Scissor Fob Tutorial #1

Just a small reminder that any new posts will now be made over at my Wordpress blog.

Yesterday a new Scissor Fob Tutorial was added to the blog, with some more fob tutorials on the way shortly.  I hope you will decide to pop by to see the revamped site and new tutorials.

Kindest regards,

Moving back to Wordpress again!

Apologies for being away for so long - family and work commitments have taken me away from my spare time since before Christmas, including a very ill father being in hospital for a few months and me spending time in NZ as support to my parents.  For those of you who follow my personal blog or follow me on Facebook, this is old news that still continues to this day.

I have today started to add the missing photos that went AWOL after Webshots closed its doors, however I have finally decided that Blogger is seriously driving me crazy with trying to add photos, and in a fit of pique I have made the decision to return once again to my old platform of Wordpress for any future posts.

If you wish to see any new tutorials and updates you will need to update your bookmark to the new (old) location, as all new tutorials and updates will be posted to my Wordpress blog instead of this one.  The URL is as follows:

http://focusonfinishing.wordpress.com/

You will see the site has has a small facelift, and all the missing photos have now been reinstated.  Sadly I will miss the choices of personalising the blog template, but the functionality itself is much more suited to me.

I hope you will join me in my new (old) home, and I look forward to bringing some new tutorials to you in the upcoming months.

Kind regards,

New tutorial links added

Sorry I've been "missing in action" for some considerable time.  Simply a case of some personal issues at home (and ongoing ill health), and moving to a new job that has eaten up most of my spare time.  I am hoping to rectify the situation soon and have been working on some new tutorials which I will finish soon and publish.  If you have any specific tutorials you'd like to see, don't hesitate to leave a comment and I'll do what I can to arrange something :)

Since my last post I have also become aware of some "new-to-me" tutorials, which I will be adding to the Tutorial Links page.  The new ones are as follows:

• Annette's Acre (Annette) - Lined Bag
• A Woven Tapestry - Beaded fob
• A Woven Tapestry - Q-snap Covers
• Afford Your Passions (Susan) - Scissor Fob
• Afford Your Passions (Susan) - Fabric Lined Tin
• Afford Your Passions (Susan) - Fabric Covered Tin
• Afford Your Passions (Susan) - Painted & Lined Box
• Afford Your Passions (Susan) - Mason Jar Pincushion
• Afford Your Passions (Susan) - Cupcake/Ramekin Pincushion
• All Things Vintage - Block roll
• Cyberstitchers - Basic cording
• Hand Dyed Fibers - Needlecase
• Kootoyoo - Fabric covered book
• The Cowgirl From Hanna - Q-snap Covers
• Dani...Black Belt Stitching Wizard - Origami ort box (made from wallpaper)
• Pinwheel Wonders - Many different ornament styles

New tutorial links added

The latest tutorial links to be added are:

• My Mark Designs (Monique) - Ornaments using metal finishing forms
  
• House on Hill Road - inserting zippers into a cushion/pillow
• Knit One Quilt Two - button back pillows (quilted tops, but can be used for needlework)

Have a great week! :)

Latest Tutorials added

I've been very lazy in adding the latest tutorials I've been made aware of, but finally they're added and ready for you to share (if you haven't already seen them, of course):

• A Stitchinaddiction (Carol) - How to frame your own needlework (using pins)
  
  
• Just One More Stitch (Cyndi) - Framing needlework in a CD cover to stand up on a desk
  
  
• The Twisted Stitcher (Vonna) - Lining a Decorative Basket
  
  
• The Twisted Stitcher (Vonna) - Mattress pincushion/pinkeep

If you come across any other tutorials you think would be a good addition to the tutorial list, please don't hesitate to let me know. Also, if any of the links are no longer working please let me know so I can remove or update the link.

Have a great week :)

Blog Awards

I have been very lax in thanking a couple of people who have nominated our blog here for an Award in recent months - and today is the day to rectify that:




First of all, thanks go to Sandra, Nela and Lisa who awarded the blog with the Brillante Award.


Here is what Sandra and Lisa had to say about the blog:

Sandra: Focus on finishing: I don't know these bloggers personally (Anne and Karen are the managers), but my life has been saved thanks to its posts lol I think it's a huge reference for cross stitchers and needlepointers. Lots of useful and easy to follow tutorials with pictures.


Lisa: Anne S-not new to me, but as busy as she is continues to provide us with the Focus on Finishing blog with tons of contributions from stitchers from all over the world chock full of complimentary tutorials. "Hi Anne!"

Then Ezia kindly awarded us with an Arte Y Pico award.


