Finally a thimble to share

I can't believe it took so long to finish this one (it was started on April 21st). I think I procrastinated on it because I wasn't enjoying the colour combination but it turned out nicely in the end - another reminder for me to keep an open mind. I've made this type of pattern several times but this one is slightly different as there are more repeats across the height of the thimble. I think I might make this one again in a single colour with the very last row in a contrasting thread to outline the diamond shapes... that might look cool.

I admit the finish on this one is not nice. The edges are a bit scallop shaped and I probably should have wrestled another row of gold stitching in but I really wanted to end on silver.

 I am really inspired by other people's yubinuki making lately. Have you visited the share your thimbles page at flickr  lately?Follow the link to see my most favourite one made by Beadturtle it really calls to me. I also love these recent additions by Chloe Patricia and Dorian E.

There are so many crafty things I want to do right now but I am feeling so sluggish from the cold (and not following my eating regime properly - I get achy and feel all my energy zapped if I don't eat right) so just want to stay nestled under my warm rug. I also have a little Nintendonitis* from hula hooping and ski jumping with Mr W on the Wii over the weekend. Even so I have caught up a bit on my Blue Stars homework. I think there might still be one kit left if anyone is interested in joining this class with Barb Suess. I am currently stitching week 3's instructions. Unfortunately the measure twice cut once lesson hasn't been learned well enough and I have placed stitching 0.25cm too far from the pole... grrrr but I am going to stick on and see what happens

I am also rolling instructions and patterns around in my head for the next 2 day workshop scheduled for August. 

* Nintendonitis: Injury (in my case my left knee and right hip) cause by or after playing video games too much.

Yubinuki making again

My last few attempts at making Yubinuki have ended in frustration due to the mold I had been using. Actually there was nothing wrong with the mold, the problem was with the marking paper on top of the mold. You see my ability to divide on the tiny scale required by Yubinuki is not wonderful. I can divide 8 sections onto a 6cm circumference, I can even manage to make a 12 section division ok but now that I have been making beads the circumference has gone down to 3.3cm... this is very small indeed... particularly for someone as measurement challenged as me.

I was fiddling with my publisher program yesterday to try to make some much more evenly divided marking papers to wrap around my mold core and made an interesting and accidental discovery. I was adding lines measuring from the left ruler and pulled across a guide line. What was that? I'd never seen it before so I did the same thing again and out came another guide line. Wow! Now I tried to get them evenly spaced.... grrr... I am so challenged with this.

A little later I right clicked a line sitting near a guide line to try to copy it... guess what a little box came up that allowed me to place the guide line in a definite measurement from the left side of the paper. I had stumbled on the answer to my prayers. Being self taught on most things to do with the computer I occasionally stumble on some marvellous feature I'd never expected to exist. So after several hours of calculating all the divisions I wanted to make and placing guidelines I have a wonderful set of correctly measured division papers to fit around my mold. I started using a 11 division paper and must say it is working beautifully. This proves my long suspected theory that my measuring, not my stitching, was to blame for all those Yubinuki that just didn't turn out right.

I haven't quite finished this Yubinuki so I'm not showing it today but I will get it done and add it to a post soon.

UPDATE:
Patricia asked if this set of guides would work for any other size than the 3.3cm they were specifically made for. The quick answer is no not really unless you did a lot of fiddling to ensure that the paper was stretched and printed to your exact size requirements. Too much like hard work I think. But click over here to see how Chloe Patricia from Mamercerie does hers. This is great when your marking paper remains inside the thimble (therefore you need a new one for every project) but mine sits on top of the mould - between the mould and the bias tape- so I can reuse it over and over again. Also I am working on a very small scale length here.

Thimble (Yubinuki) instructions from a photo

Debi has written another excellent post on how she works out yubinuki patterns from a photograph. I encourage you to visit her Temari Train of Thought blog to read it.

Love your work as always Debi!

Yubinuki (Thimble Display Case) Frame Tutorial

Yesterday I went to IKEA with my Mum. I needed to buy some replacement rail fittings for my family room curtains, and I have also had my eye on a shadow box for my yubinuki. I found this frame for $20.

I used a large piece of heavy weight thin cardboard and made some shelves to fit inside the shadow part of the box.

Got some thimbles you want to display? I didn't actually plan to make a tutorial at the beginning of this project but it turned out so good I wanted to share.

