Wonderful Wednesday #79: Lily Adelaide Upton

Well, my year of stitching one project a month is almost over, and I admit, if I only had more time, THIS Christmas Beetle Kit would have been my December project! Isn't it lovely? I know some people are not fans of bugs, but I adore insects, and I love this twist on a simple wreath.

Lily offers this pattern in 3 versions in her Etsy store, if you'd like to stitch this:

As a kit:

As a digital tutorial with detailed stitch directions:

As a PDF pattern:

The kit looks gorgeous, so I'd lean towards that, but if you already have fabric and threads ready, the other two options would work well too!

Follow Lily @lilyadleaideupton on Instagram for more loveliness!

Home Invasion! Free pattern pdf

Wanna stitch a home invasion this weekend? The awesome peeps at Arsenal Pulp Press are giving Feeling Stitchy readers a sneak peek of Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery with this creepy cool bug and insect project. There's flies, roaches and spiders to cover every creepy crawly base...

This awesomely creepy arachnid would look great creeping over a pillow or camping out on an apron:


Or you could really freak people out by stitching it on an elegant vintage doily, as the project author, Sarah Terry suggests:


Want the creepy free patterns? Here you go!

Want to learn more about Hoopla? We're super proud that 3 of our Feeling Stitchy contributors - Penny, Jo, and Jenny Hart all took part in this book. And you know, maybe we have a bit of a giveaway cooking... just maybe. Guess you better stay tuned! :)

Bug shirt

Stitched by LittleBeeThatCould

Is this shirt not adorable? And I can't think of any young boy that wouldn't want bugs on his shirt. I want bugs on my shirt! Right now.

Flood of freebies!

free pattern from Polka Dot Bunny




free pattern from Wild Olive



free pattern from Pimp Stitch

The pool is full of love this week! These would all be something sweet and simple to stitch up for ma or grandma. If you stitch these, be sure to add your picture to the pool!

Stitching Dragonflies

I love bugs on embroidery. I find that people especially love dragonflies and damselflies. I looked through the flickr and found some people who like to embroider them, too. I posted patterns and a tutorial on my Shebrews blog for this particular damselfly. There are many ways you can stitch dragonflies and many stitches that can interpret their beauty.


LindaB from flickr did this crazy quilt loaded with dragonflies and damselflies. LindaB actually incorporates dragonflies quite a bit in her work and even includes tutorials on her blog. Dragonfly wings tutorial is here.



The above dragonfly is also LindaB's. I found another artist who offered a free pattern for a dragonfly, too. Knitting and Co.


And here are a few more examples from Flickr. The first one is Jo in NZ.

This next beaded dragonfly is from LindaB.


Try some of these little bugs on your work. They are really quite fun! In one of my early pieces I did one with organza ribbon for a ribbon embroidery class, but I have forgotten since then how I did it.