With the acceptance of these awards, are some rules, which are to then nominate at least 5-7 other people for these awards. Because this is more of a 'public' blog, not a personal one, I hope you don't mind if I don't do that here ... instead I will try to continue to highlight some great blogs regularly that have some great finished items on display :)


Thanks again ladies, though, for the lovely awards - the feedback we get every now and then makes it feel worthwhile :)


And on that note I will walk away from the blog tonight, after spending the entire day working on its contents. I've copied so many posts over they've started making me complete a word verification after every post, so I think it's time to call it a night (apart from the fact my eyes are now getting blurry - I guess that means no stitching for me tonight LOL).

Kind regards,

Welcome to Focus on Finishing!

Welcome to the new-look Focus on Finishing blog!

This blog was originally set up in Wordpress, but posed a difficulty for stitchers and tutors wanting to contribute, as the Blogger platform is more commonly used than WP. Some pages, however, will remain within the original Wordpress blog, as they are maintained by me and WP is my preferred platform.

This blog was created as a resource both for stitchers who already enjoy finishing their own stitching creatively and want to develop and share their skills and also for those stitchers who would love to do so but don't know where to start.

It aims to be a place where you can learn new techniques, receive and give finishing help and advice and share pictures of your finished items with everyone.

It also aims to provide a centralised information resource of finishing techniques, with pages dedicated to both tutorial links and links to websites/online albums for inspiration.

We hope to continue to organise regular finishing classes where people can learn specific finishing techniques. All tutors who put together the tutorials do so on a voluntary basis, and I am indebted to their assistance in keeping this blog active by continuing to provide some high quality and wonderful tutorials for us all to enjoy and learn from. More information can be found on the Class/FAL schedule page.

When the blog first started back in February 2007 we tried to have regular FALs (Finish-A-Longs), where we set aside a certain time every week or month to finish up some of those stitched-but-not-yet-finished projects using any method. Unfortunately, there were no takers, so this was cancelled. If enough people would like to have a weekend set aside for finishing, I am happy to start the ball rollling once again.

If you wish to contribute to this blog as a poster rather than just a commenter, please email me (Anne) with your details (including the email address you use for Blogger posts) - I will then add you as a contributor so you can post your finished piccies etc.

When you post to the blog, please assign one or more relevant labels to your post. It is preferred the label should describe the type of finishing method you have used (eg Pinkeep, Bookmark, Biscornu, etc), and any personal details you wish to add. This means that all the posts will be searchable by category, thus making it easy to find all posts on the same subject. If there isn't a label available that is relevant to your post, feel free to create one. Please note that labels may be edited to ensure consistency and categories may be added to posts where necessary.

We would LOVE to see any finished items published to the blog where you have used our tutorials - this is a great motivation for other stitchers, as well as for the tutors that have taken their time to prepare their tutorials for your use.

Welcome again to the Focus on Finishing blog - I hope you enjoy your time here!

Classes Update

Thanks ever so much for the support and generous offers to act as tutors for the upcoming classes - it's greatly appreciated, and emails will be sent shortly to formalise the details. I'll keep the list updated as tutors come to hand, and once dates are finalised the information will be added to the Class Schedule page :)

To date I have tutors offered/confirmed as follows:

• Lining and Tin / Tin Topper (combining two topics into one tutorial)
• Lining a Basket - Vonna
• Mattress-style Pincushion - KarenV
• Needlebook (with needle pages) - Meari
• Emery/Strawberry ornament - CathyMK
• Sewing Pouch/Purse - need a volunteer
• Flat-fold - Lisa
• Scissor Case - To be advised
• Tassels - Joanie, and one more tutor has been approached
• Cording - AnneS
• Ornaments - Pendibulle - AnneS
• Ornaments - Humbug - Nicki
• Ornaments - Rectangular - need a volunteer
• Ornaments - Pillows etc - AnneS
• Tote Bag - Renee
• Bellpull - with hemstitched edges - Nicki
• Bellpull - with seamed edges - Jenna
• Biscornu - Jenna
• Scissor Fob (stitched) - AnneS
• Needleroll - AnneS
• Stitcher's Tray - Harmien
• Tape Measure Cover - Celeste
• Needlecase (for needle packets) - Celeste
• Covered Book - BarbaraJ
• Pillows - Tuck - Alison
• Small Pillow - Cindy
• Treat Bag/Sachet - Celeste
• Scissor fob (beaded) - Cindy
• Quilted Wallhanging - Alison
• Bookmarks - Barbara
• Cube-It - Joanie
  

Requests for Tutors & Future Classes

You may remember we held the poll early last year regarding what finishing classes you would like to see as a tutorial. As a reminder, the following list will show which items were requested. I have split the group into two separate lists - the first list covers those items where we have had tutors recommended and I am contacting already, the second list covers those that I would dearly love to have volunteers to help me out.

