needlepoint project and bellbottoms

My office was closed two days this week, so I've had plenty of time to sew and do some other handicrafts.

The first picture is of a needlepoint project that I finished on Monday. It was a 5"x5" kit from Joanns - I'd never done any needlepoint before and wanted to see what I thought of it. Most of my hand needlework experience is in counted cross stitch - this was less similar than I expected it to be. First of all, the canvas wasn't woven like most cross stitch fabrics are, and it was much stiffer than I was expecting. Also, while the symbol and lettering were charted the background image was printed directly on the canvas.



The stitch is also very different than cross stitch - while it looks like a half cross stitch on the front side, it's called a "basketweave stitch" for the pattern that it makes on the reverse. Instead of starting in the upper left corner and working horizontal rows, this stitch starts in the upper right corner and works in diagonal rows. It took a bit of adjusting for me to get used to seeing the charted design in that way. I like how the finished project turned out and enjoyed stitching it - I'm debating on starting another needlepoint project in the future. I've been wanting to create stockings for Daniel and me from two of Howard Finster's Christmas paintings, and needlepoint might be a good way to go with that.

Also on Monday I finished my jeans for the All Good festival. These were from the Goodwill - they were missing all four buttons at the top of the jeans, but otherwise were in good condition and they fit well. I sewed new buttons on the top and added the belt and the flares.

The belt was a trim from Joanns - it's a mix of velveteen ribbon and hemp with accents in embroidery, paint, and some sequins. I tacked it in place behind each belt loop and finished the two front edges by hand. The button is decorative only - I didn't want to risk the trim falling apart if I tried to put a buttonhole in it, so the belt attaches at the front with a hidden hook and eye. It also covers the four buttons at the top of the jeans.





The flares are from a green/blue/purple varigated eyelet fabric. I added a 8" wide flare to the inside and outside of each leg and sewed them by machine. The last time I made bellbottoms I did it by hand - this was much quicker! Overall I like how these jeans turned out.