Hi people! I love vintage craft kits. I have a nice little collection of them. They represent pure potential when they're in their uncompleted condition and I'm afraid I haven't tapped that potential in a lot of the ones I have. Here are a few of my favorites:
This one is so cute for a boys room! It's from Avon (who knew they made embroidery kits?), and it features antique cars on a linen ground.
It's unusual in that it's designed to hang as a strip from a simulated wood mount that's included in the kit. It's all about crewel work. I picked this one up at a thrift shop on Long Island years ago.
Here's another crewel kit. This one features flowers in a basket.
This one is unusual in a number of ways - the dark linen ground, the variety of stitches including the pompon centers and, perhaps most notably the three dimensional butterfly that's worked separately and then applied to the surface of the finished piece. This was an Etsy purchase.
This last one was quite an inspiration to me. It's a multi-media kit that features felt applique and embroidery.
I love the dimensional flowers made of felt and accented with french knots. Look at the little jeweled centers - so cute.
This was the basis for a kit I designed myself.
It's a felt applique kit with embroidered stems and leaves.
I loved the idea of anchoring the felt flowers with french knots so that's how I designed the centers of the daisies.
Vintage crafting kits are such fun to find and work. They hail from the past, so you can be reasonably assured that you won't find a lot of copies around. They can be found on Etsy and eBay, as well as at thrift shops and yard sales.
If you don't have the patience to go digging around for a vintage one, you can find my daisy kit in two different colorways on Etsy and in my Brini Maxwell Shop at Felix Populi. Do you like crafting with kits, or do you prefer to design your own projects?
Happy crafting!
Hi people! It's spring! The weather
is so beautiful here on the east coast. I was inspired to create
something springy today, so I put together an embroidery project using
my Felix Populi Tablecloth Check Napkins.
It's the perfect base for daisies! The white, yellow and green look so
cheerful on the red and white check ground. I love simple embroidery and
this project is just that! I used three stitches and four different
colors of yarn. Here's what you need:
Napkins
Embroidery floss in ecru, yellow and two shades of green
Embroidery needle
Embroidery hoop
Scissors
I did this freehand, so no markings
necessary. If you're new to embroidery, you'll want to practice the
stitches on some scrap fabric first. I started with French knots, which
formed the flower centers. To make a French knot, come up at the point
you want the knot to sit, wrap the yarn around the needle twice.
Then put the point down very close to
where the yarn comes out of the fabric, but not in the same hole. Pull
the yarn closely around the shaft of the needle and press it down to the
surface of the fabric.
Then pull the needle through and it will catch the loops and make a nice little nubbly knot on the surface of the fabric.
When working on something like a
napkin that will get a bit of wear, I like to leave a tail when I begin
my knots and then tie them off with the tail that comes back through the
fabric with a square knot or a granny knot.
The petals are a detached chain stitch.
Come up through the fabric close to the French knot, then go down right
next to the up-stitch but don't pull the loop flat - about 3/8" away
from the French knot, perpendicular to the stitches you've just taken,
come up and with the point of the needle, catch the loop.
Insert the needle just beyond the
first stitch and pull the stitch tight. It will catch the loop and
create the petal. Tie off as you did your french knot. Keep your
stitches short so they are less apt to get snagged.
The leaves are done in satin
stitch. I've separated one strand of the two different colors of green
into three threads each and combined them.
The
satin stitch is done by imagining a leaf shape on the surface of the
fabric and filling it in by creating parallel stitches over the surface
of the shape - coming up at the bottom and down at the top along the
edges. Again, tie off with a knot on the back.
To finish the design, I've scattered a
few French knots in white through it to represent the charming potential
of daisy buds. Once you get going this doesn't take long at all. You
can complete a full set of napkins over a weekend - perfect for spring
meals alfresco!
