SAL: A Tale of Two Bookmarks

Image courtesy of  Anat_tikker / Freedigitalphotos.net 

Book Love! :)

In the comments on my Backing Fabric post, Karen asked a really good question - How, exactly, did I intend to finish my bookmark anyway? And she went on to add:

I'm assuming you sew the backing to the bookmark like you would with an ornament? With a piece of interfacing maybe to make it a bit stiffer?

Exactly!!! This sentence explains the entire process much more succinctly and clearly than if I had written paragraphs! Karen has a real knack for that, LOL :)

That is the method I've used the few times I've made bookmarks, except I haven't added a stiffener in the past, mostly because I was working with fairly stiff Aida.

However, I know that there are tons of ways to finish bookmarks, and I had hoped to have some to share with you today. In fact, this post was supposed to be chockablock full of links to excellent tutorials showing all kinds of different methods for finishing a cross-stitched bookmark. In truth, I spent all yesterday and most of this morning searching for such links in vain! Oh, there are plenty of bookmark finishing ideas.

It's just that most are only that - a sentence or two with no photos! And most of the "tutorials" I have seen involve using pre-finished bookmarks (like these) or using Aida band strips (like these). In the latter case, the finishing consists only of the top and bottom ends, usually by fraying. The rest generally involve glue. Lots and lots of glue. Fabric glue, school glue, gluesticks etc. Sadly, I'm not even joking here.

Now, I'm sure that gluing can work fine! I have used glue in projects before, such as stiffening crocheted snowflakes. Sometimes it's the only reasonable option. But since most glue is not washable, and is frequently used with cardstock or cardboard (to stiffen the bookmark) which is also not washable, the obvious drawback here is that your bookmark will not be washable either! And this is a problem.

Bookmarks are generally given as gifts to, or used by, people who love books, and people who love books read a LOT. So the first issue is frequent use. The second is handling - oils from the skin inevitably get on the bookmark when it's taken in and out of the book by hand. And third, books are inky and that ink tends to rub off on the bookmark, and in the case of fabric and floss stick to the threads! Yuck.

So, this all adds up to the fact that it may be necessary to rinse off your bookmark once and a while to keep it looking like new :) Especially if it's a favourite!

This would be a great time to share my own tutorial, except I don't have one. Yet! I'm working on it, I promise :) But in the meantime, I do have some photos that will at least show you what the heck I'm thinking about for my own SAL bookmark finish!

Some backstory: Way back in 2011, not long after I started ES, shortly after my success with Monarch and my Blackwork Bookmark, I decided to make something special for my Grandparents' birthdays that year. So I made blackwork bookmarks!

Grandpa's is on the left and Grandma's is on the right :) The background is the fabric I used for the back of each bookmark, both were 100% Cotton prints. The patterns have different stitch widths and heights, as I didn't try to keep them the same, but share the concept of repeated motifs in square borders with spacer bars in between.

As you can see, the shape is basic and really simple - just a rectangle, with the ribbon marker at the top. Both of these were sewn on the machine due to lack of time and the emphatic advice of my Stitchy Guru Mother, who thought it would take forever for me to stitch these by hand. She wasn't wrong, because I am very slooooow at it ;)

But I have since done more hand-sewing, and while it does still take me quite a while I think it is worth the time. I plan to hand-sew my SAL bookmark, for practice, and because I know not everyone has access to or is comfortable using a sewing machine.

For the photos of both bookmarks, please keep in mind that since these projects are personal and I never intended them to be blogged, my photos were just quick snaps for future reference, and so are not up to my usual quality. Sorry!

I hope to have a tutorial up soon with details on my construction method, although the process is very simple and you can probably figure it out if you're in a hurry :)

Grandpa's birthday comes before Grandma's on the calendar, so I made his first :) After I wrote this post, I knew I had to make him something with stars, LOL, and a full five stars at that! For the design, I started with the beautiful eight-point star motif in Jeanne Dansby's free "Braid" (available for download on WyrdByrd's Nest) and adapted the lozenge motif at the top of this free chart on Jos Hendricks' site.

Here it is before I did the colour filling, on the left, and at right is a close-up view of one of the motifs before filling and after. The before shots were taken with flash at night, which is why the colours are so different; the little white specks are the holes in the Aida showing up against the lighter fabric behind it :)

I choose my colours and designed my pattern to match my backing fabric, which was a tiny piece my Stitchy Guru Mother has had in her stash ever since I was a child :) I've always loved it, but it was too small to make anything much out of, so I was thrilled to have the chance to use it in this project!

Entirely by coincidence, I read an interesting post this morning about making more of an effort to use stashed fabrics, and that applies equally to all stitchy stash really. Although most of my stash is from, and still shared by, my SGM, *I'm* the one who's always putting things back because they're "too good to use". It's something I'm trying to work on, LOL! Small projects like bookmarks are a good way to use special fabrics up, and like in this case, you still have a bit leftover to keep and dream with :)

And here's a view of the back, I didn't realize it would blend in so well!:

For Grandma's bookmark, I also used the backing fabric as my colour source, it is also a stash piece, more recent although no less loved :) For the design, I used the same border from Grandpa's bookmark, and I adapted one of the motifs in Jeanne Dansby's intricate scrolly free pattern "Stroll" (also available on WyrdByrd's Nest).

I forgot to take before-and-after pictures for the fill, which was more fiddly this time, but I did remember to take one after I finished the center motif:

This was my first time using floss for the blackwork elements, usually I like to use pearl (perle) cotton, like the white I used for Grandpa's bookmark. However, at the time I couldn't buy burgundy DMC #8 (it's come into Michaels in the last month or so, and I have my eye on a ball!) so I substituted three strands of floss.

I do really like the look of the burgundy on the light pink Aida and I think it brought this project together, but I still like the ease of PC for blackwork since you don't have to worry about the strands twisting or splitting while you stitch.

For the metallic accents, I used a pretty pink this time instead of the gold I used for Grandpa's, since I already had light yellows in the border. I only used three motif repeats here, and made the spacer bars (the hearts) wider to add some length.

Here's the back of the bookmark:

And here's a close-up view of the bottom of the ribbon marker, where the the stitches are more visible than on Grandpa's bookmark:

Another wonderful thing about grosgrain ribbon is that since it is horizontally striped, it is easy to follow one of the lines while you're stitching as a guideline to keep your stitches straight! I do find it hard to stitch in a straight line, LOL ;)

I have some more information about making these kinds of markers here.

So this type of bookmark is what I'm aiming for with my SAL finish. I was intending to finish my Blackwork Bookmark as a tutorial for the SAL, but I made a mistake in using such a small remnant of fabric. The border is nearly non-existent, and it's too small for turning like my Grandparent's bookmarks. I'm still going to try and figure out a way to finish it, but it will be a one-of-a-kind rescue, not an everyday solution :)

Happily, I do have another blackwork bookmark (yet to be named!) that I started before Christmas, and I will try and work up a tutorial for that one soon. As a bonus, I've already made a tassel for it and took lots of photos, so that may be helpful too!

Before I go, Erica (at Erica's Stitches) has a great new SAL post up where she shows off her beautiful start (and more pretty tulips bulbs)! Unfortunately, she had to change fabrics a few times. I forgot to mention in the pattern that the reason I favour Aida for blackwork is because the tighter weave hides the threads at the back better, so that's something to keep in mind. Erica is also making adaptations to the stitches as she goes along, and her simplified center diamond is brilliant!

Also, Erica is making her own substitutions for the Rhodes Hearts, and I can't wait to see what she creates! As I mentioned in my reply to her post, it would be very easy to substitute a center diamond (or variation) in for the Heart as the stitch height and width are the same :) So if anyone else isn't feeling the Hearts, feel free to try something new! That's what the Custom graph paper is for ;)

EDIT: I just noticed that Lisa, who is in the Flickr NEwVP group with me and hosts one of my new favourite embroidery blogs Stick Stitch Cut, has a really great post up mentioning ES and yours truly :) Lisa has been working on some lovely embroidered Audrey Hepburn cards for a stitchy swap, and she shares the gorgeous results along with photos of a cute hooped design she stitched for the same recipient. The way she's backed and finished her design to fit the hoop is *genius*, and the idea could be adapted to cross-stitch too ;) It's a very modern finish! Thanks so much Lisa!

A New Take On An Old "Joy" :)

As you might recall from my last post, I wasn't satisfied with the buttons that I had chosen for my Rustic Joy Ornament. My reasons for chosing the ones I did is lost somewhere in the distant misty fogs of the past, but it was clear to me after reading the many kind responses to that post that Change was needed!

