December & January Round-up, sneak peek behind the scenes and February plans

How are you doing this February?

Of course, it's only just started, but I really hope the first day was great for you. If not – don't be discouraged, it's not always important how to start a month, but rather how you finish it!

*I actually lowkey hope it will apply to me because yesterday I didn't make a single stitch. Although I washed and ironed some of my new embroideries (more on that below), so there's still something to pat myself on the head for.

As for now, I suggest looking back at December and January on Stitch Floral. I'm also going to share some details on the new designs I'm currently working on and will ask you few questions (including the matter of a new stitch along), so read till the end. 😉

If you are new to the blog – monthly round-ups is a tradition here, where I gather all the recent posts in one place, which allows you to catch up on the new stuff that you might have missed. There actually wasn't a round-up post for December – and it's not because I forgot, but because the month was quite busy and there were only a few new posts on the blog. So, instead, December and January are merged together this time.

Round -up

I would say December had the most “wintery” posts so far. The snowflake mandala is a free design that I wanted to share with you in advance before the holidays would kick in. The post is very popular, so I hope many of you have downloaded and stitched your own pretty snowflakes and maybe decorated your home with them? I didn't include the guide on stitches or colors to the pattern on purpose so that you could stitch it following your own vision and ideas.

Then we learned how to make a biscornu – a popular among stitchers and crafters type of a needle pillow. Usually, it is made using Aida fabric with cross stitch or blackwork embroidery on top – I'm sure you've seen plenty of those on Pinterest. But you can totally make one using a simple linen or cotton and decorate it with surface embroidery. My pattern was borrowed from one of the vintage embroidery books.

I just love how chubby and puffy it is, and I'm pretty sure that my little Biscornu family will get new members... they are so quirky, it's hard to resist making more and more new ones! You can totally make one with your own hands, without any sewing machine – you will only need to use the invisible seam to sew the sides together.

In January we started the Cecelia Rose Stitch Along, which came in three parts: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. I'm slowly, but surely receiving the complete roses from you guys, and I love each one! They are all so unique, it is amazing, how one design can look differently depending on an artist. Keep the pictures coming, so that we can all look at each other's works as a gallery!

We also had some practical new stuff here: tutorial on how to bind your embroidery hoop (no glue method), 4 rules to ironing hand embroidery and tips for fixing a tangle on the backside if you want to keep it neat. Lastly, we learn the running stitch, which is actually one of the basic ones and should have appeared on the blog a long time ago but was skipped for some unknown reason, oops.

Future plans and some questions to you

After the Cecelia Rose stitch along started, I still received messages from people who wanted to join but were late to meet to the deadline. Unfortunately, the rules are for everyone, so I had to decline sending the patterns. But I will definitely make a new one and now I want your opinion on what type of Stitch Along would you like to see next?

We had a Needle Painting one, where I shared step by step process of stitching one of Trish Burr's designs. I can make a new one like that, using her other design. BUT in this case, I won't be sending any patterns and thread charts, because I don't want to rob her of her deserved earnings. Which means, that you can take part and stitch along if you are/become the owner of a copy of her book. It might seem like a downside, but I'd say purchasing her books is a “must” for a stitcher anyway, since they are FULL of useful information and the designs are just so beautiful and inspiring.

Otherwise, I can come up with a new design on my own, and send the patterns with thread charts to those who apply – just like I did with Cecelia Rose. I will listen to your wishes, so write me using the Contact form on the right sidebar, or leave a comment under the post.

As for February, there are few things you can look forward too.

First of all, we covered almost all of the line stitches here on Stitch Floral, so I'm going to add few last tutorials and then we can finish this family by stitching a sampler. If you don't know yet, there is Free Library of stitches, which I'm planning to gradually complete with tutorials and samplers for each section (I might not follow the order precisely, though).

Secondly, there are two topics that I want to cover: transferring your design to the fabric and mounting the ready embroidery on a cardboard canvas. I've been postponing writing these articles for a while now, so it is time to get them done.

Also, there was another topic I wanted to write about and that is anxiety.

Have you ever felt some kind of anxiety, insecurity, and pressure in your embroidery journey? For example, “that's too difficult for me”, “I will never be able to stitch like that”, “They are so talented, while I'm not”, “why do I have to keep my backside neat?”, “why are other stitchers so speedy?” “Do I really have to use these expensive materials, can't I use something simple?” and so on. Have you overcome these thoughts or do they still bother you?

If there's anything like that and you are willing to share– please, do, because I really want to explore this side of hand embroidery world. I personally fought with some of the problems, so I wonder if it is a common thing that we don't talk about enough.

I might not write about that in February though, it will depend on the feedback. So, the two questions for today are: