Cockatoo Bag

I recently bought a kit for a Cockatoo Tote Bag from The Fox Collection. When I finished the Bee Cushion I thought I'd go straight on with the Cockatoo Bag and, as usual, rushed right in. Unfortunately, I made quite a big mistake. I mistook needle-felting for punch-needle, dug out the wrong tools and began needle-felting the cockatoo.  

The cockatoo outline is printed on the inside of the bag, while the flowers are printed on the outside. Both needle-felting and punch-needle are worked from the underside.

It was not until I had the head and shoulders felted that I realised what I had done, by which time it was too late to go back, and too difficult to undo. 

I could embroider over the felted mess on the right side, but could not disguise the contrast between the felted background on the upper body and the lower section without felting. The only way I could see forward was to continue to put a layer of needle-felting on the whole cockatoo, then embroider over it.

The felted result looked more like a crested alpaca than a cockatoo.

Eventually, however, I had something resembling a cockatoo, using a mixture of feather stitch, straight stitch and open chain.

Fortunately, and somewhat surprisingly, the flowers proved to be both more straightforward and more pleasurable. They were primarily worked in satin and long and short stitch. The stranded cotton provided was smooth with a good sheen, very easy to work with.  

The colour combinations differed in each of the three flowers. I was nervous about the length of the straight stitches in the outer flower borders and early on I added some couching.

As I progressed I got a bit more trusting, and did less couching - a decision I now regret. Some of the white guide lines are visible under the edge of the flower on which the cockatoo is standing. They didn't wash out completely before blocking.    

The thread provided was not only good quality, but generous in amount. I have easily enough left to make the whole thing again, probably twice over.                                                              

Although I was pleased with the result when it came off the hoop, I rinsed it gently and blocked it, hoping the print lines would dissolve. It didn't disappear, but it did fade. 

With an outside temperature of 38C, and 26C inside, it took 12 hours to dry.

Although there were no construction instructions, I decided if the bag was to be used, it needed lining. The back of the embroidery was likely to be caught or rubbed on any contents and needed protecting.

I selected a wavy navy cotton stripe, cutting it to the exact size of the bag. 

The fabric was large enough for me to create a gusset along the sides and the base, keeping the face of the bag the size illustrated on the kit package while maximising the internal size.

I'm delighted with the result and have added it to my slowly growing pile of gift  totes.

Duftin Chicken bag

In between my more demanding projects I worked another Duftin embroidered bag, this time a pair of roosters. I worked this a while ago as a cushion. Again, I worked this mostly in stem and split stitch so it wears better than it would with the recommended satin stitch. It takes longer to stitch this way, but will last longer.

This project accompanied me on plane trips, car trips, visits to friends, Guild meetings. It was my grab-and-go project for about 3 months.  The ease of doing it was much enhanced by the threads provided by Duftin which were of surprisingly good quality, rarely breaking or knotting and producing a nice sheen.

After a while I even stopped putting it in its own bag and carried the project around in the bag itself. While there is a colour chart, the design is symetrical and once you have worked one bit there is a lot that can be done without referring to the chart.













It was eventually finished. washed and ironed. It is a really cheerful, useful bag and a good gift.

Grab and go: Duftin Bag and hardanger ornaments

Now that  my crocheted cushion is finished I have grabbed an easy and undemanding project to work on in between getting my sewing room organised and unpacking my more substantial works. I am rethinking the way I got the removalists to set up the second and third bedrooms in the apartment and think I will get them back in January to swap the furniture over in the two rooms.  I am also trying to make the transition from a desktop to a laptop computer. This will save me space, but I am having some difficulties loading the data from the desktop to a drive accessible to the laptop. Once this is sorted I can dispose of the computer and the room swap will be easier. In the meantime, I don't want to unpack too much of my stitching gear.

So I have been working on a couple of simple projects - another Duftin bag,

as a Christmas gift, and a set of hardanger ornaments I bought as a kit somewhere along the line, to hang on my tree.

