project // home heart hoop art

Stitch a sweet and simple housewarming gift with this free pattern and tutorial! Combining a bit of embroidery with some felt craft, it forms a heart of flowers with the word HOME in the middle.

I first started imagining this project a year ago, anticipating a gift for some folks making a big move to a new home. My original gifting plan didn't happen and true to form, I didn't even start making the gift. I wait until I absolutely need to make a thing. Which happened when my neighbor announced that they were moving and the date was faster than I expected.

Now, I've known this neighbor literally my entire life. She came over when I came home from the hospital at just a few days old. I was in her wedding, I grew up friends with her sons, and she called me the daughter she never had. Having her move across the country has been a real loss. Obviously I wanted to make something special for her.

And this hoop idea came to mind again.



To make this hoop, you start with a little stitching and then add a whole bunch of tiny flowers. And to hold those on, each one has just a single french knot.

Ready to give this a go? Here's what you need:

7-inch embroidery hoop
Linen or cotton backing fabric
Wool felt
Embroidery floss
Freezer Paper
Pencil
Scissors
Vanishing ink marker
Embroidery Needle

HOME HEART HOOP ART PATTERN



First, cut out a bunch of tiny felt flower shapes in several colors. I didn't how many I used (but you could from the photoso!), and ended up with some extras that I'll use for another project. When cutting out the little flowers, I used the freezer paper method. It's so helpful!



Trace the heart and home part of the pattern onto your backing fabric. It's best to use a marking pen that disappears over time and without water. This way you won't have to soak your finished fiber art.



Embroider the word HOME with three strands of embroidery floss and chain stitch. Or stitch it however you like!



Finally, start arranging and tacking down the flowers around the heart outline. You can stack the flower shapes and mix up the sizes and colors. To hold them down, I just stitched one or three French knots in the centers. Again, I used a mix of colors that all matched, but also contrasted with the felt flowers.



I just love how the colors and shapes all layer! Also, I carried the thread behind the fabric a bit so I wasn't starting a new thread each time, but I also worked in sections. There's no right or wrong way to do this, but I would recommend not working back and forth across the heart. Try to work along the edge of the shape.



I finished the back of this in the simplest way possible: I trimmed the fabric down a bit, gathered the edge in, and...that's it! Oh, and of course I painted the hoop so it's more frame-like.



My hope is that this will be a bright spot in my neighbor's new home, as well as a reminder of the old.

pattern // sam the sloth embroidery

I always love when crafts cross, so this embroidery pattern that features knitting is definitely my style! It also helps that there's a sloth and I am delighted by sloths.

For this month's free pattern, it has Sam the sloth, a ball of yarn, and some knitting needles. Now, If you'd prefer to make Sam a crocheter, you could probably figure out how to swap out those needles for a simple crochet hook. Right? Right.

Sam the sloth is one of Kawaii Crossing's most recognized knitters, but I'm noticing something. Since the beginning of September, every time I see Sam there is just a ball of yarn nearby. Nothing on the needles yet! I'm starting to wonder if that's really how sloth Sam is at getting project going, or if part of the fun is just buying the yarn and making it into a pretty, hand-wound ball that's ready for knitting (or crochet!).

No matter. As they say, buying supplies and using them are two separate hobbies.

If you have bought some embroidery supplies AND want to use them, how about stitching Sam?

DOWNLOAD THE SAM THE SLOTH EMBROIDERY PATTERN PDF

Have you stitched any or all of the Kawaii Crossing residents? Tag me (@molliejohanson) or add the #KawaiiCrossing hashtag if you share photos on Instagram!

printable // handmade with... tags

The next time you give a handmade gift, add one of these printable "handmade with..." tags! There are lots of ways and reasons to provide some information about your project, and the type of thing you're making may determine some of that for you. But no matter what those things are, why not have a little fun with it?

These free PDF tags came about from a conversation about providing care instructions for the things you make. For example, if you generously knit a sweater for a friend, they need to know what it's made of and any special laundry guidelines. Not knowing this could result in disaster. Caring for embroidery or cross stitch may not be as vital, but it may be good to share tips for keeping it clean or what to do if the fabric loosens in the hoop.

