Thursday 28 June 2012

Little Rainbow over the hills Cross stitch design and rainbow coloured alphabets

Little Rainbow over the hills Cross stitch design


This is a card sized design for a colourful rainbow over some grassy hills.

This design was originally part of a baby sampler however the Mum decided on a different design after I drew this one. The rest of the design was simply the Babies full (and rather long) name in rainbow colours, the picture was small so I could still fit in the babies name around it. To do this design yourself pick or draw a cross stitched font to work with, if you are unsure how the rainbow lettering will look it may be worth sketching it out on some graph paper and using coloured pencils for each colour. I have used the standard Paint program to show these designs if your curious how to do this yourself please see the Blog post Using Paint for Cross Stitch Design for more information on this.

Here are some examples of how to make a plain font rainbow coloured:

Here is the word I'm going to turn rainbow coloured, for this example I'm using my own font the rest of which can be found on my Blog post Fancy Alphabet Cross Stitch Design.

When I am using Paint to fiddle about with fonts I tend to write the word out first then copy and paste the design a few times so that I can have several goes at altering or colouring the font, by doing this I can see what looks the best before even threading my needle. These examples should give you some idea about simple ways to add colour to plain fonts and how they may look. Also in many of these examples I have used the colours of the rainbow, however don't be afraid change the colours to ones which compliment your main design.

Horizontal stripes

This is really simple especially for multiple lines of text such as a long baby name with many middle names.
You can either make each line of text a different colour or copy the example picture.

Vertical stripes

For this example the easiest approach is to have each letter in a different colour but if you want to add more colours or for larger fonts cutting the letter in half will allow you to add more colour and detail.
The downside of this it will take more time to sew.

Chequered letters
I have only ever used this type of colouring for small cards where the words are the main focus of the picture such as a large colourful Happy Birthday as the main focus of the stitch. This is really not recommended for longer pieces of text unless you are quite confident that all those tiny patches won't be frustrating, in the case of larger fonts it recommended to make patch of colour larger to compensate.

Rainbow coloured letters on white

This is an example of a word with a rainbow stripe. When designing this bare in mind that larger letters can afford to have thicker stripes. Tiny letters may benefit from having fewer stripes such as red, green and blue rather than trying to fit a whole rainbow into a letter less than 7 stitches high.


Rainbow coloured letters on black
I am a very big fan of rainbows on black due to their striking appearance, if you are sewing on black aida the rainbow letters simply won't look out of place on black. Other than this the same points apply as having rainbow coloured letters on white.

Rainbows within the letters

In this example I have drawn a rainbow within the letters. This works best with a section of text which covers more than one line simply because on one line the curve may not show up as well unless the letters you are using are quite tall or chunky.
For areas outside the rainbow I used a nice sky blue colour to fill in the remaining sections, you could not leave these areas uncoloured since you would be missing parts of your letters and darker blues may be confused with parts of the rainbow.

So that's it for now. I hope you have had some ideas about using colour to spice up plain cross stitch letters. Remember you never have to stick to a chart or design, call it a guideline or a starting point and let your imagination run wild.

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Derpy Hooves Sitting Cross stitch design

Derpy Hooves Sitting Cross stitch design


Here is a cushion sized picture of Derpy Hooves sitting and thinking. I  just adore her little nose scrunch I think it really makes her look cute.
I have left the bubbles in her cutie mark as single cross stitches but if you feel up to the challenge you could replace them with shiny beads to make them look like real bubbles. Though beads are not recommended if this is actually going to be a cushion.


Colour Used in these areas: DMC Number Anchor Number
Black Eyes 310 403
Dark blue Main body outline 931 921
Light blue Main body 3753 1031
Mid blue Leg in shade 3756 128
Dark yellow Hair outline 472 253
Yellow Hair 745 300
White Eyes, Cutie mark 5200 1
This design was drawn originally with Anchor colours in my program. Use anchor threads to get the closest match. I used a conversion chart to get the DMC numbers.

Please let me know if any colours are off and I will amend them in the chart.  

I wonder what she is thinking about. I'm willing to bet its Muffins though. She just loves them!

As always this is a fan creation and I claim no ownership of this character. The character design along with all others in My little Pony Friendship is Magic belongs to Hasbro.


