project // embroidered plush alpaca softie

At my house, we love llamas. There's a good chance that this is mostly due to The Emperor's New Groove, but they're also just kind of fun. Alpacas don't have the same kind of comedic charm, but they are cuddlier, which is why I thought that an alpaca softie would make a great plush. So today I'm sharing how to make a mini embroidered alpaca softie!

This is part of a month-long series called Sew a Softie. This isn't the first series like it, but if you haven't heard of it before, Sew a Softie is basically an initiative to encourage kids and adults to sew fun things together. Visit their site to find a whole month's worth of softie tutorials for July!



This alpaca requires some knowledge of embroidery, but you only need to know the basics. Of course, you could use fabric paint to add the decorative blanket instead. And while I'm showing this made on a sewing machine, you can do all of the sewing by hand if you'd rather. Ready?

Here's what you need:

Flannel - 1/4 yard
Embroidery floss
Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy -or- a water-soluble pen
Embroidery hoop
Scissors
Needle
Pins
Pinking shears
Sewing machine
Stuffing

DOWNLOAD THE ALPACA SOFTIE PATTERN



Print out the pattern page and print or trace the blanket pattern on Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy. To do this, I used this method for saving scraps of Sulky.

Place the flannel in an embroidery hoop and stick the embroidery pattern down onto the fabric (or trace it with a water-soluble pen). Be sure you position the pattern so that you have room for the template outline in the correct place.

Embroider the pattern with three strands of embroidery floss. You can use whatever stitches you like, but I used chain stitch, back stitch, french knots, and satin stitch.



Soak the Sulky off and then let the flannel dry.

Cut out the pattern template and pin it over the embroidery so that the markings on the pattern match up with the stitching.



Flannel like this frays pretty easily, so it's best to cut out the pieces with pinking shears.

Cut around the embroidered front, then flip the pattern piece over and cut out the back.



Place the front and back pieces right sides together and pin around the edge.

NOTE: a simpler way to sew this is to place the pieces wrong sides together, which will give you a softie with raw edges.



Sew around the alpaca with a 1/4in seam allowance. Leave a 2in opening for turning, and back stitch at the start and end of the sewing.



Clip the curves, trim the top of the ear, and snip the angles at the ear, base of the neck, and the top of the legs.



Turn the alpaca right side out. Fill it with stuffing, adding it in bits so it doesn't become lumpy. Fill in the head/neck and legs first, then fill the body. It should be soft, but full.



Sew the opening closed with ladder stitch.



Your softie is all finished and ready for a snuggle!

A soft and cuddly alpaca like this would make a great gift for a baby. Especially if you add a rattle insert inside.



I thoroughly enjoyed working the embroidery on this and it went pretty fast. It's actually a little different for me to make a thing that doesn't have a face. Even more so when it's an animal that usually does have a face! But the embroidered blanket wanted to be the star of the show.



Happy crafting!

calendar // guinea pig appreciation

Every time that I go to post a new calendar and we're already several days into the month, I consider just skipping it. But the part of me that needs things to be complete just can't do that. So here we are on July 3 with a new guinea pig wallpaper.

If you're wondering why Captain Cuddles and Lieutenant Nibbles are wearing carrots as party hats, it's because they are celebrating a special day this month. July 16 is Guinea Pig Appreciation Day, and that felt like something to celebrate. They love carrots, so that seemed a good choice for hats. They may start snacking on them later.

Download the Desktop Wallpaper

Download the iPhone Wallpaper

Download the iPad Wallpaper

These wallpapers will fit most devices, so download and appreciate a guinea pig or two!



I also had a request for making last month's summer-loving piggies into a printable, so I set up a 5x7 print and some Happy Summer tags.

My mom likes to think that once we hit July, summer is over, but I refuse to accept that. There's still plenty of time to enjoy the sun or at least sip a fruity drink in your backyard.

Download the Happy Summer Printable Tags

visit your favorite spots with the about the town stitching club

We ended the Out in Nature Stitching Club last week and we're not wasting any time...we're gonna start stitching About the Town!

Last year I finished off one stitching club and then ended up waiting over six months to release the next one. Not so this time! The intention with this series of clubs was to have them run one after the other, with only a few weeks between them. And I'm back on that schedule. Yay!



This is the third in my Exploring Your World Stitching Club series. We started Around the House, then went Out in Nature, and now we're stitching About the Town. Think of this collection of embroidery patterns as representing your favorite places to visit in your town.

