A Foot Stool Cover.....maybe

On and off, for the past 6 months, I've been working on this project. 

 I have finally finished all the 

free motion stitching

and it done!

Sometimes I would sit staring at thread colors, pondering which one

to use where, do I want contrast or no...

But what fun!  

It was usually an ache in my back that let me know I was stitching for an hour or 

more with out taking the much

needed time to stretch or correct my posture.  

This is the completed piece on the left.

The whole thing is a 17" inch square that I intend to cover an antique foot stool with.

Maybe.

This photo on the right 

is part of the design

before any stitching was done.

 

Here on the left is that same

part of the design

now stitched with the free motion stitching.

It's such a transformation once

the stitching goes on!

I didn't have a specific pattern I wanted to stitch here, that's part of the fun, it's always kind of a treat to see what develops as 

I stitch.

I just love the pattern that developed on

this lower shot!  It's definitely

my favorite in the whole piece.  I used an all cotton thread on 

this lower part, in the picture above I used a 

polyester thread.  I find myself preferring the all

cotton thread but I haven't been able to

to put into words why...

To make this piece I used black superfine merino for the backing and the designs

were created using partial felts that I made with various 

types of hand dyed wool and wool/silk blends from my stash.

And then the vines and such are Malabrigo yarns,

I always love the way they just melt into the wool and create

great swirly texture!!

Redemption or "The Good..."

The finished result of my second attempt at this bag!  The previous post showed my first attempt....not so pretty.....but I think this turned out wonderful.  I'm still debating if I should put a button on the flap or not.  We'll see.  I was so happy with the results I made a similar one, only larger, for myself.  This one will be put on my Etsy site soon.

Here on the left are two details I added to the bag.  One is a stitched patch I put on over the area where I stitched the cord straps on.  I prefer to stitch the straps on, I feel it's stronger and it hangs better.  When I have felted the cords to the bag I'm never quite happy with the results.....too bulky looking.  The second are some felt bands that I made to go around the cords so they don't separate and tangle.  The bands move freely, there are three total.

This, obviously, is the inside pocket and the loop on the left is to clip your keys to.  I played around with the pocket....while you can't see it, I sprinkled some German glass glitter on the gold roving  for the pocket before I wet it out.  It ended up looking pretty good and sticking!  While I'm not a glitzy gal it was fun.









 Below is a close up of the front flap.  I felted in some of my hand spun "art" yarn alone the center sides.  In the center I did some free motion embroidery of swirls.  Stitching on felt creates such cool texture, you can't really tell, but the areas between the stitching almost puff up.  It always amazes me how dense and sturdy the felt is after stitching it!