One thing this brief stint of blogging has taught me: I cannot take a flippin picture. Obviously I took this little beauty at night, but there is a reason. I was cramming for the final. The lovely ladies over at Crafty Daisies taught an embroidery class for beginners (embroidery 101, if you will) in a series of posts on their blog. I tried embroidery once before and loved it, so I was thrilled about the class. And I read every post, but somehow never got around to the actual stitching part. So in true procrastinator fashion, I did it all the night before. All I can say is thank god for the stem stitch. I thought because I was doing all the homework at once I would actually combine all the homework into one big project. Turns out this was a better idea in my head. I took all the elements of the homework designs and made a strange birthday party in the garden where the little snail spoils everything. Or at least that’s what it became.

I learned quite a bit. Like, embroidery is drawing with texture. Which is really a bizarre thing to do and something I’m excited to experiment with. And separating embroidery thread is a pain in the ass. Is there a trick? Am I missing something? And the biggest lesson, embroidery takes a lot longer than you think it will, so start early.

hickety pickety my black hen

she lays eggs for gentlemen

gentlemen come everyday

to see what my black hen doth lay.

This is the first of a series I hope to do. Obviously it’s based on the nursery rhyme “Hickety Pickety.” Though I recently discovered that there are two more lines: Sometimes nine, Sometimes ten; Hickety Pickety my black hen. So I guess some eggs are in order. I’ve always liked nursery rhymes, but now that I say it, it sounds strange. My mother would read to me all the time when I was little–from the big, black and white checked Mother Goose book. And because my sisters are much older they had babies when I was the perfect babysitting age and so I read to my nieces and nephews from the same book. And then came high school and college and cigarettes and boys and I forgot completely. But having kids made me remember how lovely those short, little verses can be. They aren’t as intricately constructed as Lewis Carroll’s books and poems, though he did have his way with some (queen of hearts, tweedledum & dee), but the language is still silly and bizarre. And they haven’t been boobified by disney like the fairy tales and really they couldn’t be–some are strangely violent. They are an odd mix of drinking songs and counting rhymes passed down orally. Which I think is fantastic.Jack Sprat and his wife are in the works, but as of this moment are headless.

owls for luka, originally uploaded by elsiemarley.

If you have a blog that is even marginally related to crafts you must make a stuffed owl. This is the number one rule of craft blogs. You cannot break it. I tried. And here I am making frikken owls. And I’ve only had this blog for a week.These were made from Moonstitches tutorial, which I would link to if I knew how (here it is), and really they were a pleasure to make. They are for a new baby boy so I make them with rugged, little boy fabric: cordoroy, denim, wool, and canvas. It was a little bit of a pain when it came time to sew their beaks, as all the fabric was quite thick, but I like how they turned out (if I do say so myself). This was my first attempt at embroidery and it’s pretty wonky, but I had a damn good time doing it.

ruffle pillow, originally uploaded by elsiemarley.

I made this a little while back from Amy Butler’s book “In Stitches.” I bought the book mostly because this pattern caught my eye. I’ve been making the same stupid ass pillow in different sizes since I learned to sew and it was getting pretty tired. This one is completely different: round, a little bizarre and out of left field, but still kind of girly and cute. My good friend laughed out loud when she saw it on my couch for the first time. It was a hell of a lot harder than I thought it would be. Turns out I have no idea how to sew on ruffles–is there a secret? I’m not in on it that’s for sure. I wrestled with my sewing machine and made it work, but it wasn’t pretty. Thankfully the ruffles and the blinding yellow stripes distract you from the actual construction of the thing. A word of warning if you ever make this little pillow: it will eat your fabric. All 3 1/2 yards of it. For one pillow. One pillow. Better get that shit on sale. That said, though, I think it would be nice done in patchwork. But then again, that’s 3 1/2 yards of scraps you have to piece together. And I’m not ready to wrestle.

Actually, it’s quite difficult to find pictures of the things I have made, as most of them were gifts. And, to be honest, probably finished moments before they were given, so there was no time to take a picture. But last year I made a quilt (again as a gift) and I could not stop taking pictures of it. Denyse Schmidt’s book had recently come out and it seemed everyone in the craft world was making a quilt. I have been reading craft blogs for a long time now, and though the pictures and stories are beautiful and inspiring, they tend to make things look easy (not that I blame them. It’s embarassing to write about the full blown argument you had with your sewing machine or admidt to breaking down and sobbing when you discover you have to rip out yet another seam–because, dammit, this is supposed to be relaxing. Or am I the only one who does these things?). Making a quilt is not easy. And making a full size quilt in a month will drive you mad. I picked the pattern that seemed the most straight forward–it was tied, not quilted and all the seams were straight. I was so new to sewing and there was much crying and swearing and walking to the repair shop with an 8 month old on my back and my sewing machine under my arm, but I finished and on time to boot. The experience was incrediblly rewarding: I learned about my machine, about how I work, and how to make a quilt.