A New Crewel Pillow for My Sister's New Condo

I've been meaning to share a project I just finished. It is a hot pink crewel work pillow for my sister Lynn who just moved into a new condo. Lynn is a real color lover and artist in her own right. I wanted to make something punchy and happy for her new home. 

I used a Hot Pink Linen Fabric Square that I sell on my website - links at end of post to purchase. I made a foam stamp in the shape of an ogee with pointy ends and printed the fabric all over with dark brown Jacquard Textile Paint. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the linen before I started stitching. Oooooops. 

For stitching, I used the Crewel Wool that I sell on my website. I always travel with an assortment of colors so that I can pick and choose as I go. My process is very improvisational. With an assortment of colors, I just pick and choose as I go. I keep my PDF pattern - The Circles Sampler - on my phone so that I can refer to the 26 stitches that are included in case I want to try a new stitch. That pattern is available for download on website here. 

My first step was to outline all the ogees with yellow stem stitch. Above you can see that in progress. 

After getting that bit of mindless stitching done - which I personally love doing - I worked on each ogee separately. Some were more complicated than others. I love improvising like this with needle and thread - it is so free and easy and totally fun. 

Below I am sharing each ogee with the stitches I used. All stitches are taught by illustration in the Circles Sampler PDF Download. 

French Knots • Palestrina Stitch • Straight Stitch • Fly Stitch

French Knots • Laid Stitch • Cross Stitch

French Knots • Chain Stitch Packed very close

French Knots • Fly Stitch to create diamond grid • Chain Stitch up middle • 

Running Stitch on top of Chain Stitch

French Knots • Chain Stitch Stripes with Running Stitch up each stripe •

Diagonal Straight Stitches with Couching to anchor them to fabric in between Stripes

French Knots • Fly Stitch worked in Stripes leaning opposite each row. The Fly Stitches were worked in 3 colors. 

French Knots • Chain Stitch Stripes with Running Stitch up each stripe

Lazy Daisy Stitches worked perpendicular to each stripe

Here is the pillow top before I sewed it. 

Here is the back side of the work. 

And below is the pillow finished. 

To make the pillow, I use a technique that makes a easily removable pillowcase with no zipper. You can find a tutorial on the Blog HERE for that. 

On the right of the photo, you can see my Hexagon Afghan. There are Free Instructions for that project HERE on the blog. 

The super fun thing about a project like this is - 

It travels well!

Each little ogee can become its own bit of experimentation.

You never get bored because the combination of stitches is endles..

Here are the items that you can purchase from my web shop. The linen comes in many colors - including new shades of off white, flaxen, sunflower, coral, fawn, and grass green. 

The Circles Sampler PDF Download Pattern - $13.00

The Circles Sampler Kit - includes thread, yarn and a chenille needle - If you would like an alternate color from the Turquoise linen featured, leave a note on the order. - $46.00

Hot Pink Linen Fabric Square - $7.00

Set of 24 colors of Wool Crewel Thread - $48.00

You can take a Crewel Embroidery Class with me over on Bluprint (formerly Craftsy)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

TUTORIAL - Design Your Own Labels for Tea Towels to Print On Spoonflower

I have been designing fabric for my Kristin Nicholas Tea Towel Collection for the past 3 years. I sell them around the holidays and sometimes on-line. The first year I designed, sewed and sold them, it was an experiment. It went okay so last year I designed a few new fabrics. Those did well and I was able to offer the leftovers on-line. This year, I have been designing more fabrics and I am really excited about the new designs - more on them to come. 

I knew that I needed to put care instruction labels on the tea towels to be proper. Labels are also a good way to have an "identity." I started looking around on-line to see if there were any labels available cheaply with the proper fiber content and washing instructions. I couldn't find anything and really didn't want to order thousands of ugly little non-woven fabric labels. 

After wasting time looking around and checking with some label companies, I decided to design some myself and have them printed at Spoonflower - the place that prints the fabric for my Tea Towels. Once I made that decision, it didn't take me long to get the design together. I cut and folded some fabric to decide on sizing and then opened up Adobe Illustrator. (I could have also done this in Photoshop, but I am a little quicker with Illustrator.)  At the end of this post, I have a JPEG template you can use if you want to make a similar label to have printed for items you sew. 

