Making the Seasons :: September

By the time you read this, Yarndale will have been and gone and I'll most likely be collapsed in an unglorious heap. The weeks leading up to Yarndale are incredibly busy and full on for me, and I generally get through September feeling like I am clinging on by my fingertips. The juggling of my responsibilities can be overwhelming to be honest, but I try and take it in stride and not let myself get swept up in too much anxiety. I've been kept very busy working on the big Creative Community display for the festival which this year is all about butterflies. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who made and sent butterflies for Yarndale (360 of you joined in - thank you!!!) - I've taken lots of photos to share with you next week.

Being up to my eyes in colourful butterflies for much of this month has meant that I've not had the time to do my Making the Seasons project. Wah!!!! I'm so disappointed that I haven't managed it (despite trying to be uber-organsied and planning it out well in advance this month), but that's just the way it is sometimes. So I thought I'd show you a little of my thinking/inspiration right now, with a view to actually getting creative in early October once life returns to more of an even keel. 

You may remember a few weeks ago I shared my crochet coat hanger project with you? Oh, that was such a delightful and spontaneous bit of hooky delight! I loved making it, and have been admiring it hanging on the back of my door ever since. I made the coat hanger specifically to act as a pretty prop for this upcycling project that I had in mind - I got it into my head that I wanted to have a go at jazzing up an old cardigan with a bit of colourful decoration. 

At the start of the month I searched on eBay for some likely woolly candidates - I wanted a plain coloured cardigan with pockets that I could add some embroidery to. After much crossing of fingers and some optimistic bidding, I failed miserably on eBay and lost all of the bids on all of the cardigans in spectacular fashion. So I decided to go on  a little charity shop run instead, and the Gods of Unloved Items must have been looking after me because they delivered an absolute beauty right into my hands in the very first shop I looked in.

I snagged this lovely teal coloured lambswool jumper for a very acceptable £3.99 in the British Heart Foundation shop, and I pretty much skipped out of there with a massive grin on my face. Hazzah!!! Who needs eBay with it's vastly over priced auction goods?!!!!!

The cardigan in question is of good quality and a lovely colour, but when I showed it triumphantly to Little Lady she raised her eyebrows and pronounced it "fit for an old granny". I admit the buttons are a little old fashioned, and most likely a Teen isn't going to think much of a second hand v neck woolly cardy, but I have great plans in my head for this garment. Granny Chic is within my grasp!

First thing I did was to search out some new buttons. I absolutely love love love cardigans with quirky mismatched buttons, always have done and probably always will. I searched on Amazon for something suitable and found myself paddling in a whole huge sea of button choices - so many buttons to go at! after much deliberation I decided on these little 15mm wooden buttons so that I could keep the size/shape of the button uniform but mix and match the patterns.

They are seriously cute, just look!

Here is the cardigan in all it's granny-ish glory. I've decided not to do anything too radical to it - all I really want to do is change up the buttons and put something pretty on the pockets.

I've long been a fan of folk-art style embroidery, and this lovely teal colour makes the perfect backdrop for some folksy flowers I think. Let me show you what I mean.......

.....I know these are mittens, but the woolly embroidery is just so gorgeous, don't you agree? And you can see how this might work on the pockets of my cardy? I can see it!! I want to do it so badly!!

These mittens are the work of Nienke Landman who lives and works in the Netherlands (I think. I'm pretty sure her blog is written in Dutch). I first came across her on Instagram - her photos are an absolute inspirational delight and never fail to make me swoon with pleasure. This lady is so talented! She knits and crochets and embroiders the most wonderful, colourful things, and images of her lifestyle do something to my heart which makes it feel like it's being squeezed. It makes me feel excited, emotional and full of joy, and maybe just a little bit in love with it all. Please do go peek at her Instagram feed and take a little scroll, you will see what I mean I'm sure. And as an extra bonus, there is a most charming video to watch too. It's beautiful. All of it swoon-worthy. 

Out of all the beautiful images by Mooi Van Draad, it's these embroidered woollen mittens and gloves which I have fallen deeply in love with. The stitches are simple but so beautifully done, and the sweet little colourful folksy designs have captured my heart.