Here's the how to:

1. Measure the depth, height and width of the box. My frame was 3cm x 22cm x 22cm.

2. Determine the number of shelves you would like inside your display. Then divide the height of the box by this number. (I wanted 4 shelves so divided by 4... my gap was 5.5cm) Double check that the items you want to place on the shelves will fit this gap. This save alot of heartache later... if the items wont fit just recompute with one less shelf.

3. Cut a length of card to the width and height of the box plus 2 times the depth of the box multiplied by the number of shelves.
(For me it was 22 + 2x3 + 2x3 + 2x3 + 2x3 = 46cm)

4. Measure out 1 unit of depth then a shelf height then 2 units of depth and a shelf height etc until you have Score and then folded the shelves up, glued them with pva glue and pegged them to dry. You may need to cut down your shelf height by up to 1cm to get them to fit just right. Just trim little bits off at a time... if it is too small you can't disguise it.

Not a very nice colour (at least not what I wanted to see) so I used some felt left over from a previous project (either the Christmas advent stockings from 2009 or the bunny hats from Easter 2010) and covered them over using thin double sided tape on every edge. I guess you could also use just about any leftover fabric or possibly thin paper... maybe plain is better than a print though.

5. Cut felt 2cms larger than the original cardboard and tape it down beginning just slightly over the end of the cardboard. Trim excess felt on the sides but leave it on the top and bottom. Use a little double sided tape to stick into the base of the frame and lay out your treasures. Very carefully place the shelves into the frame and add the backing. Done!

Here it is filled with some of my yubinuki which I have converted into thimbles. Sorry the photo is a poor quality. Oops I forgot to pull the top bit of felt taught before I closed the back of the frame. I will remember to do that when I add more thimbles.

I plan to fill it with 4 thimbles per shelf but it is almost school pick up time and I have promised to make banana muffins after school so I had better sign off for now.

Seeing as I already had the cardboard, glue, tape and felt this neat display just cost $20. Hope you like this project.

I'd rather be... stitching temari

... than stuck at this traffic light! This was my thought this morning.  I think someone programs the light changes to deliberately make you stop at every intersection... maybe that person is in cahoots with the oil companies... do I smell a conspiracy to make us use more fuel? This morning I travelled about 23km in about 15 minutes along the highway (no traffic lights) and then it took 20 minutes to travel just an extra 8km along the surface roads. I stopped at 11 sets of traffic lights because every one of them was red... two sets had no traffic coming at the crossroad either. Nevermind it was all worth it because I had a physiotherapy appointment today, and I do feel much better, my brain can process thoughts again and I can even look over my shoulder to reverse the car. Yippee! I've got another appointment booked for Wednesday which should take considerably less time to get to as I'll be going from home instead of via Lesmurdie.

Before the physio I went to school to take another class of girls for temari making. This was my last teaching commitment for 2010 so now I guess I am on holidays!!???? Er actually... No rest for the wicked (and I must be particularly so) I've got 2 JTA temari to make, 2 birthday cakes to bake (I am so lucky to be making my nephew's 1st birthday and niece's 3rd birthday cakes), then I will get stuck into all the Christmas baking. My assigned course is dessert (another conspiracy I suspect) and everyone has given me a long list of requests. I daren't make anything new because I know it will be added (nothing every gets left off) to the request list for next year when I mysteriously get chosen to make desserts.

Today I am made photo boards to help the girls finish off their design. Click here to see them.

I also finished off a yubinuki bead to go on a necklace. This one is green and navy and is quite cute but still no good for entering into Chloe Patricia's share your thimbles for this month... not to worry though because I am half way through one that will qualify. This one is made with Orizuru No9 silk in green and navy on a base made of bias tape, cardboard, cotton thread and yarn. There are 11 sections and each colour is stitched in the opposite direction.

The new thimble bead is also 11 sections but I am experimenting with 3 colours. 2 sections of red, plus 1 section each of gold and silver. I'll share a pic when I've finished it.

Back up the learning curve I go

I really enjoy making yubinuki (thimble rings) because they are fairly quick projects that can be stitched up in an afternoon. I haven't made heaps of them, less than 20, so I consider them a new skill. I have been so busy recently that I haven't had any 'spare' time to allocate to thimble making, and also I hadn't wanted to open the gorgeous silk thimble thread sets that Miho brought from Japan for me. But this week I had a little window of free time (read: procrastination and diversion from other projects) so I did treat myself to making some thimbles. I have almost completed 4 this week.

Here is the first one... abandoned half way through due to being too big in diameter and too poorly stitched on a dodgy base made with two strips of bias stitched together to make them wider... in case you are wondering - no it doesn't really work.

Here is number two (left)... this time I made my own bias strip but while the width was fine the length was too short so the join popped open a tiny bit. The stitching on it is better but the measuring was still a bit off so there are a couple of gaps. The circumference is still too big at 3.9cm. Also here we have number three(right)... I made the base but didn't even stitch on it because it think the bias might pull out at the join again. I was going to practice on it but really why would I bother to disappoint myself. So I have said goodbye to this one.

Here is number four... I made an even smaller base 3cm using Debi's paper method (I like this tutorial). Ok I think I am getting there now. Stitching much more even and made on a better base... I lashed out and spent $3 on some wider bias tape and  now my hands are getting more used to stitching on this small scale.

Here is number five... Still in progress but I think you will be able to see where I'm going with this one. This is also my first attempt at stitching paths in two opposite directions.

Did you guess I have been trying to make beads this week? I have been inspired by the lovely beads made by Dorian E  which have been submitted over on Chloe Patricia's Share your thimbles site. I am also inspired greatly by Quiltsummse's thimbles at the same site. You could also win one of the monthly thimbles given away at this flickr group just by trying out thimble making for yourself and entering the draw.

This thimble experience made me reflect on a saying I often hear... use it or lose it. Ok so this is usually in reference to avoiding hoarding for example if you haven't worn an item in 12 months donate it to charity, etc... but actually this translates to new skills too.

If you have recently learned any new skill (drive a car, speak a foreign language, or make a new craft etc) and then fail to use that skill for an extended period it seems to disappear. You need to relearn and practice to get back up the learning curve to where you were before. This is depicted in the graph above: The red line shows an unbroken chain of learning and practice and the blue line shows what happens if you stop using the skill. As you can see by stopping using the skill in between the two thresholds you will likely slide backwards to the first threshold. The good news is that going from 'I suck' to 'I kick ass' a second time is an even quicker curve.

So if you hit a stumbling block with your new skill acquisition or had to take a break from using your new skills, just try again, for a short time it may seem impossible but stick with it because very quickly you'll find you can 'kick ass' again.

Something in the air??

This week I have moved very slowly along. I have stopped and started and been distracted all week long. I haven't finished anything much. I remember someone else mentioned having a fit of procrastination (Jane maybe) and I must have some related bug. Perhaps it is something in the air, maybe it is due to being so over productive recently, maybe it is denial... I need begin to take action on all my big plans... or I'm going to get myself in all kinds of trouble with deadlines soon.


I built 3 shelving units for my craft room (with the help of my hubby and son) this means no more piles of boxes stacked up and the one you want being at the bottom. So everything is much more accessible. Next week I'm going to relabel all the boxes and rearrange them into categories (sewing/soapmaking/beading/temari).

I'm working a C10 temari but it is going really slowly (snails could stitch it more quickly). The design is not difficult, and I have stitched it before. This time it will be pale colours on a dark blue base and marked with blue metallic. I have also tried out some of the new goodies I got from Japan.

I made a nice yubinuki from the hardcover book and used the silk wadding for the base. I really like the outer curve of the thimble. I haven't been able to get such a nice shape just using cotton thread or felt as the padding. The design is new for me as it involves a little bit of weaving. The stitching on this one is a bit dodgy but I actually got the concept of the design and will probably make this one again. Due to the weaving it is ineligible for Mamercerie's share your thimbles this month. If I get time I might be able to make another this month, the prize on offer is lovely (as always). I will need to make up some more thimble bases, almost all of the ones in my stash are used. I can't believe it really, I never thought I'd get through them all.

Oh my! Look at my Omiyage!

Yesterday I posted about my brother's family returning to Australia from their Japan holiday. They were only away a few weeks but we missed them like crazy.

After we got them home from the airport they opened up their suitcases to share the omiyage (souvenirs) they had brought home for everyone. Wow I have never seen so many things packed into so few pieces of luggage (I suspect there could be some shipping boxes arriving later with their own things inside).

This is my combination of omiyage and self purchases. How lucky am I? Thank you to Miho and Seth for all the goodies.

2 boxes of KNK thread and 12 cards of other thread. Lucky me! I love the little boxes. Luckily I have a nice box which came with a Himitsu-Bako (trick box) to store the extra threads in.

The new temari book I purchased on Amazon and Miho brought it home. There are so many lovely temari inside. Some I wish I could begin right now but I must focus on finishing up all my little projects first. Can you see the shadow of my knuckles on the lower right of the book? Today is a glorious sunny winter day 24C. I took the pics in the early morning sun out on our driveway.

 The hardcover thimble book I purchased on Amazon and a cute piggy phone dangle. Also the two watermelon thimbles arrived from Chloe Patricia. Miho also brought back 4 packages of the silk wadding Chloe Patricia uses to prepare her thimble bases... I forgot to photograph them but as they are whitish in colour they wouldn't show up well anyway. The next pic is a close up of the watermelon thimbles.

 

 Aren't they delicious looking? Chloe Patricia has started a new round of share your thimble for August. Get more details here, this month's thimble prize is gorgeous!

Here is a picture from the thimble book... what an inspiring dream image, a whole box full of lovely little thimbles.

Today was a really awesome day. I got lots of lovely sun for my early morning photo taking, met with a girlfriend for lunch, dropped off Ninja (aka the furry cousin)... which meant time for a play and snuggles with my nephew and niece (I'm still catching up on all the hugs we missed while they were away), then home in the rush hour traffic but with no major delays, easy dinner - my son's fave burritos, a sneaky cat nap on the sofa, a few wii games then sharing a book before my son went to bed. If only a fairy could come and wash the dishes the day would be complete.

What's stitching this week.

I've been minding my Step Nana this week while my Mum and Step Dad have some well earned R&R. Seeing as she is 92 I have had a fairly quiet week, so between making cups of tea etc I have had plenty of time to stitch. If only the lighting here was better!!! Every light fitting has at least 4 globes but they don't cast as much light as I'd like... of course at home I spend most of my stitching time under a bright work lamp. The only decent lighting is in the entry hall which has the most beautiful light shade... but I need to wear SPF30 to sit underneath it. Here is a picture of it.

This week I have finished a JD Sakura design that I began a few weeks ago. You might remember the series I was doing with colour experiments. So here it is all in muted tones of beige and tan with a brown obi.

I have also had a go at one of the yubinuki featured on Debi's Temari Train Blog. It was a little gappy in one spot but still turned out nicely. I think the main problem (besides my poor measuring) is that I tried to make it from memory of the instructions... instead of from the instructions. I got there in the end, and this was one of those times when blind faith is required as the pattern doesn't really emerge until you're almost done stitching. I love how it turned out and will probably try it again but the thimble Debi made this week is calling to me. It is so beautiful.

I have also been working on another pattern from Debi's Notebook for the birthday challenge set up by Kristy in QLD over at the TC group. It is a really cool pattern... here is my version.

This last pic is a ball I finished a while ago but forgot to add to the blog. Can you tell it has been cold here? All reds and oranges on this ball trying to keep warm.

When I get home I need to go through all my boxes of temari and photos and look for my C8 and C10 balls. I hope I can find some, I do try to regularly gift my craft items away. Our home is a single level house with no basement and no attic (like the majority of homes in Perth)... therefore no huge amounts of storage. This means the more I want to create the more I need to gift away.

Post note:  While I was away my dear husband took it upon himself to clean up our office and my craft room. Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh no!!!!!  The questions I had to answer about all those supplies!!! Such as why I had 75+ 3inch Styrofoam balls, 20meters (at least) of assorted fabric and 8kg of soap. Hope he didn't find the 15 balls of wool and the 100's of buttons I have in one of the crates... He probably did but I guess he gracefully let it slide.

Share you thimbles July 2010 from MaMercerie

Chloe Patricia announced the winner of the June Share Your Thimbles draw yesterday. I am on a lucky streak because I got drawn again this month. Wow! I have never been so lucky in my whole life.

This month Chloe Patricia is offering the thimble featured below to the lucky winner. It doesn't matter if you are a new or experienced thimble maker. All you need to do is make a thimble, load the photo and enter the draw by replying to the message in Flickr.

Here is the link to Chloe Patricia's blog where she offers detailed tutorials and advice about thimble making. You will also find all the information you need to join in on the draw.

Image from MaMercerie

I have lots of links to various thimble resources throughout this blog. Just click on Yubinuki (ThimbleRing) on the labels at the bottom of this page.

If I can make these thimbles you can too.

