Grand Opening of the shop
My Etsy boutique is now open. Come and see my sandugurumis, and adopt them !
News you can't miss Site en francais
Coming soon…
This website has been dead for a while… but I want to give it yet a new life. So you will see the design change, and things moving around for a while.
Update of August - Tatting
Life has been a bit difficult for a while, and this means change of job, moving countries, and other little things like that.
That’s the first time constraint. Then it’s hard to have a life, craft, maintain a blog and a website. Of course the blog comes first for its day to day format, so I can only advice you to read it. This website is more of a portfolio of my creations and an archive of tutorials and important links.
Recently I started a new technique, tatting. You can see an exemple here with the angel.
Tatting, or Frivolite, is a technique involving shuttles to make knots, and a hook for joining the rings. I knew this craft for a while, but it was mostly edgings and collars, so not my thing. But then I discovered more modern use of tatting on the web, I bought new books to make snowflakes and Christmas things, and I’m hooked !
Tatting is the perfect craft for busy people on the go:
- very portable: 2 shuttles and a little hook, no ball of thread (thread being on the shuttles)
- no difficult charts to follow: you can do little by little, without much concentration
- no need of full daylight
So I can only recommend you give it a try ! Here are a few links to get you started:
- Fils et dentelles
- Sharon’s Tatting
- Free Tatting Patterns, Instructions, Tips at Be…
- SharonsTattedLace
- TAT’S AMORÉ, Martha Ess’ Tatting Page Homepage
- The Tatted Lace Webring
- Tatting Patterns by Jane Eborall
- Free Tatting Patterns, Instructions, Tips at Be…
- Paradise Treasures Home Page ©1998-2006, Paradi…
Soluble canvas: an alternative to waste canvas?
Waste canvas is used to stitch on fabric without visible holes. You stick that canvas on top of whatever you want your design on, for exemple clothes, you stitch, and you pull the canvas threads afterwards.
Now, whoever had used waste canvas will tell you it’s not that easy to pull those threads out, and it takes quite some time anyway. Personally I sported some very sore fingers for a few days when I used it.
So I guess DMC found an easier way of getting rid of the waste canvas, but please remember to use colourfast threads and fabric as you need to put things in water to make the canvas disappear !
Of course, this is a given for clothes which will be machine washed…
Aida vs Linen: Beginners vs experts?
Unless you were given a Lanarte kit (evenweave fabric) as a first Cross Stitch project, chances are you started stitching on aida. It’s the fabric of choice in kits, magazines and shops. The holes are nicely visible, and it’s easy to count stitches.
I find it has a “squarish” and more modern look than evenweave and linen, a look I appreciate personally.
But most people tend to switch to linen and call it heaven. Is it really better than aida, or is it a fashion trend ?
Linen and evenweave allow for speciality stitches work, and easier fractionals and a more natural/tablecloth look.
American designs are very popular in the bloggosphere, and even French designers started mimicking their style. These designs are all on linen. Is it a look choice, or do they compensate the naive easy big blocks style by using a fabric it’s not so easy to stitch on?
So what do you think? what fabric do you prefer? Why?