So, after an evening spent rummaging furiously through my button cans and my Stitchy Guru Mother's considerable button stash, I finally unearthed the perfect ones from my Great-Grandmother's button tin :) I knew that they were the right ones, because when I put them against the work, they just felt like they belonged.

And, come to think of it, I believe that the little white button - the only one that I was happy with! - that I had stitched on there originally came from GG's button tin, too, so now it has been reunited with its friends and so will be lonely no more ;)

Here is Joy, as it was:

And here is Joy, with the new buttons:

And here is Joy, with the new buttons, and a major omission remedied:

You see, when I added the new buttons the other night, I was very pleased with them. I put Joy away, feeling very happy that it was finally finished.

Only, when I took it out to photograph it this morning, I realized that there was still something missing. I am almost ashamed to say that I had never noticed that I had forgotten to put in the backstitching on the star! And this is remarkable, because this patchwork-like outline stitching (along with the buttons!) is what had attracted me to these works in the first place! *shakes head at silly stupid self*

Anyway, I am very pleased with the final result! Both of the buttons I added are white plastic, from the 1950's or 1960's, and are odd ones. I'm always happy when I'm able to find new homes for single solitary buttons that have lost their fellows :) Part of what I loved about the little white button was its interesting texture, so I kept the colour and material the same and focused on the texture instead.

So what do you think? I'm very interested to find out :)

For those of you who might be looking for pictures of button tins (yes, I'm looking at you Karen, lol!) I'm afraid that's going to have to wait a little while. For one thing, it's going to be a very loooong post. For another, I have yet to take the pictures, and am hoping to lure Mr. Sun out from behind all these dreary rain clouds so that I might better capture the sparkle and the finishes in the photos :)

In other good news, I had to pick up my needle and thread in order to remedy my mistake with the star, so I am hoping that this is a sign that my missing Stitchy Mojo is nearing home again and will be returning shortly! *fingers crossed*

And never fear - the Mint Green button and the Black and Silver button are now back in my odd button stash, waiting for another project to come their way ;)

Some Unfinished Rustic Ornaments!

This magazine may look familiar, and that's because it's part of my first Christmas Giveaway (now open Worldwide!). Including it in the contest loot brought to mind the very reason that I had bought this magazine in the first place, way back in December 2000. And that's the two rustic "package trims" at the bottom left!

These were the first "primitive" type of designs that I had seen, and I thought they were funky and fun. And I absolutely loved that they used buttons! Buttons are a tradition in my family; it's a subject worthy of later exploration, in fact, because it is such a Thing. The point is that we all have our button bins, or cans, or baskets, or such and I had a lot of fancy, sparkly buttons in mind when I chose to stitch these.

And yet, once I actually had them stitched, those pretty fanciful buttons looked completely wrong! With the rustic style, and the rustic looking Oatmeal Aida I chose to stitch them on (which I don't regret at all), they looked out of place and silly. So I went for simpler buttons. Which turned out well in one instance, and not the best in the other. But let me show you what I mean:

Here is the magazine model for the first project, Tis The Season:

And here is my interpretation:

I'm actually really happy with this one. Both pieces were designed by Alice Okon, and featured French knots, my Stitchy Foe, on the lettering. Naturally, I omitted them; I considered beads, but again they didn't really go with the rustic feel.

All three buttons are pearlescent, and the large coral button on the bottom was a serendipitous find. When I intended to stitch these, I had all my fancy buttons pulled out, the ones with the rhinestones and gold filigree. When I put them on the finished work and saw how terrible that combination actually was, I had to scramble to find replacements. So it was happy coincidence that this button happened to match the two tones of coral in the heart perfectly. I also like my alternate button placement; all three were supposed to be tacked to the green checkerboard, but I thought it a shame to cover up all that solid stitching!

