Back on the old horse

After some conversations with friends at work, I realized just how much I missed crafting.  I haven't really done much since my daughter was born in 2009, because, well, those babies tend to take up a lot of time.

So lately I've been scheduling more craft nights with gals from work, trips to the local paint bar, and now, finally, getting my Etsy page back up (https://www.etsy.com/shop/1stExpressions).

My first steps were to reactivate some old listings - photo manipulation, photo conversion to cross-stitch, and a sewing pattern.  Now I'm working on some new listings, and my first one is inspired by tattoos.  Introducing the Sugar Skull Girl pattern:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/238500244/sugar-skull-girl-cross-stitch-pattern

It's a great cross-stitch because it only uses a few colors, the lines are bold enough to handle being very small, but the style is simple enough to be done very large. 

Right now I'm working on making it myself on 11 gauge cloth, so it will come out rather big (about 9"x13").  I usually don't like putting up patterns until I've practiced it, but I was just so happy when I made the pattern that I wanted to share it right away.

So, to all you still out there in blogger land, let me know what you think of this new pattern.  Want to see more like it?

Cross-Stitch Pattern Process

I just finished working on 2 custom picture to cross-stitch patterns for a woman on Etsy, and I thought it would be fun to share the steps involved in the conversion.

The original photo

First off, this woman was great because she sent me high-resolution scans (300 dpi) of the old photos, which made it a lot easier to work with!

Cropping

She said she wanted her and her brother, plus the railing he was holding, but she didn't care about the rest of the background. So I started by cropping the photo down to the approximate final size. I did a few touch-ups with the color at this point to improve the skin tone. I've found that when converting to cross-stitch, skin tone becomes much darker than it appears on the computer screen. So I actually over-lightened it because I know it will come out better that way.

Touch Ups

I mentioned that I fixed some of the color. I also removed the scratches that were present in the original, like in the girl's hair and on the boy's leg. This takes a little bit of time in Photoshop, but I definitely wouldn't want those blemishes to make it through to the final piece.

Remove background
Again, the client didn't care about the background, so I cut out everything except for the two kids and a part of the railing. When the piece is stitched, she has the option of only stitching the colored parts, or stitching the entire background white (or any other color for that matter). I prefer the former method, but I like to leave that option for the client.

Pixelating
Before importing the picture into the cross-stitch software, I use Photoshop to get an idea of how it will look. I pixelate the image so that each inch is 14 pixels per side, which is the same as 14-count Aida cloth (as the client specified). The image is blurry, but overall looks good.

Convert to stitches
I import the picture into the cross-stitch software, which then re-does the pixelating that I did in the last step. Only the software takes it a step further: it matches the color value of each pixel to known embroidery thread colors. This is the crucial step that would take forever by hand. However, the downside of the software is it has a hard time with detail, so the faces can get blurry and odd-looking. Another downside is that small variation in color can become extreme when pixelated, so a person can end up with a spot of green on their cheek or purple in their hair. These have to be cleaned up by hand and that's the most time-consuming part of the project. I also check through the image to make sure that each floss color is being used wisely. For example, it is inefficient to have one stitch of dark blue in a sea of medium blue because then you have to make just that one stitch differently, but the visual result won't be any different if you did it all in medium blue (of course, detailed areas like faces are the exception - one spot of dark blue can be an eye and you don't want to lose one of them). Also I don't like to make the client work with colors that have fewer than 10 stitches in the pattern, so I manually replace them with appropriate colors that are used elsewhere in the image.

Pattern

Finally, when I get the pattern to where I like it, I use the software to convert the pixels to symbols and match the symbols to the thread colors. I always double-check here because the software likes to use symbols that are very similar, like squares that differ by less than 10% in size. Once printed, it is almost impossible to tell the difference in these, so again I have to manually identify and adjust those. After that, it's just a matter of printing it out and sending it to the client!

Keyboard Jewelry

Entering my 8th month of pregnancy, I'm really itching to get crafting. Unfortunately all my sewing stuff has been packed up and moved to the basement to make room for the baby. So I'm stuck with non-sewing crafts. Not that that's a bad thing, it's just that I'm much less inspired than I am with sewing.

So I decided to dig out my old keyboard jewelry. I've got several pieces already made that I think are pretty cool. A few have sold on Etsy, and there was a lot of interest in them at the craft fairs last year.

I'm adding them slowly back into my shop. Some are already up there, but for others I have to make new listings.

Mid-Year Resolution

Well, it's halfway through the year and I'm about halfway through my pregnancy (can you guess which I'm more excited about?). I've been really slacking on my crafting...and almost all household chores. Now I'm really going to try to get back on track before November.

I'm in the process of switching my Etsy store from handmade items to hand-drafted patterns that I can sell as PDF files. I figure this way I can spend less time at the sewing machine, but still *hopefully* make sales. I'm loving that the new Etsy search feature actually shows my items instead of burying them beneath all the re-listers.



