DMC Blog Hop: Stitchable Cork Floral Ear Bud Pouch DIY Tutorial

DMC Stitchable Cork Ear Bud Pouch DIY Tutorial 

Super excited to share this project with you as part of the DMC Blog Hop! I love working with the new DMC Stitchable Cork fabric, it has been coming in handy for a wide variety of projects and I adore the earthy look of it. For this project I used the regular DMC Stitchable Cork but it also comes in Cork with Gold. It can be found at most major craft retailers and just about everywhere online AND it comes with a free pattern that I designed so I have to say I'm a little partial. 

Ear Bud Pouch DIY Tutorial with DMC Stitchable Cork Fabric & DMC Floss:

Supplies: 

·         1 Sheet of DMC Stitchable Cork Fabric

·         1 Sheet of tracing paper/Transfer pen or pencil

·         Embroidery Needle, Scissors

·         Cute Button about ¾ inch big

·         1 piece of elastic cording or ribbon

·         DMC Floss colors: 3821, 906, 3824, 3819, .602, .603, .605, 959 

    How To:

1.      Print out your template sheet with your Floral Circle pattern. Pin it to your stitchable cork and cut 2 circles. 

2.      Next using the same template, grab your tracing paper and trace the floral design onto your tracing paper with your transfer pen or pencil. Cut our your tracing paper circle. 

3.      Heat up your iron and follow these instructions: 

4.      *How to transfer your pattern onto your stitchable cork: I recommend using Sublime Stitching Fine Tip Transfer Pen but a Sulky pen or Aunt Martha’s Transfer Pencil should work just fine. To use this method, use the ‘reversed’ version of the design and trace it with your transfer pen onto your tracing paper. Place it face down onto your stitchable cork and apply pressure – hold in place for about 10 or 15 seconds. Use a medium setting on your iron with no steam. 

5.      Once you have it transferred, relax and get to stitchin’! I started with the biggest flower and placed my button first. I used the DMC Floss colors listed above and few basic stitches such as mainly the Fill Stitch or Satin Stitch, French Knot, Cross Stitch, and Back Stitch. (If you do not know these stitches, just google or pinterest them and you will find a bunch of amazing tutorials, they are so easy!)  

6.      Next take about a 4 inch piece of your thin elastic cording or ribbon and tie the end together. Line it up on the back of your remaining cork circle and stitch it down in place. I free hand cut a small heart from left over cork and stitched it on top once I had my elastic cording lined up to go around my button.

7.      Next I used a blanket stitch to stitch a small section at the top of my front and back – this stitch is just decorative and this part of the circle will remain open to be the top of our pouch.

8.      Once that is completed, I matched up my 2 cork circles, making sure my cording and button were evenly in place and stitched a blanket stitch around the remaining edge of my pouch to sew it together.

9.      All done, now it’s time to stuff those ear buds in there and toss it in your purse or backpack!!

 

       

           There's so many other awesome projects on this blog hop, check out the list below! Everyone is also doing a DMC Price Pack Giveaway! So be sure to visit all the other blogs and enter for more chances to win! To enter my giveaway, please visit my Facebook page! 

        Monday July 24 - Flamingo Toes 

Tuesday July 25 - Positivitely Splendid 

U Create 

Little Dear Tracks

Wednesday July 26 - The Scrap Shoppe

Cutesy Crafts

Random Acts of Amy 

Thursday July 27 - The Pretty Life of Girls

Lova Revolutionary  

Wild Olive 

       

DMC Stitchable Bracelets & Coloris Floss!

Have you seen these incredibly neat Stitchable Bracelets by DMC? They are super fun and so easy to stitch. They measure about 1.5 inches wide and come in several colors. They have a perforated section in the middle so you can add your own personalized design. The pre-punched holes really lend themselves well to cross-stitch designs. 

Since I'm more of a freehand style embroiderer, I decided to grab a few skeins of my new beautiful DMC Coloris floss and just freehand a pseudo-cross-stitchy design. Instead of filing up the whole design space with stitches, I left some blank space to let the design pop. I love how this worked with the Coloris floss, since it's multicolored and mixes four different shades together, it had a nice effect with my design without having to grab a new color of floss. 

Can't wait to see how my fellow stitchers will be using these cool bracelets! 

New Cactus & Succulent Hand Embroidery Pattern on Etsy!

New to the shop! Super cute Cactus & Succulent PDF embroidery pattern!

Iron On Embroidery Patterns now available on Etsy!

