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BATB Hardanger bookmark kits

yvette — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:40:12 +0000

Because the advertising for next year’s Beating Around the Bush conference is now out, I have already had a few enquiries for the kit for the Hardanger Bookmark that I will be teaching.

I think it is lovely that people are keen to try this project, but the kit is not yet available. I have not yet even written the instructions! I ask that you be patient, as I won’t have the chance to even think about this until after the book I am currently writing is finished. Being completely realistic, I will probably end up writing the instructions and putting the kits together in the month before the conference.

The kits will only be limited editions – once they are gone, they are gone. This is because I don’t generally stock Hardanger fabrics and threads for sale – there are so many different types and colours of fabric and thread that it could take over my business. Writing books is my core business, not selling Hardanger supplies, and there are many excellent businesses out there who will happily sell you Hardanger supplies.

If you are interested in the kits though, and would like to be one of those who purchase a limited edition kit for the bookmark, you can register your interest here. That will help me with numbers for how many kits I should make up.

The advertised kit cost in the Beating Around the Bush programme does not include any postage (because I will hand deliver them to the students in my class!) and therefore is different than what will eventually be here on the Vetty Creations website. I am sure you understand this.

So, in short, the kits for the Hardanger Bookmarks that I will be teaching at Beating Around the Bush will be available after the conference in April 2012. They will be limited edition kits, but you are welcome to register your interest now, to purchase one. Thank you for your patience.

Cottage Garden Threads

yvette — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 20:39:59 +0000

Yesterday’s post about red thread brought an amazingly long and detailed reply from Suzy. If you haven’t read it, go and check it out! Suzy knows a lot about red thread!

She talked a lot about Cottage Garden Threads, probably because I mentioned the other day that I think I need to know more about them. So I had a little look on the web, and came up with the Cottage Garden Threads blog and website. They had a wonderful post with really nicely photographed skeins of their threads, which helped me to see the colours Suzy had talked about.

And so I was thinking, “I wonder where I can get my hands on some of these threads?” and then it occurred to me that next week (yes, that’s right, *next week*) I’ll be at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair, and maybe, just maybe, I might find them there! What an opportunity! I hope I find some.

embroidery hoop love

yvette — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:43:09 +0000

Yesterday I finally got my gorgeous new embroidery hoops with stands up on my website. I wanted to really illustrate how versatile and useful they really are, so I took a series of photos ilustrating the different things that make them just a delight to work with.

NB: embroidery and hoop binding NOT included with product. Shown for illustrative purposes only.
Fig A: Embroidery stand in use. You sit with the kidney shaped part under your leg, stabilising the whole setup as you stitch. As you can see, it stands by itself also, so if you have to go away, it won’t fall over!
Fig B: Hoop turned to side.
Fig C: Hoop turned 90 degrees and flipped right up.
Fig D: Extended to full height.
Fig E: Can be tightened with a screwdriver for extra strong tightening.
Fig F: Hoop flipped up to allow access to the back of the embroidery. The inner hoop has been bound.

I still remember the day I first got mine. I was so excited, and I just sat there embroidering, periodically exclaiming “I love my new hoop!” I think the family got sick of hearing me! I love the way that I can use it with both hands, adjusting it to the height that I want (so I don’t hunch over, doing dreadful things to my back) and the angle I want. It really is one of my most favourite pieces of embroidery equipment.

Its just compact enough that I can take the hoop out of the stand and take it with me to embroider while waiting for the kids various activities. The hoop is deep, making it very stable and sturdy, and giving extra “grip” than a narrow hoop does. The wood is gorgeously smooth – there’s no burrs on this wood, like you sometimes get with cheapy hoops. This is a product of quality!

The hoop size that I am selling is 215mm/8 inches diameter. Other sizes are available, so if you would like one of the following, please email me and I can do a special order.

155mm/6 inch
185mm/7 inch
215mm/8 inch
250mm/10 inch
275mm/11 inch
305mm/12 inch

All these sizes of hoop are useable in the one stand. I have a couple of different sizes, and can change between them, depending on the projects I am working on, and the size I prefer for that. I started with the one size hoop, and then added a larger size to my collection later on.

