Blackwork adventures with Marknad

I have always loved Blackwork Embroidery. The stark contrast between the black thread and pale fabric allows the embroidery to stand out.

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I divided the runner up with a sewing thread running thread. The table runner was sourced from Ikea, in Australia the Marknad was $5 per runner. Great value. The black perle embroidery cotton sits well on the natural coloured runner. The plan for my embroidery is to make four blackwork samples either end of the 40x140 cm table runner.

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I have the "Made in France" Blackwork book, it has some lovely designs in it.

But if you don't have access to this fabulous book, check out the Elizabeth Almond Sampler Tutorials and Mary Corbet's Needle and Thread.

Ikeahack: Trendig Teatowels update

When I saw these Trendig Teatowels in Ikea I knew exactly what I was going to do.

I drew up some plans, popped it all into a zip lock and then moved house a few times and forgot where I put them!

I found the project last week and started to do some work to them. The goal is for them to be curtains in my laundry or maybe even upstairs.

I do find that play centres are the best place for embroidery! I can get my coffee delivered to me, my kids can be entertained and I get to do some work in some excellent lighting conditions.

Even though this one hasn't been pressed, you can see how I am progressing. This took me a day to do this using Perle 8 thread.

I loved the Trendig capsule collection that Ikea produced a few years back. I hope that they do something similar again, many of the products and designs were iconic.

Some of the Noren Curtains on Etsy are just so gorgeous. I hope that mine turn out as nice.

by Eastern Classic on etsy

by Kotori Handmade

by Honma Japan

Goldfish Noren Curtains (Ikea Hack) #weekendproject

Ikea had this gorgeous tea towel. Love the design but I felt that something was missing.

It is part of a set.

Ikea Trendig Tea Towel

I thought maybe some embroidery might fill the gap that exists in the design. So I spent 10 minutes in Illustrator to see what I could do ...

... and that I could use two of them as Noren Curtains in my bathroom.

Etsy via Kotori Handmade

I originally thought a cushion, but the cotton fabric is a little light on (although interfacing could solve that). What do you think? Have you got any crafty Ikea Hacks?

My crafty energies have been sucked dry by the application process for funding for my son so that he can get intensive treatment before he starts school.

But once my school reports are done, watch out world!

Are you thinking of Christmas yet?

I was astounded to see Christmas things in the shops in September. I generally don't start thinking of Christmas until after the Melbourne Cup, which occurs in the first week of November. I haven't even started to think about Christmas craft, but found myself checking out what new Ikea fabrics are available.

Ikea Margareta fabric

This textile print stood out as being an opportunity to do something creative for Christmas. I could imagine that this could be turned into a nice advent calendar wall hanging with a bit of applique. Using my swish paint skills, here is a mock up of what I am thinking of.

Sashing either side with Christmas fabric and create a hanging sleeve at the back of the quilt. "Merry Christmas" can be easily done with Curlypops Applique Tutorial. Attach  applique baubles onto the tree and use them to create an advent calendar, here are some ideas for how you might do this. For added festivities, you could also applique presents at the bottom of the tree. I found a few sites that might be used as inspiration for appliques to enhance the tree.

Ahh if only I had a few more hours in each day!

While you are at Ikea, pick up a pair of their Pinking Shears, at $10AUD, they are the best value Pinking Shears I have found!

What is on your Christmas Craft list?

My Creative Space: Slow and steady wins the race

Moving the sewing room is happening slowly (perhaps too slowly). I've been down with a cold this week so energy levels are unpredictable.

An impromptu trip to Ikea last night resulted in some more storage containers for my *stuff*. Did you know that Ikea sell pretty good pinking shears in their textiles department for just $10?

De-cluttering has been fun, but has lead to arguments with my daughter. I've been dropping off my excess fabric scraps, ribbons and bits and pieces to her Kinder to use in craft, but little miss doesn't really want to share! I have explained to her that there is plenty of fabric for her to play with at home .. plenty!

This week I have finished putting my scraps into tubs (see on the bookcase!) and have acquired some pre-loved wardrobe organisation containers for my fat quarters. I am still not convinced that this is the way to go with the fats, but it is a workable solution at the moment.

We have another Billy to put up on the wall above the computer desk and pin boards to take down and re-locate. The old sewing room is starting to look a bit forlorn with empty bookcases and 60 litre tubs full of material ready to go into "storage".

I've got some more presents to make this week, so there should be lots to post about next week! Check out Our Creative Spaces for more ...

New Craft Space

My sewing or craft room is on the move. From the lovely spacious front room into the study which is half the size.

My current room is a patchwork of bookcases and storage units grabbed from other rooms in all sorts of colours. But every crafter longs for a nice organised space for their addiction. Materials nicely on display or stacked in tubs.

via

White isn't necessarily my furniture 'colour of choice' for my living area, but white bookcases look better when filled with coloured fabrics and can make a smaller space look larger.

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I found this gorgeous idea of customising the fronts of these draws in this Ikea desk, BUT at the $1290AUD price tag for the unit, I might have to give it a miss!

I'm currently playing with ideas on how to store my fat quarters that are currently organised by colour and stacked vertically on bookcase shelves. Nice in theory, but I have found that when I pulled out a fat quarter it would disturb the neatly organised pile and then I would have to stack and sort the quarters once more. So I am looking for a more practical solution where I can remove colour collections and then I can put them back on the bookcase.

via Ikea

So I have been looking for CD or DVD Storage boxes as a way of storing my fat quarters. I can imagine that the rainbow of colours would look good in white boxes such as the ones above from Ikea. Alternatively, these plastic boxes from Officeworks might do the trick. The decision will probably come down to cost.

How do you store your fat quarters?