What's On My Cutting Table...

I've had a pretty productive week of sewing and it has been all over the board in terms of projects. First up is something for my Grandnephew. My sister and her husband are off to visit their grandson tomorrow and I wanted to send a little something for him. Not wanting to take the chance (oops, done that before!) of getting books he already had, I decided to do something completely handmade and settled on a storage bag. Who doesn't need something for their crayons, pencils, or any other small items that need to be stashed? The fabric I already had so it was just a question of designing an embroidery to stitch. Voila!

Next up was pajama pants for me. I'm only 5'2" and it is so frustrating to find pajama pants that don't need 5-10 inches taken off the bottom. I had a hard time finding a pattern. After buying one on line and making a muslin in two different sizes that didn't fit, I tried one last time with a Sewing Workshop pant pattern. I used the Ikina pant and cut a medium through the body but a large for the rise. I could easily have added even more to the rise for comfortable sleeping. But here they are.

My third project this week was bookmarks. I decided to skip doing a page this week for the Stitch Book but I still wanted to do some slow sewing and the result is below. Everyone needs a bookmark, right?

It has been warm this week in New Hampshire and we are finally starting to get rid of some of the mountains of snow we had in February. I will be happy to see Spring come this year. Til the next time...

More Pages for the 100 Day Stitch Challenge

I just wanted to share a few more pages from my stitching challenge. I've completed nine pages now but I've taken a break the last few days. I'm sure I'll do more, but less sure that I want to continue finishing a design every five days. I've thrown in some other sewing so I'm spread a little thin.  

This first design is a Hamsa, a charm or amulet, if you will. I think there are a number of cultures that use something similar. Often one of the symbols included is an eye and it is symbolic of warding off the evil eye. When the Hamsa faces down as mine does, rather than up, it is more symbolic of bestowing a blessing. I have chosen to have a pomegranate as my center rather than an eye. There are many other symbols and embellishments that can be included but I have kept my design pretty simple.

This next page is symbolic of the mountains at our little place up in Lincoln, NH. In an earlier post I had done a page representing the Pemigewasset River that flows outside our house and here are the mountains. I've included some stamping for the background trees. 

This last page was done in response to a prompt in the challenge. The prompt was symmetry. My interpretation is pretty simple and self explanatory.

Since I've haven't done much hand stitching and definitely have not started with a blank slate and tried to create something, I've found it interesting and quite rewarding. I've also done some research to see what some very notable slow stitchers do and have been in awe of what they create. I'll share some of my favorites in another post. The whole study of slow stitching has also opened my eyes a bit to things like visible mending and the whole sustainability movement. Some of the visible mending out there is quite beautiful as well. I am so enjoying this new journey!

Til the next time....