Incidentally, as I was drinking in all the images, I came across one of a stitching-in-progress (SIP?!) and was intrigued to see that she uses something that looks like a thin soluble fabric to stitch over? I guess it means you can draw out the design on the soluble fabric, embroider onto it, then dissolve the fabric away in water when you're done. I've never tried this technique, does anyone have any experience of it? I'm going to investigate where I can find this magic!!

As you will probably know, once you get sunk into researching something like this, it's like tumbling down a majorly huge rabbit hole. I got stuck in Pinterest for all eternity (well a good hour, maybe more), chasing links and clicking away on a gazillion images of woolly embroidery. The above mitts caught my eye and I tracked them down to Ravelry - they are called Dala-Floda mittens which for some inexplicable reason makes me want to snort with laughter. I'm sure there's a meaningful translation behind those words, but they sound so comical to my English ears. 

At the very end of my Pinterest marathon, I found these embroidered leg warmers which made me gasp out loud - OH!!!!! SO so so beautiful!! Although to be honest I think I would prefer to see these on my arms rather than down there on my legs. They really are lovely, and I feel very inspired to try designing some woolly embroidery pocket motifs.

So that's pretty much where I'm up to as of now - I'm itching to get my stitchy fingers going with this, hopefully in the next few weeks once I've recovered from Yarndale. I'm going to try and find out more about the soluble embroidery fabric, and gather together some suitable yarn (I'm thinking 4ply merino - I've got a stash of this in my studio). I'll be sure to post a MTS : September : Part 2 post to share the outcome of the Granny Cardy - I hope after all this sharing that it's going to work out - no pressure or anything!

Gillian and I are almost at the end of our Making The Seasons year with just one more month left to go....do pop over to her beautiful blog and see what she has been up to in September, it's very inspirational.

You can find all my previous Making The Seasons posts {{ here }}. 

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Comments

[Annika Gustad]

Hello! If you look in Wikipedia for Dala-Floda you can see where it´s located.
Hugs!
Annika Gustad
Sweden

[Nicola]

Hi Lucy, really pleased to see you getting into cross stitch, to help in your search you can buy DMC soluble aida from Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/DMC-Soluble-Canvas-Count-White/dp/B004NI5NZM I sent a butterfly to Yarndale, hopefully I will make it there myself one day, can't wait to see the photos.

[Eleonora from Coastal Crochet]

Hi Lucy... Yarndale was amazing! Hats off to you and the team for all you do in organising such a fabulous event! It was lovely to be able to meet you too and have a brief chat - thank you! I’ve written a blog post all about my ‘Yarndale Adventures’ if you’re interested... xx 😊❤️🌊🌊🌊

[Jeannette]

The wonderful Larissa at Mmmcrafts uses Sulky brand stick and stitch. It's changed its name but the old stuff is $5 US cheaper. I've purchased many of Larissa's embroidery patterns, which call for the use of the stick on paper. It works great on felt and I imagine would be fine with knitted fabric.
Here's the link where Larissa discusses it in painful detail.
http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/2017/01/having-problems-with-your-sulky.html

[Ruth]

I'm another one struck by the gorgeousness of the wool embroidery and I'm looking forward to seeing what you do. I'm hoping for a post about Yarndale too.

[mrs. smythe]

What a find! I would definitely wear that sweater. Such a pretty color. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

[Rae]

I have a teal cardi almost the same as that! But Im not a granny!lol Looking forward to seeing what you folksy ideas you come up with. Thank you for all the Yarndale pictures.

[Green Girl Gardener]

Last night I really wanted to get stuck into some crochet (Christmas approaching and so many wips!) but my hands were just too cold, so I think I need to make myself some fingerless mittens and I may have a go at embroidering on them after your inspiration. Hope you had a fabulous time at Yarndale - I hope to get there next year xx.

[Teresa Kasner]

The wooly embroidery on the mittens is fabulous and I look forward to seeing what wonderful things you come up with after being inspired by them. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

[Charlotte.]

Looking forward to seeing the granny project.

[Megan]

I found this post so inspiring, absolutely love the embroidered mittens and leg warmers! I think that is water soluable interfacing ☺️ That would make life easier though I have stitched through thin tracing paper before with good results.

[Alison]

Knew there was a Posie Gets Cozy post about waste canvas somewhere! Used for the beautiful monagramme on the birthday coronet: http://www.posiegetscozy.com/2017/09/couch-and-cake-topper.html I haven't tried it myself but this tutorial also seemed very clear: https://oliverands.com/community/blog/2013/02/customizing-with-oliver-s-cross-stitching-with-waste-canvas.html

[CJ]

Hurray for buttons made of wood, much nicer than plastic, and what a fantastic selection. I know what you mean about being sucked into a rabbit hole of delicious inspiration, there are some amazing and beautiful things out there. I have the most gorgeous mits in my Ravelry favourites notebook. Almost no chance of making them, they are really tricky, but oh, they are so beautiful. I shall look forward to seeing your cardigan all prettily stitched. CJ xx

[Hooks and Needles]

I was going to say waste canvas, like Wanda too. It was all the rage 20+ yrs ago with cross stitch, allowing you to cross stitch on clothing. Cathy x

[Cate]

Is there going to be a Yarndale Calendar for 2019?

[Angela- Southern USA]

Definitely eye candy! I'm sure the cardigan with be beautiful. The white fabric she is embroidering over is fabric stabilizer for embroidery, you can buy leave in stabilizer, tear away, or water soluble stabilizer, depending on the need (the more stitches the heavier the stabilizer needed). I look forward to seeing the finished cardi. xxxxxxxxxx

[Jacqui]

That's hilarious as I have bought a cardy to upcycle about a month ago and am doing the same thing but plan a patchwork flower to one side and different colour buttons as it has gold ones, but am having difficulty deciding on my patchwork/applique flower. But maybe embroidery hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm decisions decisions they are so lovely cant wait to see your finished cardy.xx

[HOLLEY DOWNS]

I cannot believe I keep missing Yarndale. I so loved sending my crochet across the pond for you to use at Yarndale. I probably will not ever be able to come see this wonderful event, so I took pleasure in part of me being there. I love your blog and have shared it with many of my friends. Thanks for sharing your creative self with all of us.

[Sheelagh Franklin]

My first Yarndale, what bliss! Saw you but didn't get to have a chat, maybe next time?! So many beautiful things to see, I really do appreciate all the hard work that must have gone into the preparation!
I have bought two of your yarn packs, just need to find the time! The icing on the cake was getting to see your studio yesterday, I'd love to have your room, as you suggested I did have a good look round and took lots of photos😊
Thank you so very much for the opportunity to see. Love all your blogs and am always looking forward to the next.

Thanks again

Sheelagh x

[Cathy S]

Just want to say a huge thank you Lucy for all the work you put into Yarndale. This was my 2nd visit and I loved every second of it. I was also amazed and honoured to see one of my butterflies on a display board. I am now back home with another of your gorgeous blanket packs and feeling very inspired (and skint!!). Roll on next year!!!

[Debbie Mitton]

Hi Lucy,
I think the item you are talking about is soluanle
Stabiliser, used in sewing. There is one you use on the reverse of fabric when you see decorative stitches and one that is soluanle so you can put a design on the front
Of fabric, hope this helps xx

[Lindsey Daubney]

Lucy, it was so lovely to meet you at Yarndale this weekend just gone! We loved every single minute of Yarndale. What a treasure trive! Coopers cafd for lunch was amazing and chatting with you was the icing on the cake. Im feeling all inspired. I’m wanting to subscribe to your blog so I don’t miss a single thing but the link doesn’t seem to be working. When I click on the link I’m taken to another version of the blog post without the side panels and all the url links are shown in full. Normally when subscribing you can add in your email address so blog posts automatically appears in your inbox. Maybe I need to be subscribing on my pc and not my phone! Any advice?

[Wanda]

Love the cardi--can't wait to see the 'after' shots. I think you are looking for "waste canvas". My sister and I used to use this to put a cross stitch motif onto a guest towel, or a t-shirt, bag etc. Then you wet it, and pull the threads out. Alternatively you can use cross stitch fabric--although it requires more pulling to get the threads out.

[Joan Old]

I use Sulky solvy for embroidery. I print using ordinary ink and settings on my printer and have never had any trouble with it.

[Ida]

Dala-Floda is a town in Gagnef's municipality in Dalarna, which actually consists of a complex of several villages around Floda church and is the center of the Floda parish.

Handicraft has a strong tradition in the landscape of Dalarna.
https://www.flodahemslojd.se/store