project // how to construct a sun sparkling mobile

Sequins and hexagons. With those two words, I should not need to say anything else to sell you on making this sparkling mobile.

One of the things that I love about summer time is open windows with sunlight and breezes coming in. This projects takes advantage of both of those things, because as the breeze moves the mobile, the sequins catch the light and give a bit of sparkle. It's easy to make and a little bit magical!



You will need:

Fabric
Needle and thread
Embroidery floss
Craft or fabric glue
Sequins

Sun Sparkling Mobile Hexagon Templates




Make six EPP hexagons: Two each of three sizes. The PDF template has the sizes I used: 1", 1.5", and 2". For the larger hexagons, they'll be crisper if you stitch through the templates.

Note that it's best to have the knots be on the right side of the hexagons so that you can remove them after the mobile is assembled.



Cut a 22-inch piece of embroidery floss. I used metallic floss for more sparkle. Tie a knot about two inches from one end.



Layout the three sizes of hexagons with the largest at the top and the smallest at the bottom, and with wrong side up. Lay the embroidery floss over them with the knot at the bottom.



Apply glue around the remaining hexagons and stick them down on the corresponding hexies.



Before the glue has had a chance to set up too much, cut away the basting threads on the hexagons. Because the knots are on the outside, you should have an easier time removing all of the threads.



At the top of the mobile, make a loop with the floss and tie a knot. This will be the hanger.



This is my favorite part. Choose some sequins and arrange them on the hexagons. I used these super sweet flower sequins, but any sequin is a good sequin. Seriously, someone should embroider that on a pillow.

Glue the sequins down, let them dry, then arrange and glue more on the other side.




Now you can hang your mobile near a window and watch it spin, sparkle and shine!



I could watch this all day.



Friends, I just love sequins. I really do. And I hope you love 'em enough to make your own mobile to enjoy in the summer breeze!

Download the PNG Pattern

And don't forget today's free pattern...a starfish!

thread bits // saving sulky sheets

I'm thrifty when it comes to craft supplies. My fabric scraps are hardly ever usable because I cut things as carefully as I can to avoid waste. I often have strings and strands of floss around that I might need for the next project. So when it comes to a product that costs nearly a dollar a sheet, I get careful.

As I type that out, I laugh at myself. A dollar isn't a whole lot, but given how often I use Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy, it would add up. (by the way, Sulky doesn't sponsor me in any way, but I do use affiliate links from time to time.)



One of the handiest things about this material is that you can print on it. But if you just print one pattern in the middle of the page, you've pretty much used the entire page. Instead, I place my patterns at the top of the page and print.

Then I draw a line across and cut off the printed area. Now I've got a slightly smaller sheet of Fabri-Solvy that will still feed through the printer!

This only works a few times, because a really small piece is likely to cause you printing grief, but prevents a lot of waste while still having the convenience of printing. For the rest of my pieces, especially the oddly shaped variety, I trace by hand with a pen or pencil. Not quite as easy, but it still does the trick!

Does anyone need advice for grouping a bunch of patterns on one sheet? Let me know and I can set up a post on an easy way to do that with free software!

Update: Find my post on printing multiple patterns here!

Download the PNG Pattern

And in case you've missed it, we're in a month of free hexagon tinies patterns. Each of these patterns is designed to be stitched small...and fit in a 1-inch hexagon! Enjoy a cheeseburger today!

pattern // hexagon tinies windsock

Do you remember when just about everyone had a windsock hanging near their house? They were all the rage for a while, and the rainbow striped variety was especially popular. That's what this design is based on.

So pull out your favorite rainbow of embroidery floss, and then go do some stitching in the breeze today!

Download the PNG Pattern

pattern // hexagon tinies donut

I'm not gonna lie. I made this little donut pattern sad. I wasn't trying to, but when I didn't choose to have a donut for National Donut Day, I just know that my little donut friend wanted to cry sprinkle tears. You wouldn't think that a donut could ever be sad, but it happens.

But if you decide that the donut you're stitching isn't sad, you can turn that frown upside down.

Download the PNG Pattern

By the way, all of these patterns are set up as high resolution images. What that means is that while they are meant to be used as tiny patterns OR you can print them bigger!

how to make embroidered hexagons

I am willing to try just about any craft, but my favorite is stitching. I say stitching because I like embroidery and hand sewing types of things, and that covers both. So when I can bring embroidery and English paper piecing (the ultimate hand sewing, if you ask me!) together in one project, I'm a happy gal.

Since I've been showing and sharing patterns for making embroidered hexagons, I thought it might be helpful if I showed how I make them. It's really easy, and you may have already figured it out. But just in case, here are two ways to make them.



