Well we are just coming down off of our high of Italian food! Our lovely Italian lady has gone back to Italy having cooked every day for a week and her finale was escalloped chicken in breadcrumbs with roasted veg and a chocolate pear cake - so scrummy!! We are still living off left overs!! In fact today has been nothing but sheet torrential rain and tidying up indoors and Sem did us gnocchi (from the freezer hand made by his mum) with a ragu sauce she did also - so you could say we are still eating Italian! I managed to get my starfish done - I hadn't realised how many beautiful starfish there are - in fact I found a gorgeous purple one and one with more than 5 legs! I did do one 4 years ago in orange peel which was rather lovely but I wanted to do an embroidered one with beads this time, however I didn't do a purple one as somehow it just didn't look right and I had this gorgeous orange variegated peach thread which I think has worked well with some two tone grey and orange beads and so here she is:
I wanted to make Silvana a little something to remember us by and so decided to make her one of my flower embroidered lavender bags with organza. It's funny I haven't made one for a couple of years and I thought it was going to turn out horrible but once I started embroidering and then putting the beads on it turned out as pretty as the others I've made - I was very pleased and so was she! The lavender I put inside was from France and was picked in 2013 but is still so strong in perfume - so much more potent than our own English lavender - must be the sun!!
The flowers bonded between the organza layers are lobelia, lavender and oregano with ivy and fern leaves. I emphasised the oregano flowers with purple beads and the lobelia with blue beads. Well that's all from me today, please visit the
everyinchiemonday blog page, by clicking this link, to see the other inchie makers fabulous starfish. Thank you so much for calling in and also many thanks for the comments you leave. Have a fab week!
I have decided that I am coming over to your house for dinner! LOL I love the organza bag, what an awesome gift idea. The beaded inchie is beautiful, I love the texture that you got with it
ReplyDeleteBless you Freebird - you would be welcome anytime! Thank you for your lovely comments and from such an accomplished beader as yourself that is flattery indeed!
DeleteLovely starfish and I love the bag!
ReplyDeleteSuch a pretty starfish & the lavender sachet is a delight to the eyes- I think that you might be correct about the sun, it certainly seems that the fruit & veg have more flavour!
ReplyDeleteSally
Your starfish is just lovely, the thread and beads are just right...The lavender sachet is wonderful...I make them also as I have a nice big bush growing near my front door, but mine are far more prosaic being just calico and naive embroidery...I also make very thin ones for some of my handmade garden journals as I love the scent...do you follow a tutorial for the organza ones...maybe I should do a YouTube search...you are right about the heat though, I grow oregano in my garden, very profuse and lovely but it does not taste like oregano from the Mediteranian area so I buy dried Greek stems when I want the flavour in cooking. Dixx
ReplyDeleteThank you Di for your lovely comments - unfortunately the link has now gone from the embroidery guilds website. The original tutorial was called precious petals and was just the idea of bonda webbing flowers between material and organza and then embroidering - I took it a step further by using organza both sides and making lavender bags so in actual fact it is just an extension of an idea! Each time I make one I change it slightly by trying new things and so it evolves! Currently I'm using the technique to make cards and Inchie cards! I just love it as it can be so different each time just using different flowers and colours. I usually use straight running stitches flowing in lines but I have added french knots to give texture and now beads! Some flowers are more suitable than others and some completely change colour when heated! One gets to know which work literally by trial and error! You would get a very different look with the indigenous flowers of your area. The iron-on fusible webbing I use is very fine and you have to take it off the backing paper in order to lay it on the first organza or material (or dry wet wipe coloured!) then lay the flowers on top. Then, very carefully, lay another sheet of fusible webbing on top of the flowers, I emphasise very carefully as it becomes static and can move the flowers, then lay the top organza over it and with freezer paper between the iron and organza iron the whole lot together - it then becomes a completely new piece of material to do with as you wish. Hope that makes it clearer for you. Happy creating x love Jenny x
DeleteThank you so much for this information, all perfectly clear thank you, my only question is...are the flowers fresh or dried in a press first, I will have a play with both as you may not see this reply...btw I am sorry my response is so late, but I did leave a thank you earlier via my tablet, but it seems to have been lost en route...D
DeleteGorgeous starfish, love the thread colour and the beads. Your lavender bags are always great, still have one in my underwear drawer.
ReplyDeleteWeather mixed, but haven't been soaked to the skin yet. Home on Sunday.
Love Wendy xx