Site Update

The Spring Fling show at Country Craft Show Online has opened. I have a few new offerings in my booth...be sure to check out my show specials!
http://www.countrycraftshowonline.com/craftbooth114/

I also have 2 new items in the latest exhibit of Lemon Poppy Seeds...remember, you can't get these items at my website, just my Poppy shoppe!
http://www.lemonpoppyseeds.com/shoppes/pscountrycrowstitches/

AND there is a new issue of Rusty Tin Roof (formerly Crafty Doodles Ezine) being released today...I have an article in it so I hope you'll check it out!
http://www.rustytinroof.com

Staining Techniques

After you’ve completed your stitchery or dolly, you want to give it that extra special “prim” touch – grungying it up so it looks aged, worn and maybe even dirty! In order to get that “prim” look, many crafters rely on some form of staining. There are many different techniques, and everyone usually comes up with their own personal “recipe” for staining.

Before trying a new technique, I recommend “testing” it on a small piece of fabric. If you are dying stitcheries, I would also suggest adding a piece of batting – I’ve found that fabric dyes differently when it is attached to a piece of warm & natural.

In many instances, it’s no so much what you are using to stain your items, but rather the application of the stain. A common staining recipe is to brew double strength of black tea. From there you can dip your stitchery or doll in the pot and then let it dry. Or you can use a sponge brush to brush the tea on. Or you can use an old rag and drag it across your project.

Some crafters like to add touch of cinnamon to the tea. And some add so much cinnamon that it becomes sludge. This technique will produce a darker stain and is usually rubbed on dolls or stitcheries in certain areas to give them a dragged in dirt appearance.

My favorite technique is to use leftover coffee. My husband is the coffee drinker in our house and usually has at least a cup of coffee left in the pot when he’s done. I pour the coffee into a bowl and then I will gather my stitchery and soak in the coffee – the longer the soak, the darker the stain. Also gathering the stitchery while I’m soaking it allows for some areas to get a darker appearance to produce the grungy worn look. I will also add pure vanilla extract to my coffee – this helps to darken the stain as well as give the piece a hint of vanilla smell.

Speaking of smell – using coffee, tea, cinnamon or any other spice will add an odor to your piece. Many people like the coffee or tea smell and use it to distinguish a handmade piece from a manufactured piece. But there are folks who find the smell offense. In that case it’s best to use walnut crystals to dye your items.

Walnut crystals produce the tea stained or coffee stained look without the smell. To use simply dissolve a half teaspoon of crystal into a cup of hot water – you can adjust to your desired look – more for darker, less for lighter. Walnut crystals are versatile and can also be used in scrap booking to create an aged paper look. You can also use it as a calligraphy ink.

Staining is very much a personal task and everyone does it differently. It takes practice and patience to find the technique that you like best. But what’s great about primitives is that your piece doesn’t have to be perfect to be perfectly prim.

This article originally appeared in Issue 3 of Crafty Doodles Ezine.

Fabric and Stitchery

There are many different fabrics that are used in stitchery and there are several different ways fabric can be used in stitchery. The first most obvious way is as the canvas of stitchery piece.

Most stitchers use muslin as their canvas. Muslin is a finely woven cotton fabric that is either unbleached or bleached white. Unbleached muslin is naturally a beige color. Its natural color lends itself well to be dyed. Many stitchery stitchers will dye their muslin with tea or coffee to give it an aged look. (We’ll discuss that in an upcoming issue). The fine weave of the cotton also helps stop stitches from separating or having the appearance of gaps between the stitches. Muslin is fairly inexpensive and can be purchased in any fabric store. Some specialty stores even sell pre-dyed muslin.

Batting (also known as warm & natural) is another staple of the stitcher. It gives a firmer surface to the muslin as it is being stitched. It also gives the piece a more professional appearance. Batting can also be purchased at most fabric stores. Batting can be dyed and also used on its own….but that’s a topic for another article.

Another fabric that is generally a staple for stitchers is homespun. Homespun is rough, loosely woven fabric that was originally made from homespun yarn. Today homespun fabric is any fabric that has the look of the original homespun fabric. Typically these fabrics are done in plaids and muted colors. Stitchers use these fabrics as backing for pillows, as mat for a framed piece and also use them as adornments.

This is just a brief introduction to the fabrics used by stitchers. There are thousands of fabrics and its best to experiment with different types and different brands to achieve the look that you are hoping for.

This article originally appeared in Issue 2 of Crafty Doodles Ezine.

What is stitchery

What is Stitchery??

Anyone familiar with all things primitive knows what a stitchery is – but what it is it really?? Stitchery is basically a form of embroidery. Embroidery is a form of needlework that involves decorating fabric through the use of the use of a needle and thread. Embroidery can be defined as free embroidery which does not take into account the type of fabric used (think crewel) or counted-thread embroidery where designs are made by stitching over a specific number of threads and is usually created on even weave fabrics (think cross-stitch). There is also an embroidery type known as surface embroidery – this is the type of embroidery that is used to create stitcheries. In this type of embroidery patterns are completed on the surface of the fabric using decorative stitches. Another distinction with this type of embroidery is the use of an embroidery hoop in order to keep the fabric taut and the stitch tension even.

So where did modern primitive stitchery come from? It’s thought that what know as stitchery came from a movement within the cross stitch community to use different stitches, also called special stitches, to achieve different visual effects. This actually wasn’t a new movement since in the past these stitches were used in addition to what we know as typical cross stitch. This can be evident in the authentic samplers that we find in our grandparents attics or at antique stores.

So again I ask the question, what is stitchery? Stitchery is combination of cross stitch and embroidery. The best thing about stitchery is that the stitcher makes it they’re own by incorporating their own stitches and thread colors.

This article originally appeared is Issue 1 of Crafty Doodles Ezine

A little about me.....

I opened my online shoppe in August of 2005. My daughter was born that spring and I was really endeavoring to be a stay at home mom. I had gone to a craft show with my mom and saw all the stitcheries - most were manufactured, not hand made. I said to my husband I can do better than those - maybe this is something I should do. He finally convinced me that I should look into selling online. I looked at eBay but wasn't overally impressed with eBay stores. I knew nothing about HTML and couldn't afford a web design program so I started looking at the DIY website builders. I looked at Prim Mart and even signed up for Prim Market but the builders, at that time, weren't user friendly - you really needed to have some HTML knowledge in order to make you site stand out from the rest. So I continued looking and found djdoodle. DJ has since become a dear friend. Her program was by the far the easiest to work with and the rest, as they say is history.

I've since learned some HTML. I've very proficient with DJ's platform - so much so that I provide technical support for her part-time. I also set up sites for her. I'm trying to convince to offer a maintenance plan for her customers - a service that I would really provide.

I'm still not a stay at home mom although I'd like to be. I work full time as an administrative assistant, I have my stitchery shoppe, I work part-time for DJ and I have a small Tupperware business. Some day I will quit my job and stay home with my girls!!