free Vintage Embroidery Patterns!

Happy Monday! It's always nice to get something for free, so I wanted to showcase a website where some vintage embroidery patterns have been compiled and are graciously shared. Needlecrafter.com features many wonderful designs organized into lots of different galleries, from Arts & Crafts to landscapes to "days of the week". You will have to visit the website yourself to peruse through all the different patterns, but I have included here just a couple of my favorites!

Alice Brooks Cottage

To download pattern, please click on the above image to go to the website

I love this 1940s cottage design from Alice Brooks. I also have this pattern in my own collection and have embroidered it on to tea towels and aprons. It's a lovely design that allows a lot of different color variations...and looks wonderful every time!Alice Brooks Tree

To download pattern, please click on the above image to go the website

From the same vintage Alice Brooks series, there is this tree pattern. As it is meant to be a smaller motif, this design looks wonderful stitched onto napkins or place mats.

Enjoy looking through the website...you are bound to find some inspiring pattern for your next project!

Happy Stitching!

xxx Rebecca aka melysbaby xxx

Friday Linkies

embroidery by melys baby, posted in the EtsyNEAT flickr group

Hi, stitchers! I'm rushing in late with this post again, my apologies! Don't forget to check out the details about our new team challenge if you haven't already.

Now, what have you been working on this week?

Featured Member ISewpose

Our current featured member is ISewpose

Q.  Tell us a bit about yourself and your shop.

A.  My name is Christal and my shop is i Sewpose. I am a new and still forming shop focusing on hand embroidery that is a little silly and sweet. I hope in the future to expand beyond the embroidery hoop and I am actually starting to create some fun wedding photo props that I am excited about.

Q.  What or Who inspires you?

A.   Almost anything! I teach art to preschool through 2nd graders, so I would say that children are a huge inspiration.

Q.  When you're not doing things for your shop can we find you around the internet?

A.   I am on facebook as i Sewpose Embroidery and other than that I hope to get a blog up and running in the near future

Q.  What tool could you not live without?

A.  Well I'm not sure if it's really a 'tool' but my work thrives on great fabric. I work in simple stitch lines a lot of times so I rely on fun prints to bring them to life.

~Bekah

Tips and Tricks Tuesday: Huck or Swedish Embroidery

One of my favorite retro embroidery styles is Swedish embroidery, often referred to as huck embroidery since it often uses huck toweling. (Monk's cloth is another popular base for this style, especially when creating hand embroidered afghans.) It is also referred to as Swedish weaving since it alternates the threads of the embroidery floss with the threads of the toweling.

Coats and Clark offers a free PDF on their website that includes patterns for Swedish embroidery. Check it out here.

This popular booklet by Coats and Clark has been reprinted several times (I own one and I love the patterns). It features Swedish weaving along with other types of needlework.

Avery Hill also provides free instructions. These appear to be vintage, but the age isn't indicated.

One word of warning... I've heard people say that they have trouble finding the huck toweling or monk's cloth needed for these projects. My local Jo-Ann Fabrics sells it, but you may have to look online!

Gift Ideas--Needlework Kits

Happy Monday! Today is my mother's birthday and although I have already taken care of her birthday present, I did consider some needlework kits. Not only to stitch up and give the finished item as a gift, but the kit itself would make a great gift. Here are some of those fantastic kits I found on Etsy.

Tiny Square Needlepoint Kit from Ornaw

I love this colorful kit to make three ornaments, all in different designs. The kit contains all the materials and instructions needed. You can make three gifts from just one kit!

Mackintosh Rose Pillow Embroidery Kit from paintbythread

I am a huge fan of Arts & Crafts style, so I was very excited to find paintbythread. The shop contains lovely finished hand-embroidered textiles (pillows and table runners) as well as kits, all in the wonderful Arts & Crafts style. I was especially thrilled to find this pillow kit with a classic design inspired by one of my favorite architects/designers Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Highland Bouquet Eyeglasses Case Kit from thistledew4u

Thistle Dew for You has some of the most amazing beaded embroidery pieces I have ever seen. Seriously stunning. But what brought me to the shop was this very pretty eyeglass case kit. Not quite as grand as the beadwork, but nonetheless, either as a kit or a finished case, this would make a great gift!

Happy Stitching!

xxx Rebecca aka melysbaby xxx

April's Team Challenge

embroidery by Mutant Angel

Hi there, stitchers! Can you believe it's April already?

This month our team's needlework challenge theme is "wedding." Interpret it any way you like, and get to work!

Finished pieces will be linked here on the blog on Friday, April 22. Voting will begin on Tuesday, April 26, and a winner will be announced on Friday, April 30.

For more details on the challenge, visit our team discussion page here: April Team Challenge

Now, what have you been working on this week?

Weekly Treasury Brought to you By Spincushions

 (please click the photo to view the treasury page)

Happy Thursday EtsyNEATers! 

I hope you are all having a wonderful week and are enjoying planning your entry for the new team challenge...Weddings!

This week our treasury was created by the team member Spincushions and features some of the more curious offerings from our fellow teammates!

Off to savor the rest of Spring Break!

♥, Pilous

Tips and Tricks Tuesday: Improving your Etsy SEO

Your SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is an important part of getting your work seen by potential buyers. Search engines like Google only use a certain number of characters, so you have to use your title and description, shop announcement, shop title, etc. carefully. You don't want to waste valuable characters on words that buyers aren't going to use in a search.

I recommend starting with Etsy's HELP guide to SEO here. It tells you which parts of your shop and listing are used for search engines, so you can tailor your keywords to achieve the greatest impact.

Handmadeology has an excellent post about SEO.

Etsy user "SEOWebDesign" has a great series in the forums that goes into lots of detail about SEO. Find the first post in the series of six here.

There is also a video on this page, created by DanielleXO (Etsy admin).

An important SEO tip: set up Google Analytics if you haven't already. (What is Google Analytics?) This will help you figure out which search keywords to use once you know where to put them. To set up Google Analytics with your Etsy shop, log in to "My Etsy", go to "Options" and "Web Analytics". This will allow Google Analytics to access your shop to create your analytics reports. I use two main features on Analytics-- both are under "Traffic Sources" (on the left hand menu when you log in to Analytics). One is the list of referring sites-- this tells you which websites people are using to access your site. The second is the list of keywords-- this tells you which search terms people use to find your products.

Dog Needlework Patterns

Dog Embroidery Pattern from Penguin & Fish

Happy Monday! Last week I shared some wonderful cat needlework patterns available for sale on Etsy. Although I consider myself a cat person, I do love dogs, too (well, animals in general!). So here are some great canine-themed dog patterns to stitch up!

Dogs in Love Embroidery Pattern from Sewing Sweets

Sweet Dachshund Cross-Stitch Pattern from andwabisabi

Dog Days Cowboy Aunt Martha's Hot Iron Transfers from paulitransfers

Happy Stitching!

xxx Rebecca aka melysbaby xxx

And the Winner Is ...

bead embroidery by Haverhill Studio, via Haverhill Studio

Today marks the end of our team's first creative challenge. The theme was "blue," and I enjoyed seeing how the participants interpreted that. We had a total of 5 submissions, and I suspect there would have been more if we'd worked out the kinks in our timeline. Next month's challenge will give you a little more time to add your submissions and vote, so stay tuned!

Anyway, without further ado, this month's challenge winner, with a total of 13 votes, is Lody of Haverhill Studio! Congratulations, Lody! You can see her winning embroidery in the photo at the top of this post.

Lody will have the job of choosing next month's theme. I'm looking forward to seeing what she comes up with!

Thank you to everyone who voted, too. Let's get the word out and get even more participation next month! Keep an eye on our team's Etsy discussion page for information about the next challenge.

And for those of you who were stitching away this week, post your links so we can check it out!