I knew I wanted the label to have no raw edges. I wanted to slip the label into the hem quickly as I sew. 

Here are what the labels look like on the tea towels. 

Here is the backside showing care instructions and country of origin. 

Here is the fabric I had printed. The digital file I built was 6 labels up in 5 different colors - 2 labels in off-white, then yellow, chartreuse, turquoise and orange. Having different colors would make the labels easier to cut. I also added black cutting lines to make it even easier for me to cut the fabric. 

I purchased 1 yard of the basic cotton and my design yielded 192 labels. The per label cost was 7 cents per label (not including shipping - I ordered during one of their Free Shipping Promos). Next time I order, I may change the black box lines to something lighter but I am pretty happy with them. 

Here is my process for readying the labels to set into the Tea Towel seams. 

Step 1: Use a rotary cutter and cut a vertical strip of labels. 

Step 2: Using a steam iron, turn under each long side of the label strips by 1/4" and iron. No need to sew the seam down - a real timesaver. 

Step 3: Cut the labels apart. I use scissors because they are quicker on the small pieces. 

Step 4: Fold the pressed labels in half with the long sides touching, wrong sides together and seams inside. 

Here are my piles of labels sorted by color - ready to go into the Tea Towel seams. You can also see the backside with the care instructions and fiber content at the bottom of the photo. 

Here is a jpeg file which you can use as a guide for designing your own labels. This is my one color version. You can print them in as many colors as you want depending on how you design your digital file. Make sure your file is 150 ppi (pixels per inch) as that is what Spoonflower prints at. 

I have been sewing a batch of the Tea Towels and the labels work perfectly. I barely have to slow down as I slip the label under the hem and attach it onto the tea towel. I think they look pretty good. Maybe next time I will try a different one of the Spoonflower substrate fabrics but for now, I have 192 labels to make 192 Tea Towels complete with my own logo.  

Yellow, White, Blue, + Brown + More on the Bathroom

When thinking about the title of this morning's blog post, color is what came to me. Color comes to me a lot, admittedly. When I scroll through my photos over each calendar year, I see a certain pattern in the colors that come back year after year in certain months. 

I tend to take more photos in the winter when our sheep are lambing and I am more involved in the farm. During January through almost mid April, most of my photos are very neutral based with the majority of the colors being brown, white, gray, and ecru - the colors of the mud and manure, hay, snow (very little this year), and ewes and lambs. 

Scroll to the end of the post to see a little 15 second video featuring The Farmer, Kate, the sheep, and the mud!

It is no wonder I crave color in my home --- all that brown and white and gray. It is all a bit depressing if you ask me and I cannot understand why in the world people will decorate their homes with those shades. Look through Houzz and decorating mags and all over there are homes covered in these boring shades. I guess it is easier for people to pick white because it is a no brainer and lots of people don't have the interest to go outside the beige box. UGH. Give me some real color inside PLEASE! I have enough brown and gray and white in my life outdoors. 

I have been working on my bathroom decorative painting project in fits and starts because things have been busy personally. Yesterday, I finally finished painting the walls. Here is a little more of my process. And as you can see - it isn't beige. 

Our bathroom started like this. The yellow color on the wall was done with a colorwashing technique which I explain in my latest book Crafting A Colorful Home.  I plan on keeping the Victorian tiles I have collected on the walls as decoration. 

First I added white based stripes using painters tape as guides (see this post). It was all a little too boring for me. I fooled around with a floral idea.

I decided it was too busy. 

I used Photoshop to continue fooling with motifs. This was a great revelation to me - that I could build up layers of ideas on a photo that I had. Very cool. After doing this, I was sure that flowers would make it all too busy with my floral tiles. I like the large circle thing.

That evening I thought about it some more. I decided to try an undulating curving ogee stripe to cover the white. 

I cut out the shape from some large paper I keep in my studio - figuring out the placement of the curves when placed on the wall. 