 Introducing new Iron On Embroidery Patterns - now on Etsy! So excited to offer some of my most loved patterns as Iron On Transfers. If you loved a pattern and wanted to give it as a gift, have a physical copy for yourself, or just prefer Iron On's over other transfer methods - now you can have your own copy! These designs were professionally printed and can be used for multiple transfers, up to 6 times or more! When you're done, you can save the design to trace using other transfer methods, horray! These patterns are also available for wholesale if you'd like to stock them in your shop!

I am super busy getting more felt patterns ready for fall as pdfs, printed versions, and as kits!! Can't wait to show you all what I have in the works!

Felt Fox Dreamcatcher Pattern!

New Felt Fox Dreamcatcher PDF Pattern Tutorial now available in my Etsy shop! Find it here!

Embroidery 101 : My favorite tools to get started with embroidery and simple transfer methods for PDF patterns

Since I started adding more and more patterns to my shop I've been getting a lot of questions on how to transfer patterns and what supplies I use and recommend so I thought I'd post on a few and give some basic written instructions on how to use a few simple transfer methods. 

Here's what you need to get started doing embroidery: 

Fabric
Floss
Scissors
Sewing Needle
Embroidery Hoop
Embroidery Transfer Tools (sometimes tracing paper) 
Printed Design

1. Some floss! I use DMC floss which is found at most big box craft stores. There are also big multipacks of floss that you can get that is off brand but really it's just not as nice for embroidery - it's less silky and tends to knot up more than your lovely DMC floss. Now if you want to make friendship bracelets go for the multipack. Floss cost anywhere between .30 and .40 cents per skein, if there's an AC Moore near you they put it on sale 4 for $1 on a regular basis!

2. Some hoops and fabric - I try to use a hoop that's just slightly bigger than my design. If you're embroidering a really big design use a smaller hoop and just move it around your design. If you plan on framing your embroidery in your hoop go for a size or two bigger than your design. I love to find vintage hoops at the thrift store - they're just so nice and thick and sturdy! Rummage through your Grandma's attic, I'm sure you'll find some! Otherwise, hoops cost about $1-$3 depending on the size.

As far as fabric, you can really embroider on almost any type of material but a heavy weight cotton or light canvas (think canvas tote bag style) work the best. If you use a thinner weight cotton or silky fabric you may want to put a piece of interfacing behind it. In fact, I use interfacing behind most of my embroideries just to make my fabric more sturdy and it also helps to hide some of your floss from showing through to the front of your design if you don't want it to. 

3. Sewing needles - you can find multipacks of sewing needles just about anywhere that carries fabric. I like the feel of a thicker needle so I buy the multipacks of needles for embroidery or upholstery and use the longest/thickest ones. Thick needles are also awesome because they have a big hole at the top and you won't find yourself wanting to punch something because you've tried to thread your needle 55 times and just can't do it! These will run you about $2.

4. Small Sharp Scissors - when you embroider you do a lot of floss snipping so having a small handy pair of sharp scissors is useful. I love my Fiskars Microtips - they are my go to scissors for embroidery and for cutting out felt because they're super duper sharp and easy to wield - like a sword except like a really small one. When I started I used to use metal scissors but I found after many hours of embroidery or sewing they would start to feel heavy and make my hands hurt so I discovered my Fiskars Microtips and never went back!

5. Tracing Paper - if you're transferring a diy PDF pattern sometimes you need tracing paper to become your iron on transfer depending on what method you use. If you decide to use an Iron On Pencil or a Sulky Pen you'll need some tracing paper. A pad of many sheets of Tracing Paper is about $2, just get the cheapest one you can find!

Transfer Methods for PDF Printed Patterns: 

DMC Carbon Transfer Paper - this is a carbon copy sheet that comes in two colors blue and yellow and can be found at most big box craft stores, it's about $3 for 4 sheets. The yellow is for transferring your design to dark fabrics and the blue is for transferring to light fabrics. 

How to use it: 

It's super easy to use, all you do is lay your fabric on a hard surface, place your carbon transfer paper color side down on top of your fabric and your printed pattern on top of your transfer paper. Use a stylus or a ball point pen and trace over your printed design pressing hard so that your carbon paper transfers to your fabric. Sometimes I go over my lines multiple times to make them nice and bright and easy to see. This transfer is not permanent so it can fade away over time. The plus is that your lines will gradually disappear making them less noticeable on your finished piece.