For even more My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Cross stitch designs check out the links below:
Cutie Mark collection 1: Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie
Cutie Mark collection 2: Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash
Cutie Mark Collection 3 - Cheerilee, Big Mackingtosh and DJ Pon3

Twilight Sparkle as a Filly
Daring Doo
Filly Fluttershy
Applejack as a Filly
Rainbow Dash at the Hearthswarming Eve Pagent
Derpy Hooves Flying
Derpy Hooves in her Nightmare Night costume 
Nightmare Moon
Rarity in a blue and yellow Canterlot dress
Lyra Heartstrings running
Filly Applejack Standing
Zecora the Zebra
Flutterbat
Pinkie pie in a chicken suit
Princess Candence Happy
Gummy the Crocodile in a formal suit

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls Cross stitch designs

Spike the Dog
Fluttershy in Fall formal dress

 For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here.

Friday 22 June 2012

Sheffield Wednesday Logo Cross stitch design

Sheffield Wednesday Logo Cross stitch design



Colour DMC Number Anchor Number
Blue 995 410
White 5200 1

This design was drawn originally with Anchor colours in my program. Use anchor threads to get the closest match. I used a conversion chart to get the DMC numbers.

Please let me know if any colours are off and I will amend them in the chart.  

I have a friend who used to live only a street away from the Sheffield Wednesday Football ground.

It was amazing to see the remains of a huge Sheffield Wednesday Owl which used to be painted over the side of a whole building. It was a two story house and the owl went almost to the roof. The owl had to be removed from the house but over the wall you can see a very faint outline where the owl was. Looking at it makes me think that whoever painted it spent many hours of love and determination to pull off such a feat.

I may end up sewing this design for my friend in Sheffield. However when I do I may regret the amount of Half stitches used in the design. Simply remember to count carefully like with full stitches and you cannot go wrong. Fans of the club will notice that there is normally a date on the bottom of the logo under the SWFC text. I have left this out of the design since this particular design is not very big (a large feature on a card sized) there was not room to put the date without it looking cluttered. However if you feel confident to add this detail youself the football fan you make this for will appreciate your attention to detail.

This is Fan art of the Sheffield Wednesday Logo. I do not own or claim to own the logo, it belongs to the football club. I simply wish to share a design for all of the Sheffield wednesday fans out there.

For more football themed counted cross stitch designs please follow the links here.
A Finished Arenal Logo cross stitch with Kits
Fullham FC cross stitched logo
Two boys playing Football Cross stitch design
Wolverhampton wanderers cross stitch design
 Tottenham Hotspur Logo
Norwich City Club logo  
Blackburn Rovers Logo
Nottingham Forest Club Logo
Swansea City logo
Aston Villa FC logo
Celtic FC club logo
West ham united
Stoke City logo

 For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here.

Sunday 17 June 2012

Bert Raccoon Cross stitch design

Bert Raccoon Cross stitch design
This is Bert Raccoon From the wonderful TV show The Raccoons


Colour
Used in these areas:
DMC Number
Anchor Number
Black
Outlines, face
310
403
Dark Grey
Hands, Feet, dark stripe on tail
844
1041
Light grey
Face, legs
762
234
Light Brown
Light stripes on tail
642
392
Red
Jumper, tounge
606
334
Dark Red
Inside mouth
321
47
Yellow
Jumper cuffs and pattern
444
290
Light yellow
Rope
744
301
White
Face
5200
1

This design was drawn originally with Anchor colours in my program. Use anchor threads to get the closest match. I used a conversion chart to get the DMC numbers.

Please let me know if any colours are off and I will amend them in the chart.  

I remember watching this quite a bit as a kid, also instantly recognising the 'Run with us' theme tune almost instantly many years later.
Bert Raccon is curious and always ready for adventure. This sometimes gets him into trouble but he always has his friends to back him up.

The Raccoons and all characters belong to Gillis-Wiseman Productions and Evergreen Raccoons Television Productions.
This is fan art and I claim no ownership of the character.
However the show is awesome and I really wish they still showed it on TV where I live. Its hard to watch old cartoons you used to love but then if they only showed old ones I would never get to see the really great new ones like Adventure time and The amazing world of Gumball, :D Don'cha just love cartoons.

Friday 15 June 2012

Fancy alphabet cross stitch design

Fancy alphabet cross stitch design
This is a small yet fancy cross stitched font.
I have left all the letters in black so that the design can be easily seen. However if you wish to use these on a piece of your own you should pick a colour which you think would look great on the finished item. I am going to use this font with another small picture to make a baby sampler which I will post up soon.

