2021 BONUS Design for September

For this month's free-with-purchase bonus pattern we have a random variety of sweet embroidery motifs to stitch.   

2021 BONUS Design for August

A wildflower wreath is this month's bonus pattern pick for August!

2021 BONUS Design for July

This month's bonus pattern is a celebration of home cooking!

2021 BONUS Design for June

With June bloom all around us there is so much to appreciate in the garden; a pretty vintage pillowcase motif with baskets and butterflies adds a nice touch to the bedroom linens.

 

2021 BONUS Design for May

As the wonders of winter melt away, the blossoms of spring are on the way! 

BEE Cool

This cute tea-towel design is an old favorite from Vogart.  (Available as a reprinted iron-on transfer on my website here and in my Etsy shop here.)

Bee Smart Towel Embroidery

The PatternBee bonus transfer for March is here!  And if the little beehive motif looks familiar that's because it's derived from Vogart #293 for "busy bees" aka Bee Smart.   I took liberties with this cute design; enlarged it a bit, added more flowers and a tag line.  Then I stamped the design onto a premade cotton dish towel, a nice flour sack variety, and got out my needle and colorful threads.  

Once done, I decided a fabric border would look nice.  I couldn't make up my mind between red or black gingham. They both work well here, I think.  Eventually I went for the black and white.  I used double fold extra wide quilt binding by Wright's.  It makes a nice 7/8" border.  But you could use any cotton fabric in any width for this.  I just happened to have some left-over pieces from a quilt I bound a few years back.  

I used a machine blanket-stitch along the top edge to stitch it down and finish it off.  If you'd like to see how I do my fabric borders we must travel back in time...back to November 1, 2008.  That blog post is under the title of 'Kitchen Goodness' or go HERE.  You'll find it after the giant mouth-watering homemade peanut butter cup!     

BTW, the 'Give Thanks' towel design featured in that tutorial still has the link to the free PDF pattern download.  

Redwork Hearts

These little stitched conversation heart sachets are from my book Embroidery Craft:  Stitching through the Seasons (2010).  They were featured as a winter project because they make lovely little gift tokens for Valentine's Day.  

These tiny potpourri heart pillows are fun to make and a simple stitching project for beginners, so with this in mind, I thought it would be fun to offer them again as an iron-on embroidery transfer. 

My free-with-purchase pattern will be available on both the PatternBee Vintage Embroidery website and the PatternBee Embroidery Etsy shop during the month of February 2021.  

I couldn't resist adding a few new designs.  I LOVE the Kewpies.  The plain heart can be stamped several times with your choice of designs to embroider.  The two small connected hearts could be embroidered with sweet-heart initials if desired. Just be sure to position the motifs away from the 1/4" seam allowance.   

BASIC DIRECTIONS for Beginners:

1.  Cut out the test pattern--leaving a margin of paper for pinning.  Cut out a small piece of practice cloth.  Set iron to Medium-High.  Do not use steam.  The transfer ink may go through the fabric and is fairly permanent, so cover the ironing surface with an old dish towel or a single layer of heavy paper like a brown grocery bag. 

2.  Place the test-transfer on the right side of your fabric scrap and place a pin in the margin away from the transfer lines.  (If the paper slides the lines may be blurred.)  Place the hot iron on the transfer for several seconds, taking care not to scorch.  Check progress; leaving the pin in place, gently lift one corner to check that all the lines have transferred.  If the image is too light or places have been missed, carefully replace the transfer, matching up the lines, and stamp again.  

3.  Make sure to stamp the heart sachet pattern on a piece of cloth that is large enough to fit inside your embroidery hoop.   For the plain heart, stamp it first, then stamp the desired motif in the middle, keeping out of the seam allowance.  Plain linen, cotton muslin or another natural light-weight fabric will do.  

4.  Work all the embroidery before cutting the heart-shapes out.   Separate 6-strand cotton embroidery floss into 3 strands for the embroidery.  Basic stitches are used.  Use outline or back stitches for lines; lazy daisy for leaves and flower petals; satin stitch for filling in areas.  

5.  Cut a 6-inch square of plain or print fabric for the backing.  Place right-sides together and pin in the center. Stitch where indicated by the broken lines, starting and stopping between the dots.  Trim the backing evenly to match the edges of the heart.  Clip curves up to the stitch line.  Turn right-side out and press from the back, tucking the raw edges of the opening to the inside.  Fill with dried potpourri or with cotton balls for a firm heart.

And there you have it.  Enjoy!

Retro Kitchen

Another redline transfer pattern from Modern Handcraft from the 1960's has been added.  I'm calling it Retro Kitchen for obvious reasons although it was a typical modern kitchen back in the day, with the introduction of cake mixes.  The pattern comes with seven dish towel designs and two potholders.  The clock potholder is especially clever and fun.

Retro Kitchen #9521

Happy New Year

PatternBee January Bonus Pattern

Hello friends!  It's the first year of a new decade and we are busy as bees around here.  Like many, I've been tidying up the house for a fresh start.  This is a challenge for me as I have so many projects underway with bits and pieces in different stages of completion scattered about from room to room waiting for paint and glue to dry.  I guess you could say, it's a happy sort of mess!

Anyhow, the cute embroidery pattern (above) is FREE with purchase from my PatternBee website and PatternBee Embroidery shop on etsy.   The designs use simple stitches and would be darling embroidered on cotton dish towels.

Until next time . . . happy crafting, stitching and creating.