The Swallow ~ into my Mother's footsteps

            I remember my mom staying up to all hours of the night working her smocking plates when I was a kid. The majority of our family vacations were centred around a smocking conference where she would be teaching. Her hand work is beautiful and tidy and my kids are so lucky to have her sew for them.  I recently came across a group of her plates online which made me really happy. If you want to check them out here's the link.  Ann Smith Smocking Plates

I didn't inherit my mom's patience or meticulousness so hand work was more or less something I avoided until recently. I've become a bit obsessed with the making of embroidered ornaments. I like figuring out how to put things together and with some constructive criticism from Mom (my first lazy daisies were WAY too big) I've packaged up my first pattern.  I felt like I was kind of following in my Mom's footsteps by putting together sewing instructions.

I love Swallow tattoos and everything they represent so that was the inspiration for this ornament.  It took three or four tries before I ended up with a complete piece I actually liked and many hours of practising stitches with YouTube videos.  I highly recommend HandiWorks Basic Stitches videos if you need to learn or a brush-up on your stitches.

It took me quite a bit to remember how to do the blanket stitch so I watched the videos over and over.   Here's the link HandiWorks

I know things like smocking and embroidery can be intimidating but trust me, if I can do it then you can do it too!

The Swallow is now available for Instant Download in my Etsy Store.

www.elliottsplayground.etsy.com