straight stitches

one day, when this craziness is over maybe I will teach my scrap happy boro class

with that in mind I am sewing a second fabric/stitch sample book

 I thought it would be fun to teach the basics here

I always stitch onto a foundation  fabric

cut it 1/2 – 1″  larger than you want for the finished piece – the stitching will pull in

lightweight cotton, often old sheeting and it doesn’t have to be white

but dark or bright colours tend to confuse the eye when choosing scraps

my thread for stitching is thrums – leftover from weaving – crochet cotton from the charity shop is good

generally I use 2/8 weight cotton but love using 2 ply linen when I have it

and sometimes a bit of silk

use embroidery cotton

add a button, better still make a cloth one by covering a plastic ring

add some beads and bits of ribbon or lace

I love using old clothing labels – once bought a blouse at Value Village just for the label!

like this one in the first boro book

it came from the striped fabric used in some of the stitching – my favorite blouse

I always start with a feature scrap and then build up around it

pin the pieces overlapping them to secure edges

then just start stitching -you may want all the stitching to go in one direction

on others stitch horizontal, vertical, diagonal and go in circles if that appeals to you

my favorite in a larger piece is to do all the stitching horizontally

that is what creates the look of ripples in the sand (the picture has been turned to show the texture)

don’t line up each row carefully or you will get long, straight ridges

had enough??

lets go for a walk

loved the gorilla in the garden

and the painted stones along the way