If you’d like to enjoy the same embroidery hoop love that I do, you can now purchase these lovely embroidery hoops and stands from Vetty Creations. Get one today, and I know you’ll love it!

Lumidomes now available

yvette — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 19:20:28 +0000

Vetty Creations are now stocking Lumidome acrylic ball magnifiers.

Just place the Lumidome (inset) on the surface to be magnified (top picture). The surface is automatically magnified to 3 times its original size.

The ambient light is focused onto the surface, also making it brighter (bottom picture).

Its so simple, yet so effective. There’s nothing to get broken, and no batteries needed.

Place the Lumidome magnifier on your embroidery if you’re checking for a mistake. Place the Lumidome on your chart to see where the next stitch is supposed to go. Place the magnifier on needlework to see close up what stitches have been used.

The Lumidome magnifier comes with its own fabric pouch to help keep it clean and scratch-free.

Order your Lumidome from Vetty Creations today!

new stock arriving

yvette — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 19:29:01 +0000

In preparation for the craft show in June, I’ve been ordering in new stock. I’ve got some left-handed embroidery scissors, lumidome magnifiers, and some embroidery hoops with stands that you sit on.

Hopefully I’ll get these added on to my website over the next few days before I go off to Brisbane this weekend, otherwise it will be early next week.

I’ve been wanting to get some left-handed embroidery scissors for ages, so that people can have them to go with their left-handed stitch dictionaries (The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion).

The Lumidomes are something I discovered when I was teaching at Springwood in January. They’re very clever and simple, and you can use them to magnify a pattern or embroidery so easily! I will warn you that they only had a small quantity of them in stock, and the rest of my ordered quantity is on backorder. If you want one, it’ll be first in, best dressed until the rest arrive in about 3 weeks time. I’ll let you know if you are unfortunately one who will need to be a little bit patient.

The embroidery hoops with the stands that you sit on (sounds a bit weird if you don’t know what I’m talking about, doesn’t it?) are the type of hoop that I use, AND LOVE. I reviewed mine way back in February 2009, which you can read here. My embroidery world improved SO much the day I bought mine some years ago, and having recently found a source for them, I’m thrilled to be able to stock such a great product.

I’ll let you know as soon as the stock is added to the website shop.

Added later: The left-handed embroidery scissors are now up on the website. Waiting on the other products to be delivered still.

new merezhka pattern

yvette — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 19:11:15 +0000

Newly released Merezhka daisies cloth pattern

I know that there are some of you who have really wanted me to produce some new Merezhka designs. In an effort to keep you happy, I’ve been through some of my teaching projects to see what there is that can be released for general sale.

A new design is now available: Merezhka daisies cloth pattern. This pattern makes a beautiful table centre for any table. It features a contemporary design of daisies, and would add a freshness to any setting.

Merezhka is drawn thread embroidery from Ukraine. This particular type of merezhka (there are a number of different styles) is from the Poltava region, and uses the small scale method with wrapped bullion corners.

The design is for an intermediate to advanced merezhka stitcher.

Purchase the pattern and find more information about the Merezhka daisies cloth at the Vetty Creations online shop. You can also learn more about Merezhka at the Vetty Creations merezhka page, and from my book Ukrainian Drawn Thread Embroidery.

Right-handed stitch dictionary now available!

yvette — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 20:31:17 +0000

Ta Da! The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion: a step-by-step stitch dictionary was delivered yesterday afternoon. That means I will be posting all orders today, and all future orders will be posted as they are received.

The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion came about because The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion was receiving such rave reviews from both left and right-handers, that right-handers were getting jealous. It was a situation that was completely solvable by me doing the right-handed version to keep all the right-handers happy.

The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion is the book you asked for, and here it is! I had said that it would be available from August, but happily it has arrived about three weeks earlier than I had originally hoped.

You can find more information on its page on our website, and you can also see a turn-the-page preview on Scribd. (It is pretty memory intensive, so it may be slow to load. Please just be patient.)

For those of you who are left-handed, our book The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion has been available for several months, and is still receiving rave reviews.