This conversation (which happened in a Patreon-exclusive episode of The Very Serious Crafts Podcast) led to the idea of making something with love, but also how sometimes some drama gets in there. You know what I'm talking about, right?



My current project is using metallic thread and that always adds some drama. I'm working with Kreinik braided embroidery thread, which is easier than DMC brand, but it's still trickier than cotton floss. Do I need to tell anyone that the fiber content includes metallic thread? No. But it's funny to say that it includes drama!

And metallic thread is just one example of a time that this might be fun to include! Different types of materials, complex patterns, or some tragic accident (think spills, color bleeding, or actual bleeding!) all may call for a funny tag.

Of course, people will likely appreciate when they receive something that was only made with cotton (or another material) and love. That's really what this should all be about. But if you're making a gift for another crafter, they'll probably also be impressed when there was no drama in the making! Oh, and while these printables are focused more on the content of the project, but you can also use the back of the tag to write down any special instructions for care.



To be perfectly honest, I always forget to label my work, but I'm trying to be better about it. At least when I'm giving something away. Now that I have this printable, I may be more consistent. But I did start using a simple trick to sign my embroidery hoops in some way.

Because I often trim and gather the fabric on the back of a hoop, I've started signing and dating in the inside of the embroidery hoop. It's not as obvious as if I signed the outside of the hoop (something I've tried but feel funny about), but it's still somewhat visible. And it's there for posterity.

Now if I add a printed tag, it could get tucked into the back as well!

DOWNLOAD THE HANDMADE WITH... TAGS PDF

How do you like to label or tag your projects?

pattern // sam the sloth cross stitch

Do you feel up for some slow stitching? But maybe a project that won't take a super long time? May I suggest cross stitching Sam the Sloth? Sam loves knitting, which means you also get to stitch a happy ball of yarn!

Once again, I am behind on my Kawaii Crossing residents stitching, because, well, I'm stitching slower than Sam knits right now. But I'm really looking forward to working on this one...especially that yarn ball! Maybe I'll work on Sam and some real knitting when I squeeze in a little weekend trip soon. Somehow I rarely slow down long enough for personal projects unless I get VERY intentional about it.

But back to this cross stitch pattern!

This is the 9th pattern in my Kawaii Crossing residents series, and if you haven't grabbed the rest just yet, you can find them by clicking this link. There are also embroidery pattern versions for each one. AND, AND, AND...while they are each designed so you can stitch them on their own, if you want to make them into a sampler of sorts, you can get a border that they fit into by supporting me on Ko-Fi.

GET THE 2022 KAWAII CROSSING CROSS STITCH BORDER CHART ON KO-FI

DOWNLOAD THE SAM THE SLOTH CROSS STITCH PDF

calendar // sam the sloth wallpaper

In the hopes that September passes a little slower than August, this month's Kawaii Crossing calendar features Sam the Sloth! If you haven't already guessed, Sam likes knitting, but Sam is also sleepy and slow and the knitting doesn't happen quickly. Sam and I are very much the same in this way.

One difference, however, is that Sam liks things so slow that Sam winds the yarn by hand...er...paw? I prefer using a winder and swift, but obviously, Sam isn't doing anything that includes the word "swift" (and that includes listening to Taylor...another thing Sam and I have in common).

Speaking of slow knitting, I don't think I've done any knitting in a year! That's hard to believe, but it's what happens when you write a book and maintain all the other things that you are maintaining. But I did finally wear my most recent finished knitting project and that felt like an accomplishment in itself.

And now before I go on and on, How about some wallpapers? Download what you need for your computer, phone, or tablet below!

Download the Desktop Wallpaper

Download the iPhone Wallpaper

Download the iPad Wallpaper

Speaking of slow things like sloths and stitching, if you'd like to pause and relax for a little while, you can watch me cross stitch a sloth on YouTube!