I'm Back!!!!

After a long, unplanned, unannounced, and unwelcome hiatus, I'm back.  Not a moment too soon, huh?! I seriously can't believe it's been over two months since I blogged, what a jerk! For a moment, I even considered just deleting the whole thing all together.  I didn't want to be too rash though.  A lot has happened, I'll tell you all about it.  Just as soon as I follow up with these mushrooms I promised...oh so long ago.

The ones I made for my Christmas wreath were yarn wrapped.  Since that's in the tutorial link, I'll spare you the reiteration. However, I will say that I had the best results when I glued the yarn from the bottom to the top. (Meaning, flip it over so that you are gluing from the stem up.)  While making those, I felt that the mushies had so much potential for personalization.  So I had to experiment, typical me.

First up, stake out your corks.  Hannah used empty spools, but I figured I could use painted corks.  Waste not, want not.  Right?  I drove pins through a piece of foam to hold the corks in place.  It helps you paint them quickly while keeping your fingers clean.  These ones are the bulbous end of Champagne corks.  I used the flared side on the Christmas ones, a little cuter that way but these work.

Then cut your styrofoam balls in half, I used the two inch size.  Go slowly or the styrofoam wants to break apart unevenly, I used an old bread knife.  

Next, cut your fabric.  You'll need two circles for each mushroom.  One large and one small.  Cut the larger piece just big enough to wrap around the styrofoam, with it being secured along the bottom edge.  Cut the smaller one to diameter of the styrofoam cap.

I cut slits along the edge of the top piece to help it fold under nicely.  I used hot glue but I sure you could use something else.  I just have no patience for drying time.  With that being said, too much hot glue will cause the styrofoam to melt a bit and smell funky.  I worked near a window for that part.

Once you have all the tabs glued down, add your smaller circle with tiny dabs of glue.  I found this method to work best.  If you cut the top circle to cover the entire underside, it's very bulky and looks sloppy.

Glue on your stem.  Admire your cute mushrooms!  At least one will turned into a silly pencil topper, you know, since I'm really five years old on the inside.  Then I'll still have about ten of these guys, so I'm thinking garland with the rest.  I don't know yet. 

To make them hanging I'm going to sew tiny strips of matching fabric.  Insert a flat head straight pin in one end, bring the other end of the strip around to the pin and cover it.  Sew in a loop, shove the pin in the cap.  Boom, hanging ornament.  I'm sure you could do the same thing with a piece of embroidery floss that's been knotted.  That would show the pin though, which wont matter if you're hanging it up high.  I think I want mine to line my desk though.

Anyways, super easy and really cute!  Great project for recycling and fabric scraps, too.  (Just in case you are wondering what they look like with felt, don't bother! ICKY!  The material was way to thick for this size of mushroom, it may have potential for large ones though.)

Geez, long enough post for?!  Told you guys, I'm back.  Long-winded, silly, sacrcastic me, coming at ya!  And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about "Snapshot Friday" after all this time.

Tried This?

Hello kiddos!  I've been stitching a whole lot lately, so I've got nothing but needles and thread on my mind today.  It occurred to me that you guys might like to know some of the tips and tricks that I use when I'm embroidering.

One of the most common complaints with embroidery is how tough it is to work with metallic floss.  In the beginning, I felt the same way.  Years ago I suffered through a race car project made entirely of metallic floss... and all six strands of it too.  After a newcomer mistake like that it's a wonder I ever picked up a needle again.  I've mentioned Thread Heaven before as something that will help you out.  However, I'll show you a little something that you can do that won't cost you anything.  

Did you know that there is a correct way to thread your needle with metallic floss?  Yep, there sure is.  I know you're thinking, don't you just cut a piece, knot one end and put the other through the eye of the needle and then get to stitching?  Well, that will work too but trust me, once you try it the other way you'll never go back.  

Cut a piece of floss twice as long as the length you like working with.  Separate one strand of floss from the skein and fold it in half.

Thread the loop created by folding it through the eye of the needle.

Pull this loop over the sharp end of the needle.

Pull the loop back to the eye of the needle.

Adjust the loop so that it held securely under the eye of the needle.

Knot the loose end of the floss as you would normally and get to stitching.

Sometimes I like to mix metallic floss with a regular color.  You can use the same method to accomplish that, just place the two threads together before you fold them in the first step.  Running some thread conditioner or a damp cloth over them in the beginning with help when you are stitching with them.

A few more tips for metallic floss-

* Work slow, choosing the placement of your stitches carefully.  As this type of floss is stiffer than regular embroidery floss it will not lie the same against your fabric.

* Using a slightly larger needle helps too.  It allows the floss to pass through with less fraying.

* If you get tangled up, just let go.  Drop the needle and it will unwind itself.  And with this method you don't have to worry about losing the needle when you do this.

Did I forget anything?  Do you have a tip for working with tricky floss?  If so, I would love to hear it!

Thanks for looking, have a creative and productive day.  Go make something with your shiny floss.

P.S.  Dearest Sam... a teaser for you.  So, the copper floss I used to demonstrate this method?  One of your pieces has already used a whole skein of it!  Curious now, aren't you?  Hmmmm, what could it be?