An Unintended Holiday Stitching Project

I have just got back from a great holiday in the Dominican Republic. It’s a wonderful country, populated by the friendliest people you have ever met, and with beaches like this:

The beach at Bayahibe, early morning

 However, I wasn’t so impressed with the baggage handlers at Manchester Airport, who managed to wreck my suitcase.

My damaged suitcase, with broken zip and squashed corner

The staff at our hotel suggested that we let them send one of their staff to a local chain store, to get prices for suitable-sized new suitcases, and then they’d buy one on our behalf, so that we didn’t have to waste our holiday time doing it. But when they gave us the price , they were so expensive that we said we’d prefer to try to mend it ourselves.  ’No, no!’, they said,’Let us get our hotel tailor to mend it for you!’

So, we left the case with them for a week, then enquired about it.

‘Come back tomorrow,’ they said. When we did that, they said ‘Come back at five o’clock.’

By now we were not very confident that they would get anything done. We only had two days left before going home, and no suitcase. When we eventually talked to the head of Guest Services, he owned up. ‘The tailor has been off sick for a week. Now that he’s back, he’s got a backlog of work. He’s looked at your case, and he thinks it’s beyond repair. Sorry.’

Aarrgghh!!

So, we asked for the case back, and said we were going to attempt to fix it ourselves.

‘Can’t be done!’ they said. ‘The tailor said so. It’s beyond repair.’

Several members of staff later, we got the suitcase brought back to our room. With the aid of a tiny ‘emergency mending kit’ provided with the toiletries in the bathroom, my husband Chris managed to backstitch the zip back into place, using all six shades of cotton provided in the kit.

Chris fixing the suitcase

Chris's backstitching

Despite the hotel staff’s disbelief, the suitcase held together all the way back to the UK (including through baggage handling at Manchester Airport).

One of the hotel staff offered him a job as hotel tailor, but he turned it down, as he reckoned the commute to work would be a bit long from Staffordshire.

A book review of ‘A Perfect World in Ribbon Embroidery and Stumpwork’ by Di van Niekerk

I got the book ‘A Perfect World in Ribbon Embroidery and Stumpwork’  for Christmas, and it’s wonderful!

Di van Niekerk is from Cape Town, South Africa, and her designs are gorgeous. She has a real flair for realistically representing flowers and animals from her native country, using interesting materials. The book shows in great detail how to make this panel, one ‘diamond’ at a time.

Learn how to make this stunning panel with Di van Niekerk's book

The panel uses many shades of hand-dyed silk ribbon,  which can be bought from Di by mail order (see the stockists page  on Di’s website for details of a stockist in your country), or you could of course use any brand of ribbon instead. The panel also requires Chameleon or Rajmahal silk thread, but any stranded cotton or silk thread could successfully be substituted. The design can be transferred onto fabric by enlarging a line drawing from the back of the book and tracing it on, or a printed colour version on cotton fabric can be bought (this is what I’d prefer to do). The design is then stitched over, using stumpwork and ribbon embroidery stitches, to make the most amazing ’sampler’ style picture. It’s a very beautiful and original design.

The 'Cosmos and pennywort' panel

Instructions are given for each panel in separate chapters, so you could make just one ‘diamond’  if you want to (the fabric design ‘diamonds’ can be bought individually, for this option, if you prefer).

The photos in the book are very clear and detailed, and everything is explained really well. Good finishing instructions are also given (many books often fall down on this).

If you’re tempted to have a go at this lovely sampler, and want to create something really great, then the book can be bought through my newly-opened online bookstore, where I sell only the kind of embroidery, doll’s house and spiritual books that I would like to (or already do!) own.

My doll’s house teacosy embroidery tutorial is featured in ‘The Doll’s House Magazine’ this month

The February issue (number 141) of The Doll’s House Magazine, published by Guild of Master Craftman Publications, has just gone on sale. This month’s issue has a three page article, featuring a tutorial on one of my twelfth scale teacosy designs – the ‘Willow Pattern’ one.

If you get to see a copy, there’s a special offer code in the magazine for people who buy the teacosy kit, giving  a 20% discount off the usual price.

I have five teacosy designs altogether, and the kits for them are available on this page of my website.

Tiny teacosies for your doll's house, stitched on 32 count silk gauze

My Doll’s House Embroidery Kit Sale Starts Today!

The annual sale of doll’s house embroidery kits and charts on the Janet Granger Designs website starts today. Every single kit on my website is in the sale, as well as accessories such as single-project sized pieces of silk gauze, and tiny tea pots to go with the teacosy kits.

Kits are available for the following miniature needlepoint items:

Carpets  ~~~ Staircarpets ~~~ Cushions ~~~ Bellpulls ~~~ Samplers

Wallhangings ~~~ Dining chairs ~~~ Rectangular footstools 

Firescreens ~~~ Christmas stockings ~~~ Teacosies ~~~ Tray cloths

A selection of doll's house cushions, stitched on 22 count canvas

If you love mini-stitching, then don’t miss the chance to stock up on kits to keep you busy throughout the coldest months of the year, all at bargain prices! Everything is in stock, and post and packing is free, worldwide, too.

All the kits are for one twelfth scale (one inch to one foot), and any components necessary to complete each kit are included in the packet – such as wooden pieces to make the dining chairs, and metal bellpull ends to finish off the bellpulls beautifully. Click here to see details of what each kind of kit contains.

