Summer's Flight - Goodbye summer, hello FREE PATTERN!

I'm not sure what it is about September, but it always makes me a little sad...maybe a leftover from childhood and the end of those long summers when you could do whatever you pleased!

So to fight off the September blues, I thought I'd make everyone happy and share a little freebie! I designed this modern birdie to evoke the colors of late summer and the approach of fall. I love pincushions, so that's what I made out of this chart, but it's the perfect size (3" x 5") to turn into an ornament, a cell-phone case, or you can frame it and add a little burst of color to your desk.

You can download the color chart by clicking HERE

Or if you prefer a black and white chart, click HERE

(If you'd like to make a pincushion as shown, the directions are below.)

In addition to the pattern, I'm excited to be doing a whole month of fun stuff over at the cross stitch forum on Reddit! Throughout the month of September, folks will be doing a stitch-a-long of the new design, I'll be doing a pattern giveaway, an "Ask Me Anything" interview post, and a special discount for Reddit users. You can find the cross stitch community on Reddit here: reddit.com/r/CrossStitch  

I hope you enjoy this little Satsuma summer gift! Please share your photos of finished projects on Instagram by tagging them with #satsumastreet or tag me @craftnik. Or share them in the Reddit forum!

xoxo Jody

Pincushion Directions:

Materials:

- cross stitch fabric for top - 5" x 7" piece of 14 count Aida or 28 count linen

- backing fabric - 5" x 7" piece of any medium weight fabric

- Optional: lining fabric - 10" x 14" piece, similar color to top fabric

- sewing thread

- filling (I use a mix of polyester batting and Polyfil Polypellets stuffing beads)

- pointed stick or knitting needle

1. Stitch the chart on your choice of fabric. 

2. After pressing your stitched piece, trim to 1/2" from the checkered border all the way around. Using that piece as a guide, cut your backing piece to the same size.

3. With open weave fabrics like the linen used in this sample, I like to flat-line the fabric before sewing it up. (If you used Aida, you can probably skip steps 3-4) I use muslin or quilt cotton in the same color as the linen. Cut the lining pieces slightly larger than your top and backing pieces and pin them together, with the right side of the stitching facing up, as shown below:  

4. Using a long basting stitch, either by machine or by hand, baste the fabric and lining together 1/4" from the cross stitch border. As you do this, make sure you are keeping the cross stitch fabric "square"... not distorting the weave in any way. Press your fabric pieces again, and then trim the lining (but not the linen) to just outside the basting stitching (you can see this in the photo below).

5. With the right sides together, stitch the top and back together using a 3/8" seam allowance. Leave an opening of about 2" in one of the sides for turning. Trim your corners close to the stitching as shown:

6. Carefully turn your pincushion right side out. Do this as gently and slowly as possible to avoid pulling any of your cross stitching out!

7. Using a pointed stick or knitting needle, gently push out your corners. Press the whole piece again, this time folding in the seam allowance on the opening.

8. To fill the pincushion, I like a 50/50 mix of polyester batting and Polyfil Polypellets, which are little clear plastic beads. They add weight to the item, which I think is nice with something like a pincushion which you want to sit nicely on your work surface. As you start to add your filling, try to make sure the pellets are mostly sitting on the bottom side of the pincushion and the batting is filling out the top side.

9. Once your pincushion is stuffed, stitch the opening closed by hand. Make sure to use small stitches so those pellets can't escape!

And you're done! Enjoy your new Summer's Flight pincushion, which should keep your craft table happy all year round!

My true love gave to me...

I've always loved the "Twelve Days of Christmas" song, even if I never fully understood it (what would you want with all those birds??). So I've been wanting to do a Christmas cross stitch pattern of the 12 Days for a long time, and this year I finally got to it ... and well before Christmas, so people can actually get it done in time to enjoy it!

 I love making cross stitch Christmas ornaments, so I originally conceived this project as 12 individual designs. Each ornament is 3.5 x 4.5 inches, so they stitch up fast and are just the right size for hanging on a tree. (The pattern includes directions for finishing them as shown.)

Aren't the little people cute? I don't normally do designs with people in them, so this was a fun change for me.

Anyway I love them as ornaments, but then a few fans on Instagram said they'd love to stitch them all together as one big project, so I also include that option in the pattern as well. I added the text at the top and bottom, which I think adds a nice touch.

Satsuma Street - 12 Days of Christmas Cross Stitch Sampler

So it may seem early in the year to be starting your Christmas crafting, but if you start now and make one ornament a week, you'll be done before Thanksgiving! I don't think you'll be able to make only one a week though... they're awfully fun to stitch!

Visit the Etsy shop and get the PDF pattern as an instant download right here.

xoxo
Jody

Learn to cross stitch with Satsuma Street!