Tutors already being approached:

• Lining and Tin / Tin Topper (combining two topics into one tutorial)
• Lining a Basket
• Mattress-style Pincushion
• Needlebook (with needle pages)
• Emery Strawberry
• Sewing Pouch/Purse
• Flat-fold
• Scissor Case
• Tassels
• Cording
• Ornaments - Pendibulle, Humbug, Rectangular, Pillows etc
• Tote Bag
• Bellpull
• Biscornu
• Scissor Fob (stitched)
• Needleroll
• Stitcher's Tray (new subject being requested)

Classes where I need tutors to volunteer:

• Tape Measure Cover
• Needlecase (for needle packets)
• Covered Book
• Pillows - Tuck
• Treat Bag/Sachet
• Scissor fob (beaded)
• Quilted Wallhanging
• Bookmarks

Lastly, there is a final question for you:

"What other finishing techniques would you like to see on the blog? This can be an actual product (eg pinkeep, scissor fob etc) or a technique used as part of the finishing process (eg whipstitching, joining sides/seams together, cording etc). Whatever you can think of that you would like to see, I've love to know about it."

Welcome to 2008 - Happy New Year!!!

First of all let me apoloise for the lack of action on this blog in recent months - unfortunately I've had intermittent access to the internet after moving all my belongings into storage and housesitting around various parts of Melbourne. Then about 7 weeks ago I packed up the car and moved interstate to New South Wales, where I'm now living for the next 12 months on a work secondment. I've been staying with friends who live an awfully long way from my place of work, meaning a 3 1/2 hour commute each day, and leaving absolutely no time for stitching, never mind blogging!

The good news is that in 13 sleeps time, I will be freighting all my furniture and belongings up from Melbourne, and moving into a new flat only 20 minutes drive from work. That means I can finally start getting back into the swing again of stitching, blogging, and life in general ... and it's time to blow the cobwebs off this blog to get it up and active once again! :)

Emails are slowly winging their way across the oceans to various people that have been suggested as possible upcoming tutors. As soon as they're confirmed, I will add dates and details to the calendar of classes. It's hoped to have two tutorials per month this year. As I've been out of action for the last few months, I decided to put together a tutorial myself on Needlerolls - this will be published over the next few weeks.

There are still a number of areas where we don't have recommended tutors for - I will make a separate blog entry in a moment to see if there are any volunteers out there in blogland that would be willing to assist.

Thanks for your patience while I've been struggling with access issues etc - I hope the blog will become more active again as we move into 2008.

Hugs,

Next Year's Classes

Just a quick post to touch base regarding the planning of next year's classes. Karen and I have been looking at potential tutors for the list of classes we have on request from the survey you completed at the creation of this blog.

What I'd also love to know is whether, since that survey was taken, there are any other topics you'd like to see covered. If there is a specific technique you've seen on someone's blog or website, and you'd love to know how to do it yourself, please leave a comment with the blog details and the project, and I'm more than happy to contact the blog owner to see if they would be willing to run a class for us all.

Likewise, if you are familiar with any of the techniques from our previous survey, and you'd like to offer your services to write up a tutorial, we'd be thrilled to hear from you ... as the time will be arriving very very soon to start coordinating class times for next year (I know, I can't believe it myself!).

Thanks again for your continued support of the blog - we look forward to another great year of learning and sharing :D

Hugs,

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

PS: Here are the results of the previous survey for your information (since then the bourse and flanged pillow tutorials have already taken place - and I have a needleroll tutorial sitting in the wings ready for next year).

• Lining a tin - 51 votes
• Mattress-style pincushion - 41 votes
• Stitcher's bourse - 39 votes
• Needlebook (with needle pages) - 38 votes
• Pillows - flanged - 38 votes
• Emery strawberry - 35 votes
• Sewing pouch/purse - 34 votes
• Lining a basket - 33 votes
• Needlecase (for needle packets) - 33 votes
• Covered book - 31 votes
• Flat-fold - 31 votes
• Scissor case - 31 votes
• Tassels - 31 votes
• Ornaments - pendibulle - 27 votes
• Pillows - tuck - 26 votes
• Tin topper - 26 votes
• Tote bag - 26 votes
• Ornaments - humbug - 25 votes
• Cording - 24 votes
• Tape measure cover - 24 votes
• Treat bag/sachet - 23 votes
• Bellpull - 20 votes
• Scissor fob - stitched - 19 votes
• Biscornu - 18 votes
• Scissor fob - beaded - 18 votes
• Quilted wallhanging - 17 votes
• Needleroll - 15 votes
• Bookmarks - 9 votes
• Other - 1 vote
  

Kudos or Complaints?