These places are better than running errands because they're the places you go to that bring sparks of joy: a cup of coffee, a good book, freshly cut fabric, and more!



This club is part embroidery and part English paper paper piecing (EPP). The result is a hexagon-shaped embroidered mini quilt that is almost entirely stitched by hand.

As always, embroidery is at the heart of the project. This club features six sets of tiny embroidery patterns representing favorite shops and spots you might visit while you're about the town. I like staying home, but if I were to spend a day with a friend in my town, we'd go to all the places these patterns feature. Each week's pattern is made up of three tiny designs, so you actually get 18 tiny motifs.





The About the Town Stitching Club begins on July 11, and club members will receive an email with a new pattern or set of instructions each Tuesday for the 8 weeks. If you sign up after the club starts, you'll still have access to all of the emails and files that have already been sent.

As mentioned, this is part of a series. Which means that if you end up signing up for all four parts, you can combine all of the Exploring Your World patterns into one large quilt using EPP templates. (You'll receive the pattern for that during the club.)



This kind of project is so much fun to do in groups, so tell your friends and then plan some gatherings so you can all stitch About the Town together!

Don't have friends who stitch? This is also a great way to meet people from around the world who are stitching along! You can do that by sharing your progress online with the hashtag #AboutTheTownStitchingClub (and then interact with others doing the same!).



Sign-ups are officially open now, and they'll remain open throughout the club so you can join anytime. The price is just $8.00 (That's the total price you'll pay for the entire 8-week club!).

About the Town Stitching Club: $8.00

NOTE: If you are outside of the US or Canada, please visit my Etsy shop to sign up.

When you sign up you will receive a PDF containing a list of supplies, templates, and some instructions to get you started.

If you have any questions, please ask them here and I'll answer right in the comments. Or, feel free to email me (molliejohanson at gmail) or reach out via social media.

Let's stitch about the town!

PS: As with the other clubs in this series, each weekly email will contain prayer points for those who like to pray while they stitch. If that's not your thing, don't worry...it's small and easy to skip.

project // felt pineapple welcome banner

The pineapple has been used as a symbol of hospitality for some time. So although this tropical fruit is enjoying an extended trend these days, it's important to keep around as we welcome people into our lives and homes.

Hospitality is defined as "the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers." This act of love changes lives, and I'd like to think that just having a welcome banner that we see everyday will remind us to be welcoming and hospitable. Even if it isn't within our homes (though that's a beautiful thing), we can welcome guests, visitors, and strangers into our lives.

To make your own felt welcome banner (with a kawaii pineapple, because that's my thing!), it's easy and fairly quick. Grab your supplies (I used Benzie wool blend felt), and start making and welcoming!

Supplies:
Pineapple - 8x10in each of two shades of yellow
Letters - about 10x2.5in
Pineapple top - 6x6in of green
Backing felt - 12x18in
Embroidery floss
Crochet thread for hanging
12in Skewer

Tools:
Freezer Paper
Pen or Pencil
Iron
Scissors
Craft/Fabric glue
Needle with a large eye
Rotary cutter, mat & ruler (optional, but helpful)
Hole punch

DOWNLOAD THE PINEAPPLE WELCOME BANNER PDF



Print out the pattern pages and trace the main pineapple shape onto freezer paper. From a darker shade of yellow felt, cut out the oval shape. Iron the freezer paper pattern to the lighter yellow felt.



Cut out the around the pineapple and cut through all of the lines, keeping the layout intact. This becomes a bit like a puzzle with very similar pieces, and while you can move some of them around, it's just as easy to set them out in order.

Place the pieces on the solid, darker pineapple piece, leaving a small gap between them. Start at the center and work out. You'll find that there are a few small pieces around the edge that aren't needed and a few pieces that overlap the edge.



Peel off the freezer paper. Use a few dots of glue at the points of the diamond shapes to hold them down on the pineapple shape. Let the glue dry.



Using all six strands of floss, embroider the face with french knots and back stitch. Stitch and X in the middle of each diamond shape, adjusting the size and placement as needed for the smaller edge pieces.

All of this stitching will be going through both layers of felt, so make sure that your Xs stay within the solid pineapple shape. The stitches are both decorative and functional to help hold the layers together.



Flip the pineapple over and trim away the extra pieces that are overlapping the edge.



