Fabric And Ink | Mr X Stitch

The time has come for 'Exploring Etsy' to go into hibernation until the New Year; my, that sure feels like it's crept up rather quickly! But before I hang up my all terrain needlecraft explorer kit just yet, I've ventured out once more to bring a special bumper edition featuring not one but two fantastic makers! First up to delight you is the suitably festive felt work of Angele Carter and her shop 'Fabric And Ink'. Angele originally grew up in England and has a teaching degree with a specialism in Art and Design. She now lives in California with her husband, kids, retired racing greyhound and a little white cat. A few years ago Angele discovered wool felt and was immediately drawn to the its texture and vibrant colours. That Christmas she made pincushions for friends and family, and the seed of an idea for her Etsy shop was sown. Designing a new pincushion always starts with lots of sketches, she then makes pattern pieces for the larger elements and chooses felt colours. All the little leaves and flowers are cut freehand with a very sharp pair of scissors! Her favourite embroidery stitch is the French knot and in addition to spending her time stitching she teaches a middle school Costume Design class and hopes to add a high school one too. What is your earliest stitching memory? My earliest sewing memories are of working a simple embroidered sampler in Primary school and making a box full of tiny “Pippa” doll clothes for my sister for Christmas. I remember the sounds of my mum using her sewing machine in the evenings as I was falling asleep! What fires your imagination? I am inspired by nature. I walk with my greyhound and notice details, the frost on the edges of leaves, the play of light on clouds, the way the sun sparkles through water droplets on branches the morning after it has rained. I love to be in the mountains and forest of the Sierra Nevada where I go as often as possible. I sit on the deck of our cabin with a cup of tea and some stitching and listen to the wind in the tops of the pine trees. I like to hike, ski and kayak. I take a lot of photos, do research and make lots of sketches. I think Angele's feel for colour is flawless and the tiny little details she manages to include in her designs is just exquisite. Would her lovely work not be a perfect gift for yourself or a loved one…*nudge, nudge, wink, wink*. If you agree pop on over to her shop! Next up in this exciting bumper edition is the superbly talented Georgie Cooper whose newly opened shop 'Tiny Hand Embroidery' is already looking pretty exciting! Georgie, a keen crafter from an early age, turned Linguistics student, residing between the countryside of Suffolk and Derbyshire. She started stitching at the beginning of 2017, after discovering the embroidery community on Instagram and just deciding to give it a crack herself. She specialises in a vintage blackwork style and is a lover of all things that live in the natural world, especially the farm animals and wild flowers that cover the countryside she was brought up in. On any given day, she can be found cycling around the nearest fields on her trusty Pendleton bike trying to find things to stitch. What is your earliest stitching memory? Embarrassingly enough, probably my mum constantly having to shorten my jeans when I was a very vertically challenged child. She’s an amazing seamstress so I was always watching her make things for different people, she even hand embroidered my sister-in-law's wedding dress, so I’ve always been around sewing and making. My mum’s very precise with her sewing so I think that’s where I get my pedantry from when I’m stitching! What fires your imagination? Nature, as clichéd as that is. I love stitching farmyard animals and wild flowers because that’s always what I see when I’m back home in Suffolk. I love the art style of Victorian drawings and illustrations of the natural world, and I try and carry that sketchy black and white look through my embroideries. Make sure to pop over to her shop folks! I think you'll all agree that Georgie has made a fantastic start and I for one can't wait to see how her work develops in the New Year. Right folks that's a wrap for 'Exploring Etsy' in 2017. I hope you'll all join me in the New Year for even more needlecraft fun! ----- Jessica Taylor aka Loadofolbobbins is a Textile Artist and Illustrator based by the sea in Portsmouth. At her happiest with a needle and thread, with a passion for genealogy she often explores old photographs in her Textile art. With her fingers in many creative pies she loves to experiment with new techniques, creating illustrated and stitched goodies for her Etsy shop. Save