Freeform Embroidery

Freeform Embroidery - Freeform Sticken

On the photo you see my idea of Freeform Embroidery which was highly inspired by ‘Rock Pool’ and ‘Laying It On The Line’.

I used a piece of old (but clean! ;-)) bedsheet as base. First I laid some worsted and funky yarns on it which I fixed with couching stitches (at the top of the photo). Then I stitched some french knots (light yellow on the photo). Below is my first attempt at ply-split braiding which I fixed with some couching stitches too.

It is one of my many UFOs (‘unfinished objects’), but one day I will come back to it ;-)


Links:
Inspirations: ‘Rock Pool’ / ‘Laying It On The Line’

English Embroidery Stitch Diagrams
Deutsche Stickstichbeschreibungen

Couching stitches (English)
Couching stitches (German)

French knots (English)
French knots (German)

Ply-split Braiding: a (very) short description and resources
PDF Ply-split tutorials by Peter Collingwood (scroll down)

Friendship Bracelet

Friendship Bracelet

I once braid a Friendship Bracelet, but in just one colour. The ones at Heather’s Friendship Bracelets are so beautiful because of the different colour patterns she presents.

I haven’t done them yet, but they are on my to-do list (together with a gazillion of other things to try ;-))


Links:
Heather’s Friendship Bracelets
Note: even though there’s written something about a move I could stilll reach the links
Friendship Bracelet – first pattern of first set

Paper Crazy Quilt

Paper Crazy Quilt

I love Crazy Quilts, because it is a kind of Freeform work, but I don’t like sewing. So I began to make my quilts on and with paper.
On the photo you see a card I made with this technique.
I didn’t only embroider the seams but I also used some fancy stitches like French Knots e.g. (the red dots on the photo) onto the surfaces.

To make your own Paper Crazy Quilt, find matching papers and cut them into pieces. On the photo I used rectangles, but the typical Crazy Quilt distribution is also beautiful (here you can find some lovely blocks here you can find some lovely blocks).
Glue the collage on thin paper and then begin embroidering (carefully!) as if it was a real Crazy Quilt (here is an online class for Crazy Quilts).
To finish you glue or embroider your Paper Crazy Quilt on cardboard.


Links:
Crazy Quilt blocks
Tutorial moved to: Crazy Quilt blocks

Online class for Crazy Quilts

English Embroidery Stitch Diagrams
Deutsche Stickstichbeschreibungen

French knots (Knötchenstiche) (English)
French knots (Knötchenstiche) (German)

Designing a Celtic Knot

Designing a Celtic Knot

No, this is no April Fool’s joke ;-)
With this instruction you can construct your very own Celtic knot, a pattern I used to find too complicated to design of my own.
The image shows a Celtic knot I created some time ago, but I still like it.
I have nearly forgotten about this technique, but now that I rediscovered it, I have several ideas how to use it more often.


Links:
Designing a Celtic Knot
The original site doesn’t exist any more and is now only available through webarchive: Designing a Celtic Knot (Constructing a Celtic Knot)