me + my boys: How to: Learn the French Knot 🧵

EMBROIDERY

PUNCH NEEDLE

WEAVING

Hey, it's Julie here,

I hope you are having a wonderful start to the new year so far! Here's what's happening at Clever Poppy this week.

In today's email:

On the Blog: Our guide to learning the French Knot
Member's beautiful version of 'The Treehouse'
Whimsical woven house art
A simple banana pikelet recipe for little hands
The latest news from our shop
Shop Highlight: Blooming Lovely
In my world: On the water

On the Blog... Our guide to learning the French Knot

French Knots are a beautiful and versatile embroidery stitch that can add a lot of interest and texture to your projects. They are super fun to do, and feature in many of our embroidery patterns.

This stitch can be tricky to get right for beginners, and it takes a bit of practise to get used to. If you've always wanted to learn how to do French Knots, or if you're just looking to brush up on your skills, be sure to check out our blog article here. I walk you through the step-by-step process and provide lots of my best tips and tricks for mastering this technique.

What have our Makers been up to?

I am sooo impressed by this incredible version of our new pattern 'The Treehouse', made by our talented member Sue-Ann. Hasn't she done a wonderful job? She said she 'absolutely loved this pattern' and that is was a great way to unwind after a busy time over Christmas and NY - something we're sure many of you can relate to!

What's inspiring me on the creative front...

How amazing are these woven houses, by fiber artist Sam Montella of @meek.oak?! She does custom house portraits as well as other beautifully whimsical pieces, like these mini mushroom houses. I just love the intricate detail of her art and am blown away with how realistic it is! You can check out more of her work below.

A yummy recipe idea, perfect for little hands...

Amy has been making these yummy banana pikelets for her little boy Archer since he was eating solids. They are super simple to make, are dairy and refined sugar free, and can be frozen ahead for a quick breakkie or healthy snack. You can find the recipe below - let us know if you try these and what you think!

Shop News...

Looking for a one-stop shop to grab your supplies, or to gift to someone starting on their embroidery journey? Here are four essential supplies to get you started:

Pilot Frixion pen - the perfect embroidery accessory for transferring patterns onto fabric. These are heat erasable, so come off super easy once your stitching is done.
Beech Wooden Display Hoops - these are available in 6 different sizes, and are a beautiful way to display your finished project.
100% Cotton Embroidery Fabric - make life easier by grabbing our pre-cut squares of cotton fabric.
Embroidery Beginner's Bundle - why not give the perfect gift, with everything needed to start, including our Beginner's Embroidery Course.

Beech Wooden Display Hoops

Buy Now

Pilot Frixion Pen

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Cotton Embroidery Fabric

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Embroidery Beginner's Bundle

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Shop Highlight... Blooming Lovely

I just love seeing all of the beautiful versions of this pattern, continuously popping up in our FB group.

Blooming Lovely is a perfect starting point for beginners, or a lovely relaxing option for those of you who are already confident at embroidery.

It features many essential embroidery techniques, including French Knots, Lazy Daisy, Satin Stitch, Back Stitch and Woven Roses. So if you are looking for a pattern to put these skills to practice, then this is a great choice!

We have a pattern kit available in our shop, which includes the printed pattern guide, piece of cotton fabric, thread bundle and wooden display hoop.

Blooming Lovely Pattern Kit

Buy Now

In my world...

We're out on the water this week, spending time with Matt's family. Thank goodness for remote access so that we can jump on our laptops as needed and keep things ticking along. The weather has been pretty miserable, so we've played lots of monopoly and cards, read books, and done anything we can to keep the kids entertained. Harvey is the keenest fisherman you've ever met, so he's been out in the rain fishing most days (well most of every day!). And Piper has been working her way through a bag of craft activities I brought along, with some fishing on the side too of course! We did get one glamour day of sunshine, so that day we squeezed in snorkelling, sea-biscuiting (even me!), swimming and a bottle of champagne to celebrate, ha! More sunshine is on the forecast from today…thank goodness.

I think I mentioned last week that I use these summer holidays to do LOTS of creative stitching and testing. And great news, is that this is progressing really well! I'll share a couple of sneak peeks of what I've been working on below. It's just the tip of the iceberg of what I want to create…but luckily stitching is one of those slow crafts that forces you to be patient right?

Back at Clever Poppy HQ, Amy has been busy despatching all of your orders and working on shop logistics behind the scenes. I hope you like the recipe she has shared this week, it's one my kids love too!

Ok back to my latest WIP – have a wonderful week everyone!