2016 Daily Cross Stitch SAL

As I have so many Daily Cross Stitch charts, I've decided to start a SAL in 2016. The idea is to stitch one of their designs each month* with posts going out on the last day of the month.

These are the 12 that I will be working on (not necessarily in this order):

1. Ain't nobody got time for that
2. Balloon house
3. Brick game
4. Cute-zilla
5. Gingerbread zombie
6. Nautical design
7. Nomnom cookie
8. Unstoppable
9. What the fork
10. Tea rex
11. Colourful phoenix
12. Cute chameleon

I can tell you that it was hard choosing 12 out of the hundreds I have saved to my laptop!

I hope some of you will join me :) Here's the link to the facebook group.

* You are free to choose the designs you would like to stitch.

I'll make sure to visit everyone and to mention all those participating on my blog posts. You can link up to your blog here:

I will provide a link up on each relevant blog post so that you can link directly to your post for that month.

IHSW - September

I thought I'd get my post in early before I forgot about it!

Earlier this week I made a carrier bag holder for a friend's son as he was heading off to uni. My friend picked the fabric and ribbon which she bought from the local market.

Then I moved onto this fella and finally finished him in front of the England rugby game. The pattern is called "Whale hello there!" and is from Daily Cross Stitch.

I've moved onto some secret stitching but I'm itching to start a HAED stocking that I requested. Still managing to hold off... Looking forward to reading the IHSW posts.

Joan Elliott SAL - March and my Lowery stand

Well here it is at last!

Joan Elliott SAL March 08.09.15

This was a difficult month to work with as I decided to use my lowery stand (see below).

For this SAL, I decided to stitch all the months on the same piece of fabric to create a sort of sampler. Here is how the whole project is looking so far.

Joan Elliott SAL Jan-March 08.09.15

I decided to buy a Lowery stand as mentioned in my last post and it didn't take long to arrive.

Here's a photo of it in action and as you can see, March of this SAL was my first project to try out on it.

It was difficult project because I was trying to get used to two handed stitching, there are some stitches that are worse than others especially fractionals. However, I did find it was easier to do french knots and backstitch via the two handed method. I will practice more but I will need to buy the extra wide L-bar to be able to stitch comfortably. I think once I master two handed stitching then this will be my go to set up as I love it!

3 small finishes

I have 3 finishes! I'm stitching Christmas cards for a facebook group I am in. I thought that I had better make a start since there are 21 members, I'm doing them in alphabetical order.

I've been itching for a new start but have already got too many WIPs so decided to just crack on with some of them. My focus has been Tiny Treasures Kitten 2 so here are the before and after photos...

TT Kitten 2 27.08.15

TT Kitten 2 01.09.15

For now I'm going to work on starting and finishing March of the Joan Elliott SAL as I've fallen behind on that one. I may come back to this HAED piece as it's just that page to do. 

I have scratched Around the World in 80 Stitches from my WIP list as I've noticed that it would be a bit snug on the fabric. Luckily I have only stitched one of the hearts and one set of the smaller flowers. I don't know when I will restart it.

I caved and bought a lowery stand last night. I decided to take advantage of sew and so's 10% bank holiday discount and I had a voucher so the final price was a bit more acceptable. Although it states that it is out of stock on the website, I have been told I can expect it to be delivered tomorrow! Guess what I'll be doing ;) 

Check out Sarah's blog before you leave as she has wrote a post about our annual exchange.

McCall's 6569

I made a beach cover up using McCall's 6569, View H (size 20).

The fabric is white georgette. I found that this was a difficult fabric to cut and sew due to it's delicate nature. It slipped a lot so there was plenty of cursing from me. The seams are very frayed and will keep doing so until it has reached the stitching...I definitely recommend an overlocker for this type of fabric. 

The instructions were easy to follow and the finished piece did look like the picture on the envelope. I would make this again but with a different fabric.

Simplicity 1693

I made a top using View F from Simplicity 1693 (size 20).

The fabric is a turquoise cotton which was a delight to sew with. I used the same fabric to make the bias binding (I couldn't find a ready made one that was the same shade). This was my first time using bias binding as well. To keep the seams neat I decided to go for a French seam. I used a button that I received in one of my exchanges with Sarah.

The pattern instructions were easy to follow and it looked like the diagram on the envelope. I didn't make any changes to the pattern and would happily make it again.

Yves Saint Laurent - Style is Eternal

I went to see the YSL exhibition at Bowes Museum in County Durham and it was a fabulous afternoon! If you can, get yourself along as the photos do not do it justice. Ready?

Cake to start the afternoon

Before moving on to fabric YSL designed collections for a series of handmade paper dolls.

Examples of the design process

A toile of a coat including fabric buttons

'Soir Collection Board' Autumn-Winter 1978

Practice piece

Embroidered Evening Gown, Spring-Summer 2001

There were exquisite pieces of lace...

This was one of my favourite dresses.

Short Evening Gown Front, Autumn-Winter 1970

Short Evening Gown Back, Autumn-Winter 1970

Honestly, who has feet that are this thin?

I loved that we could see the inside of some of the dresses to see the stitches.

Some designs were risqué and I certainly wouldn't be brave enough to wear them. It must have been difficult to make a range with delicate fabrics like these!

Left - Evening Gown, Autumn-Winter 1968

I will leave it there so that I don't spoil it for those who will be paying a visit. Of course, there was a trip to the gift shop. I bought a beautiful catalogue which has information about YSL and some of the designs featured in the exhibition. I also bought a bookmark which has two sides to it and a fridge magnet to add to my collection.