hand stitching and visible mending

You guys, of course I had to jump on the visible mending band wagon :). How could I possible not? As soon as I first saw the fabulous combination of distressed denim and chunky, prominent hand stitches I was in love.

And, as luck would have it, I had a pair of jeans in my closet that was perfect for giving this technique a try. Now, for a full disclosure, my jeans already had holes in them. But not from wear and tear, they came like that from the store :).

Pretty cool, right? I added a piece of denim to cover the hole from the inside and neatened the frayed edges by stitching them to the denim patch. And then I used cotton yarn to do my visible stitches over the whole area. I absolutely love how this experiment turned out.

It was 100% inspired by Katrina Rodabaugh's fabulous work and I hope you'll check out her IG account. You won't be disappointed.

Now, since I've always enjoyed adding chunky stitching to my projects I decided to take it a step farther and see what happens. I used a 6 strand embroidery thread and added these rows of stitches to cotton fabric - Grunge in Nocturnal. I then turned it into a pouch and I'm smitten.

Just look at this fabulous texture!

How fun is that? I now want to sit and stitch all day long :)

Oh, and I also made this one block where I mixed scraps of fabric with stitching - sort of boro style, I think. So far I like the way it looks but have no idea what (if anything) it will become in the end. That's ok though, I so enjoy the slow, meditative nature of hand stitching that I don't even mind if I end up with a usable item in the end.

Off I go, more stitching to be done!

Wishing you all a happy and creative weekend. Svetlana