a little weekend inspiration

I love looking through the collections at V&A. There is always so much to be seen. I found this little beauty today.

 It is amazing to me the time women used to take on making special garments. Take this smock for example, think of the time each stitch took, how long it took to draw/transfer this design on, and how large this piece might have been. It is amazing to me, just amazing. I wish I could go back in time and get to see the making of something like this. See the techniques they used, see the wheel they spun there thread on, and of course the magnificent event they wore it to. So many things to dream on.  To see more on this smock, including a description...click here.
Well I am off to Colorado for two days, but I will return with a lot of stitching finished, so more projects to share on Tuesday!

Happy Friday!
-Brooke

Busy Stitching....

I have been busy stitching up some samples for the CHA show coming up in Jan. Just thought I would share the finished products!

Hope everyone's week is flying by!!

Happy Stitching,
Brooke

Free Snowflake Ornament Pattern!

Hop on over to our Flickr page and you will find this FREE ornament pattern. 

You can make ornaments for your tree, your kid's teachers, gift tags, put these on a blanket, scarf...the possibilities are endless!! Post some pics to our Flickr group when you get the snowflakes stitched up! 

Happy Holidays from Colonial Patterns! May your holiday be filled with love and joy!

-Brooke

In progress.......

Been stitch'n on a Happy Homemaker tea towel. I just love her. I will post a picture when she is all complete!

Happy Tuesday All!
Brooke

What are you thankful for?

As Thanksgiving quickly approaches we are reminded to think about the things we are thankful for. Today I am thankful for my mother, grandmother, great grandmother and all the women that came before me. We are a very blessed people to have things, like embroidery, quilting, sewing, crochet and cooking passed down to us from our families. We get our interest, creativity and inspiration from these women. Today (like everyday), I am very grateful for all my talents. I cannot imagine life without the joy of creating something with my own two hands and getting to give it away to someone else. So many people's lives are filled with reality television and gossip magazines. I think it is time, now more than ever to create and give gifts. Show the world there is something greater out there than "real life television", actual real life! After all the joy from creating something last a heck of a lot longer than a thirty minute show. It can bring happiness for many, many years to come.
Like my Uncle Tom says, "You get out of life what you put in". Share your talents with someone you love this holiday season. You never know were your talent might end up in 60 or 200 years. Might just be in your great granddaughter's hands.

This image is from the Library of Congress--you can view more images from Pie Town, NM in the forties here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2178354733/in/set-72157603671370361/

Happy Stitching all!
Brooke

Around the warehouse

Many of you have asked me to post about our daily work here at Colonial Patterns...so here we go!

New projects that I need to get embroidered before the next Trade Show (it is in LA this year in the dead of winter----WAHOO!) I can't wait to post some pics of them in progress--the asian pillowcase is going to be awesome! These are all from our new patterns (with the exception of the colonial girl on the bottom middle--that one is old, but I just LOVE her :)

Oh a messy desk. Don't they say something about a messy desk is the indication of a genius? I think I might qualify :) If you look real close you can see the preview of two new SR patterns (a cooking one and a sewing one--can't wait to get these out to you all!)

Our Trade Show booth-I have been working on adding some excitement-but you gotta have it all set up to do that, so here it is in the back warehouse. There is more to do on it (but I have like a million projects started all at once-also a sign of a genius? or a crazy woman? we'll just have to see :)

This is our main warehouse where our lovely ladies fill orders. There are rows and rows of AM patterns--it was like a dream the first time I walked through....so much crafting and so many hours of joy to come from all those patterns. It just makes my heart happy!

Order fill station for Home Craft orders (people like you who call in and order our patterns direct)

This is our stuffing machine, it takes the patterns and inserts them into the envelopes. It was originally made for stuffing tax papers in envelopes at a local KC government office. It is pretty cool to see it in action and running--it is a very unique machine.

Okay-well I must get back to all my projects, but I wanted to show you a little of what I get to see everyday. It is a great place to work-I am a very lucky woman!

Happy Stitching to you all--many, many projects to come soon!
Brooke

We have a WINNER!

Giddy99!! You get all 7 new patterns! Send me a message (brooke{at}colonialpatterns.com) and I will get you the new set in the mail!

