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Wednesday, May 24, 2017

May flowers
week three

Something old

It's time for showing our old ornaments with some small additions to doll them up a bit.   It's hard when they are already made because we can't add fabric and stitched in trims to them. But we will using small things like trims stitched to the outside seams, bows, charms, buttons etc. 

There is a monthly freebie at the end of the post for you too.

RJ -
I chose Garden Pleasures by Little House Needleworks for our week three showing.   It was a bigger stitch and I wanted it to be an ornament so I did it on 25 ct. Lugana over one. I have two tabletop trees at Christmas and one is French themed so I changed the words Garden Pleasures to The French Garden.

Before:
It is a really sweet stitch but done with a plain finish.

Changed Garden Pleasures to Le Jardin Francais

After: 

This is a petite stitch so I thought it needed a girly finish.  My first thought was rusching but how do you do it?    I searched blogs and you tube and making the ribbon ruffle did not seem too hard but no one actually said how they attached the ruffled ribbon.   So I was on a trial run.

After I finally got it on (don't ask how!), I also added a bow at the top and a set of garden tools in the girl's hand.   Hope you like her new look.
It's raining...it's pouring!  The ornament is sitting in a garden conservatory hoping for sun.


Lighting is not too good on this gloomy day but you can see her little garden tools and the French words a little better 

Love the back fabric.   It is embroidered with flowers.  I bought it at the Fabric Guru online.

Garden Pleasures
by Little House Needleworks
25 ct. country mocha Lugana
called for threads
garden tool

                                                                                     🔻


Mary -

Before: Here is my birdhouse ornament before the update.  Love this stitch but it needed something more.
After:

My updated oldie is LHN's "Birdhouse Alphabet".   I wanted this to be ornament size so I stitched it on 28 count over one.  It was a fairly easy transition for me as the smallest count I had previously stitched on was 18 ct. Aida.  I used the called for thread, Crescent Colors Belle Soire Beanstalk silk thread.

I have trouble making bows so the Bow Easy which can be found here makes tying little bows easy.  It's a little piece of plastic for $11 but I found it worth every cent.  If you have trouble making little bows you might want to give it a try.  There are many helpful videos on you tube if you have trouble understanding the written directions as I did.
Added buttons and a bow

Closeup of the buttons

Birdhouse Alphabet
by Little House Needleworks
28 ct. Lugana
Belle Soire Beanstalk silk thread


Freebie for May



You can find the free chart from Glory Bee here

We hope you have a great week and get in a lot of stitching.  Hope you will come back next week to see our new May garden stitches.
                                                                    Mary and RJ


                                    Friends are the flowers in the garden of life
                                                                  unknown

42 comments:

  1. Oh RJ! The ruched ribbon really transforms the ornament. And the tiny garden tools are so cute!! Love the backing fabric.
    Mary I love the button edging. I have used that technique once. I think it is so pretty.

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    1. Thanks Vickie! If I told you it took me four hours to put that ribbon on, would you believe me? It was my first try but I think it will go better the next time. I love the buttons on Mary's ornament too...they really pop! RJ

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    2. Thank you Vickie, the button edging also hides my not so great closure where it was stuffed, I have learned a new stitch to do that better since I did completed this stitch. I would love to try the rouching but I'll have to wait to find a clear video! RJ labored over hers.

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  2. How adorable! Love the idea of updating finishes!

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    1. Hi Honeybee! Thanks for stopping by. These updates are actually harder than starting from scratch but they are improving our oldies. RJ

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    2. Thanks Honeybee, RJ is right, it's much more difficult thinking up ways to update them, glad you stopped by. Mary

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  3. What pretty ornaments! I love the button edging.

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    1. Hi Rhona and welcome! We are so happy you came by for a visit. I'm with you...I love the button edging that Mary used. She used such pretty vintage buttons too. RJ

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    2. Rhona, so glad you stopped by!! the button edging over the entire edge was a first for me, it worked out on this stitch.

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  4. Both updated versions are adorable. The ruching looks great and the button idea is something I'm going to "borrow".

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    1. Hi Stasi and welcome! I just went and signed up for your blog and really enjoyed the new stitches you are working on. I agree the button idea of Mary's is one I want to try too. RJ

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    2. Hi Stasi, so glad to see you here, and looking forward to seeing a finish from you with a button edging. Mary

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  5. I really like both of your updated versions of your "old" ornaments. RJ, your ruched ribbon edging looks perfect. Mary, how did you do the button edging without taking your ornament apart? Thank you for the link to the complimentary flower design.

