Tuesday, August 14, 2018

HOPE (free pattern)...



HOPE.
Everyone needs it at various times in life.

I have personally had a few hopes dashed of late and it would be easy to wallow in self pity about them, but yesterday I decided to not let "self " get in the way of renewing fresh hope in my heart again.  
So I sketched up this simple design, stitched it, added a fabric applique border and popped it inside a lovely vintage wooden hoop I found at a garage sale ages ago!

HOPE may be just a word to some, but it's a dose of encouragement to me.
I 'hope' it is for you too. xx




One of the new patterns for my Stitchery Club this month is also displayed inside a hoop and features an applique border as well, so in response to a member's request that I show how to add the fabric border I'll take you through each step with the Hope design because you could use this for any stitchery you want to hoop as long as the hoop is at least an inch or two larger than the diameter of the design.


First of all draw a circle around the design if it doesn't already have one, and then trace that circle onto the smooth side of a piece of fusible web. 
(I use Vliesofix)



Fuse the rough side (the side opposite to your traced circle) of the fusible web onto the wrong side of whatever fabric you've chosen for the applique border. Do this with a warm dry iron.



Carefully cut away the circle.



Trace the stitchery design onto a piece of plain cotton fabric. For this project I used some scrap flour sack but you could use homespun, calico, linen...whatever you have on hand.

Peel away the fusible web.



Position the fabric over the traced design and fuse in position with a warm dry iron.




Optional: You may decide to skip the next step but this is what I always do before I begin to embroider.

Fuse a fabric stabiliser behind the prepared design. 
This blog post will show what I use if stabilisers are new to you.



Choose embroidery threads which blend with the colours in your border fabric. 
In the pattern I have included a list of the threads used for my version of "Hope".



Blanket stitch applique around the edge of the fabric circle with a single strand of thread.
Now switch to two strands of the same thread and chain stitch as close as you can to the edge of the fabric.



Stitch the design by following the steps given in my free pattern.



Using the inside of the hoop your completed design will be displayed in, trace the circle onto a piece of medium weight fusible Pellon.



Cut the circle from the Pellon.
Turn your completed stitchery to the wrong side and centre the hoop over it. Trace a line around the inside edge of the hoop using a pencil - this will not show through.




Place the Pellon circle inside the traced circle at the back of your stitchery.
Fuse the Pellon to the back of your stitchery by placing a piece of cotton fabric over the Pellon and gentle pressing with a dry iron set to cotton. 
You need the cotton fabric between the Pellon and the iron or you will have a nasty melted mess as Pellon is synthetic.
Turn the stitchery over and press from the front as well.



Place the design inside the hoop, keeping the Pellon circle centred at the back.



After you have screwed the hoop to a firm fit, trim the excess fabric away from the edge.



Turn the hoop over to the back and use a glue gun to run a line of hot glue between the edge of the trimmed fabric and the hoop. 
Add a ribbon through the screw on top and hang!

This is the hooped project my Stitchery Club members will be making. As you can see the applique  border is rippled instead of a straight edge circle.




When you applique an uneven border around a stitchery you need to trace the reverse of the shape and then carefully place the fabric over the prepared stitchery background using your pattern sheet to get all those edges in correct position.



Hot glue is wonderful for securing those raw fabric edges to the back of the hoop...



There's only a couple of days left before membership for this month's Stitchery Club issue closes so if you're interested in receiving five new patterns every month just head over HERE.



Blossom, Ross and the girls moved into their new home (rental) last Friday and slowly they are unpacking and setting up house. It's a big change from the very tiny cottage they have welcomed both babies into over the past two years but I can assure you Cully May is over the moon to have space where she can run and jump and play and sing...without waking baby Rafaella.

Our story continues, though we feel closer to that first home purchase than ever before.
We have a short list and shall see where that leads in the next week or two.
All prayers appreciated.

Bless you heaps this week!
hugs


17 comments:

Friend said...

Thank you SO much for the pattern, and the tutorial! Though I am a very beginner, I feel encouraged to perhaps give this pattern a try. The reminder of Hope would be an encouragement to me!

Tammy Lyons said...

Thank you for the Hope design. I love anything with hope on it. Hope is my word. I feel like hope is like oxygen we must have it to continue. No matter what there is always hope. We must believe in things unseen and unheard in order for them to come to fruition. Love you my friend. Still praying for you. Glad Blossoms move went well . I know Cully is over the moon with the extra space and so is Blossom.

gracie said...

We all need Hope daily. Thank you for a lovely pattern.

MaureenHP said...

I love the combination of blanket stitch and chain stitch. One of my favorite verses is Romans 15:13--"My the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
My prayer for you today, Jenny.

Susan said...

Hope is a perfect stitchery for a house-warming gift! Thank you so much for another wonderful piece, and directions for how you hoop it. I've just ordered another yard of Weaveline from Braidcraft, as I can't find it in the US, and I love it. The addition of the chain stitch around the edge is just perfect, so thanks for that tip, too. I think you might have given me the perfect setting for my Jenny birds project, and I came across the perfect fabrics today, while I was looking for something else - of course! I'm pleased to hear that Elizabeth's sweet family is settling in, and that your hopes are focusing on the things they ought to be. =)

Anonymous said...