Aunt Martha's Iron On Transfer Pencil - these are pencils that can be used to transfer your design to fabric but you'll also need some tracing paper. I've only seen these in red but maybe they come in other colors as well. They run about $2 for a two pack. Be sure to have your pencil sharpener handy or you'll end up with thick lines. 

How to use them: 

These are really easy as well and I've been favoring these over other transfer methods lately. First you'll print your reversed version of your PDF pattern and then layer a piece of tracing paper over top of it. You use the reversed version of your pattern because you will be flipping your tracing paper pencil side down and so your design will be the correct direction when you transfer it. Place them both on a hard, smooth surface - I like to put a small piece of tape at the top the keep my design from sliding around. Then trace your design using your Transfer Pencil onto your tracing paper. Next, take your tracing paper pattern and put it face down (pencil marks down) on top of your fabric and using a hot iron (no steam) press firmly and hold for a few seconds until your design is transferred. It only takes a few minutes and your design is usually very easy to see and is transferred forever. Okay maybe not forever, but it's not wash away and you can't rub it away like you can with carbon transfer. 

Sulky Transfer Pens - these are used just like your transfer pencil but they're more like a felt tip marker.  They're a little more pricey, anywhere from $10-$20 for a multipack of colors but they will permanently transfer your design and the lines and smooth and easy to see. They also come in a wide variety of colors so you can sort of match up your design to the color scheme you're using. My only beef with them is that the lines are so thick once the design is transferred sometimes they are too noticeable once you embroider over them. If you are doing a delicate design or plan to only use a few strands of your floss, I would recommend a different transfer method. They need to make a fine tip version like Sharpie! Here's a nice How-To video of Jenny Hart using a Sulky pens to transfer a design.

How to use them: 

These transfer similarly to using a transfer pencil but a little more easy on your hands since you don't have to press hard or go over your design multiple times to make sure your lines will transfer. Just print your reversed pdf pattern design, place a piece of tracing paper over top of it, and trace your design using your transfer pen. Then flip over your traced design (marked side down) on top of your fabric and iron in place, hold it over your design for a few seconds to ensure that it transfers. With these pens the longer you hold your iron the darker and thicker your lines become, it takes a bit of practice to get it at first. 

I hope this helps beginners to get started embroidering! It's really a fun low commitment craft and an awesome one for beginners. Much of this information is also in my embroidery patterns on Etsy and Craftsy as well. I'm also a fan of Wild Olive blog - she has a lovely series of Embroidery Basics and a wide variety of cute tutorials. There's also a ton of great stitchy resources at Feeling Stitchy Blog. When you're finished with your first piece - learn how to frame your embroidery with my DIY tutorial.  Also don't forget to tag your finished pattern photos on social media with #lovahandmade - I'll be on the lookout for them so I can share your awesome creations! 

Love Bird PDF Hand Embroidery Pattern!

New Embroidery PDF Pattern - Love Bird! This design is a loosely tattoo inspired lovely sparrow with organic doodles that's so much fun to stitch up! It would be perfect on the back of a jean jacket, a pillow, or tote. You can find it here on Etsy or on Craftsy!

Mini Felt Bird Ornaments 3 Ways! New Pattern!

New Pattern on Etsy! Felt Bird Ornaments - 3 Ways! These cute little softie birds around all around 3 1/2 inches or so - the perfect size for a mobile, small toys, ornaments, or keychains! Also a great pattern to do with children or beginners since it uses only the most simple embroidery stitches. Why complicate it, ya know? There's just something about a running stitch that just looks so crafty to me! You can find this new pattern in my Etsy shop or on Craftsy! I have so many new patterns in the works that I'm hoping to get at least one done every week! I'm wondering if you crafty peeps would like more large softie patterns or small quick patterns like this one?

Retro Camper Hand Embroidery PDF Patterns now on Etsy!

Even though this winter is going by quickly,  I'm already daydreaming about summer time, festivals, maxi dresses, and road trips. Summertime is my favorite time! Wouldn't it be fun to do some glamping in this Retro Camper? Find my new Retro Camper PDF Embroidery Pattern on Etsy or Craftsy.

Free Valentines Day Heart Felt Ornament DIY Tutorial on Craftsy!

Created this sweet Felt Heart Ornament Tutorial just in time for Valentines Day! It's available for immediate download over on my Craftsy Pattern Shop! If you stitch one up for someone special this holiday please do share it with me on Facebook, I'd love to see your creation!