Straight from the stash

I have been stitching up more tiny tapestry brooches for my EG branch tabletop sale next month.

So, these two brooches have been added

and I now have this little collection to take to the next meeting.

I particularly wanted some 'silver' frames for my brooches as I had some odds and ends of threads from the GOT Hardhome Embroidery that I wanted to use up. I hunted high and low on the internet and couldn't find them for sale anywhere. Fortunately the generous Emma at Ann's Orchard Needlework was willing to part with three from her carefully hoarded stash, so I was able to put those thread ends to good use. Thanks Emma!

The 'gold' tone frames are from Tina Francis Tapestry again. 

In my haste to get these finished I am afraid that I got a bit too scissor happy :(

I trimmed this tiny tapestry without measuring it against the frame and discovered to my horror that I had trimmed it too far! Which absolutely serves me right for not checking I know. Fortunately I have some squares of canvas left so I am planning to stitch this to the larger square and then trim that back. I think that will work, don't you?

I found some kilt pin brooch blanks in a box and decided to have a go at doing something with them for the sale too.

You can't see it very clearly in the photo, but the centre of the medallion charm is fabric mod-podged (is that a verb?) to the charm and then covered with a clear cabochon. The lace is another piece of the antique lace handed on by my mum, and that cute pincushion charm is from my stash of charms from Nicole de Bruin. I cannibalised an old earring for the rest of the beads on the brooch, so this is very much a project from my stash!

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts

Introducing Tina Francis Tapestry

This month's sponsor of the Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Giveaway is Tina Francis of Tina Francis Tapestry

I first came across Tina's lovely tapestry in an article in Stitch, the magazine of the Embroiderers Guild, and didn't waste any time in stitching up several of her delightful tapestry brooches.

I am always interested in knowing the background of the businesses that I deal with, and I thought that you might be too, so here is Tina's story.

"After winning a box of embroidery transfers in an auction Tina opened it to find it contained a whole

womans life in knitting and stitching patterns. From the most fashionable cardigan of 1959 to baby

matinee jackets, school uniforms and curtain patterns right through to more modern baby patterns

for her grandchildren, Tina realise that this unknown woman was a true artist who had spent her

lifetime stitching love. This sparked an interest in other “home crafts” tapestry appealed because it

combined two of Tinas loves, printing and texture so after learning how to stitch by completing

unfinished tapestrys from secondhand shops she decided to design her own and stitch on the

shoulders of the unknown women whose art had inspired her.

Tina has a range of both printed and counted tapestry kits, her patterns are very geometric and

modern and can be used for tapestry needlepoint, cross stitch and rug making. Someone has used

them for knitting but don’t ask Tina how!! 

Wool is the most expensive part of any kit and as the industry standard is to add 30% more wool than is required Tina realised that she was adding to the wool stash mountain and so created a set of patterns called “Use Your Stash”, each pattern uses less than 10 metres of each wool colour, you do not need to be a colour mixer to get great results as Tina has already ensured a perfect result every time through pattern placement.

Still not satisfied with ensuring the stash mountain is decreased Tina has now designed two sets of

brooch patterns which will ensure that even your smallest amounts of wool are used! For the brooch

patterns you need no more than a metre of each wool colour (and usually no more than 50 cm!). A

good design is scaleable and so if you prefer a larger count canvas the design will look just as good.

“Whilst the design will always be mine the art belongs to the stitcher the same as it belonged to the

woman whose life I now hold in the old chocolate box full of patterns”

Thanks Tina, what a fascinating story!

Don't forget to link up your Christmas and Holiday makes at this month's Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party if you want to be in with a chance of winning your own Tina France Tapestry brooch kit.

Tapestry Brooch Tutorial - Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew

Welcome to the April Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party.

The Link Party that aims to have you all organised with a cupboard full of handcrafted goodies by the time that December comes around :)

This month I am delighted to bring you a guest tutorial from Tina Francis, the creative genius behind such gorgeous makes as these colourful cushions,

and the driving force behind

Something we can all empathise with!

Tina has generously provided us with a tutorial for one of her lovely tiny, tapestries that can be made into a brooch or necklace like these. Aren't they great?

"You will need

12 count Interlock canvas
50 cm of each wool colour
A tapestry needle
Brooch finding (if using)

You can use tapestry wool or why not search in your wool stash for 4 ply, this project is about using what you already have so if you want to use the stitching for a card or gift tag (just attach it with stitch) then it does not matter what count of tapestry canvas you use.

These patterns are great scaled up and you can see from the images that they suit cross stitch too!"

 You can find instructions for the tent stitch used in the brooches here

The chart for the Inca pattern above can be downloaded here

If making a brooch, once you have completed the stitching from the chart trim the canvas so that is has a border of one canvas hole around the stitching. Place the trimmed stitching into the brooch front then push the back into place and fold down the flaps to hold the brooch back in place.

Tina has also offered either a Small Squares or Inca Pattern Booklet (£10), 2 goldtone brooch findings (£6.40), 12 count interlock canvas enough for all 7 brooch patterns in the booklet (£2.50), two John James Needles one size 18 and  one size 24, a small amount of wool to complete one brooch front as this month's giveaway prize. So, one lucky linker could be adding one of these lovely brooches to their Christmas gift stash!

The winners of last month's sewing themed charms were Melissa at Happy Quilting and Sally at Wonky Patchwork.

As ever the link party closes at 23.59 GMT on April 30th, so you have lots of time to get those projects linked up. No blasts from the past though, we are all about stockpiling throughout the year here so restrict yourself to links to projects you have worked on this month:)

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks again to our lovely giveaway sponsors who have been so generous in their support of the link party.