"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly"

Personalised Butterfly Journal

Last week, whilst at a local carboot sale, I found a lovely butterfly duvet cover made by "Their Nibs", an online company similar to Boden and The White Company et al.  I decided that it would be perfect for a journal that my sister had requested for a friend of hers.

 The linen is from the same pair of upcycled curtains that I have been using for my tea cosies.  Once you get used to the dirt and pushing at a car boot sale you'll never find a more economical way to purchase fabric.

The pink polka dot wings look quite pale in some of the photos, but the picture below provides a better representation of just how bright it really is!

I used the butterfly print as a starting point to chose the rest of the fabric, it was then simply a matter of creating a complimentary applique design.

  

I drew in the details to be stitched with a 'Frixion' pen as the marks disappear when a warm iron is run over them.  These pens are now widely available in most supermarkets and stationers and they're much cheaper than those sold specifically as quilting pens.

  

I also use these pens to create a guide when stitching letters as my own handwriting is not all that great.  Just open a font on your computer, place your fabric over the screen and trace directly onto it.

However, when I attempted this method with this project the linen was too thick to see through, so it was back to the tried and tested 'tissue paper' method. 

Trace the font and wording of your choice onto tissue paper, embroider, then tear away the paper.

The back of the cover is decorated with an appliqued butterfly, cut from the duvet, which I then free-motion embroidered in black to really make it 'pop'

The back also features a 'SewforSoul' label!

After I had finished sewing up the cover I remembered that I had intended adding a ribbon border between the two contrasting  fabrics.  So I had to grab my unpicker and have another go!  This one glitch aside it all went pretty smoothly :)

Personalised Tea Cosy

Appliqued Embroidery Portrait

I recently sent my Mum a journal which she had requested as a retirement present for her church minister.  When she originally mentioned that she wanted a gift making she told me that 'anything would do', but after much discussion she finally decided on a journal which you can read about it here; 

  http://sewforsoul.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/appliqued-portrait-personalised-journal.html

However, once I sent it she decided that she actually wanted a tea cosy, so I gladly whipped her up one to match the journal!

The main fabric is some lovely natural linen which was upcycled from a pair of curtains.  I then added some batting/wadding and free motion quilting, to add warmth and stability, before using my original journal design for the applique.  The black detailing and wording were worked using my favourite free style machine embroidery technique.

Here's hoping the recipients will  be suitably flattered by their likenesses!