These letters are whole stitches only so can be used by any level of stitcher.
This font has been designed to be pretty and readable. Haven't you ever found that some fancy letters can be unreadable at first glance. For a baby sampler you defiantly want to ensure the name is readable particularly because a young child may have this up in their room. (and perhaps like my nephew start copying the letters from it)

Edit: Just recently I noticed that Amy at the wonderful blog Positively Splendid has used this alphabet for one of her Christmas design projects.
Its just so pretty and easy to do I recommend that you check it out. Heres a link: http://www.positivelysplendid.com/2013/11/large-cross-stitch-wall-art.html
Plus it gives some very useful advice on spacing and planning your alphabets so that it fits just right on the fabric for your project.


This alphabet sampler is my own design. Feel free to use the letters in your own personal stitches and for other non commercial use.

 For more alphabets here are some links:
Blue and green alphabet sampler
Fancy alphabet cross stitch design
Big bold cross stitch alphabet
Easter egg alphabet
Meme caption alphabet
Big backstitch alphabet
Retro styled half and half alphabet
Happy new year, whole stitches single colour Alphabet
Pumpkin themed Halloween Alphabet
Large bubble Alphabet
Simple thick block cross stitch alphabet with whole stitches only

Samplers, small designs and cards here:
Simple baby feet birth sampler design
Small pink and purple princess castle
Little Rainbow over the Hills Cross stitch design
Fairy baby birth sampler
Pink and purple baby girl birth sampler design
Valentines collection
Pair of Spring/Easter Daffodil cards
Cinema themed motif collection
Cute Easter cards with bunnies
Christmas Bauble Motifs

For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here.

Thursday 14 June 2012

Daring Doo, My Little Pony cross stitch design

Daring Doo, My Little Pony cross stitch design

Daring Doo is from the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Episode 'Read it and weep'
And what a great episode it is too. Full of excitement and Rainbow Dash :D


Colour Used in these areas: DMC Number Anchor Number
Black Outlines, eyes 310 403
Purple Iris 917 88
Dark grey Stripe on tail and mane 3799 236
Grey Stripe on tail and mane 647 1040
Light grey Stripe on tail and mane 762 234
Dark yellow Main body colour 734 279
Light yellow Hat main colour, shirt main colour 3013 842
Green Ribbon on hat, areas on clothing 3348 264
White Eye, Bandages, buttons 5200 1

This design was drawn originally with Anchor colours in my program. Use anchor threads to get the closest match. I used a conversion chart to get the DMC numbers.

Please let me know if any colours are off and I will amend them in the chart.  

This is a picture of when Daring looks out over the side of a cliff when she thinks she has escaped the pack of tigers following her. I hope Daring makes a return in another episode because she is very cool. I love the way she takes all the troubles on her adventure in her stride and of course a pith helmet is very much the style of an old world adventurer.

This design is cushion sized. It may look great framed with a rustic wooden frame or as a cushion perhaps with an adventure themed fabric on the back.

This design is fan art and can be used for your own personal use.
The character belongs to Hasbro and is from My little Pony Friendship is Magic and I make no claim to own the character.
 
For even more My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Cross stitch designs check out the links below:

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Cross stitch designs
Cutie Mark collection 1: Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie
Cutie Mark collection 2: Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash
Cutie Mark Collection 3 - Cheerilee, Big Mackingtosh and DJ Pon3

Twilight Sparkle as a Filly
Daring Doo
Derpy Hooves sitting
Applejack as a Filly
Derpy Hooves Flying
Rainbow dash at the Hearth's warming Eve pagean
Fluttershy as a filly
Rarity in a blue and yellow Canterlot dress
Nightmare Moon - storybook
Derpy Hooves Cushion and card (valentines themed)
Mare do well
Golden Harvest/Carrot Top
The Great and Powerful Trixie
Lyra Heartstrings running
Filly Applejack Standing
Zecora the Zebra
Flutterbat
Pinkie pie in a chicken suit
Princess Candence Happy
Photo Finish
Gummy the Crocodile in a formal suit
Baby Applejack
Fluttershy Winking
Fluttershy in a fancy dress
Braeburn
Pipsqueak in his Nightmare night pirate outfit
Pinkamena Diane Pie (Straight haired Pinkie Pie)
Doctor Whooves
Princess Celestia reading a letter
Queen of the Changelings Queen Chrysalis
Derpy Hooves Trotting
Fluttershy in a green dress
Snips smiling
Rainbow Dash about to take off
Filly Cherilee
Hipster Rarity - Sweet and Elite
Big Macintosh

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls Cross stitch designs

Spike the Dog
Fluttershy in Fall formal dress
Rarity in Fall Formal Dress
Twilight Sparkle in fall formal dress.
Rainbow Dash in Fall formal dress

MLP fan art 

Fluffle Puff


For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here.

