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coffee week: embroidered doily artwork


Coffee Doily

It's Coffee Week here on Wild Olive! An entire week devoted to my favorite beverage...with crafty goodness too. It can't get any better!

To get things started, I made this little piece of embroidery hoop art. This is something that I've wanted to try for a while, and this was the perfect opportunity.

Coffee Doily

Here's what you'll need:
Paper doilies (you'll only need one for the finished piece, but you'll want a few extras)
Coffee (strong coffee is best)
Embroidery hoop (a bit larger than the doilies)
Fabric
Embroidery floss

Coffee Doily

Begin by staining the doilies with coffee. Place some coffee in a saucer and let a few doilies sit in there for a while. My coffee wasn't as strong as it should have been, but even soaking for about 20 minutes made a difference in the color. It's hard to tell from the photos, but trust me, OK?

Pull them out and let them dry on a paper towel. You may only need one of the doilies, but just in case you have a tear, you have backups.

Coffee Doily

Hoop the fabric, and trim around the edge to make a little ruffle. Lay one of the doilies on top, and get ready to stitch.

Coffee Doily

Doilies come with built-in spaces to stitch. Use the designs in your doily as inspiration. If you have a large area that is solid, draw on a design, then pre-poke holes with a needle to avoid tearing.

Be aware, paper doilies can be a little fragile, especially after they've had a good soak (yes, we're talking about the dry ones here). Stitch carefully.

Coffee Doily

Continue adding some free-form stitching. The cross-stitches are my favorite part about mine.

CoffeeDoily
Coffee Doily

Mine is really symmetrical and almost like a mandala, but it wouldn't have to be. Use your imagination and get creative. The dimension of the doily, and the fact that coffee was used in the process make this so fun to me. SO fun!

16 comments:

  1. that's really something outside the box! :)

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  2. Oh my goodness, I love coffee!!! Love, love, love! In fact, we have two different coffee grounds and three different creamers in our house right. now.

    This is so cute and creative! You did a brilliant job!!!

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  3. Pretty!
    I can't start my mornings without coffee - I love your theme of the week ♥

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  4. how lovely! i quite like the symmetry of it. & the colors :)

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  5. What a cute idea! I think you enjoy your coffee as much was I do! That would be a sweet project with a crochet doily too, mmmmm, maybe it could be made into a coaster?

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  6. Lucy, that's a great idea! Using crocheted doilies with quilted fabric coaster would be sooo pretty!

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  7. Very sweet. I love doilies.

    ♥ sécia
    www.petiteinsanities.blogspot.com

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  8. loving coffee week..... must refill my cup to celebrate!

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  9. I just spotted this post from Annalea today: http://www.annaleahart.com/2011/09/need-to-put-my-dancing-shoes-on.html

    We both have doilies on our minds!

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  10. I love your unusual ideas! You come up with stuff that always makes me think something along the line of "it's great! How did she think of it?"

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  11. Anonymous6:57 AM

    That's really cute. I need to get back into my embroidery projects. This is a great idea. Thanks for the share. 

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  12. Blogged about! You can see my progress here: http://mimickinggodscreation.blogspot.com/2011/09/embroidered-doily-artwork-doily.html

    :) Love this project!!

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  13. I think we might just have the same doily. Yay- now we're doily pals! :)

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  14. Your work is SO beautiful and imaginative! And the photography too is amazing.

    Where do you get your inspiration? I often find I have mental blocks when it comes to sitting down and getting started.

    Thank you for sharing your wonderful work with us x

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  15. it's so pretty but wonder if the paper won't fall apart 2 easily in a while.might it not b better 2 use a fabric doily?

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