Melinda and I have been hard at work on our Try A Little Kindness crewel kits and making a surprising amount of progress!
Here’s Melinda’s:
And here’s mine:
I managed to find an frame off a piece of crewel in my inventory that was falling off anyway and I think it’s perfect! Not everything is perfect though. Do you notice any difference between mine and Melinda’s? Color differences? That’s because Melinda is very smart and I am not. When she opened her kit, she laid out all the wool and matched it up to the color chart. I just dove right in and started stitching, not realizing that I was dealing with red, red orange, burnt orange, bright orange, rust, pale orange, and gold all in one pattern! The letters called for bright orange and pale orange, so I grabbed the colors that to me, were clearly bright orange and light orange. Later on when I was frantically searching for red orange, I realizsed I had used red orange and bright orange for my letters. Oh well – I will just have to do some creative color re-arranging because I am not about to rip it all out! Really the only major thing that will be affected is the huge flower on the right. Mine will be a one of a kind, that’s for sure!
Are you working on a crewel piece? Send me a photo of your progress and I’ll share it!
In other news, I’m FINALLY getting my etsy store back up and running! Keep your eyes peeled for such gems as this 1950s black velvet one shouldered party dress:
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9 COMMENTS
jamie
12 years agothey both look so great!! what a great addition to your collection, and so fun to know that you made it yourself! 🙂
Betty
12 years ago AUTHORIt’s true Jamie – I’ve been mostly a buyer of crewel, not a maker of crewel, but I see that changing! It’s so satisfying to see something hanging on the wall that you MADE!
emmi
12 years agoI’ve wanted one of those ever since I spotted one in some of your earlier post 🙂 Groovy baby!
http://emmieveryday.blogspot.fi
Melinda!
12 years agoI’m starting to think your “accident” was really lucky because I really love how bright your letters are! It defiantly has been so rewarding getting to work on this piece. It’s like putting together a piece of history. I’m so glad there were women who never completed these leaving them for future generations to enjoy!
tammyCA
12 years agoThey both are looking great. I never come across any of these cool vintage crewel kits..I did buy one at a thrift store that is of a hanging boston fern, so ’70s, but it’s really not my style..I thought I might use the wool yarn for another project. I also bought a new crewel project last year from a blogger but I still haven’t started it. I do like your tip about stretcher bars instead of using regular frames…think that is a good idea.
tammyCA
12 years agoOh, my I was just browsing etsy and saw this squirrel crewel – I know you love the squirrels! – it is also an Erica Wilson design which is a big fave on the RR blog:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/119459625/vintage-erica-wilson-squirrel-crewel?ref=sr_gallery_43&ga_search_query=crewel&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=XX&ga_vintage_rewrite=vintage+crewel&ga_original_query=2&ga_search_type=vintage
Betty
12 years ago AUTHORTammy I love that one! Trying so hard not to buy it….
daiseedeb
12 years agoSo wonderful! Both are beautiful! I am drawn to yours a little more due to the color arrangement. Are these from Sunset Designs in CA?
Love them!!!
; )
d
Betty
12 years ago AUTHORThanks so much Daisee! They are Paragon kits. I do think the color mistake has turned out to be a bit of a happy accident! I’m liking it 🙂