Fold the 12x18in piece of backing felt in half the long way. Use a ruler and angle it from the outside corner to 3 inches from the edge on the folded side. Cut with a rotary cutter to form the shaped bottom of the banner. You can also mark this and cut it with scissors.



Use a hole punch to make six evenly spaced holes along the top edge of the banner. The outer holes should be about 1 inch in from the sides. My holes are a little too close to the edges, so DON'T make yours look exactly the same as mine!



Trace the letters onto freezer paper, iron it to felt, cut out the letter shapes, and peel away the freezer paper. I left the center in my O, but you can cut that out if you wish.

Trace two of the pineapple tops onto freezer paper, iron them to green felt, cut out the shapes, and peel away the freezer paper.



Lay all of the elements out on the banner backing. The green tops will overlap each other and go behind the pineapple. You can curve the line of letters or place them on a straight line.

This is more so you know where all of the pieces will go. Pull them all off, except for the green tops.



Stitch the pineapple tops down with long straight stitches.



Put the main part of the pineapple back in place. You can add a few dots of glue or use pins to hold it while you stitch it down. Use three strands and running stitch around the edge.



Place the letters on the banner again and stitch them down with running stitch down the center of the letters. You can use matching or contrasting thread for this.



Trim the end off of the wooden skewer and slide it through the holes at the top of the banner. Tie a loop of string around the skewer so it's ready to hang.



Hang your new banner on your front door or near the entrance to your home to welcome visitors!

Happy Crafting!

printable // pineapple of my eye wall art

On a recent visit to Anthropologie I spotted a towel that said "you're the pineapple of my eye" and while it's a little cheesy, it's also super cute. Since I'm comfortable with a mix of cheesy and cute, I decided to make a little printable with the phrase.

You may remember that I previously shared an "apple of my eye" coloring picture, and I love the meaning of that saying. It's about protecting something precious. Does a pineapple fit into that? Maybe not. But pineapples!

My youngest sister is ready for pineapples to go away, but I'm not. Not to mention, since I put this tropical fruit in the paws of my guinea pigs on the June calendar, I'm declaring it pineapple month on Wild Olive.

For now, download your printable wall art, trim the 5x7 rectangle, and tape it to your wall or place it in a frame. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD THE PINEAPPLE OF MY EYE WALL ART

help for the challenges of working at home

When people ask me what I do for a living, I take a deep breath and then attempt to describe my work. What I do doesn't fit into a tidy little box with a one-word title. In fact, I've stumbled over this many, many times. But now, this is what I say:

I create content for blogs, books, and magazines that have a focus on crafts and sewing. I also have an Etsy shop where I sell patterns that I design.

It's not a full description of all that I do, but it gets people curious. Inevitably, we reach this question: "And you can make a living doing that?" The answer to that can get even more complicated, but the reality is that however all of my work and circumstances come together so that I can make it work to work at home. Which brings me to this...



I've shared things from Ultimate Bundles here before, and I felt like the Ultimate Work-at-Home Bundle was one that you would want to see. Because maybe, just maybe, you're thinking of working from home to supplement family income or to build an empire. Certainly it's a bundle that I wish I had when I started building up all that I do.

Whether you're single, married, living with alone or with a crowd, working at home or working for yourself presents unique challenges. Telling people what I do is a small thing, but managing my time and handling finances are a whole other thing! Finding assistance for these challenges all in one place is so helpful.

Like everything from Ultimate Bundles, this is a large collection of resources for a steal of a price. It can almost be overwhelming to think about using everything, and that's because it would take you ages to use everything! Instead, it's better to look at what they have to offer and start with a few that would be the most beneficial to you.

These are the ones that I would have wanted at the start (and most likely for the long term!):

Crafting a Business 101: The Creative Business Plan
The Accidental Entrepreneur: The Juicy Bits
Project Management for Creatives: Principles to Simplify and Streamline Creative Work
Conquer Cash Flow: Get Paid Faster and Increase Cash Flow

But depending on where you are on your work-at-home journey, you'll find others that are just what you've been looking for. Find the complete list right here. You'll probably find that just one or two products make it worth the price of the bundle, and that all the other items are bonuses!

If you've thought that you might want to start an Etsy shop, become a virtual assistant, freelance in some way, it's worth taking a look at the Ultimate Work-at-Home Bundle. (But hurry, because this is a limited time offer!)

And just as a small disclaimer, I am an affiliate for this bundle (it's part of how I make a living working at home!), but I choose to share this because I respect the work of Ultimate Bundles and I believe their offerings can be a help to you!