My wonderful Hope is now 13 years old, she is my middle granddaughter. My daughter had trouble getting pregnant each time so the first girl was Faith, the second was Hope (both of these pregnancies were with medication) the third (a surprise!) is Grace. Hope had a PDA had an experimental procedure with a new devise and completed her monitoring last month. She's had some trouble due to much oxygen or not enough, she has facial blindness (not visually identify faces) she uses voices to identify people. She does not test well but verbal testing her IQ is HIGH. She's called a verbal learner, she learns for hearing not reading. She is our HOPE for all the wonder she is. She had surgery at 15 months old, not being allowed to cry, crawl, walk. She had no lip color, no pink cheeks and came out of surgery glowing, beautiful pink lips, glowing cheeks and WALKING within 24 hours. HOPE is a wonderful thing! Terri, Tuscaloosa Alabama

TerriSue said...

What a beautiful design. Hope is a word I have been having on my mind quite a bit recently. I believe I am going to put aside the large project I have been working on to stitch this one up. After paying off our mortgage our little house began showing major problems. Then at the end of last year the floors started pushing up through the laminate we had put down through the house taking up the carpet so I could get my wheelchair through easier. We had a structural engineer out to look at the house and his news was not good. The work the previous owners had done to the slab foundation had not been proper for the type of foundation we have. He said our foundation is rare and had been done for a short time in the 80's by one company that was trying to get it started as a different way to do them. They don't work well in this area. The work the previous owners had done were a fix for a regular foundation and they were now pushing themselves into the house. The only fix would be to tear up the floors where this was happening and dig down pulling out the cement piers that had been added and then re-cement and eventually put the floors down again. We did that at no little cost and then it happend in two other areas where we had to do it there. The engineer said after this was done the house would start to resettle itself and should be okay. Well it did start to resettle but it does so with a big bang...literally! One day when I was in the kitchen with no one else home I heard a huge BAM. I looked outside to see what might have caused it and the neighbors across the street were still conversing normally as if nothing had happened. Twenty minutes later it happened again and this time it was accompanied by an angled 1/2 inch crack in the kitchen wall going from our arched kitchen window to the corner of the ceiling. We now have cracks all over the inside of the house and outside in the bricks. Jim doesn't even like me to tell him if the house has shifted anymore as it depresses him. Jenny I really like this house and have hope that someday it will be the house the house I have dreamed of. I know how I want each room to look. We had planned on starting the redecoration this year but I don't know when that will happen. At the present it is a very dark house done in a lot of paneling and dark colors. I so want to lighten it up. I will do a light and airy HOPE to remind me that someday that is what I will have. Thank you so much dear friend. As always I keep your house hunt in my prayers and I pray your house has certain qualities also.

Brenda said...

Hello Jenny; Thank you for sharing each and every day. Your Hope pattern is beautiful and the tutorial is fabulous. Have a spectacular day!

Nanna Chel said...

What a fantastic tutorial, Jenny. Years ago I would have sewn that up in no time but it would be a little more difficult these days with arthritis and not as good eyesight in the mix. You reminded me that I started this year with the word 'Hope' as my theme and something I wanted to be more conscious of in my daily life especially when facing difficulties.

Susan said...

Thank you for the Hope pattern and tutorial. The Bible has a lot to say about hope. Also, it has been observed that people without hope are more depressed, and usually don't live as long as those with hope. In cancer studies they have found that people with hope have a better outcome with cancer treatment than those who don't have hope. So, yes, we all need hope. I continue to pray for your perfect house to come in God's timing.

Farm Quilter said...

God is directing your house hunt...otherwise you would have blindly gone into the money-pit house and been sorely disappointed as well as financially strapped. I will keep praying that your hopes will continue to be dashed by the houses that God doesn't want you to get into. His loving care of you (and all of us) is so apparent in the way He is guarding you through this time of change...your job is to listen to Him!! I know it is difficult to exercise patience, but waiting on the Lord and His timing in everything is so much easier in the end then going off on our own and muddling things up good. May God give you peace as He guides your house hunt. Our hope is in the Lord!! And He is so very faithful.

Mimi said...

Dear Jenny, I love this one very much. Mimi xxx

Linda said...

Jenny, you do such beautiful work. Thank you for this design.

Julie said...

Thank you so much for sharing this gorgeous pattern & tutorial Jenny. I have a friend recently diagnosed with breast cancer so I think this might be perfect to stitch up for her, perhaps make into a small lavender pillow & give to her. I love the blanket & chain stitch around the circle part ... it looks so effective. Now if I could just make my stitches neat & tiny like yours are .........................

Allie-oops Designs said...

OH that is just gorgeous!!! Love the tute. Using the Pellon circle would help a lot in keeping it centered. Brilliant.
I'm glad Blossom and family are getting settled - and I have many prayers going up that you soon will be as well!!!!!

Robin in New Jersey said...

Beautiful designs, Jenny. Praying for your new home. God's timing is always perfect. 😘

Ondrea said...

A lovely pattern. Thanks for the tutorial. The stitchery club hooped design is gorgeous with the rippled edge. You always come up with wonderful ideas. Congrats to Blossom and family, they must be absolutely delighted to find a bigger home.