This first way is what I prefer to do, and it's what I would recommend. Potentially it has a bit more fabric waste, but it's the easier way.

Start by doing some embroidery on a piece of fabric that is large enough to accommodate the hexagon (or other EPP shape) you'll be cutting out. That means the actual shape, plus seam allowance.

When I stitch on linen, I pretty much always use this method for transferring my pattern. I also allow extra seam allowance, because linen does fray a bit.




After soaking away the pattern material and letting it dry, it's ready to make a hexagon. If you traced your pattern another way, as soon as the embroidery is finished, you can start making a hexagon. Or, if you're working with some already finished embroidery, that will work too.

Flip the embroidery over, and use a bit of washable glue to attach the hexagon to the back of the fabric.

I find that you need to have enough glue touching the embroidered part to hold, otherwise the difference in texture/thickness between the fabric and floss can make it not stick. However, you don't want too much, or it will pull your stitches when you remove the hexagon template. A quick swipe is good.



As you place the hexagon with glue in place, make sure that you are centering the embroidery on the template. Okay, so actually, you don't have to center it. You can be all asymmetrical if you want. Just place it where you are intending for it to be, okay?

I find that holding it up to the light works really well for this. It's simple and effective. But you can also get a fussy cutting template.



Trim around your template and make the hexagon as usual. (Like this, but without pins!) Easy peasy!



But sometimes things don't work that way. Sometimes you realize too late that you wanted some embroidery in your EPP, and what do you do then? I've gotten so excited about projects that I start putting it all together and then remember that I was going to embroider part of it. Other times, it's helpful to get a jump on assembling the EPP before you have the embroidery patterns.

No problem! Just embroider on the assembled piecing!



If you really, really need to work in a hoop, or if your paper templates are already removed, place the EPP panel in a hoop and stitch as usual!

If you still have the templates in place, just remove the piece that you want to embroider. The surrounding templates will help stabilize your work as you stitch.



Transfer the pattern to the front of the work.

This sweet unicorn is from my book, Stitch Love: Sweet Creatures Big & Small. I chose her because this is going to become part of a rainbow EPP project that I will hopefully finish before too long. Rainbows + unicorns = yes.

Note that the pattern gets fairly close to the edges of the hexagon.



Since you don't want to stitch through the seam allowance on the back and risk that things will get lumpy, use some removable tape to hold the seam allowance out of the way.



Embroider as usual. When this is all finished, remove the paper templates, then soak the embroidery. Or, if you're not using a transfer method that requires soaking, you're all finished.

Again, this second method isn't my ideal, but it works when you need it!




And that little house pattern is today's Hexagons Tinies design for you! It's inspired by the lovely houses that Amy of nanaCompany often has in her work, and it will find its way into a project I'm trying from her book Sweetly Stitched Handmades.

Download the PNG Pattern

Happy hexagon stitching, friends!

pattern // hexagon tinies marshmallows on a stick

Download the PNG Pattern

Just a quick post today so you can download today's free pattern. Tomorrow I'll be sharing how I like to make my embroidered hexagons, as well as showing an alternate way to do so. I'm having way too much fun working with these little patterns!

If today is the first time you've found the Hexagon Tinies patterns, download your marshmallows on a stick, then click the "Hexagon Tinies" label at the bottom of this (or any!) post this month, and you'll find all of the patterns so far.

Happy Thursday!

find me in mollie makes issue 54

Sometimes I forget to tell you about the places you can find my handiwork, but this month is too fun to not share. The delightful team at Mollie Makes magazine (no relation to this Mollie) invited me to create some patterns for their Etsy Takeover issue, and of course I said yes.

If you look in the upper right corner you can see a happy little strawberry. That's my design! And then if you flip to page 94 there are two pages of sweet stitches (which I stitched faster than anything I've ever stitched before!). Don't miss out on your chance to pick up these exclusive Wild Olive motifs!

Oh, and as part of the Etsy Takeover, Mollie Makes asked me a few questions about my Etsy shop, and I was happy to give them a behind the scenes look. Go give it a look!

Download the PNG Pattern

And are you ready for the next of the Hexagon Tinies? It's a little crayon box! Download the file, size it how you need it (for an ideal 1-inch hexagon, size the square frame to 2 inches), print, and stitch!

project // embroidered hexagon necklace

I love having embroidery around all over the place, but I rarely embroider on clothes. Maybe I'm bad at commitment, but I worry that I'll be too locked in with that. I'd much rather wear embroidery by making jewelry and other accessories. There's much more flexibility with that!