Everyone watch for new patterns in the Stitcher's Revolution line this Spring--I have four new ones in the works already!

Happy Stitching All!
Brooke

Oh so Stitchy Watch

So CUTE!!! This is too fun. Gotta hand it to those folks over at Anthropologie. This watch it super fun!

Happy Friday all! I am off to celebrate Thanksgiving early this year! So many things to be thankful for!

-Brooke

SEVEN new Aunt Martha's patterns!

Well, we have been busy here at Colonial Patterns! Seven new AM patterns.

Check em out--tell us which one is your favorite for a chance to WIN a set of the new patterns! Just leave a comment on this post for a chance to win (contest closes midnight November 2, 2010).

Happy Stitching all!
Brooke

Find us in STITCH magazine!

We are so excited about the Fall issue of STITCH magazine! There are so many great projects in this issue, and much to my surprise when flipping through our patterns are featured in the What's New + Cool section on page 6!

Grab your copy today and check it out! There is an awesome take-along sewing kit on page 74...I'll be sure to post some pictures when I get  mine made!

Happy Stitching + Happy Friday!
Brooke

Don't be afraid of color!

This month is national sewing month, and that  had me thinking about stepping out of our comfort zones and trying something we wouldn't normally do. I wanted to share some embroidery that is BOLD in the color choices. I think it is a nice change from the normal and maybe will get you all thinking next time you go a choos'n colors for a project.

Such a good looking rooster (Aunt Martha's 3906 Farmyard Animals) and the purple is unexpected, but nice. I like it!

More purple (shear coincidence) on this Sunbonnet gal. Usually you would think of "country" colors for this duo, but I think the bold colors are exciting and more interesting. This one is from Aunt Martha's pattern #3946 Sunbonnet Mother & Daughter.

Hope this gets you inspired to try new colors (or new patterns) that you wouldn't have tried before! You can post some bold color choices of your own on our Flickr group....http://www.flickr.com/groups/stitchersrevolution/

We always LOVE seeing what our customers are up to!

Happy Stitching (and sewing)!

Brooke

late night project

I am deep in wedding mode (33 days to go, thus my neglect of the blog), but just had to stop and make this for myself last night. I am ALWAYS (and I do mean always) looking for a needle and then it hit me...duh a needle book. So I just grabbed some fabric from the scraps bin, a needle (yes I found one) and some embroidery floss.

The main floral fabric I used was a gem I bought on a trip to NY in college. I bought it at flea market on the street. I just love it--everything about it makes me smile :) I stitched a little on the fabric and enhanced the beauty, but found that it blends in so much because I picked colors that match too perfectly--oh well, I still love it. And have found that it is so much easier to track down that needle when I need it. But I will say, I think I will make another one to keep in the sewing room, then this one can travel with projects. I just might have to embroider on it using our new sewing pattern (still working on it, but it is almost ready for the printer)...then the embroidery will show up for sure!

Happy Stitching!
-B

Embroidery jewelry

I was screen shopping (modern version of the good ol window shopping) on etsy yesterday and I found this wonderful shop, Spinthread. Take a look at her jewelry, it is a wonderful beautiful way to show the world you love stitch'n!

 

Her colors are just beautiful! I'll be getting a pair of earrings for sure! Love it!

Happy Stitching!

Brooke

Christmas in July!

Need a good reason to think of snow and 30° weather? Well here it is going to be over 100° today, so I figure its time to think chilly! Get those needles ready ladies, get that red and green floss out. It's time to think of Christmas gifts. We have two specials running on our website For the month of July. So get em while they're HOT!

Reindeer Games Kit Incudes: 

Aunt Martha's pattern #3996

10 skeins of DMC floss in coordinating colors

9 vintage stripe red tea towels

Retails for $34.17 on SALE for $27.34

 

Twelve Days of Christmas Kit Incudes: 

Aunt Martha's Pattern Collection #C950

12 white quilt blocks

Retails for $15.80 on SALE for $12.64

Happy Hour Apron

No Summer is complete without a BBQ (at least here in Kansas City), so I thought we needed an extra special apron for our next shin-dig. This one features our Happy Hour Pattern (#4012) and our Vintage Stripe Bib Apron. 

