WIPW - From the waist or shoulder

Just in time for the Work In Progress Wednesday report, I've completed the

Kjolsäck
I used purple yarn, instead of the thin black knitting yarn I showed last week, to make two long cords.

I then used some of this wool to make two felted balls. Later I added a few decorative stitches

and attached the cords to the purse frame.

Here is the completed kjolsäck. 

Until I have made a belt from which it can hang, I will either use this kjolsäck as a shoulder bag or tie it around my waist.

It was fun to make and unbelievable fast to complete. 

.............

Next project is already brewing..., the ingredients are on the chopping board. I still need to find a name for it, something with green in the title...

Happy stitching, happy piecing, happy quilting to you all!

WIPW - A Giant Step

For this week's Work In Progress Wednesday post I think I have taken a giant step forward.

Kjolsäck
Inserting the bag's body and lining into the groove of the purse frame was not as difficult as I had thought. The piece of white plastic (see last week's post) I started out using was helpful, but a dining knife was even better.

After fixing the fabric to the metal with black thread I added a row of decorative aqua Cross stitches.

The frame is held in place firmly.

Next I made the 'kavelfrans' or napped edging. I have made this 'wooly worm' differently in the past,  this time I wanted to speed things up by using the sewing machine.
First I made holes in two pieces of stiff cardboard, inserted two bamboo skewers and wrapped them with wool.

I placed the 'ladder' on top of a bias tape and slid it under the presser foot of the sewing machine,

stitched down the middle until I had a loopy worm.

Each loop was cut open.

With a comb and brush, I separated the strands of wool, then held the napped edging over the steaming spout of a boiling kettle, until the fibres had felted together.

It was then time to stitch the sides and bottom of the bag together with the edging in between.

Construction was easier and quicker than I had thought, and I am rather pleased with the result.

Next step will be to make a cord with the 'slynggaffel', or lucet in English. This black yarn is a bit too fine, I might have to make the cord in a different colour...

WIPW - Embroidery completed

Work In Progress Wednesday, shows the completed embroidery of the Swedish wool embroidered

Kjolsäck

I am now in the process of attaching the purse frame.

First I turned in, gathered, pressed and basted the top of the pouch, here the back and the lining:

Next step was to stitch these together at the top.

 I cut a piece of stiff plastic (white) to fit exactly in the grove of the frame, inserted it in between the back and the lining and pressed that curve into the grove of the frame..

While keeping the fabric in place with the white plastic it is now my intention to stitch the frame to the black back. it will be tricky, so please wish me good luck!

WIPW - Progress

Progress report for WIPW (WorkIn Progress Wednesday).

Kjolsäck

I have added some details, made a pink flower and started on the one above the pocket opening:

The soft Appleton yarn and the black cashmere make the work smooth and fast.

WIPW - En Kjolsäck

Wednesdays come around quickly, and it is time to give a Work In Progress Wednesday report once again.

This week I have a new project:

New! En Kjolsäck
which is a hanging pocket. This kind of  pouch, which is worn dangling from the belt, can be found on many folk costumes in Scandinavia. Mine is inspired from a postcard of the Swedish Dala Floda costume, and is wool embroidery on a black background.

I have, however, designed my own fantasy flowers instead of working the traditional, more realistic ones on the Dala Floda bag.

The black wool I am stitching on is from a discarded black cashmere coat from Burberry. How can one cut such an expensive coat into pieces, you may ask? Well, when the Japanese moths, always so hungry, have had an 'all you can eat' party in the wardrobe, and ruined the coat, THEN you can...

In spite of being very busy I have found time, at night, to make good progress:

 There is a pocket on the bag and I used the pocket part of the coat for this piece!

WIPW - Appleton

Work In Progress Wednesday for this week is featuring my

'Conveyor Belt' needlecase 
wool embroidery. I am stitching on black cashmere with Appleton wool. Wonderfully soft!

 These are the shades I selected.

Last week I showed the design I had marked on the black cashmere, and

this is how it looks now.
It is far from completed, but was the most enjoyable work!

WIPW - Fruity Cushion Resting

This week, Work In Progress Wednesday reports on the completion of the

Fruity Cushion.
I made up the cushion, lined it, attached a zipper and added a tassel for each corner.

For the lining I used a special kind of thin silk crepe used for Japanese summer kimonos, 楊柳 youryuu.

 In my stash I have a number of samples of summer silk, and the width was perfect for the  lining.

For the tassels I cut up lengths of the linen thread used in the embroidery.

The cushion is now resting on my bed.

So with the cushion completed I need another project. 

Conveyor Belt Needle Case

Starting back in February I made several needle cases in a 'conveyor belt' fashion in wool embroidery from a Swedish design. (There are five WIPW posts starting with this one).

The needle cases have all been given away, but I will be needing one more for a gift, so I drew the design and mounted the black wool in a hoop.

WIPW - Taking Off

The line up for this week's Work In Progress Wednesday is:

*something taking off
*something stepping up
*something creeping up
*something being locked up

Swedish Wool Embroidery Conveyor Belt Needle Case
I assembled the three needle cases - conveyor belt style. Before I remembered to take out my camera, one had already taken off on an air mail journey to Sweden.
Here are the remaining two, though:

Pile 'em On
This week the pulled work was these green Diagonal Satin Filling Stitches that are stepping up inside a flame. Or are they leading downwards?

 In the circle something is creeping up - they are pink Drizzle stitches (TAST #35).

TASTy Beads Galore
All the 17 beaded TAST stitches have now been used, so I am locking up this beaded panel, with the final TAST #131 Beaded Lock Stitch.

I will need to make a frame or mount the piece on board. This is what it looks like at the moment, and it will remain locked up until I have decided what to do. A new UFO?

Actually all my projects will become UFOs for a couple of weeks. I will be unable to sew, blog and read blogs on a regular basis, so please forgive me for not replying to any comments, nor visiting others'  blogs.
I hope to be back to normal routines some time in April.

WIPW - When Life Gets in the Way

There isn't much progress to report on Work In Progress Wednesday when life gets in the way. It has been one of those weeks when needlework time was gobbled up by other chores.

Pile 'em On
Anyway I started adding bars of needle weaving to the centre.

 To make the weaving hassle free I used a slip of paper underneath.

A half finished flame of Drawn Faggot Filling Stitch was all I had time for. I found it slightly difficult and it took more time and concentration than I had to my disposal.


TASTY Beads Galore
There are only three beaded TAST stitches left to add; here is one of them, #125 Beaded Herringbone, inside last week's odd 'flower'. I used Gütermann Sulky in yellow and small blue beads.

Conveyor Belt Needle Cases
One more needle case base was made with various stitches in Appleton wool on cashmere.

 End of story!

WIPW - A Short Report

A short report for this week's Work In Progress Wednesday.

Pile 'em On
A flame of Four Sided Stitch, and odd threads added to the circle.

 Swedish Wool Embroidery - Needle cases

 Two more parts completed on the needle case 'conveyor belt'.

TASTy Beads Galore
I made only the base stem of a new plant, using TAST # 137 Beaded Knotted Buttonhole Band.

Don't ask me, ask Blogger, why the photo is upside down!

New (but reported a couple of days ago) HINA ornaments
I made three new ornaments for the Doll Festival, 2015. Read more here.

I'm afraid, that's all for this week.

WIPW - Conveyor Belt for Wool Embroidery?

I have several things to show for my Work In Progress Wednesday report:

Pile 'em On
More orts have been added to the circular mess. I used my new toy, the Clover Embroidery Threader.

 Then I made another 'flame' of pulled work. The stitch is called Coil Filling Stitch.

(No counting mistakes this time!)

TASTy Beads Galore
TAST #100 Beaded Eastern Stitches were added inside the previously made Beaded Link Chain flower.

New Swedish Wool Embroidery
Last week I told you of the needle keeps I had made based on a pattern in a Swedish craft magazine, Hemslöjd.

It inspired me to make some with Swedish wool embroidery. In fact I am planning to make five of them and marked the outlines in orange thread on a piece of black cashmere. Before cutting up the fabric I will work the embroidery on each needle keep. Is this Conveyor Belt Embroidery?

Front and back of the first one.


New and almost completed Happy Village
I am working on a new Happy Village quilt. The work is fast and fun, and almost completed. As it is a gift I will reveal more once it is no longer in my hands. Anyway, here is a teaser:

The case is, that over a year ago, I was asked to make a quilt for some friends' house warming gift (after they had moved into their new home). What to make for them  has been brewing in my brain ever since, but the actual stitching wasn't started until this week.  I know it has taken a  l-o-n-g  time!
Is this considered a UFO, making a quilt in your head, but actually not starting on the stitching until much later? If yes, I have a lot of UFOs in every nook and cranny of my poor head!

WIPW - Growing Redder

In Japan, New Year is celebrated over more days than in many other countries, and a popular way to spend the first days of the new year is 'ne shogatsu', roughly translated as a sleeping New Year. It means you just relax, 'chill out' in front of the TV, eat and drink and take a nap, spend a leisurely time with the family and doze off whenever you feel like it...

When you spend the start of the year in such a lazy way, your needle and thread take a break, too, as does your blogging habits... Sorry I did not reply to any of the kind comments you posted on last week's WIPW post.

With New Year well behind me, and at least, now that the needle and thread have returned to some kind of normality, I can report the following Work In Progress:

TASTy Beads Galore
I added a flower made with TAST #37 Beaded Hedebo Stitch.

Pile 'em On
Just a bit of progress on the Window Filling pulled work.

Growing Red
A lot of work, however,  has gone into this project in the last couple of days. I am working with wool yarn on a thin red wool crepe.
There is a floral design

and here are some close-ups:

I drew the design with white charcoal pen directly on the fabric and then added or subtracted some details as the fancy took me while stitching. This is a very relaxing way to work.