So excited I knocked over the bins!

Our mailman rides a motorbike. It is one of those smaller cc Honda varieties that have a certain 'sound'. I know I have written posts before about waiting to pounce on the poor guy when he is making deliveries.

Today I heard him coming down the street and it took me a second or two to calculate the postal times from Japan and then it occurred to me that today would be the day I would receive the thimble I won in the May Show Your Thimbles draw. 

Aha! I jumped up from my desk barrelled through the kitchen knocking over all the recently emptied bins and out through the garage to the mailbox. Somehow in my mania I had managed to pick up the mailbox key (although I don't remember doing it) and almost scalp my self on the 1/2 up garage door. I was out at the mailbox so quick I nearly knocked the mailman of his bike (or at least he nearly leapt off it in fright). In a frenzy I tore open the parcel and after a quick happy dance said 'Hey look! This is what you just delivered me, isn't it gorgeous?' All he could manage was 'Yeah... it's.. er... great.'

Here is a quick pic of the thimble with a bunch of my handmade pins in it. I love it! love it!! love it!!!

I raced down to the post office and have popped a set of these pins in the mail to Chloe Patricia as a thank you gift... lots of pinks and purples maybe something for a Pink Saturday project?!

Well that will be the end of our mail deliveries for a week or so until he calms down a bit. And I also got some bills in the mail :(
LOL

I'm a Flickr winner!!!

Wow! I was randomly selected to win the May thimble giveaway from Chloe Patricia's share your thimbles group. How lucky am I? I am so looking forward to receiving it and will treasure it always. 

Here is a link to the pic of the thimble from Chloe Patricia's blog.

Time for the happy dance...
those readers in the know, know what this means.... ;-)

I am not usually blessed with such good fortune. In fact the last time I won something was in the early nineties when I won a huge (I mean massively huge) gift basket at my Christmas work function. We got lots of confused and slightly panicked looks from other motorists on the way home as I tried to balance it and myself on the back of my future DH's Harley Davidson. Actually I am surprised we were not booked for being a wide load.

Trumpet fanfare! Here is the first Yubinuki

OK brace for something scary! Yes it is time to share the first thimble that I tried making more than 12 months ago.  But before I do that I will show number 14 and 15.

It is getting really cool here now and so I thought stitching in oranges and reds would help me warm up... of course it didn't warm me up but the thick socks and blanket I had over my knee did. Here is number 14.

This one was made as usual on a 6cm form which was divided into 12... but when I realised 4 colours wouldn't work on 12 division as I wanted, I divided each section which resulted in my first 24. I quite like the result. Also I hardly stabbed myself at all because I wised up and stuffed the inside with padding which allowed me better grip on the thimble. It is still a bit gappy but I think that is down to not marking out divisions until the first row was stitched so the stitching wasn't as even as it should have been.

And here is number 15. Don't you love the little flower pins? I made them because... because I just had to have some super cute pins. The thimbles are so cute but it is sad to stick boring old pins into them when they are converted into pin cushions. I made about 30 pins after dinner last night.   My hubby and his/our best friend both thought I was nuts... but they just don't get 'it'.

This one is my regular 6cm size divided in 10. I started out following Debi's recent Thimble Thursday post but when I got to the 5th row of blue I thought "hey, how would stripes look?" So that's what I did. I filled one section with the fuchsia then stitched 5 blue, 3 fuchsia and so on... Now I know it takes me about 21 stitches to fill my sections. As usual I didn't measure after removing the form I just eyed the distance. I'm getting a little better at this I think.