An example of the contents of a kit - this is for a mini sampler to be stitched on 28 count evenweave

The kits are to be stitched using needlepoint stitches  – tent stitch and basketweave stitch (like half cross stitch) – so, if you can do cross stitch already, then these will be easy for you. There is a page explaining how to do these stitches here.

Detailed instructions are included in the kits, too, or you can check out the tutorials page on the website first, to see how easy it is to make one of these unusual items.

An example of one of the tutorials on the website - there are many to choose from!

Have a look at some of the finished kits, in these images that customers have sent in:

A pine bedroom with a carpet called 'Eleanor', based on a William Morris design

A detailed Arts and Crafts carpet called 'May'

A Christmas stocking only an inch and a half high, to be worked on 40 count silk gauze

The website has secure payment facilities, and you can choose to pay using Visa, Mastercard, Solo, Maestro, or Paypal.  If you are not happy to order online, then a printed catalogue is available, and you can order by post or phone instead.

Don’t miss out! The sale is on for a limited time, so visit the website now!

Finished embroidery – It’s Christmas in the doll’s house!

A Merry Christmas, in one-twelfth scale!

Happy Christmas to everyone who loves all things mini, everyone who loves embroidery, and everyone who loves

Finished embroidery – an unusual thimble holder

A thimble holder called a pipkin, about two inches long

This unusual item is called a pipkin. It’s made from three leaf-shaped pieces of fabric, gathered over cardboard formers and laced across the back, then backed with felt (cut a tiny bit smaller than the outer pieces). The three shapes are then stitched together using Palestrina knot stitch (a bit like an overcast stitch, but after each overcast stitch you then go back and loop the needle twice through the stitch you’ve just made, without piercing the fabric, and so making a line of  evenly spaced knots along the line of stitching – a very useful stitch to master!).

This shows how the pipkin opens

It opens by you squeezing the two ends, and so forcing the open side to gape, so that the thimble can be taken out. I don’t actually use a thimble when I’m stitching, but I just couldn’t resist making this, as it’s such a different kind of sewing accessory to own!

The cute hedgehog’s spines are worked in various shades of brown, randomly, until it just ‘looks right’! In front of the hedgehog is the most tiny bee, made from very small satin stitches worked in stripes of yellow and black, with wings in silver blending filament added last. The other two sides feature a silver spider’s web with a minute spider, and my initials.

Jane Nicholas' Stumpwork Embroidery

The design is from Jane Nicholas’ wonderful book  ‘Stumpwork Embroidery – Designs and Projects’, published in 1998 by Sally Milner Publishing.

In the book, there are co-ordinating sewing accessories to make – a needlebook with a squirrel on it, a scissors scabbard, and a pinwheel, along with a drawstring bag to keep them all in.

Although this style of embroidery is very different from the doll’s house needlepoint  that I sell as kits, I really enjoy the change of technique that’s needed to make this kind of item.

Finished embroidery – more beautiful doll’s house rooms

Here are some views of rooms in a doll’s house by a customer of mine called Susan. She has two beautiful doll’s houses, both made by her father, and she has gradually been buying miniature embroidery kits from me for several years, as she completes her houses.

An elegant doll's house dining room

This smart dining suite stands on an ELEANOR carpet. It is stitched on 18 count canvas, in needlepoint, using one strand of Appleton’s crewel wool. The finished carpet measures just over 9 inches by 6 inches. In the background, on the chaise longue, is a CAROLE PASTEL cushion , which is worked on 22 count canvas, using Anchor stranded cotton.

A pretty rug in green and peach on the landing of a doll's house

A BARBARA SMALL (GREEN) carpet fits neatly on the landing on the first floor. This small carpet is one of my best-sellers, as it is so versatile. The fringing is much easier to do than it looks, too!

The William Morris sitting room, with a carpet called 'Elizabeth' taking pride of place

The ELIZABETH carpet, a square William Morris ‘Hammersmith’ design, looks stunning in this living room, papered with authentic twelfth scale William Morris wallpaper. There is a BELLA cushion on the armchair to the left (with another one just peeping over the sofa), and a LITTLE OWL firescreen on the hearth. The firescreen kits are worked on 32 count silk gauze, and the kits come with a simple-to-assemble metal firescreen.

A round rug in the doll's house music room

A BELLA carpet takes pride of place in Sue’s music room, with a matching cushion on the armchair. A Bella footstool also looks good in this room, but is no longer available as a kit.

These images are examples from the Customers’ Gallery pages of my website. For more inspirational pictures, sent in by my clever customers, go to the Gallery index page. If you have any images yourself, of stitching that you have made from kits designed by me, please let me know by sending an email to janet@janetgranger.co.uk !

Last Posting Dates for Christmas 2009

A selection of stitched samples of the kind of miniature needlepoint kits that are available from my website

For customers  of my miniature needlepoint kits worldwide, here are the Last Posting Dates for Christmas, for parcels sent from the UK:
Australasia, Africa, Far East and Middle East – Friday 4th December.
Eastern Europe, USA, Canada and Japan – Thursday 10th December.
Western Europe – Friday 11th December.
UK – Monday 21st December.

I get parcels out within 48 hours of you placing your order on the website, so please allow for that when calculating how much time is needed.

I’ve also got an update ‘Newsflash’ about payment methods: We now take PAYPAL, in addition to Visa, Mastercard, Solo and UK Maestro. This means that you now have more options when you are going through the checkout process. You can choose to use the credit card that you have previously registered with Paypal, or you can choose to have payments debited directly from your bank account. This last option is useful for people who do not have a credit card, but still wish to buy online.