I hear from people all the time who tell me that they love my designs and wish they could make them, but they don't know how to cross stitch. I do my best to help beginners through emails, but for some folks the best way to learn is through hands-on, personal instruction. That's why I'm so excited to be teaching a Cross Stitch Basics workshop on May 2nd in Los Angeles at French General!

The class will be five hours long, and we will learn to make the lovely pincushions you see here, which I designed based on an old French motif. You probably won't have time to finish a pincushion in the class, but you will learn all the basics of counted cross stitch: how to read a chart, measure out fabric, divide your floss, start and end your stitching properly, and begin working on one of the charts. I'll give tips for finishing the projects, including how to clean and press your stitching when you're done with it, and how to sew it into a pincushion. I'll also share lots of other tips and tricks that I've picked up for making your stitching as smooth and easy as possible.

The workshop is $65, and the fee includes the pattern and all the materials to make your pincushions. If you've never been to French General, it's a wonderful and inspiring place to spend an afternoon with lots of other creative people, so I hope you'll join us! Space is limited, so sign up as soon as possible!

Visit French General's website and click on "Workshops" to sign up, and do be sure to check their workshop cancellation policy before you commit. Hope to see you there!

Quit Your Day Job: I did!

Back when I was first thinking of starting my Etsy shop, and I wasn't sure exactly whether I should go for it, I started reading the Etsy Blog for the courage and inspiration to follow my dreams. The stories and advice I found there gave me the push I needed to go ahead and open the doors on Satsuma Street and list those first few cross stitch patterns, hoping that maybe this crazy idea would work out. So two years later when I was contacted by Etsy and told that they wanted to feature me as one of their "Quit Your Day Job" stories, I was so honored and thrilled, I can't even tell you!

I was happy to be able to share any little bits of advice I could with new or aspiring Etsy sellers, and what was most important to me was to share the message that everyone has to find a unique product to offer and a way of working that suits them, rather than trying to follow someone else's path to success. If you're interested in hearing how I turned cross stitch design into a full time career, I encourage you to go read it, and while you're at it, there are lots of other inspiring stories there too!

Satsuma Street wouldn't be anything at all today without the support of all the wonderful people I've connected with through Instagram, Facebook, and all over the world, so most of all thank you to everyone who has supported the shop and reached out to say hello and let me know you like the patterns! It means so much to know that people like what I'm doing, and inspires me to keep going and making more happy cross stitch patterns for everyone to enjoy!

Photos by Erik Valind Photography

Garden Cat!

It's crazy that it took an avowed cat lady like myself so long to do a cat pattern! I suppose it just had to be the right time and I needed the muse to hit me…I was thinking about doing something Spring-y and flower inspired, and I do wish my kitties could spend their Spring days exploring a garden, but alas they are city cats and have to watch the seasons change from inside the apartment windows.

This cool cat gets to spend all his time under a magical sun, chilling with his friend the bee, smelling the amazing flowers and never worrying about a thing. Seems like a pretty good deal, Garden Cat!

Of course my apartment cat doesn't have it so bad either. I only put him to work filling orders on the rare occasion that I take a day off… if you ever get an email from me and it's full of typos, don't blame me…it's probably my assistant:

Head on over to Satsuma Street to find the Garden Cat cross stitch pattern (along with lots of other fun designs). All the cool cats are cross stitching these days!

xoxo Jody (and Stoli)

2015 Limited Edition Tea Towel Calendar

One of my favorite things to collect is vintage Vera Neumann scarves, I try to find them in every thrift store and flea market I go into, but the one thing I've never found found is one of her classic linen tea towel calendars.  So this year, I decided that I needed to design a Satsuma Street calendar and have it printed on fabric and stitched into a tea towel, just like the vintage Vera ones I covet!

I really enjoyed designing this calendar, and building the little cityscape around each month in my colorful, Mary Blair and Small World inspired style!

In a Vera inspired touch, I added a little signature to the bottom corner of the towel with a little satsuma orange.  I guess that's becoming my trademark!

I've decided to make these tea towel calendars a limited edition, so I'm only making 100 of them.  They're already selling pretty fast, so if you want one, get yours now!  You can find them in my etsy shop here.

coming soon...

Though the weather is still in the 90's here in Los Angeles and we haven't even started carving pumpkins yet, I'm busy working on Christmas patterns for Satsuma Street! I've been wanting to do a set of cross stitched ornaments for a while now, so these little cuties will be part of a set of six, and I'm really enjoying how they're turning out! They stitch up so fast, you'll be able to make several in a weekend. A set to give away, and one to keep! Look for them in the shop in a couple of weeks!