Koi fish embroidery t-shirt

Koi fish embroidery t-shirt, originally uploaded by Make Do N Mend.

Ta Dah!! All done and dusted...well not literally dusted but certainly washed. This project took me a total of three evenings to complete, plus a little light lunchtime stitching, I have realised how much I love stitching things you can then wear it's pure vanity as more people get to see it and say if it looks nice - everyone likes compliments.

So here we are facing the weekend and I am without my next project, I do have a few patterns in the wings I could trace but it is my brother's birthday in April and I am minded to look for a blokie pattern I can stitch for him..............hmmm

Koi fish almost completed

A little bit of lunchtime sewing and we are nearly there - justo ne more lilly to go!

Part Completed Koi Carp T-Shirt

Part Completed Koi Carp T-Shirt, originally uploaded by Make Do N Mend.

So here is two night's work on the Koi Carp design and it is coming along nicely!
Still need to choose the orange for the body and two more lillies but i am loving doing it. Will post the full design once completed.

Koi Carp Back Piece

I have become a tad fixated with LA Ink and therefore inspired to embroidered a large Koi Carp on the back of blue t-shirt. I found the pattern on Urban Thread's webpage:
http://www.urbanthreads.com/
So far i have compelted the water andhave yet to add the colour to the fish body and lillies - sourcing colour inspiration from the internet.

My Grandad in embroidered portrait

My Grandad in embroidered portrait, originally uploaded by Make Do N Mend.

Here's this weekend's project - a portrait from 1942 of my late Grandfather Wallace Cole, a shopkeeper from rural Devon and a wonderful man. I hope to give him to my Dad a present along with another portrait of my Grandmother. I feel though that this one is not quite finished yet and maybe needs some more detail in the suit or tie.

Rainy weekend

April showers have come early to our village so I am scratching around for something to embroider. For al ong time i have thoughts about embroidering a B/W portrait of my late Grandfather - but to be honest I am a little daunted by the task - what if it comes out awful. I have started in earnest by photocopy an old 1940's studio shot and tracing the outline with an iron-on pencil. I have cut out a scrap of cloth from an old table cloth and (if it turns out half decent) will frame it in the embroidery hoop for Dad. Here goes wish me luck.

Pretty Party Balloon Embroidery

Pretty Party Balloon Embroidery, originally uploaded by Make Do N Mend.

Yeah my balloon idea came to fruition in the attached pattern -hope you like it. Please post any creations I would love to see them.

Ooooooo what can I do next

From bcampbell's vintage transfers this is a photoshop version of the frame - minus Big Ben. If feel a tad guilty about deleting one of our national treasures but it's soooo pretty!
Unsure of what to include in the frame, but it will need to be clean simple lines to make sure it does not clash with all the detail in the border - suggestions for a good picture?

Big Ben.jpg

Big Ben.jpg, originally uploaded by bcampbell_to.

Found this vintage transfer on bcampbell's Flickr page and adore the border I can just imagine it full of springtime colours

Finished! What do you think??
I have not made it up mayself yet - maybe a project for the weekend but i could not wait to share it with you in the hope someone else will create it for me.
I think it will look great on black fabric or perhaps on the back of a white t-shirt.


Next project is already in process as I have been taken by all of the lovely party balloons out there - I am thinking of something similar to the lollipops but lots of different balloons hmmmmmmm

Free Embroidery Pattern Lollipops

Free Embroidery Pattern Lollipops, originally uploaded by Make Do N Mend.

My first free embroidery pattern for all you lovely embroiderist to colour-up.........happy sewing x

This morning I am inspired to create a pattern based on fruit machines from the fair - I love all those flashing lights, bright coloured fruit and simple shapes - see my little bit of inspiration above (will get the hand of this blogging eventually)

Octopus Dude

Octopus Dude, originally uploaded by Make Do N Mend.

Forgot to mention this was my weekend creation over a bottle of wine with my best friend. It is a edit of Badbird's Octopus design (free pattern hoorah and here's the link:
http://zuill.us/andreablog/category/embroidery/free-patterns/page/3/
I just love her patterns they are so inspiring and unusual - perfect for t-shirts, which reminds me I need to buy some more plain ones for gifts - M&S here we come!

Training Wheels

Wow creating a blog is bizarrely complicated and i have no idea what I am doing - apologies for the awful looking page I will get there eventually.
Looking forward to tomorrow (not for work) but my chance to launch my first pattern (lollipops) on the world ...ahhhh

Winston part completed

First Blog ever.........what do I write??

Morning! Beautiful Spring morning in our little village and I have a sudden realisation that I have nothing planned for Mother's Day tomorrow - may need to get Jamie down from the shelf.
I have spent some of the long Winter evening working on my embroidery projects and hope that the on-set of Spring won't tear me away too much. I still have my Winston Churchill to finish (see my Flickr page)
Plus I have loads of ideas for new patterns that I want to create, my current favourite is based on slot machine you'd find a the seaside - speaking of which i have just finish my lollypops design and may wel post my free pattern on Monday - very excited.