So my resolutions are:
1) Spend at least 15 minutes each day cleaning, and at least 3 days working on the baby room
2) Spend at least one day each week updating my Etsy store (preferably listing new items)
3) Post at least one new blog entry per week - be it crafting or baby related
3) Do my prenatal yoga workout every morning so I'll have energy to accomplish the above!

Ok - that shoud do it! Keep it simple, right?

pouncing

I feel bad for not posting in a while, but I'm so busy with work that I just haven't had time to think of something interesting. So I'll just put up some pretty pictures of things I found while pouncing for undiscovered shops:

Etsy Plus Size Finds, or lack thereof

So, my intention was to create a post highlighting some Etsy items designed for plus-size women. I wanted to exclude garments made in multiple sizes (including t-shirts) because as any good designer will tell you, what looks good on a skinny woman is necessarily going to look good on a larger woman. You can't just take the same pattern and blow it up by x percent. Unfortunately, I got to page 25 of the Plus Size category and found only one item that fit this search (and is flattering to a plus-size figure).


Skull Flutter Sleeve Top by diysewrad

So when you see lots of posts in the Etsy forums asking for plus size clothing, remember this. I'm going to try to devote more of my crafting time to plus size, so if you have anything you'd like to see, give me a shout!

creation process

I decided for today's post I'd put up some in-progress shots of a top I've been working on. I picked up two remnant pieces at Joann's that were almost the exact same size - one was a black stretch poly with white polka dots and an interesting mix of green thrown in; the other was solid black poly/spandex mix. At first I toyed with the idea of a skirt, and then decided to make a top.

The original design was going to be a fitted V-neck with an empire seam, and then a looser fit below. I started by cutting out the front and back upper portion (above the empire seam). I purposefully offset the line of green a little to the right of center because I thought it gave it an interesting asymmetrical look. I also liked having different patterns running over the two sides of the bust.

The entire garment was going to be made of the two layers of fabric - the patterned on the outside and the solid as a lining. Since the solid fabric has a tighter stretch to it, it is a bit more snug. This acts kinda like a undergarment, in that it provides a smoother base for the outer layer of fabric.

Silly me, of course, I cut out the lower back piece without leaving enough fabric for the lower front piece. So I tried cutting that piece in half horizontally and attaching it to the front and back that way. The result was not very pleasing. Instead of highlighting the empire line, it just made it look very jumbled. Plus it was about 2" shorter than I had intended. If this had been for a skinny girl, the length probably wouldn't have been much of an issue. But plus size gals are different - there has to be enough coverage.

I was almost ready to give up on this one, throw it in the back of the closet where I would probably never look at it again. But I was thinking about a top I own that has a contrast fabric under the bust line and I thought that idea could work here. I had already cut the black fabric to match the lower pieces, so I just recut them to form a solid band. I fit that to the garment and it looked great.

I added a bit of the polka dot fabric at the bust to make the gathering effect, which I thought just made the neckline that much sexier. I finished off the seams and hem and I absolutely love it. It's sexy without being risque, and I think it's a style many women would like. I will definitely remember this if I come into any other fun stretch fabric.

a squinch from many angles

Because of today's snowstorm (for those of us in the Northeast US), our office closed early and I got to spend some time with my camera. I was so upset to have to choose only 5 angles of my new Squinch (Phoenix) to list on Etsy. The great thing about a Squinch of this size is that it can be twisted into so many amazing shapes! So here are 60 shots of Phoenix for you to enjoy!

Calling Cape Cod Crafters!!

So a friend & I were having lunch today and discussing the idea of getting together a crafting "guild" for Etsy sellers on Cape Cod. Apparently she'd talked about this with other crafters she knew, just as I'd discussed it a few weeks ago with another crafting friend.

I love the idea of getting young (in body or mind), vibrant crafters together - people who don't want to make granny squares all day. I think we could have a lot of fun planning events - we both agreed that the typical "craft fair" conjures images of sweaters with appliques and bake sale cookies. My ideal would combine the traditional booths with some more exciting elements - like a Chinese auction or a fashion show! I think holding a runway show with handmade clothing, jewelry, accessories, and even shoes or makeup would be fantastic.


From just the people I've spoken to, we already have some women's clothing, jewelry, purses, shawls, pet accessories, baby clothes, photography, and more.


I'd love to see what other people out there think! Please post or send me a convo if you're in the Cape Cod area and would be interested in showing that handmade items aren't just for grannies anymore!

xmas gifts

So I don't really have anything interesting to write today. I just felt like I hadn't updated in a while, so I should hop on and say something.