This simple project combines my love of embroidery, small cuteness, and a little bit of English paper piecing. You'll need to know how to baste a hexagon, but that's it. I'll get into more details of working with embroidered hexagons soon, but I just couldn't wait to show off this little necklace!




Today's free Hexagon Tinies pattern is this little jam jar. I'm a little smitten with it! Susi has been sewing things with jam on them, and so this design is thanks to her.

Download the PNG Pattern

For these patterns, I'm putting them up as JPG files so that you can resize them if you want/need to, and so that you could print out more than one at a time (which is tricky with PDFs). Just save the file then open them in an image editing software or even place them in MS Word.



You will need:

Two 1-inch hexies: one plain, one embroidered
One yard of thin ribbon
Needle and thread
Embroidery floss



Make sure that the ribbon isn't twisted, then stitch the two ends together. Using a full yard of ribbon makes this a long necklace that fits easily over your head without needing jewelry hardware. However, you can adjust the length to suit you.



Finger press (or iron!) your hexagons, then remove the papers. Place the stitched ends of the ribbon in the middle of one of the hexagons so that the necklace part is evenly positioned at the top.

I like having the hexagon pointed up, but you can rotate this to have a flat edge up if that works better for your embroidered hexagon.



Hold the two hexagons wrong sides together (again, make sure your embroidery is rotated correctly!), then running stitch around the edges with 2-3 strands of embroidery floss, hiding the knots between the layers. Try to get two stitches through each piece of ribbon, but at a minimum, one stitch through each ribbon.

I found that Wonder Clips are SUPER helpful here. If you haven't gotten any of these little clips yet, look for a sale, use a JoAnn coupon...just get some. (Oh, how I wish I had gotten this set...I could use another 50 of them, right?) Let's get back to work...



Oh wait...that was the last step! Except, you may want to give it a little pressing with an iron. I find that it makes quite a difference in giving it a finished look.





This is a really quick project, with the embroidery on the hexagon taking the longest. And with a small pattern like this, that doesn't take very long at all. Still, you could easily skip the embroidery and use this for fussy cut hexagons or simply to show off your favorite fabric.

With all of the free Hexagon Tinies coming out this month, you could have a whole new collection of embroidered jewelry! Not to mention, pretty much any of the Teeny Tinies would work on a necklace like this. You could even get a jump on Christmas gifts!

Happy stitching!

calendar & patterns // hexagons for the month of june

I've found myself choosing monthly shape themes based on the number of sides they have, corresponding them with the month by that number. For example, March (the third month) was triangles, May was pentagons, and for June, I've chosen an English paper piecing classic: HEXAGONS!

This is going to be quite a month. Seriously. In fact, if I had to choose one shape to work with forever and ever, it would most likely be hexagons. When I did my Seasonal Stitching Clubs, they all were hexagon based, and they included both EPP and embroidery, and I needed more of that. Maybe you do too?

In those clubs, members received a new pattern each week for a small membership fee. But I thought, what if June looked like that on the blog...for free? I'll have a few projects along the way, and normal blog sorts of things, but in addition to that, there will be free Hexagon Tinies.




What are Hexagon Tinies? That's what I'm calling this set of patterns. They are all sized like the Teeny Tinies in my shop. And they are all designed to fit on a 1-inch hexagon (turned either direction).

Oh, and did I mention that there will be a new free Hexagon Tinies pattern EVERY DAY IN JUNE?!? Just stop by and grab your free pattern and then make some super sweet stitched hexies!

Download the PNG Pattern

I won't be stitching all of them for examples, so sometimes you'll need to choose your own colors and stitches, but that's what makes this fun. When you go to print the pattern, the black frame should be a 2" square. That way you know the pattern will fit in a 1-inch hexagon.

For this rainbow, I stitched it all with two strands of floss, working each stripe in chain stitch, alternating the direction. The colors are DMC 309, 352, 743, 989, 503, 791, 3835, and 310.

And since it's June 1st, we need a new calendar! Download the size of your choice below.

Download the 2560x1440 Wallpaper.
Download the 1920x1280 Wallpaper.
Download the 1280x800 Wallpaper.
Download the iPhone Wallpaper.
Download the iPad Wallpaper.

For your home screen, these have hexagons, but no calendar:
Download the iPhone Hexagons Wallpaper.
Download the iPad Hexagons Wallpaper.

For iPhone 6+, choose the iPad version. To use the iPhone and iPad versions, click the link for the wallpaper you want. When it opens, touch and hold the image until it pops up with the option to save. After you've saved the image, go to your settings, choose wallpaper, then find the image you've just saved.

To PRINT a calendar page (with a place for notes), download the June 2015 calendar page PDF.

Are you ready to get your hexie on? I hope so!