You could also use Some Like it Hot (#4004), Superb Herbs (#4001) or Wine Country (#3998). They would all be just perfect on this apron. 

One can never have too many aprons. I keep my holiday ones stored with the holiday decorations, then when it is time to pull them out I have a fun new apron to wear for a month. This one could stay out all year long...Happy Hour knows no season :) right?

Happy Stitching, 

Brooke

Fun Summer 80's Bag

I needed a new little bag to carry my lunches in...so poof...here it is. I used our SR5 pattern 80s Vibes. It was simple to do it in applique and made it a quicker project than embroidering the whole she-bang.

I made a copy of the pattern I wanted to use. Then cut out each shape from the pattern. Select your fabric scraps and cut around the paper shapes creating each piece of the pattern (sometimes I had to get crafty and fill in the blank spots since the hearts overlap in a few spots on the pattern).

Then using some fusible web I ironed on the shapes to my bag (starting with the pieces in the back and building up my layers to the front hearts) and then hand embroidered around them with some DMC floss! What a great fun summer project. Great for those medium kiddos too. They can do the cutting and the simple stitching, just be sure to supervise the ironing :) You can use any stitches you want for the embroidery and any colors--have fun with it!

Happy Stitching, 

Brooke

One of my favorite customers

Mary Francis came in today and brought me some her work to see. Of course I grabbed my camera and took  tons of pictures!

She is an amazing stitcher-take close look (go ahead, I'll wait.......pretty great huh?), so even and so small.

She told me she has been stitching since she was 5 with the same hoop and thimble that her mother gave her. Such a wonderful inspiration. I hope you all enjoy her work. Off for  a busy weekend. See you all Monday!

Brooke

famous? no quite yet

Well it turns out our new Stitcher's Revolution patterns will be featured in Sew News magazine (Dec/Jan issue)! Wahoo! We are so excited here--we can't wait to see it! But you know, this does make us almost famous. I better dig out that pair of sunglasses and scarf, I might need it leaving the building come Christmas. 

In the mean time, check them out--Sew News is awesome. You'll love the tips/tricks, tool and patterns they have!

Rock'n Roll Jean Jacket

I found this jacket at a thrift store and decided it needed some love and stitching--what else right? The hardest part was ironing on the transfer over the back seam, but I did my best and then just used a disappearing ink pen and darkened the lines so I didn't miss anything. It still needs two more cool buttons, but I'll get those on there.

It is made using our SR4 pattern, Rock'n & Roll'n. I love it. Can't wait to take some pictures with it on my niece, she will think it ROCKS!

I am off to Colorado for a family weekend--I will see you all on Monday! Happy crafting! More projects to be posted after 20 hours in the car (for sure). 

-Brooke

german embroidery inspiration

while scouring the internet for some embroidery inspiration today I found this beautiful old German stitching. The translation is "The bells of my home town gently call me back to the green valley".
I thought it was so beautiful and it made me long for a simpler time when there were green valleys and time for stitching. My grandmother was German, an avid stitcher, crafter, crocheter and quilter. I wish today I could sit with her, stitching and talking. What a nice day that would be. No iphone, tv or internet to distract us. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Well, off for the long weekend...and some stitching on the back porch!

Happy Stitching everyone!!
-Brooke

Candlewicking? who knew?

Yet another new embroidery lesson since I began this job--Candlewicking. I admitadly had not heard of it, but now that I have the knowledge I will share :) This is what crafters do.

Candlewicking is a form of whitework embroidery that traditionally uses an unbleached cotton thread on a piece of unbleached muslin. It gets its name from the nature of the soft spun cotton thread, which was braided then used to form the wick for candles. Motifs are created using a variety of traditional embroidery stitches as well as a tufted stitch. Subject matter is usually taken from nature - flowers, insects, pine trees, and so on, Other traditional motifs resemble Pennsylvania Dutch or Colonial American designs. Modern designs include colored floss embroidery with the traditional white on white stitching. (thank you Wikipedia)

Well now that you know too, here is the project I am working on this week. A little updated version of candlewicking...tell me what you think.