Embroidery troubles and a patriotic shirt

I'm taking an online embroidery class right now through the blog Wild Olive. The teacher made it clear that it's not really a class for beginners, but I signed up anyway. I figured anything I had trouble with was only a Google away. But while it is true that Google can show me the way to do something or explain an unfamiliar word to me, it can't actually make me proficient at things. Bummer that, huh? And so I'm struggling a bit. There were five projects to work on this week. I've started two and finished neither. The main thing holding me back? French knots.

What the devil is up with the French knot? Sometimes I do it just fine. But a majority of the time, despite doing everything seemingly right, my thread just slips right through the fabric. Knot my ass.

I think one of the problems is that I cut out some felt stars to embroider and since they're small, I just hold them. No hoop. And so when it comes time to keep the tension on the thread, I am one hand short. It's impossible to hold the star, pull the needle and keep the tension by pulling the thread. Maybe not impossible, but damn hard!

Or maybe it's the way or direction I'm wrapping the thread? Or something else entirely?

And so I don't have a finished embroidery project to show you. Not one from my class anyway.

I did whip up this shirt for Luke for Fourth of July. I'm not the most patriotic person in the world, but I had a red shirt, and blogland is brimming with U-S-A fever right now, and so I guess it rubbed off on me!

I put the little face right near where we live. I wish I'd attached the map with a running stitch, but I ran it through my sewing machine. Not as cute!

Hopefully I'll finish my other embroidery projects today, because they keep on coming! A new project every day! It's intense. I know I don't have to keep up, but I am also going on vacation soon and don't want to fall way, way behind. So if you have a French knot trick, please, do share!

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Things I dig Friday: Embroidery fever

Can I show you what I stole borrowed from my Mom last weekend?

Isn't it pretty?

I can remember thinking my Mom was so annoying for dragging me as a whiny pre-teen to the embroidery store to buy these pretty colors.

Now all I can say is, high-five Mom! Thanks for letting me play with these! And for storing them away for so long.

I'm going to need them, too. Because I enrolled in the Wild Olive embroidery class, All in the Details. I can't wait to get started. I've got the embroidery fever! You can join the class, too. It's five weeks of embroidery-tastic instruction with 15 projects to work through. All on a private blog that'll be live for some time after class ends, meaning you can truly take it at your own pace. Well worth $35 I think. I can't wait to see what I'll learn. Class starts Monday, June 20!

In the meantime, I am getting inspired via the beautiful embroidery on Pinterest. Here's what I've pinned so far.

From the blog, Freckled Nest.

From the Etsy shop Three Red Apples.

From the blog Cookie Mondays.

From the flickr account Yarnattacks. (And really, maybe this isn't embroidery at all, but just yarn through a doily. I don't know, but I love it still.)

From the blog Blessed Little Nest.

From the blog Kyla Roma.

From the Etsy shop LilacSaloon. 

From the flickr account nanaCompany.

Is that enough eye candy for you? I can't wait to get started on some of my own.

Oh, and my third dress for The Summer of No Pants is so very close to being finished. I love it, and I'll share it with you in a snippity snap, as soon as the last bit is finished. My son Jack is being dedicated this weekend and we're having a party, so I have been in a bit of a cleaning and preparing frenzy!

Oh oh and last thing. Did you see the quilt Anna at Noodlehead posted this week? It is so beautiful, and I'm so delighted that she says I helped push her to complete it. That is just... cool. :) In her post, Anna says she wishes everyone would just try that thing, that new thing that is scaring them. Take on the project that they've been thinking about making, but haven't. Or maybe it's not a project, but simply taking the time to try to create something, anything at all. You've wanted to learn to sew or knit or embroider, but haven't. She wishes people would just stop waiting, stop being scared, stop worrying you'll fail... and just try.

I couldn't agree more. :)

Yes, I entered the Prudent Baby embroidery contest

And I'm so glad I did!

Not because I think I'm gonna win or anything like that. This is my first attempt at hand embroidery. No, I'm so glad I entered because I had a ball learning something new. I'm a geek like that. And even better, I just adore my finished project. Here's a sneak peak.

But first, the details: The contest was to "Use Your Words" and embroider a fabric object of your choosing with whatever words you like. The winner -- based on style, originality, workmanship and presentation -- gets a Brother Embroidery and Sewing Machine. My heart goes pitter-patter thinking about it.

So I busted out my embroidery floss, for basically the first time. I knew nothing of hand-embroidery. I nearly gave up several times because I couldn't even thread the damn needle. Have you ever tried to cram six strings of embroidery floss through a regular needle? Yes, I'm that idiot. I even joked about this on the Prudent Baby Facebook page, and one of the girls responded something along the lines of, "Oh haha, don't you just love needle threaders?" And I was like waaaah? Needle threader?!? Who knew such a tiny, nearly invisible little thing even existed -- and could be so damn useful? Why does no one tell me these things!

A trip to JoAnn's, and that stupid threader was mine. And once I got my damn thread through the eye of the needle, it was on. A few nights hunkered on the couch with my floss turned into this:

Here's another nice close-up of the embroidered words.

If you're not familiar, that phrase is the chorus of the Bob Marley song, "Three Little Birds," which is the theme of Jack's nursery. I love the message of that song for a baby, even if it is probably really a drug-induced one. I really don't want him to worry about a thing! 

 In the song, the birds are "...on my doorstep, singing sweet songs, a melody pure and true. Singing, this is our message for you-ooou-ooou." Hence the big brown felt door. I sewed it on with a decorative stitch.

I love the birdies. They're simply ironed on with Heat N' Bond. I bought the no-sew kind mistakenly, so I didn't add any stitching to them. I just hand-embroidered on their skinny little legs.

The festive flag banner is a nod to the Ikea curtains in his room. Also ironed on, and then the string was hand-embroidered. See how non-worried this pillow makes my sweet guy? Success!

 The back is an envelope closure back done in the same red-and-white polka dot fabric found in the flag banner. The buttons as eyes are hand-sewn on. I know they're a baby hazard, but they're cute, right? Worth it!

The pillow will live here in this chair. Our nursing-rocking-reading spot. Seeing the pillow there, it makes me so so happy. I really wanted Jack's room to have that personal made-by-mama touch, and I'm all at peace now. Cause it does, and I love it. 

It would be awesome to win, of course. But I am really excited to have this new skill up my sleeve. I'm thinking about enrolling in the Wild Olive embroidery class. I'm just itching to learn more.

So, do you love? If you also entered the contest, drop me a link to your project (assuming you blogged about it). I'd love to see!

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