Prim Bunny (A Free Sewing Pattern)

Can you spot the burlap rose on my little prim bunny? I ended up painting, staining and then baking my burlap strip before making the rosette. I wanted it to more closely match the bunny itself. The osnaburg and burlap both have such wonderful textures but I wanted them the same color. I think it makes just the perfect bushy bunny's tail, don't you?

There are many prim bunny patterns like this one, especially this time of year. This is just my interpretation. I contemplated little french knot eyes or a stitched nose (both of which would look very sweet) but at the end I always choose less.

I love the way she came out, especially her lines. I was a little concerned sketching the pattern. Sewing curves is not my favorite thing to do and I don't think there's a straight line anywhere in there. Her curves are soft though and I had no problem whatsoever stitching her up. I think they give her such a graceful look and are most likely the reason I've decided that she is a she. Of course yours can be a boy. You can leave off the tail entirely, if you wish. Or perhaps some wool roving? I think she would look sweet with a little rusty bell tied around her neck or a burlap saddle over her back. My bunny is painted white then tea stained but how about a brown or black bunny?

If you would like to download the free sewing pattern you can do so from my Free Patterns page. As always, if you have any trouble downloading the pattern just send me an e-mail at appleseedprim@yahoo.com and I will e-mail you a copy of the pattern. I'd love to see what you guys come up with so be sure to send me photos of your finishes. For now, it's time for me to put away the sewing machine and get back to stitching. I'll share my progress with all of you soon enough but now my stitching and I are in much need of some quality time :)

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Burlap Rose Tutorial

I wanted to share with you how I make a burlap rose. There are so many tutorials out there already but the most common way I've seen it done leaves a very large base on the rose which wasn't going to work for my purposes. This particular technique is common as well, though it's typically done using ribbon. I figured, why not give it a try. This is only my second tutorial and my first where I had to take photos of myself as I was doing it. Bear with me on the quality of the photos and just ignore my little sausage fingers :)

Start with a strip of burlap. The larger the strip, the larger the rose. Mine was bout 3/4 inch wide and about fifteen inches long and I ended up with a rose about an inch in diameter. I laid my strip out on my work table and labeled each of the ends so that you can follow along more easily.

First step is to take the top end (End 1) and fold it over the strip to form a right angle.

Next, fold the bottom end (End 2) over the right angle fold.

Then fold End 1 back across End 2 and continue folding in the same manner until you run out of burlap. You'll end up with a little "package" like the one in the photos below.

On one end of the bundle you'll have your original right angle fold.

On the other end of the bundle you'll have your last fold and two little burlap tails.

Release the bundle and you'll have a little accordian snake that will keep it's shape.

With one hand grasp the last fold, where the two tails meet, between your thumb and forefinger.

With your other hand hold the tail that forms the last top fold, the tail that is laying over the other tail.

Finally, while holding the one tail, push down with the other hand. The folds will began to gather to form the outside of the rose as the center of the rose is being pulled through. At the end you should have a little rosebud that has one really long tail and one shorter one.

I hope my instructions weren't too confusing, but if it doesn't work the first time, keep trying. If you've never used this technique before to make roses I suggest you start with a piece of ribbon. It's a little easier to work with and will give you an idea how it's supposed to work. Once you have the technique down you can move onto using the burlap. It also works nicely with a strip of fabric. Now the burlap does fray but that just adds to the prim. There can be threads left popping out of your rose from the burlap and when that happens I simply trim them away. Depending on what you're going to use the rose for you can either glue the folds in place (my least favorite choice) or put in a few stitches to hold it all in place. For my purposes I laid the two tails (now at the bottom of your rose) up against one another and ran it through my sewing machine a few times as close to the base of the rose as possible then snipped the tails as short as I wanted them.

Tomorrow, I'll be sharing with you what I ended up using my burlap rose for. You might want to make a few of your own in the meantime since I think you'll like what I came up with :)

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Samplermakers Spring Stitcher's Challenge

Some of you might remember the Samplermakers Autumn Stitcher's Challenge that I hosted awhile ago. It was so much fun I decided to host another. Now, Spring is not my favorite time of the year, so designing the motifs was a challenge in and of itself. The photo above are just a few of the free patterns offered for the challenge. What do you think?

Now this challenge is open only to members of Samplermakers. I know quite a few of you are already members and I hope you download the free patterns and give it a try. I loved seeing what you came up with for the Autumn Stitcher's Challenge and I'm hoping your new designs help me get in the spirit of Spring.

If you're not a member of Samplermakers just e-mail me at appleseedprim@yahoo.com and I'd be happy to send you login information. Just sign in and start socializing! It's a wonderful group of stitchers that, though they have been quiet as of late, are a real hoot once they get going.

For all of my blogger friends I have a sewing pattern coming in a day or so, perfect for Spring, so be sure to check back. Most people (I've been told) feel rejuvenated by Spring. I get lethargic, but am trying to stay motivated. The more projects the better but without all of you to share them with I'd probably be sulking on the sofa with all the blinds pulled down. So thanks for being my own personal cheering squad. I don't know what I'd do without you guys.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Keeping Threads

The arrival of the new threads from Gentle Arts was the perfect excuse to continue my organization. My threads are already (reasonably) well organized into little shoe boxes. I tied painted scraps of fabric onto the boxes to denote what colors are stored inside. The threads themselves are stored in little baggies; it's the only way I've come up with to keep the skeins and loose threads all together. Whenever I'm working on a project I simply take out the box of the color I'm looking for and sort through until I find the perfect one. My problem arises in that I usually have to take out several before I decide and the "rejects" are simply tossed in a basket to be put away later. I have such a basket in almost every room of my house, as I'm always chasing the sunlight throughout the house when choosing colors. The basket in the photo is just one of many and I'm ashamed to say they were all overflowing.

What seemed a reasonably simple task quickly became something more. The boxes already house more than one color thread: green and blue, orange and yellow and so on. Both to fill the box and to make color placement easier. Still I end up with a brown that is awfully golden, a blue so deep it could be black, and a green that could be brown. Of course, I think a large part of it has to do with my mood. I'll put a particular color in with yellow and then when I finally find it a few months later wonder why on earth it wasn't where it belonged in with the browns. I think I might be making this more complicated than it needs to be :)

I decided to pull out of the boxes all of my DMC threads and store them somewhere else. Where else I haven't decided yet. I also took out all of my Gentle Arts Simply Wool threads and am now keeping them with my wool scraps. I use them almost exclusively for wool applique so this just makes more sense. Or at least it does to me now. Aren't the colors beautiful? They're slightly different in color than their cotton thread counterparts. I don't use them very often but after seeing this photo I'm wondering why not.


I've tried so many different ways to organize threads and am always searching for the next "better" way. How do you keep your threads?

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Gentle Arts Spring 2012 Colors

As I promised, here are the new colors from Gentle Arts. I apologize for the late afternoon light but the mailman came a little later today than usual.

Burlap is a very golden brown. To me it looks like strong tea with a little cream in it.

Carriage Black is a faded black that when put up against a true black actually looks blue. (That sounded a little confusing when I read it back to myself). It's very similar to Weeks Dye Works Onyx.

Linen, to me, is the most interesting of the three colors. I had expected an off white but both skeins I received were a very, very subtle pink. I would say they most closely resemble the color of cherry blossoms. Speaking of cherry blossoms, they are blooming here. Before moving to this area I had seen so many photos which of course don't do the beautiful blooms justice. But then again, the photos don't make me sneeze.

They are lovely colors this year and I am already considering swapping Burlap with a color in an upcoming sampler design. I imagine I'll be using Carriage Black as well given how I love the look of faded black. Anyone have their own favorite?

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Starting the day an hour behind . . .

I have to admit I don't really understand the reasoning behind Daylight Savings Time. I've read articles that explain it has economic benefits as well as reduces power usage. I've also read article that say those benefits are negligible and that the practice itself is antiquated. I, personally, would be more than happy if they just did away with it all together. I despise starting my day and already being an hour behind. I feel as though I've been deprived of something I was wholly entitled to. Oh, what I could have done in that hour. An extra hour in Autumn and a whole extra day in February . . . wondrous . . . but today I'm grumpy. My husband says I think on these things far too much. He may be right. Besides, even waking up later than usual (according to the clock) and still feeling groggy, how upset can I be when this is the sight that greets me outside the bedroom window.

Clean white branches dotted with buds in a beautiful shade of green against a clear sky. I suppose being deprived of an hour is small price to pay for the other gifts of Spring.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Free Tulip Pattern

This is just a little tulip I stitched during my daughter's nap yesterday. I adore tulips but am not really a fan of Spring patterns. I find it particularly difficult to design or stitch for Spring given I don't enjoy the pastel colors so commonly associated with the season. I do like pale green and struggling to find a color for the tulip itself I finally happened upon orange. I usually consider this color reserved for Autumn but just a shade or two lighter than a pumpkin tipping slightly towards yellow and I think it makes a lovely Spring color.

If you would like to download the free pattern simply visit my Free Patterns page and click on the link below the photo of the stitched piece. As always, if you have any difficulty downloading the pattern please e-mail me at appleseedprim.blogspot.com and I will send the pattern to you as a file attachment.

Things have quieted down here (at least for a little while) and I am patiently waiting for the new Gentle Arts threads I ordered to arrive. I am considering using one of them in a new design and I will be sure to share pictures of them as soon as the postman gifts them to me. I adore new threads and feel a bit silly being driven by anticipation to check the mailbox a few (dozen) times a day. But you understand, don't you?

xoxo

Jennie Lynn