I find it interesting that my sister sends out specific x-mas gift lists. Most of the time, when people (i.e., my mother) ask what I want, I'll give general ideas: some storage boxes, new socks, winter gloves, etc. My sister, however, sends out a list with specific references - links to the exact coat she wants from JCPenny's, with size and color already chosen. This year her list consisted of about 5 tops, a jacket, 2 or 3 pairs of shoes, and a laptop bag.

For some reason, I just can't get into that type of gift list. When I give a gift, I want it to show that I thought about the person for whom I bought it, and it also says something about me. So if she said she wanted a top, I'd look on Etsy for a handmade top that I thought would match her style, but also goes along with my ideals of supporting other crafters. If I buy her the top from Penny's, I know she'll like it (because she picked it out), but my part in the gift-giving is essentially gone.

In some cases, this type of specificity is good, for example a specific movie or CD. But in general, I kinda frown upon it. Maybe that's why my hubby says I'm so difficult to shop for.

I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this! What type of lists do you make? Or do you just let people surprise you?

What is a Squinch?

Since so many people have been asking, I decided to make a post that is all about Squinches, where they came from, how they got their name, etc.

As I mentioned in this earlier post, I picked up a book called Sculpted Threads at the fabric store a few weeks ago. It shows a really awesome technique for machine embroidery, where, instead of the threads lying flat, the edges start to ruffle and fold in on themselves. It's a really awesome technique, but uses a LOT of thread.

Using some of the basics in the book, I started making my own designs. This black & red piece was the first one I made that did not follow any of the specific patterns in the book, and the first one listed in my Etsy store.

I wanted a fun name that would be unique to these creations, while not infringing on the original artist's titles. I posted here and on the Etsy forums for suggestions, knowing that the Etsy community has many talented and creative people. Someone suggested the name "squinch" and I immediately knew it was perfect.

A "squinch", according to Google, is an architectural term: "A structure, such as a section of vaulting or corbeling, set diagonally across the interior angle between two walls to provide a transition from a square to a polygonal or more nearly circular base on which to construct a dome." I love the name because it sounds like a portmanteau of squeeze and pinch, which are exactly the methods I use to shape the ruffles at the final stage of creation.

Now having a name, I set out to start making more Squinches for my Etsy shop. Squinches start out looking something like this. Lots and lots of layers are added, thread colors are changed, stitch type is altered, all to give the final creation a unique pattern of color and ruffle. No two will ever be the same. Even earring sets look different, despite my best efforts to make them the same.

Squinches make great decorations on bags, scarves, and hats, or can be worn as brooches (although I'm personally not a fan of brooches). They can sit on your desk as a sculpture, or to hold loose coins, or even business cards. Small ones can become earrings or necklace pendants. The colors can blend together or be blatantly different. There really is no design limit on these guys.

When I list Squinches in my shop, I give each one a name. So far all the names have begun with 'S' (Sara Squinch, Suzy Squinch, etc) but I'm not sure how long I can keep that up. Each Squinch has a different personality, and I try to capture that in my descriptions. Also, each will be shipped in a small box, nestled in fabric. The fabric will be different for each Squinch, depending on their personality. For instance, Sara likes black velvet, while Suzy likes white satin. I played with the idea of making Squinch families, but I think that would get long and confusing ;)

So there you have it - everything you ever wanted to know about Squinches. If you still have questions, leave me a comment and I'll add in the answer!

Squinch Earrings

Who loves Squinches? I was telling my friend the other day that I wanted to do a Squinch earring but couldn't get the ruffles to work on a such a small circle. So she suggested a teardrop shape and it worked great!

Friday Etsy Finds

I wanted to look for all undiscovered shops this week, so I did a lot of pouncing!

I'm not a big fan of art, but I just love this piece! There is stitching, Swarovski crystals - its just amazing.

Sinead
by SorchaGillett


So these earrings are so neat! They look like the lanyard strings I used to use to make keychains and friendship bracelets. The description says its made of recycled wood, so that in itself is pretty interesting.

C.O.L.O.R.S Collection BRAIDED UP Earrings
by FashionableAddiction


Lastly, I saw these and at first thought they were bracelets, but turns out they're wine glass charms. I love the $100 poker chip! Would be a great item for a game night.

Gambler's Luck
by CopiaDesigns

can't decide...

*Warning: please ignore the bad picture and the wrinkly fabric!

I'm not sure how I feel about this skirt right now. I want it to be kinda punk/goth but not overly so - it should be something that any young woman would feel comfortable wearing. I like the lace up in front (which will actually be lacing through panels with grommets, right now it's just pinned to see the overall picture. I'm also thinking of adding a white lining so the skirt would be reversible - the white side might have the black showing at the top and bottom edges. Or would that be too complex with the zipper and the lacing? Le sigh - this is why I don't do much clothing - I can never make up my mind! It always ends up half-finished because I can't decide which step to take next. So any comments would be appreciated!! Thanks!!