Thursday 7 June 2012

Fullham FC cross stitched Logo

Fullham FC cross stitched Logo

This is a Cross stitch design for the Fullham FC logo.

This was requested by a friend who wanted to stitch it for a card so I have made the design small enough to fit on a card.

As always this is fan art. I claim no ownership of this logo. But what better way to show your support for your favourite team or create a gift for a football mad friend than to sew a football logo.


Colour DMC Number Anchor Number
Black 310 403
White 5200 1
Red 900 333

This design was drawn originally with Anchor colours in my program. Use anchor threads to get the closest match. I used a conversion chart to get the DMC numbers.

Please let me know if any colours are off and I will amend them in the chart.  

For more football themed counted cross stitch designs please follow the links here.
A Finished Arenal Logo cross stitch with Kits
Sheffield Wednesday logo cross stitch
Two boys playing football cross stitch design
Wolverhampton wanderers cross stitch design
Tottenham Hotspur Logo
Norwich City Club logo 
Blackburn Rovers Logo
Nottingham Forest Club Logo
Swansea City logo
Aston Villa FC logo
Celtic FC club logo
West ham united
Stoke City logo

 For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here.

Tuesday 5 June 2012

Tips on Teaching children to cross stitch

Tips on Teaching children to cross stitch

I spent many years volunteering for a local Brownie group, one of the most wonderful things I got to do was teach the kids how to cross stitch (and of course a varity of other crafts) I picked up a couple of tips along the way I thought I would share.

- Answer any questions they may ask.
If you sew around your children (or while around other children) they may ask you about it. So why not satisfy their curiosity and tell them about what you are doing. For a very young child you don't need to go into lots of detail but enough so they know what you are up to.

- Let them pick their own project. 

One great thing about cross stitch is that you can have a good idea what the finished piece will look like from a picture on the front of the kit or even a coloured chart.
For younger children you may need to show them a few appropriate charts (nothing too hard to start with) and let them pick from the selection. If the child gets to pick they are normally much more enthusiastic about seeing the finished thing.

- Don't do it for them. 

This is quite important. If you are teaching a child how to sew and they get stuck with a knot or threading the needle only help with the problem. Don't start doing stitches for them. Imagine how demoralising it would be for a child. They can easily think there is no point in them learning how to stitch if you can do it so much easier and quicker than they can.

- Make something of the finished piece.
 When the child has finished their very first piece make something of it. Ask them what they want to do with it. You can put it in a frame, on a card or give it as a present to a family member or friend.

- Let them know how sewing skills can be practical.
 Sometimes you can be asked why stitching is a good thing to learn. Remember its not just pretty pictures but learning to sew can help with clothing repair or making presents and cards.

- Let them sew for as long as they feel like it. 
If you are forced to do something it becomes a chore. So if they only want to sew for a half hour don't force them to stay and do more. If they are interested they will come back again and sew some more.

 - For first time stitchers find a project with whole stitches only and a blunt needle. 
I don't count any more how many times I prick my finger on my needle each day. I have been sewing for years now and  remember pricking my finger many times when I first learnt to sew. A design with whole stitches only allows the person you are teaching to learn only one stitch to complete a picture and to use blunt needles (because sharper needles are needed for half stitches.) A blunt needle doesn't prick you so much if you accidentally catch yourself with it. For younger children you may consider using very large plastic needles on 11 (or 6) count Aida

- Show them how you do it
This sounds like an odd tip but some people I have worked with used to teach the kids how to start sewing with one method but started her own threads with another. A few of the girls we were teaching got confused by this and instead tried to copy the way she was actually using having seen the teacher do it a few times and quite fast too.
So unless you are teaching them something which is much easier than the way you use why not just teach them the way you do it. Kids will always watch the way you sew and try to copy it

Don't forget to explain why you are doing things which are particular to you. One evening one of our adult helpers had a bandage on their finger and while sewing held their finger out to stop the bandage catching on the thread. A few of the kids copied this pose with their own hands until we explained that she was only doing it because of the bandage.