It's that time of year when we're starting to put our heads together from the admin side of things for future months of the Focus on Finishing blog. And perhaps it's time we ask for some feedback from you all whether there are parts of the blog you dislike, or don't use much - or if there are parts of the blog you love to death, and would like to see more of ... also if there is anything we haven't thought of, and you'd love to see added. We'd love some feedback, good, bad or indifferent, so we know we're on the right track ... or whether we've gone slightly off the rails ...

Over the next few weeks we'll be looking into possible tutors for upcoming classes - using the results of the survey when we first opened up the blog for business. Some of the classes we plan to teach ourselves, some we'll be asking for volunteers, and some people we think would be just perfect for a particular technique, so we'll be approaching those people directly while keeping our fingers and toes crossed ;)

A HUGE thank you for those of you who have run classes for us already this year, without whom the blog would be a tad boring! And another round of thanks go to those of you who take the time to post your finishes for us all to see - when we see people participating that way it's more motivating for us to continue, as at least we can see the tutorials are being useful.

Don't forget it's a very simple process to sign up for posting - you just need to set up a Google account (no blog at all is needed), then drop me an email (link is in the sidebar) requesting to be added as an contributor, and Bob's your Uncle!

Now, don't forget, put your thinking caps on and give us that feedback - any different classes you want to see? Any tutors you think would be wonderful? Anything you would like to see being done differently? Anything extra you would like to see? Want to know what the winning Lotto numbers are?? OK, so we can't help you with that last one, but we would seriously love the feedback :D

Hugs to you all,

August FAL Theme

The first theme for our new FAL themed months is stitching accessories!

This month's class is a pinkeep, so we've decided to tie the theme in with the class, so that people who want to do the class will have a chance to participate. However, we've decided to expand the theme to include all types of stitching accessories, such as scissor fobs, biscornu, needlecases, scissor cases, pincushions, tape measure covers and needlerolls, so there are plenty of finishing choices.

I'll post some tutorial links and pictures of finished accessories to (hopefully) give you some inspiration in separate posts below.

Happy finishing!

August FAL - Stitching Accessories tutorials

If you've never attempted any of these types of finishes before, here's some tutorial links to get you started. I've pulled out the most basic, straightforward tutorials with beginners in mind but there are many others on the tutorial links page:

• Biscornu here - very clear instructions with loads of pictures


• Mattress pincushions here - in French but with loads of pictures. I used this one for my first mattress pincushion and found it easy to do from just the pictures.


• Needlecases here and a slightly different style here


• Needlerolls here - nice, clear tutorial with good explanations and pictures


• Scissor fob here


• Scissor case here - in French with lots of pictures and scissor pocket here (Becky will be doing a class on this one at a later date too, which will have more step-by-step photos if you want to wait for that)


• Tape measure cover here - in Japanese with lots of pictures. I've used this one myself and found it very clear and easy to use

August FAL - Inspiration

Looking for inspiration for this month's theme?

Try The World's Largest Collection of Smalls blog as a starting point for loads of pictures of stitching accessories, which are all grouped by category. Check out everyone's gorgeous scissor fobs, needlecases, pincushions, needlerolls, pinkeeps, biscornu, scissor pockets, and tape measure covers, along with all the other beautiful finishes

Think outside the box: for example, mini biscornu make wonderful scissor fobs, like this cute patriotic fob by Linda in Iceland:

and these 3 colourful fobs by Melanie in Australia:

Or why not try out a strawberry fob, like this one by Blackbird Designs in last year's JCS ornament issue, beautifully stitched and finished by Cathymk:

More thinking outside the box; needlerolls don't necessarily have to be vertical designs - here's one I made using a horizontal design, which I adapted slightly (Homeward at Last by JBW Designs):

and if you don't fancy the idea of hemstitching the ends, just use banding, like this one stitched by AnneS:

If you've got plenty of time on your hands, why not create a matching set of accessories, like this beautiful set of LHN designs stitched by Becky:

or these fabulous Quaker accessories stitched by Nicki?