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    1. Hi Robin! We love when you come by. I too want to know how the buttons were put on...isn't it adorable? If you only knew my troubles with the ruching...like 4 hours worth! RJ

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    2. Hi Robin, I basically did a running stitch adding the buttons on and every so often take a few extras stitching under one of the buttons to secure them down. I think putting them on after closing the stitch is easier than doing it prior to closing it.

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  6. Your updates are really pretty and quite clever.

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    1. Hi Cathie and thanks for visiting tonight. They look a bit better don't they? Thanks for liking them. RJ

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    2. Hi Cathie, so glad you stopped by again, thanks, it was a brainstorm on how to dress them up. Mary

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  7. I have now up with all your post. What a great collection of ornaments. Littlehouse is one of my favorite designers. Love all your finishing and have picked up a couple of ideas. Thanks.

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    1. Hi Joyce, I'm so glad you stopped over and hope you come back! we have lots of different ideas for Styling with Stitches and will be showing them the first weekof each month. RJ and I have both done quite a few LHN patterns, we love them too. Mary

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    2. Hi Joyce! You are so sweet to read all the past posts too. We are so happy you are following us and we are enjoying your blog as well. We are big fans of LHN too. RJ

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  8. Beautiful finishes.
    Love the before & after on both pieces.
    My favourite has to be the smart addition of buttons as a trim. So clever and really pretty!

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    1. HI Mii, thanks so much, I was unsure of how it would look when I started to add the buttons but I really ended up liking the addition a lot. I have to try the rouching in the near future, I love how it dressed up RJ's stitch. Happy Stitching, Mary

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    2. Hi Mii...glad you came by for a visit. I love Mary's buttons too and want her to teach me how to do them. RJ

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  9. beautiful finishes. Love the little green house. The finighing touches are so pretty.

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    1. Thank you so much Cindy!! Mary

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    2. Hi Cindy! Thank you for visiting. The green house was a Christmas gift from my husband. I love it too. Glad you liked the finishes. RJ

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  10. Love this post! You both did a great job on updating your little pillows with the ruched ribbon and the button trim. Love the wee garden tools, too, RJ. It's the little extras that take a pillow from nice to delightful :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Carol,Thank you!! I loved the wee garden tools too and you can find them at Joanne Fabrics. Mary

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    2. Hi Carol! It is always great to have you stop by. My hand sewing is not up to par so it took a long time to get that ruching on but hopefully it will go quicker the next time. But we are learning and that's a good thing. RJ

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  11. How cute! I can't decide which is cuter!! You both did an awesome job updating old ornaments and giving them new life.

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    1. Hi Faith! We are always happy to see you come for a visit. Glad you like the new additions to our old ornaments. We are learning new things every day. Have a great weekend. RJ

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  12. RJ, I love your "new" ornament!! I really like the words changes on your ornament!
    What a great work on the bow and ruched ribbon, that is so pretty!

    Mary, so pretty ornament! Love the button edging!

    They take time to finish, but the result is wonderful!
    Thanks for the frebbie link!

    Enjoy your weekend!!

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  13. Hi Lili, It's so nice to see you again. RJ has changed the words on a few stitches and always does a great job of it. My button finishing was not nearly as time consuming as RJ's. Enjoy your weekend. Mary

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  14. Hi Lili! We are so happy you could stop by. I change words a lot ... I guess it is just my nature to do so. Mary and I enjoyed working on these two oldies and we both were pretty happy with the end result.
    Glad you liked them too. RJ

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  15. I love how these small changes make a massive difference. Thank you for sharing the freebie chart too. I am a new follower. x

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  16. Hi Kay, RJ and I are so happy to have you as a new follower! I agree, the changes make a massive difference from the original finish, challenging though to come up with ideas on updating them.
    We will be adding the links to the freebie charts with our updated look post so please come back often! Mary

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  17. Both these "new" ornies look great. The ruched ribbon looks very tricky but I think I could manage the buttons!

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  18. Jo, the buttons were an easy finished compared to the rouching. I want to try that finish someday too. Mary

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  19. I'd never seen your blog, and thanks for your comment! I love the idea of adapting the design to fit the frame, and thank you for the info on the frames at Kohls, that's a great idea. Beautiful work on everything!

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  20. I very much like your pattern it's beautiful,thank for sharing good i dea !

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