So whether you are left-handed or right-handed, there is now an embroidery stitch dictionary just for you! Add yours to your bookshelf, workbasket or embroidery bag today.

Right-handed book arriving this week

yvette — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 20:28:25 +0000

Not much to say today. I haven’t been well – been sleeping, knitting and keeping warm.

But I thought that you would like to know that failing dock strikes (and they haven’t happened around here in many a year) or such things, my shipment of The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion should be arriving some time this week. That means that all you lovely people who have pre-ordered a copy will have yours sent out most likely on the day after they arrive.

Anyone who hasn’t pre-ordered can order their own copy now, and it will be sent as soon as the shipment arrives (well, the next day – I do need some rest!)

Of course, if you are left-handed, your very own stitch dictionary The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion is already available, and receiving rave reviews. If its not already on your bookshelf or in your embroidery workbasket/bag, it should be!

springy silks

yvette — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:15:33 +0000

I was fortunate to get my hands on some gorgeous single ply silks from Stitches and Spice at the craft show. Naomi from Stitches and Spice is a good friend of Kirsten‘s and therefore my friend too by default. She has a lovely new range of single ply silks out, and I was quite taken with them. Naomi took pity on me and allowed me to have some to try out seeing I am a “Professional Designer”. (How nice is that?!)

You can see that they have a divine shine to them. I love the colours, though a few more reds would be to my liking!

I have a problem though… You can see a bit of mess in the middle. While they come nicely twisted into skeins on their cards, they won’t stay like that for long. They are so springy which makes them a bit hard to keep neat!

I was talking yesterday with a lady who does Japanese embroidery, and she said that their silks come on cylinders, which keeps them neat, but doesn’t give kinks like regular thread winders would.

I haven’t got any inside tubes from fax rolls at the moment (though it doesn’t take long – I get so much fax spam!) but I’m thinking that they’d be good to wind the thread onto.

I did also purchase some Thread Heaven (thread conditioner for springy threads) from Stitches and Spice which will help when I use the threads to stitch with. I’ve never tried it before and am looking forward to trying it. But that’s for stitching and not for storing.

How do others store springy threads that don’t want kinks? Can you share any good tips with me?

Right-handed book advance copy arrived!

yvette — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:51:42 +0000

Yesterday morning when Belinda and I were carting stuff out to the car, a truck pulled up out the front with what looked to be council workers in it. I said “Looks like some guys have come to dig up the footpath or something.” Then I noticed their woodchipper on the back, and realised they had come to chop down the great big liquidambar tree that was on council land out the front of our house.

The tree was marked several years ago with spray paint, which meant that it was earmarked for chopping down. It was large (and lovely) but kept uprooting sections of footpath, which council had to replace every few years or risk being sued. In fact, I still remember the day that Nanna and Pa were visiting, and we were saying goodbye to them, and Nanna tripped on the path and hurt herself. Nanna hasn’t been with us for quite some number of years, yet I can still see her falling in slow motion.

So anyway, they came to chop it down. A guy came over to explain to me what they were going to do. He asked if we had any cars that would need to come out during the morning. I said yes. He said, “Well I might get you to do it now, if that’s ok.” I replied “No, actually, because we are packing it.” He said that they’d just have to move when we needed to leave.

So they set up a huge cherrypicker and proceeded to make a lot of noise with their chainsaw. I didn’t take much notice though, as we were just slightly busy packing boxes into the car (it all fitted!!). They were a little annoyed when we indicated about half an hour later that we needed to leave. But we did warn them!

I came home hours later to find a stump. It’ll be ground out when they get the chance.

Both my daughters cried and cried when they saw it. We really had no warning, so it was a bit of a shock for all of us. Of course, we had known for some years that they would cut it down, but when it takes so long for them to get to it, you don’t really imagine that they ever will.

But as the title of this post says, in the midst of all that, the courier must have been able to find his way to our front door, because there was a lovely parcel waiting on my doorstep in the afternoon, with my advance copies of The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion inside.

OH they look wonderful!! So I will have one – under a VERY watchful eye – with me at the craft show this week, and those of you who are right-handed can have a look before ordering your very own copy, due to come late July.