Embroidery and yet another named storm

It's mid-afternoon on a Saturday when storm Darragh is doing its thing. Thankfully it's not my part of the country where it's at its fiercest, but even so there are very blustery winds and constant rain, and the daylight's already poor enough that I need the overhead light on. Actually I might put the twinkly fairy lights on too, just to make it extra pretty in here. The photo above is of my 'doodle cloth' - inspired by Jessie Chorley and her book 'Journal with Thread'.

I've also been working on an embroidered heart. Not sure yet if I'll turn it into a pin cushion or applique it on to a page of a fabric book.

The tiny seed stitches give a lovely texture, and I've mainly used that and overcast stitching. I've added buttons upcycled from clothing - which mainly came from charity shops - and added a butterfly which came from a broken piece of jewellery. There'll be sequins and seed beads to represent colourful glass pin heads, and I might add a silver coloured charm too. Maybe a tiny pair of scissors or a reel of thread.

Maybe you're also hunkering down indoors to avoid the worst of storm Darragh? If so, what else can we do but crack on with something crafty? I'm stitching away while keeping half an eye on a Christmas episode of 'Poirot'. Nothing like a good murder-mystery to while away the time. I'll leave you with twinkly lights, now turned on and strung over my fireplace. Sadly, it's not a working fireplace any more and houses an ugly gas fire that's hidden behind the pot plants. But the fairy lights still add that magical touch.

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

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HOW TO MAKE: these decorative birds

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