Beaded Embroidery Collection for Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. This month Eileen Hull's design teams are celebrating the release of a collection of Sizzix Classics dies which all have a stitching theme. During the Release Party back on January 2nd I previewed a collection of beaded embroidery projects using a couple of the new dies (plus some older favourites). Now I'm back to show you them in more detail.

First up is the Embroidery Hoop, and at 4" in diameter it is a perfect size for creating home decor pieces. I began by choosing a heavier weight piece of linen to fit between the two hoops - make sure to check the fit when doing this as you may need to sand the hoops a bit. I also chose to stick together three die cuts to make a sturdier frame since it will be handled a lot, but if you are going to wall mount yours one or two layers should do. Paint the hoop and 'metal' tightening piece and fix in place over your chosen fabric. Securing the fabric in place on the back of the inner hoop can easily be done by using high tack tape.

Taking a closer look you can see how the felt flowers and leaves, cut from the Envelope, Folder & Flowers Die Set, have been stitched with a mix of blanket stitch, satin stitch and French knots. The leaf stems have been created by adding craft wire down the centres before couching them with dark brown embroidery thread. Doing this allowed me to bend them into more realistic shapes.

Now whilst I love stitching it is not for everyone, so some suggestions to achieve a similar look with a 'no sew' approach try gluing felt flowers and leaves onto the fabric background, embellishing them with glittering, vintage buttons and floral brooches. I will be back next month with more ideas for taking this approach.

Moving on to the Needle Book, I cut mine from thick felt with the intention of embroidering them using a mix of Eileen's flowers and leaves, various stitches and more beads. Since the threads could be seen inside the books I chose to die cut a layer of fabric, heat bonding it to the reverse of the felt cover before adding blanket stitching around the edges. Inside the first one I added a simple felt panel, perfect for holding needles and pins in the traditional way.

Inspired by the contents of a Christmas cracker, I stitched a piece of elastic inside a second Needle Book to hold tiny make-up brushes, perfect for those 'on the go' touch ups. The small size of the book (3 1/2" x 2 1/4") makes it the ideal size for slipping into the smallest of handbags so think about other small things you want to keep protected/secure/discrete when you want to go out and about.

During the Release Party FB Live I asked for other suggestions to fill the inside of the final Needle Book and the general consensus seemed to be requests for small pockets to hold medication or even sweet treats. So I used the folder die from the Envelope, Folder & Flower Die Set to cut a piece of felt, folding it in half and sewing it onto the lining of the Needle Book. The tabs at the top make the two resultant pockets more accessible. Again I have more ideas for using this 'fan favourite' die and will be back with more to share with you.

That's it from me for this month's theme. Make sure to check out all the fantastic projects from the rest of the team - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog throughout the month.

For now thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx