LauPre

My Little Lamb

Just wanted to share this little project I whipped up this weekend.  I brought the linen and some crewel wool with me to the laundrymat to keep me busy while I was waiting for the machines to do their thing.  I sketched it out and stitched up the trees and grass during the wash cycle, then decided it needed a little lamb while the dryers were running.

And a couple of detail shots:

At first, I made the sheep’s body with a double layer of satin stitch, but it just didn’t look right.  I think the french knot curls lood adorable, and since I layered the french knots on top of two layers of satin stitch it really stands out and has a great texture.

Now I just need to know what to do with it!  I’s about 4″x6″, so maybe a little pouch? a pin cushion? I don’t know do you have any suggestions?

Needlework: Crewel Maneki Neko Sewing

I like to embroider from time to time.   I don’t think I’m too skilled at it, but it’s good practice for making nice, even stitches for those times when I have to take needle in hand. I recently came across a thrifting treasure of old crewel wool, so after checking a stack of books out of the library and trying out a bunch of stitches I decided to try to finish a crewel project. This is a design that I actually drew up myself of the Maneki Neko holding a sewing needle and thread.  His little tail wraps around a cute little pin cushion.  cute, right?

Want to look a little closer?

red stitching in ears

Neko’s pincushion and french knot pins

Neko’s thread.  I used some lovely green yarn for this and couched it down with some of the crewel wool.

The entire piece measures about 8 inches wide, and I think I’ll stitch this onto one of my reusable shopping totes so I can carry it around with me.  I enjoyed this project, so I think I’m going to try and so some more crewel embroidery from now on.