OK so here it is... as promised... the nastiest little thimble I ever saw!!!     Disclaimer: I cannot be held responsible of any injury caused by viewing the following images. You may experience temporary blindness, stomach upset or some other sudden malaise.  You view these images at your own risk.

~~~~

Here is the run down of errors made with my 1st thimble attempt:

I had used the wrong thread (believe it or not I used multiple strands of floss)

I the needle I used was too big (thickness)

My base was not wrapped thickly enough (and I think it was done in computer paper not card stock)

My base was also too tall so the proportions look weird

My bias binding was sewn together and created loads of lumps

I don't even remember knowing that I had to pad it so it is flat flat flat

I had never seen anything in English about thimble stitching apart from a page on temarikai so I pretty much made up what to do after seeing thimble stitching on a temari ball.

So the moral of the story??? If at first you don't succeed, try try again. And then put it aside, do some more research, find some fantastic mentors and try again.

Thanks to all the members of Yahoo's thimble ring group for helping me find my way.  Without all your hard work, support and guidance I would have stopped at making Thimble #1.

Now go and have a cuppa, a bit of chocolate and zone out... you earned it!

Phew! Too busy!

Thimble 12 and 13 are finished, and number 14 should be done any time now... which means 1 more to go until I hit 15 and can confidently show my original thimble failure.  One interesting thing with the last thimble: I have noticed is that by keeping the thimble stuffed with some firm padding I have better grip on it and stab myself less often. My moulds are too long to stitch on and I don't use marking paper on the base so after the first round on each path is stitched I slide the ring off the mould.

I don't actually use a thimble when I stitch, which shows fairly poor judgement as I am constantly stabbing my finger tips with the needle (either the point or the eye end as I push the needle through the base).  I don't own a finger tip thimble but it is probably a wise investment. It seems ironic to need to wear a thimble whilst making a thimble. (A bit like the argument over the chicken or the egg coming first... I need to have a thimble to make a thimble but I need to make the thimble to have a thimble...) 

Thimble 12 and Thimble 13

I have been busy this week. Still working on my current C10 ball and about to mark up a 32 ball to stitch a NanaAkua pattern with Jane C.  Then there is a C10 project that is still sitting as a post in draft mode (in Blogger) since May 6th that has just become an item of discussion on TC (from memory it is Pattern 84 from the TK pattern listing - a stain glass ball). I have also been following along with Terry's C10 Tutorials on TK. I can mark a C10 but I am always eager to compare my method with those of other temari makers to see if tweak my technique. Goodness me so many projects...  Also this week it is my DH's birthday so I'll be cake baking tomorrow and working on my very long chore list. Thursday I hope to go with Miho to the last session of the Bassendean workshop. Next Monday I am doing a final class with the Yr10 Japanese students, and on the 6th my new round of temari classes begin. Then on June 17th I am doing a one day Temari workshop with a local lace makers guild to prepare them for their big trip to Japan in July where they will be taking Temari and Kumihimo classes. I think I need to take a few deep breaths....

Thimble Eye Candy

I haven't stitched a lot lately.  After my recent bad cold I have been getting tingling in my arms when I stitch for too long.  I think I put out the top of my back or shoulder joints from hacking (coughing) away all those days before finally giving up and going to the doctor for some antibiotics. So while surfing the net (looking for inspiration or maybe just wasting time) I came across this awesome site. I have added the link and translated the Kanji so you know what each title means.  (The site details are below the pictures.) But first I want to share my favorites from this site.  Just a small sample of what you'll see when you visit.  By the way my #1 pick is the group image at the bottom, it only just edges out the top left thimble which has me lost for words... except for... wow!

These hearts reminded me of the Debi's recent blog post with her virtual stitching. 
http://www.quilt-yui.com/
店主のギャラリー　Owner's Gallery
ゆびぬき　　Yu Binuki
　・うろこ模様　- Scale pattern
　・青海波　- Qinghai-wave
　・矢羽　- Flight
　・金魚　- Goldfish
　・元禄・縦うろこ 　- Vertical scales Genroku 　
　・市松と鹿の子　* Checkered and Kanoko
　・阪神シリーズ　- Kobe Series
　・応用デザイン　- Application Design
　・花シリーズ 　- Flower Series
　・その他　Others
　
This site sure does give me something to aspire to.


I have nothing of my own to share today.  Sorry, but I do have 2 projects in progress which I will put up later in the week... or when they are completed.

More thimbles.

I know I promised to make a C10 next (which I am about to start) but I had finished these and not photographed/blogged them so when I noticed it has been 6 days since my last post I thought I'd better add something for you.

I have made 11 thimbles  now (only 4 to go until the big unveil of my dodgy 1st one). Honestly you can't comprehend just how dodgy it is. I should call it a thimble wreck in homage to my favourite baking site.