I tested 3 different colors of bluish gray that I purchased in the small test size containers at the paint section at HD.  By painting the cut-out shapes and taping them to the wall I got an overall feeling of what the ogee shape would look like. I looked at the colors in the evening with the lights on and during the day with natural light. I chose the most lively of the blues. 

To actually add the pattern to the wall, I made a full size scale pattern out of a mailing envelope. I then traced the shape onto the wall with a regular old pencil. 

The painting went extremely fast. I used a cheap china bristle brush and one of my pottery brushes. After I painted the outer edges with the pottery brush (these are my favorites), I filled in the center with the china bristle brush. I like to use these because I am going for an aged antique effect and it is easy to leave bits of the base color showing through. 

Here is one wall. 

On the opposite side of the room, there is a sloping ceiling. This is where you have to be a bit creative and fold the template when pencilling it in so that you can paint into the diagonal.  

The end effect looks like wallpaper and seriously - this project didn't take very long at all, once I decided on the design. I cannot imagine how much wallpaper would have cost and the trouble it would have been to put up. For the blue - I used less than half of a jar of the samples you can purchase at big box stores for $3.47. Today I will rehang the tiles and see how it all looks. Then it is on to tackle the tub. 

Here's the 15 second video of the mud I promised. Have a great day everyone. 

The Green Room - My Tile Inspired Faux Wallpaper

Photo by Rikki Snyder via Houzz.com

Several years ago, before the world really caught on to the internet, there were shelter magazines. Remember them? Back in 2003, I had contacted Country Home, one of my favorite decorating magazines about the way I had decorated our 1751 farmhouse with hand-painted decorations. They fell in love with our home and set up a date for a photo shoot. Shortly before the shoot, I decided to act upon an idea I had been dreaming of for a long-time - a faux wallpaper treatment in our "green room."

If I were to do this treatment now - in the days of popular DIY culture and "show everyone everything you make and do on Instagram" I would have better photos. But I don't - I have the ones I shot on a film camera in 2003 as I was working on my wall treatment. I just stumbled upon them when I was cleaning things up here before my class in May and thought you all might be interested. Apologies for the lack than stellar photos. 

I have always loved wallpaper. My tastes go towards very expensive ones made with several screens. Like these. They are beyond my budget. What's a girl to do but paint it herself. The room was already painted a mossy green. 

I began with one of my favorite source books for pattern ideas - Auguste Racinet's Sourcebook of Historic Ornament. I paged through all the incredible historic designs and settled upon a motif which looked to me like it came from the gorgeous marble tile floors in Venice, Italy. (I have a very beat up paperback version of this book printed by Dover Publications a long time ago. It looks to have been re-done by Taschen here.) 

From this illustration, I designed my own wallpaper design. Instead of printing it, I thought it would be easiest to make cardboard templates to trace around. This would give me repeating shapes that were all the same size (as opposed to my mural in the dining room which was painted freehand). I drew out the designs on graph paper. I traced the designs onto some Fedex cardboard envelopes because they were in the closet and handy. As you can see in the photo below, I simplified the tile inspiration pattern quite a bit. 

I began at the corner of the room. Using a long level, I drew a plumb line so that my cross motif would be straight all the way down the wall. Using a plain old pencil, I traced around the cross (former Fedex envelope) template. With red acrylic paint, I painted all the crosses. 

Next up was the square shape that had projecting triangles. The little triangles fit right inside the the pointy end of the crosses so it made alignment quite easy. For this motif placement and all the remaining motifs, I just eyeballed their placement. Once again, I traced around the shape and then filled them in with an apricot color acrylic paint that I mixed. 

The next part of the design was the circle motif that went over the square. I decided to alternate the colors between turquoise and butter yellow. 

Lastly I added the triangled cross motif on top of each circle. I do not have an in-progress shot of that step. 

Once all the colors were painted, I outlined each motif using a large "liner brush" with black acrylic paint. I love using liner brushes because you can vary the pressure on the brush and make a line that has variations in it. 

Here is the finished "wallpaper."

Here you can see it once I got some artwork and accessories placed. 

Here are two more photos by Rikki Snyder as the "Green Room" looks now. 

I still am very happy with the way this project turned out and I have no plans to change it. I love the warm and rich colors. In the winter, when we use this room most, it is so cosy and enveloping. I know this is because of the colors I used, the design, the fabrics used on the furniture and the collection of books that is on one of the walls. The woodstove doesn't hurt either! 

You can find many DIY projects - from painting, printing, fabric, knitting, embroidery, and more - in my book Crafting a Colorful Home. It is available signed on my website here. I am still offering FREE SHIPPING, a free Kristin illustrated bookplate and a set of postcards all free when you order from me.  

To see more of our colorful farmhouse, check it out on the Houzz.com website here. 

Tutorial - How to Sew a Removable Pillow Cover

As far as I am concerned, you can never have enough throw pillows. I have made many over the years - from my embroidered crewelwork to recycled antique fabrics, even handknit. My favorite way to back a precious fabric is with a flapped back - thus making the pillowcase easy to remove and launder (or dry clean if need be). 

Here's how I make a flap back removable pillow cover. It is a super simple method and can be made in a little over an hour. It is shown on my Circles Sampler Pillow Project. The front was worked in Crewel Embroidery. You can purchase the PDF pattern here. A kit is also available here. I use a sewing machine but if you don't own one, the method can be used for hand-sewing too.

Step 1: You will need a piece of quilting weight cotton as long as your embroidered pillow front. I usually purchase a couple of inches extra. For an 18" pillow, purchase 5/8 yard of a colorful fabric that picks up the colors you used in your embroidery. Remnants are a great choice for backing pillows.

Step 2: Iron both embroidered pillow piece and backing fabric. Lay the pillow front on top of the backing fabric. Cut evenly around 3 sides. On the 4th side, add 4" in width. Draw a straight line and cut along that line. Your cut backing fabric will look like this when the pillow front is laid on top of it. 

Notice the 4" extra of backing fabric at the right of the photo.  You will hem both sides of the wider section of the fabric.

Notice that the backing fabric is cut 4" wider than the pillow

Step 3:  At opposite edges of the width of the fabric, turn under 1/4" and press with an iron. Turn under again 3/8". Pin and press the folded edges. These edges will form the overlap of the pillow so they need to be finished. 

Turning edge 1/4" under and pressed

Turning folded edge under 3/8"

Pinning folded edge before sewing

Step 4: Using a sewing machine, sew along the folded edges of the pillow backing. Your stitches should go along the fold, catching the pressed layers with the main section of fabric to create a clean edge. 

This is what the piece looks like now - both edges are hemmed.

Step 5: Fold the fabric so that the hemmed edges are together. Press so there will now be a pressed line at the center of the fabric. 

Using your scissors, cut this piece in two along the fold.

Step 6: You will now pin the backing pieces to the pillow front. Place one of the hemmed pieces with its right side down facing the right side of the pillow front. The hemmed edge should be at the center of the pillow. Pin along the three outside edges.

Pin the remaining backing piece to the pillow front lining up the raw edges of both the backing piece and the pillow front. The hemmed edge will be at the center of the pillow. The two backing pieces should overlap. Pin all around the pillow.

Step 7: Using a sewing machine, with a 1/2" seam allowance, sew all the way around the outside of the pillow, removing pins as you sew. Overlap the beginning and ending stitching points. 

This is the finished pillow after sewing.

Step 8: Trim each of the 4 corners of the pillow as shown below. This will make the corners less bulky and easier to turn. 

Step 10: Turn the pillow inside out. Pull the corners out using a pin so that they are nice and pointy. 

Step 11: Press the seamed edges of the pillow so that it is neat and crisp. 

 

This photo shows the back of the pillow with the overlapping edges. 

This photo shows the overlap.

Now stuff your pillow with a down or polyfil pillow form. I purchase my down pillow inserts here. Your cover is removable and can be washed or drycleaned at any time. That's it! Easy and professional looking.