And here is the model for the second project, Joy:

And here is my interpretation:

For obvious reasons, I'm not so thrilled with this one. I have a ton of green buttons in my stash, and not a single one of them matched the green of the tree, which is how that horrid mint-green button ended up in the middle of the star. I'm sure I had a good reason at the time, but I can't imagine what that might've been now, LOL :)

The black-and-silver button was worn enough to look rustic, and I meant it to pick up the black of the lettering. And the little white one I chose for the shape, if I can remember correctly. The reason that these wound up in My Stitchy Can Of UFOs (Unfinished Objects) is because I was never happy with this second one. But since I've made a few additions to my Button Can in recent years, I may go back and try to find something that works a little bit better. The fact that all three have different finishes, and are made with different materials, was supposed to make it look exotic - like using mismatched china - but just looks chaotic instead.

Anyway, these are a quick, simple stitch, easily finished in an afternoon or two, especially when you leave off the French knots like I did. If you fancy them, then be sure to enter my Giveaway, and you could be stitching them for yourself this holiday season! (Click on the graphic at the top of my sidebar at right to enter, or here)

I'm not keen on how the model projects were finished (and there are instructions for that method with the patterns), so I'm going to have to put on my little-used Funky Finishing Fedora and figure out what I'd like to do with these!

As usual, any suggestions are gratefully welcomed :)

A Long-Lost Dragon! And a Unicorn!!

Recently, Blu over at Therapy By Thread posted an excellent finish of Dragon Dreams' epic fantasy-inspired The Runekeeper Saga. What I especially love about this post is the really nifty slideshow Blu made showing a picture of the work after each colour was added. I've never seen anyone work this way before on a large scale, and I imagine it takes a great deal of dedication and quite a lot of patience.

This is the pattern image from the site:



Many years ago, when the designer (Jennifer Aikman-Smith) released these squares as free designs, I stitched the Dragon and the Unicorn.  I originally planned to do a triptych, with the Castle in the middle, but I never got around to it. I'm not sure if all of The Runekeeper's pieces were released as freebies, but I believe they were, as I remember the Sword and the Wizard; I'm sorry I don't have the exact date, as I do not have the patterns here with me.

A few months ago, I discovered my can of small unfinished stitching works, and among them were these two long-lost (well, not really; I knew handy-abouts where they were, but haven't had them with me for a while) favourites. So, I present Mr. Dragon, in all his glory:

And Ms. Unicorn, in all her splendour:

Now, these are as they were, right out of their plastic bag, where they've lain in my stitching can for well nigh a decade now. They need to be cleaned, blocked and ironed before any framing takes place, so this is hardly a grand reveal. But I thought they would be interesting examples of the ways that you can interpret designs differently.

For example, I changed the colourways of both designs pretty dramatically. I wanted both to be bright, and I wanted them to coordinate, as they were intended to be facing each other from across the castle in the center. I omitted the stars from the Unicorn and added the butterflies instead (so that there would be some element to reflect back on the Dragon's smoke). I also omitted the moon behind her horn, as I wanted the emphasis to be on the gold of the horn and the gold on the claws of the Dragon. The blackwork borders were my invention as well, although I can't precisely remember where they came from. I do recall designing the arch at the top of each work, as I wanted something gem-like in the middle, but I think the sides were from another pattern.

It wasn't until I took them out to photograph them that I realized I had goofed! The keen-eyed among you may notice that I forgot to add the bottom line to the center of the bottom Unicorn border. Oops! Something to be remedied at a later date. Thankfully, the colour is famaliar, as I used my go-to backstitch shade for these - DMC 3371. Referred to as "Black Brown" in the DMC Colour Charts, this colour is an unusual shade that is dark and rich yet not as harsh as black is against white. I've heard it compared to bittersweet chocolate, which is about right, but it really looks a bit different depending upon the viewing angle.

So, here they are! I may get around to doing the Castle one day, if I find my stitching box with my patterns in it, or I may just frame the two of them in a butterfly frame (one of the ones with two frames connected by hinges; I know there's a proper name, but that's what I've always called them). At the very least, I'd like to clean them up a little bit soon :)

As for my Blackwork Bookmark, I've put it on hold for the moment. I intended to stitch it together by hand, but my Mother suggested that stitching it on the sewing machine will lend it more strength and longevity. Since I'm hoping it won't abandon me anytime soon, I've decided to wait until she has some time free to show me how to do it. You see, the sewing machine and I have a complicated relationship. While a great friend of my Mother, I am wary of it and it is wary of me in return. And so we mostly take care to stay out of each other's way. I am deeply dubious that this has any chance of working out well, but we'll see.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed :)