Basic embroidery stitches

  • 5 min read

Basic embroidery stitches: running stitch, blanket stitch, lazy daisy stitch, and chain stitch

It’s time to celebrate! Every month in 2013 I’m learning a new craft, and now I’m halfway through.

When I learned embroidery in February I got close to giving up. The fine embroidery threads I had bought didn’t appreciate my fumbling. I got sore fingers and tangled threads for my trouble.

Then I tried embroidering with yarn. I loved it! If you’re nervous to tackle embroidery, try yarn. It exaggerates the stitches, so it’s perfect for learning how they work. It helps that it builds up quick and looks good, too!

You need:

  • DK or thinner yarn
  • Needle with large enough eyelet for yarn
    (Yarn needles might not be sharp enough)
  • Fabric of choice (I’m using denim)
  • Embroidery hoop

The stitches you’ll learn:

  • Running stitch
  • Blanket stitch
  • Lazy daisy stitch
  • Chain stitch

Let’s get started!

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Two-Tone Crochet Flower

  • 6 min read

Two-tone crochet flower from yarn scraps (photo tutorial) craftingfingers.co.uk

It’s time to celebrate! Every month in 2013 I’m learning a new craft, and now I’m halfway through.

In January, Crafting Fingers went live. After celebrating midnight on New Year’s I rushed home and published the first post on Crafting Fingers. How far this blog has come!

That month, I learned crochet. It was the first step on an amazing adventure so far, and I can’t wait to see where the next six months will take me.

This two-tone crochet flower is a quick project to crochet. Enjoy!

You need:

The stitches used:

  • Magic circle
  • Double crochet (dc) American single crochet
  • Slip stitch

And that’s it! Grab your hook and your yarn and let’s get started! If you need help, take a look at the photos after the pattern.

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Putting Potatoes to Work

  • 3 min read

Potato stamping tutorial roundup

Cork and rubber have been fun materials to work with, but this weekend I decided to go for a homier approach to stamping. Potatoes are cheap and easy to cut, so they’re a lot of fun to experiment with. Take a peek at my results and I’ll show you where you can learn to get stamping, too.

potatoprinting2

The materials you need are pretty straightforward:

  • Potatoes! ;)
  • Knife (I used a Fiskars hobby knife)
  • Cookie cutters (optional)
  • Cutting board
  • Paints & paper

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DIY Cork Board Thread Art

  • 4 min read

Thread heart art on cork | Crafting Fingers

I know, I know! It’s over a month away, but I can’t help it. Valentine’s Day is such a wonderful day of the year.

It’ll be my first Valentine’s in Britain, and I have to say I’m looking forward to the first signs of spring as they pop up in late February. After eight years in Finland, a February full of spring will be a wonderful experience. I’m used to it being full of snow!

In order to perk up my little office corner I’ve started working on a Valentine-friendly mood board for spring. 

There’s a cork board on the wall next to my chair, and it’s my place to gather notes and lists. Today I thought, why not a mood board? I wanted to make something beautiful but simple, so there’s still plenty of room on the cork for new notes and clippings.

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