Number 10 (on the right) was made from the first thimble kit sold by Ma Mercerie.  The pink/white one is number 11 and is an attempt at Debi's pattern. It is a little different because my base is 1cm longer (and perhaps a little taller) so I think there is an extra repeat and I swapped the colours for the final stitch on each path. My stitches are still a little rough (gappy) along the edges.... I must work harder on getting this right.

I had read that the silk floss (Chloe Patricia - on the Yahoo group?) gives a softer base when used as padding compared to the sewing thread we have been using.  I thought about this a lot and compared the 3 thimbles from Ma Mercerie with the bases I had made.  I agree, it is true, and I like the softer base much better. 

I did buy a bag of wool roving when I first learned about thimble stitching... but I don't really like my chances of grooming it into place so it is still in the bag. On the pink one featured in this post I used some white felt scraps I had been hoarding to use as a temari core. (You may remember the Christmas post which showed the little felt stockings hanging on our tree.)  I cut it to the length of the base and about 2/3rds of  the thimble height. I tacked the ends together and added a few long stitches around the thimble to keep it anchored so it would not slip around while I made the first few rows.I actually like the softness felt adds to the base, but it will take a bit of practice to get the stitch tension right when using this as a base.  Also I need to establish the best width to use to cover the base... too narrow and the curve of the thimble looks odd but too wide and I will be catching it in the stitches and going nuts.

Well that's all folks. Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I am hoping for pancakes for breakfast... but I will be happy with drowned cereal or burnt toast. I hope your day is lovely with your own mum/children if your country is celebrating tomorrow (and even if your not).

Thimble #7

Well today is May 1st and now that my Mum has her gift it is time to share it with you too.  It was made with a kit purchased from Ma Mercerie.  Last year I made my Mum a temari set in Black, White and Pink so this follows the same colour theme.

I am quite pleased with it although in such a large close up it looks kinda jagged on the edge.  Still there is definite improvement since the 1st thimble I made almost 12 months ago. 

I have committed myself (no not to the nut house - surprisingly) to sharing a picture of my 1st thimble when I get to number 15.  Only six more to go and I am actually getting excited about it.  I first tried thimble making about 3 months before the Thimble group started on Yahoo.  It was so awful that I never let anyone see it.  But I have kept my little shameful thimble to serve as a reminder of how persistence and practice in the face of utter failure makes us better at whatever we are trying to achieve.  I also have my first sad attempt at temari making too... but that is a whole other story... perhaps I might share that one day too.

Thimbles a go-go. (Yubinuki # 8 and #9)

Two posts in one day??? Technically Yes but actually No... I just forgot to publish the previous one yesterday.

It seems I am hooked on thimbles right now.  Not too sure why, but my next project is definitely a temari because my eyes can't take the tiny stitches without bright light... and I am going to end up with work lamp tan if I make any more this week.

These are my latest efforts. Both are stitched with Gutermann 30 Sulky rayon in 4 colours on 6cm bases one has yellow bias and the other is navy.

You will notice the top one is fairly flat looking and I didn't really like that look so I plumped up the base on the next one to give it a little more curve. I am not sure it this flat look is due more to the height of the thimble rather than lack of padding. But adding a bit more thread to the second pink one certainly helped. 

The Gutermann thread is definitely not as nice to use as the Japanese thread but given that my thimbles are a little taller than the one I stitched in the Japanese thread the stitch angle may have contributed to the look.

If you are wondering 'Hey what happened to Yubinuki #7?' Well that is the one I have made for my Mum's birthday so I wont be showing it until next week. Sorry folks... check back next week :)

Making blanks

I love stitching temari and yubinuki.  Notice I say stitching. Prepping bases isn't a horrible job... but when the mood takes me to stitch a design the last thing I want to do is make a base.  This is why I regularly have blank making sessions.  I love having a stash ready to go.  This week I made 16 Yubinuki bases (4 each in blue, black, red and yellow) and 20 temari bases (8 black, 6 red, and 6 white). So I am all ready for the next pattern that jumps off the page (book or Internet) grabs me by the collar and demands to be stitched immediately.

I have finished a really lovely yubinuki tonight but I'm not ready to show it yet because it is a gift for my Mum's birthday next week.

Yubinuki # 6

I think I am getting into the swing of making the yubinuki now.  Today I am unveiling the 6th installment of these adventures into thimble making.  I have decided I can't make out the patterns too well so I am doing what I did at the beginning of temari making... just stitching away trying different things and seeing what comes out.  Although this seems wildly unscientific I found that once I had tried several different ideas on my own the patterns from Japanese books seemed to make more sense to me.

This thimble ring was made using a 6cm circumference nivea lipbalm case for the mold, yellow 12mm bias tape, yellow polyester sewing thread for the padding and 4 colours of Gutermann Sulky Rayon 30 thread.