I couldn't find a tutorial for a needleminder, but the basic idea is quite straightforward. Michelle has made a couple of beautiful needleminders recently (I'm totally drooling over the Quaker one):

Sarah Moon (top) and Flower of Courage needleminders, stitched by Michelle (Cozyegg)

The instructions she used came with a kit but think metal ornament finishing forms, magnets (inside and out) and any kind of trim for the edging and it's not too hard to work out how to create your own. Or you could try a basic pincushion or fob with magnets inside to hold your needles or pick up dropped pins, like these great examples by Barbara:

and Lelia:

And finally, if you're up for a challenge and want to try something completely different, what about a chatelaine to hold stitching tools? Here's an example of one designed by Guilia Punti Antichi:

and a gorgeous one created to her own design by Helen:

So what are you waiting for? Drag out your stitched pieces and your finishing supplies and get finishing! And don't forget to post your finishes to the blog so we can all admire them. If you've not already signed up to post on here you'll need a WordPress account (free, no need to create a blog) and then you'll need to email me to add you as an author so you can post. It's quick and painless (honest!)

Have fun!

Tutorials and blog links added

I've added Niky in Italy's blog to the Inspiration page. Niky is a prolific stitcher and accomplished finisher, who does wonderful work. I can't find an online album for her, but there are loads of beautiful pictures of her stitching and finishing on her blog.

I've also added 2 tutorials to the tutorials page showing how to add a zipper to a project. I used both of these tutorials when I made my zippered project bag recently and I thought they might be useful to include here.

U-handblog zippered pouch

Twelve22 zippered pouch

Posted by KarenV

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Anne and I have been putting our heads together (well, as best as we can being several time zones and thousands of miles apart ;) ) and we wanted to share with you what we have planned for the blog over the next few months.

First off, we're changing the idea and format of the FAL weekends, since they haven't taken off that well. From August, there won't be a specified FAL weekend; instead, each month will have a different finishing theme, either a specific finish or a seasonal theme (or both!). Everyone is invited to join in at any point during the month, finish something along the lines of the theme and post their finishes on here. To give you some inspiration, we plan on highlighting relevant tutorials and including links to and photos of stitchers' work to get you started. The themes won't be too rigid so hopefully as many of you as possible will be able to finish something appropriate and join in. Also, every other month starting from December, just to make it a bit more fun, we'll be having a prize draw for anyone who posts a themed finish during that particular month! :)

Secondly, Anne has collated all the results from the polls that we took earlier this year and we're in the process of working out a new schedule of classes for next year. The plan is to run two classes per month, so that you don't have to wait so long for a class that you really want to do, plus it will hopefully create more participation and activity on the blog, which we're also trying to encourage ;) More details will follow very shortly.

On the subject of classes, it's been lovely to see people using the class tutorials that have been offered so far this year and the results have been wonderful! We'd like to encourage anyone who has finished something using one of the class tutorials to post their finish here so that we can all admire them :) I know I've been asking individual people to do this if I see a finish on their blog, but I don't visit every single blog so please feel free to post your finishes here as we love to see what people have done with the classes we've been offering. Also, if you create a tutorial and post it up online somewhere, please add a comment to the tutorials page or email either of us so that we can add it to the list!

Now it's your turn. Is there anything you'd like to see covered in the blog that isn't here already? Any gaps, anything we could do to encourage more participation? All suggestions welcome :)

Posted by KarenV

New page - list of online suppliers

As this blog is all about providing a comprehensive information resource to do with all aspects of finishing, I've set up a page with links to online shops selling finishing supplies. This can be anything to do with finishing, including patchwork fabric, ribbons, pins, finishing tools and gadgets, bellpull hardware, etc. etc.

The list that I've started is obviously not exhaustive, it's just that - a starting point. We would obviously like you to post your favourite online shops as well so that we can have as complete a list as possible, especially for items that are hard to get hold of locally.

If you have a favourite shop that isn't already listed, please leave a comment here or on the online suppliers page with the following information:

Name of shop
Country that shop is based in
Finishing supplies that they sell
Payment method (e.g. PayPal, credit card)
Anything else you want to say about the shop

Please DO NOT post links to your favourite stitching shops unless they sell items that can be used for finishing. This is purely a listing of suppliers that sell items to help us to finish our stitching into a displayable form, rather than a list of stitching shops in general.

Also, please don't include shops unless they have a website and they will ship internationally, as I want this list to be as widely accessible as possible.

Thanks and I hope you find the new page useful!

Christmas ornament FAL draw result!

The winner of the FAL goodies after our Christmas ornament FAL weekend is sweetana3! Congratulations Ana!

If you email me (luluminstrel@hotmail.co.uk) with your address I'll get your prize sent out to you as soon as possible.

New tutorial links added

Leena has created a tutorial on her website for a fabulous stitched book.

There are also 2 new flatfold tutorials; one from Vonna and one from Lisa. Thanks ladies! :)

Links have also been added to the tutorials page