Tha bag is progressing apace. It presents no challenge and keeps my hands occupied.

Tha hardanger isn't hard, but requires focus and good eyesight - which, of course, rather rules it out as a grab-and-go!

My first attempt would not pass muster with the Guild. It will, however, glitter and hang sufficiently joyfully as a Christmas decoration for a couple of years.

I hoped to improve on the second one but alas, it was not so. I did not photograph it, even for learning purposes. My heart was not in it and my count even further out.  I abandoned the attempt and hung the first ornament on its own.

The bag, on the other hand, went from strength to strength and was finished in good time. All credit to Duftin who do a good job of these practical and easy-to-stitch bags. They are old friends to me - clearly what was needed in the lead-up to Christmas!

Rooster Cushion

I fell for a couple of easy folk art cushion kits in very bright cottons from Herrschners a few months ago. They are produced for Herrschners by Duftin, a Hungarian company whose products I have successfully used before. I like their products that come ready-made and stamped to embroider. They make for easy, attractive products to embroider while on holiday, talking or watching the world go by.

This was no exception. The threads were sufficiently well organised and labelled to be usable without further work, the pattern was clear and the instructions simple, bold and easy to manage.

I began just before going to Carrickalinga for Christmas by embroidering the central line of the design.

By the time I went away I had some tail feathers done, and had decided to use stem stitch and split stitch in place of satin stitch for a good part of the design.

When I came home on 26 December I had a large part done and was enjoying it very much.






It is a lot of fun to work on something so bright and shapely. It is an exercise in colouring-in and the interest and satisfaction is in adding each component and watching the colours lift and complement each other.

The body of the roosters and the pink flowers practiced my long and short stitch.




I finished it, appropriately, on New Year's Eve, washing and blocking it on New Year's Day. I haven't inserted a cushion yet. I will give this to someone who could do with a cheery cushion!

A few days ago Herrschners had a special on the shoulder bag in the same pattern and fabric. Even with the deteriorating exchange rate and a generous stash of projects I did not resist.

Yet another Duftin Bag

I mentioned that two interstate friends visiting last weekend. One is the friend for whom I made the blingy Christmas penguins. I decided the other friend would like one of the embroidered Duftin bags I have in my stash, so last week I suspended other stitching activity to cross-stitch another of these.


I chose a flowered one in black.



These are easy projects to carry around - no instructions needed. The bags are pre-made, very strong, grosgrain fabric, and the thread, scissors and needle go inside the bag for convenient carriage - a take anywhere project. The thread comes in long precut lengths, so you can even manage without scissors if you are taking it on a plane, as I in fact did.

The challenge is to keep the thread going in a direction that will not involve cutting as the pattern twists and turns.

As simple as it is, the design is lovely, cleverly exploiting the spaces created between the cross and the back stitch.

My friend was delighted with her bag and used it for her many purchases in Adelaide over the weekend. I got the pleasure of making it, and of seeing it used. Very satisfying.

Travel Project- another Duftin bag finished.

I have been in Bali for the last two weeks on holiday. I took another of the Duftin cross-stitch bag kits I ordered from Hungary with me - easy to do on the plane and by the pool. The threads are pre-cut, the pattern printed so I don't need to continually refer to a pattern.

I chose the Paradise Bird taking nectar from flowers - appropriate for Bali, where we stayed with friends in their villa with a beautiful garden. This one is stitched and backed in black.

I began the project on the plane to Bali and by the time we arrived I had a good start.I took 4 other projects - just in case I ran out of things to do! I did do a few hours on one of them - another story.

It was great to sit by the pool and stitch away, when I wasn't reading or swimming.

The work progressed steadily. It has a lovely sweeping flow to it.

I finished it the day before we returned home and am very pleased with the result, dappled here by the shade of the frangipanni trees.

Shall I give this as a gift or keep it to remind me of those two relaxing weeks with friends in Bali?