In my previous blog post, I wrote about the best fabrics for hand embroidery. In this post, I wanted to touch on another embroidery essential - the hoop.
There are many different types of hoops out there, and I’ve about tried them all! From pricier imported wood hoops to plastic hoops to "hoops" made of plastic piping, there are a lot of varieties to try out. Sometimes it comes down to personal preference depending on what feels good in your hands and what materials you choose for your stitching projects.
Using a hoop makes stitching much easier as your hands have something to hold. It also keeps your fabric taut, which helps you to stitch evenly and to prevent your fabric from puckering.
The size of hoop you select completely depends on the size of the embroidery you are hoping to stitch. I typically work with hoops in the range of 5 to 7 inches wide.
In my new guide, Hand Embroidery Essentials, I do a deep dive into hoops and go into great detail about how to use a hoop, the various brands I've tried, and what I prefer to use. You can find the guide here.
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What fabric do you stitch on? Where do you buy your fabric? These are two of the most common questions I receive on Instagram about my work.
Different types of fabric for hand embroidery.
It's taken a lot of trial and error to figure out the fabric I prefer to stitch on. These days I typically work on fine imported linen, but I learned how to stitch on different types of cotton. I mention trial and error because fabric quality varies a LOT and over time I've learned how much easier it is to stitch on quality materials. This often translates to the fabric being more expensive, but I choose to invest in the best materials I can find because I want my work to have an heirloom quality that will last for years and years.
If you want to learn more about fabric, I go in depth about how I select fabrics, the pros and cons of different types, the materials to avoid, and the exact places I purchase fabric in my new digital guide, Hand Embroidery Essentials. You can find it in my shop here!
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After you have purchased Hand Embroidery Essentials, there are 3 ways to download the guide, ensuring you won't have a hard time figuring out how to download it.
1) After placing your order, there will be a link to directly download the guide on the final order confirmation page. Under your order number at the top of the page, you'll see a link that says "Click here to download the digital hand embroidery essentials guide."
2) You'll find a link to download the guide at the bottom of your order confirmation email. This email is sent from "Happy Cactus Designs" with the email address hello@happycactusdesigns.com.
3) You will also receive a second email soon after you place your order with a link to download the guide to your computer or other device. Please note that this is a separate email from your order confirmation email and will come from "Happy Cactus Designs" with the email address noreply@sendowl.com. SendOwl is the app used to deliver your digital download. Please check your spam folder if you don't see these emails.
A few notes about the download:
You may download the guide three separate times.
The PDF file size is approximately 21 MB.
Please check your spam folder if you don't see this email. Alternatively, some email carriers have a separate "promotions" folder these emails may be sent to.
The guide is a PDF, so you will need a PDF reader (such as Adobe Acrobat) to open and view the guide. Download one here.
If you have problems with your download, contact hello{at}happycactusdesigns.com.
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All of the pieces of framed artwork I create come with framing hardware attached so you can quickly get the piece on your wall. I sometimes display work around my house on a small easel, but found that the easel is either very cheaply made or that it is a very clunky and very black wood which doesn't look good with my delicate embroidery. So imagine how delighted I was to buy this awesome acrylic easel from CB2. It fits my framed works perfectly! You can find it at CB2 here.
The monochromatic black and white piece is available in my shop here.
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Summer is in full swing and when I'm not exploring the great outdoors, I'm at my home studio juggling a variety of hand embroidery projects. I always try to spend some time during the summertime building up inventory for the busy holiday season and experimenting with new ideas and materials. Here are some peeks at what I've been working on.
Stitching a monogram
Working on a blue floral piece I've been stitching on and off for months!
Adding a floral motif to a linen guest towel. You can find my favorite water soluble fabric pen here.
Rainbow flowers on turquoise linen
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I shared some thoughts on Instagram last week about the time and patience that hand embroidery requires. I started a new rainbow flowers piece and it took about 25 minutes (or one episode of Younger!) to complete 5 small motifs.
Embroidery is a slow and meditative process. It doesn’t bother me that it takes a long time; on the contrary, the slowness is something I’ve really grown to really appreciate - especially in today’s world where we want everything faster and instantaneously.
And a little more done!
I typically do not track my time, but was curious just how long it was taking to create these tiny little flowers. I use a mix of simple and more complex stitches, I switch colors often, and I add intricate little details here and there. Find similar rainbow flower embroidered designs in my shop here.
A different piece that took many months to complete. It became a pillow.
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I'm excited to add a few new pieces of hand embroidered artwork to my online shop later this week. Each design features intricate white stitch work on black linen with a white mat and black frame. I love the tonal contrast! You can sign up for my newsletter to know when they are added to my shop!
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As I mentioned in my previous posts (read them here and here), I had been contemplating taking a social media break for awhile and I was greatly influenced by various research and articles I had read. While it may not seem like a big deal to some to take time away from sites and apps like Facebook and Instagram, these platforms are places where I spend a lot of effort and time sharing and promoting my work, connecting with press and interested followers, and touching base with friends and colleagues.
Here are some of thought-provoking books and articles that I found helpful in understanding my own social media use, the impact such use is having on my brain and life, and how to thoughtfully take a break.
Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport - This book is a must for anyone contemplating the growing role social media is playing in his or her life. Newport's gist is that you should create a philosophy for your own use of technology, one that is rooted in intentionality and based on your deep values. He recommends taking a month away from social media platforms and then reassessing how you want to use technology going forward to maximize its value and minimize its harms.
Putting Down Your Phone May Help You Live Longer by Catherine Price (New York Times) - Price discusses smartphone-induced stress and how "by chronically raising levels of cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone, our phones may be threatening our health and shortening our lives."
Brain Drain: The Mere Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity by Adrian F. Ward, Kristen Duke, Ayelet Gneezy, and Maarten W. Bos for the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research - The authors describe how "results from two experiments indicate that even when people are successful at maintaining sustained attention—as when avoiding the temptation to check their phones—the mere presence of these devices reduces available cognitive capacity." YIKES!
11 reasons to stop looking at your smartphone by K. Thor Jensen and Jason Cohen (PCMag) - This post rounds-up various articles and studies about the impact our smartphones have on various aspects of our lives.
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If I could only pick one color combination to use for the rest of my life, it would easily be blue and white. I'm definitely team #blueandwhiteforever. One of my favorite pillows that I've ever created is this one featuring floral motifs in different shades of blue (click here for more details about this pillow in the shop). The pillow itself is about 8 inches x 8 inches - a perfect accent for your living room furniture.
Creating pillows is quite an ambitious process for me. First, I spend months stitching the design, figuring out how I want the piece to look and what size I want it to be.
Then I source trim that coordinates with the embroidery. In this case, I found the perfect periwinkle blue grosgrain trim. I then work with a wonderful local upholstery partner here in Durango, CO, who expertly works her magic to make my canvas into a pillow.
This one-of-a-kind pillow is available in the shop.
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It's been three weeks since I started my Instagram break. You can read more about the reasoning behind this decision here. I promised to share some updates about how the break is going in case you yourself are curious about taking time away from social media. Here are some observations I've made from my own personal experience.
1. Embracing and enjoying the absence. I don't miss Instagram as much as I thought I would! I thought I would end up regularly swiping to the now-missing Instagram button on my iPhone, but this has not been the case. In the first few days, there were a few times I gravitated to the button, but it hasn't happened since. I was surprised by how quickly my phone habits changed.
2. Not much FOMO. I thought I'd feel a lot of FOMO (fear of missing out) without being able to see what my favorite accounts were up to. To be honest, there are occasional times when I wonder what some of my favorite artists, celebrities, designers, and companies are up to, but the feeling passes pretty quickly.
3. WAY less screen time. This is major. The amount of time I spend on my phone has drastically reduced. This is kind of a no brainer, but I was shocked to see how little I use my phone since I don't have Instagram on it.
Here's a screenshot of my screen time before the Instagram break. On average, I was using Instagram about 1.5 hours per day. That adds up to 10.5 hours per week! That makes me feel pretty icky.
And now here's a screenshot from earlier this week. Pretty dramatic change, no!?
If you are curious about your own screen time, on your iPhone go to Settings --> Screen Time.
4. Increased focus and productivity. Prior to deleting Instagram, I would engage in an activity (stitching, reading, writing, watching TV), but see my phone after a bit of time (because it needed to be near me) and think, "Oh, let me just quickly check Instagram." I wouldn't think twice about this interruption and then I'd find myself going down a scrolling rabbit hole for 30 minutes. So much wasted time. During this detox, I have noticed that I'm able to engage in a "flow" state with regularity and ease, engaging in focused activities for long periods of time. I find myself reading or stitching for an hour straight with limited distractions. It's quite nice and overall I have felt way more productive.
5. More time to read! Directly linked to #4, I am reading a LOT more. I've always been an avid reader, but without the distraction of social media, I'm finishing many more books and articles in a shorter time frame than normal.
In my next blog post about this subject, I plan to share some of the resources I have found helpful in making the decision to take some time away from Instagram. Stay tuned!
Monochromatic hand embroidery is equal parts challenging and enjoyable. As someone who tends to use a variety of color in most designs, I find that using only one color of thread makes me plan out my particular motifs with more careful consideration.
I particularly love working with white cotton floss on white linen. While it can be a bit challenging on the eyes - I find myself taking frequent breaks - the subtle texture is so pleasing to the eye.
Here's some favorite white on white pieces I've created. A few of these are available in my shop at the moment - click on the link under the image for full details.
Monochromatic White Floral Hand Embroidered Artwork
Hand Embroidered White Floral Pillow
White floral embroidery in progress
Pillow canvas in progress
White floral embroidered paperweight (sold)
A tiny design in progress
Despite my company name, it had been a few years since I had created any cactus embroidery designs. Within the past 6 months, though, I stitched a revamped and more detailed cactus series, designs that I'm really proud of.
I wanted to create very small groupings of different cacti, including prickly pear, organ pipe, saguaro, agave, and cholla, using only 1 to 2 strands of thread. By using fewer threads, it was possible to create very intricate details, including subtle variations in color and tiny needles and cactus flowers.
Much of my inspiration for this series came from a few trips to Arizona. The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix is one of the coolest places I've ever visited and I referred to the many photos I took there when brainstorming these new designs.
Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona
A number of these pieces have already sold, but there are a few framed designs available in my shop now. Click on the links below for more details.
Cactus Grouping on White Linen Hand Embroidered Art (in the shop)