- Thread length should be as long as the child's fore arm.
When teaching children I found that some were very worried about the length of the thread. Some even got out rulers and measured the length. Others who were not so hung up on the details would cut without measurement leading to very long or very short thread lengths. Both of which are quite problematic.
To solve this problem get them to hold the thread in-between their thumb and finger.
Secondly stretch the thread along the arm with the free hand until you reach your elbow.
With your free hand again hold the thread where it meets the inside of your elbow.
Finally cut the thread near your fingers or get someone to cut it there for you
This is really handy while teaching a varied group of kids. In the Brownies
there were kids who had already had their growth spurt and those who had not. By measuring against their own bodies the taller kids got a thread long enough for them while those who had not yet grown taller could use a smaller piece (without this being obviously pointed out)

- Let them design their own chart
For kids who have had a go at stitching try getting them a pad of graph paper (larger squares for younger children)  and a whole bunch of colouring pencils. Tell them to colour in each square of the graph paper to create the pattern they would like. Don't forget to tell them than one square of the graph paper equals one stitch.
When the girls I taught did not know what to sew this was a simple way for them to try out ideas because colouring is far less time consuming than stitches themselves. If the children you are teaching like to be on computers try letting them use a cross stitch design program to design their own charts.

- Tell them why
Of course you will have several nuggets of wisdom to impart, but one of the most important is why. If you explain how to do something like securing the end of a thread don't forget to explain why you do this. i.e. To stop all your lovely stitches coming undone. Saying why things are the way they are or why stitches are done in a certain manner helps with understanding that they need to do it.

Good luck in Teaching a child to sew. Crafts are wonderful chances to be creative, some can be relaxing and can make great presents. Probably the most important of all is to have fun with it and you never know you may start them on a lifelong interest in sewing and crafts

Here are some links for other Crafty Musings:
Using paint for cross stitch design
Cross stitch kit review: Camper vans by Fido Stitch Studio
Things to consider when choosing a cross stitch design
Upcycling worn out Christmas baubles
My Stitching New Years Resolutions

For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here.

Monday 4 June 2012

My little Pony Cutie Mark cross stitch designs 2

My little Pony Cutie Mark cross stitch designs 2

This is Twilight Sparkle's Cutie mark design in cross stitch. I used a bold font for her because it remided me of old history books. Perhaps Like the old dusty Books that Twilight herself likes to read.
This picture has whole stitches only. I normally would not have a block if colour in a design but Twilights cutie mark his white sections witch do not show up on white aida. If you wanted to reduce the amount of stitches you need to sew you could do the smaller stars in a slightly off white colour or give them a small outline of purple.

Fluttershy's Cutie mark cross stitch design. This one is super simple because the butterflies only need two colours. I drew her name in a hand writing style. The writing is a little elegant and perhaps a little rushed  just as I imagine Fluttershy's own hoofwriting to be. Shes probably quite neat but also rushed by looking after so many animals that she doesn't have the time to make it super tidy.


Rainbow Dash Cutie Mark design. I included a font which looks a little like it should be on the back of a collage sport shirt. Since if Rainbow dash was a human who could argue that she would be in a sports team. Plus of course its rainbow coloured.
If you want to make this design simpler you can change all of the rainbow colours just for the same blue, red and yellow included in her cutie mark itself

Heres an example of an alternative for the Rainbow Dash writing with fewer colours.

Rainbow dash cutie thread colours (other colours to be added soon)

Colour
DMC Number
Anchor Number
Blue
995
410
Yellow
445
288
Red
900
333

This design was drawn originally with Anchor colours in my program. Use anchor threads to get the closest match. I used a conversion chart to get the DMC numbers.
Please let me know if any colours are off and I will amend them in the chart.

I have been asked to do cutie marks of some of the background characters too. I have already started drawing Big Macingtosh's mark. So I will post a few more when I am done. 

For the other main 6 cutie marks please follow this link: http://buzybobbins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/my-little-pony-cutie-mark-cross-stitch.html

These pictures are Fan art for My Little Pony friendship is magic. The characters and concepts belong to Hasbro. Im just sharing this fan art for all of the Cross stitching My little Pony Fans out there. 


For even more My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Cross stitch designs check out the links below:
Cutie Mark Collection 3 - Cheerilee, Big Mackingtosh and DJ Pon3

Twilight Sparkle as a Filly
Daring Doo
Derpy Hooves sitting
Applejack as a Filly
Rainbow Dash at the Hearthswarming Eve Pagent
Derpy Hooves Flying
Filly Fluttershy
Derpy Hooves in her Nightmare Night costume
Rarity in a blue and yellow Canterlot dress
Nightmare Moon
Lyra Heartstrings running
Filly Applejack Standing
Zecora the Zebra
Flutterbat
Pinkie pie in a chicken suit
Princess Candence Happy
Gummy the Crocodile in a formal suit

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls Cross stitch designs
Spike the Dog
Fluttershy in Fall formal dress
 For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here.