450 skeins of embroidery thread ... have I over-ordered?

I've been getting near to finishing this piece of embroidery, adding lots more seed beads and bugle beads, really enjoying stitching into the fabric and feeling the texture of it change the more thread's worked into it. I'm thinking it'll turn into a wall hanging of some kind, and did wonder about making a simple frame for it. Cutting one out of cardboard and maybe covering that with either fabric or gell prints. Then I remembered I've got a dish full of shells somewhere. Could I cobble together a frame covered in shells? That might be worth a try.

This blue rice bag is not completed yet either. I wanted to make the four loops on it out of denim, upcycling the straps off a denim dress. But they proved way too bulky and impossible for my sewing machine to cope with. So I've made two loops out of patterned cotton and two out of a beautiful blue velvet that came in a Bazaar scrap pack. I really need to crack on and get the bag lining sorted out, but I've been sidetracked by my fishy embroidery that's occupied a lot of my spare time.

Talking of embroidery, I wanted to stock up on embroidery thread and turned to Amazon to see what they'd got in stock. I may have gone ever so slightly overboard! But they had an offer for - wait for it - 450 skeins of thread for tuppence under £25.00. That works out about 6 pence a skein. I couldn't resist. Delivery came today, and the thread's surprisingly good quality. I'd taken a chance on it, knowing it wasn't branded Anchor or DMC, but it's perfectly decent for my usage. Maybe if you're a Royal School of Needlework standard stitcher you'd not settle for it, but at 6 pence a skein I'm very happy with my purchase. It'd be ideal for hair wraps, friendship bracelets or making decorative tassels too.

Hope you're having a good weekend. Bye!

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Sari scraps, PVA, a couple of books and a necklace

I'm typing this as snow's falling, and has been steadily all day. It's not settling to any great extent, though I bet by tomorrow morning the paths will be slippery with ice. Which always makes me paranoid about falling over and at the very least looking undignified, but at worst breaking a bone or twisting an ankle. Oh well, it's ideal weather to stay inside and craft, isn't it? I finally got around to listing packs of sari scraps on Etsy this morning. I only made up six bundles as I've no clue whether they'll sell or if I've set a reasonable enough price point. Time will tell. This is a link to the listing, if you're interested. This vaguely pink fabric isn't from one of my Etsy packs. It's from a bit of experimenting I was doing yesterday. I'd seen a post on Instagram showing how a DIY version of batik could be done without using hot wax. The Instagrammer used PVA instead, and I wanted to try this out....

In praise of wool

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Another week's flown by ...

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