Hoop de loopy: Embroidered Dreams

Embroidery is my new found love. (It ranks slightly higher than chocolate, but obviously less than Tom Hiddleston). And the great thing is, it's everywhere right now.

This dress from Next (whilst not my taste) is a perfect example. It's in your highstreets, it's in your homes, it's hopefully in your hands by the end of this blog post.

What really got me hooked was the mix between modern and something traditional (which is exactly what we're all about as a twenty-something metaphorical grandma). So after a trip to Pinterest (my other true love) I found some perfect examples of modern embroidery that had me raring to have a go.

A bit of Firefly love?

Or perhaps an inspiring quote to display proudly?

Tenth Doctor Forever.

So I had to get started. I ordered a big bag of mixed threads on eBay, dug out my mom's old embroidery hoop and pretty much made it up as I went along. I started with one of my favourite quotes from my favourite Once Upon a Time character.

I think I swore at it a lot, yet it was the thing I wanted to do all day, I just kept reaching for it, stabbing my thumbs, getting the thread all tangled up, yet still loving it. Because I was making something, and I haven't done that in so long.

I think the flowers were my favourite part. It's surprisingly theraputic whilst at the same time being immensly frustrating. It's not perfect, but life rarely is, and there will always be someone who is better than you, but you've just got to keep practising. I think it wasn't even a day before I moved onto project no.2.

I read the Wizard of Oz for the first time this day, hence the theme of this next one. I was too impatient to wait to get white material to work on, so dug this patch out from my nan's old material bag. I like it because it kinda looks like wallpaper you'd expect to see in Dorothy's old farmhouse back in Kansas.

I started by drawing the design onto a piece of paper and then tracing it through to the fabric with a pencil.

I still wasn't quite happy with it so I filled in her blue socks. I still might add some sequins to her shoes, but for now it sits in a frame in my room.

I'm not 100% happy with it, but like I said before, I just need more practise. I think the thing that annoys me most at the minute is some of my lettering looking like it's straight from the bayeux tapestry. (Don't know what I'm talking about? Check it out).

I have a few more planned. I'm defintely hooked I'd say (or hooped should that be?).

Anyway, to finish I just want to leave you with this tip that my mom showed me. When you get your cotton, it'll come in little oblong loops with a piece of paper around the middle, which is fine, until you want to use it and it all gets tied in a big ol' knot. Just cut out a capital "i" shape out of a piece of cardboard (not paper), with a slit at the top and one at the bottom to hold each end, wrap your cotton around the middle and voila. Cute little thread holder.

Thanks for reading! Let me know about your embroidery projects below.