Now, because I'm curious...do you work at home? What do you find your biggest challenges to be?

beyond basics // foliage stitch pineapple embroidery

I recently learned about foliage stitch, which was new to me. And wanting to give it a try right away, I decided to make an embroidered pineapple. Because we just can't get enough pineapples, right?

My encounter with foliage stitch was on Pinterest and I was smitten. The style of it tells me that it's a needlepoint stitch, but I didn't see many other references to it by this name. So maybe it's called something else? Since the person who posted it called it foliage stitch, I'm going with that.

But since her example was on evenweave and done more like traditional counted thread embroidery, I worked it up my own way. Breaking the rules of embroidery is perfectly fine and worth perfecting. So here's my version of how to work foliage stitch:



This stitch is worked within a square turned on the diagonal. If you look closely, you'll see a faintly marked pink square here.

Come up at one side corner and go back down at the bottom corner. Come up at the opposite corner and back down at the bottom corner.



We start getting into more breaking the rules territory here. Because in theory, you should make the next row of stitches immediately above the first. But I'm jumping to the middle because it's easier to visually space out the stitches this way. At least, for me it is.

Feel free to stitch these in any order you choose. You can even stitch one side first and then the other side. I did this while stitching my pineapple, as it saves on thread.

So, come up in the middle of one of the top edges, then go down directly in the center of the square. Repeat on the other side.



Come up half way between the first stitches and go down half way between them, right on the vertical center. Repeat on the other side.



Come up half way between the top corner and the top stitch and go back down on the vertical center between the top corner and the point where the top stitches meet.

This is a little different from the original stitch I saw, because that one only had three sets of these angled stitches. Technically, you could do as many or as few as you wanted, depending on the size you're making these stitches, as well as how dense you want them to look.



Finally, finish it off with a vertical stitch from top to bottom. Or bottom to top. Again, it's not vitally important what order you work these stitches.

So now that I've showed how to do foliage stitch, it's time to find a way to use it! I loved the piece that inspired my exploration into the stitch, but is it only for a purely geometric design? My trouble with stitches like this is that they aren't always easy to work into the kinds of patterns I like to make and stitch.

I mean, I LOVE learning new stitches, but I keep going back to the basics because they work for the designs I enjoy. So I started thinking about how this "beyond basics" stitch could make something cute.



And a pineapple came to mind! The shape of the stitches works really well for the pattern of a pineapple, and even for the top. Not to mention, this stitch makes it possible to finish this little stitchery in an evening!

I set up a pattern for you, and it comes in two sizes on the page. My finished pineapple is the larger pattern and it fits in a 4in hoop. The stitches are a little long at this size, but it just barely works. I used all six strands of floss, but I think it would very pretty with fewer strands or perle cotton.

DOWNLOAD THE FOLIAGE STITCH PINEAPPLE PATTERN

As you can see, some of these are half foliage stitches. Also because I kept true to the form of the stitches, some edges of the pineapple are more open. Feel free to finish those off and have more of a border of long stitches around the entire shape.



Happy pineapple stitching!

calendar // summer-loving guinea pigs

And just like that, it's June. And while I would have happily accepted a bit more May or even April, it seems that Captain Cuddles and Lieutenant Nibbles are ready for summer. They've got their piggy sunglasses and pineapple drinks ready. Before long, I suppose I'll be sporting a similar look!

At least for now, my screens and yours can feature my favorite guinea pigs in their summer garb. Grab your wallpapers here and they should fit most devices.

Download the Desktop Wallpaper

Download the iPhone Wallpaper

Download the iPad Wallpaper

Before May is too far in the rearview mirror, here are a few posts that I shared elsewhere last month!



Father's Day will be here before long, and this keychain is a project that you can make with your kids as a gift for dad. The fingerprint portraits are fun and easy, and you'll find the tutorial at Hello Bee.



Need some fries to go with that shake? Err...wait...no. Need a card to go with that gift? Yeah, that's better! Head to Handmade Charlotte to find this printable french fry card that you can customize with all of the things you love about your dad!



Get ready for summer with embroidered borders and corners! These free patterns at The Spruce come in three styles and they're perfect for stitching along the edge of your picnic linens.



Or if you want to add some of those summer borders to the hem of a t-shirt, you'll also find my post on how to embroider on tees and other stretchy fabrics over on The Spruce. There are a few stabilizer methods to choose from, so you can find your favorite!

Happy June Crafting to you!