Sunday, August 14, 2016

Halloween Stitching Fun


Welcome to Day 5 of Papertrey Ink's August release countdown. So glad you're here! Today we are featuring a whole bunch of Halloween-themed stitching dies designed by Erin Lincoln:

Stitched Witch Hat
Stitched Witch Boots
Stitched Moon & Sketched Stars
Stitched Little Ghost
Stitched Candy Corn
Stitched Bat
Stitched Beaded Cauldron


All of the new products will be available at 10 pm ET on August 15 in the Papertrey Ink store.



I've been wanting to make a penny rug mat for a while now, and these new Halloween dies were the perfect motivation! 

For the center, I used the largest Stitched Circle, which is a great size for candle mats, small plants, a small candy dish, etc. The smaller circles around the perimeter are the third smallest Stitched Circles, I believe. 

So the basic construction is to rmake a ring of smaller circles around the larger one. I was able to fit nine smaller circles around the larger one. Three of them have themed elements, and the other six are traditional stacked penny circles. 

I stitched all the individual circles first using a blanket stitch on everything but the shaped die-cuts, then connected the smaller ones to the large one, and last connected the smaller circles to each other. You can see the extra stitches and knots where I stitched the circles to each other. I'm thinking there's probably a different way that hides the stitching better. I have a feeling I'm going to be making more of theses, so I'll figure it out next time!


Here it is all assembled.




Updated to add: I confess one I got everything for this die-cut, I thought it would take me forever to stitch up. But I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the blanket stitching goes. You're only going around the circle once, as opposed to the running stitch, which would require going around once and then reversing to finish. Also, the stitching holes just make everything go faster. I'm telling you, my fingers were flying through these! And look how perfectly spaced the stitches are, thanks to the holes!






Supplies:

Dies: Stitched Circles, Stitched Circle Holes
Stitched Moon & Sketched Stars, Stitched Witch Hat, and Stitched Beaded Cauldron

Other: Smokey Shadow, True Black, Orange Zest, Simply Chartreuse, Winter Wisteria felt
white embroidery floss, silver metallic embroidery floss




For more Halloween stitching inspiration, visit the Papertrey team. I can't wait to see what everyone came up with!




Thanks for visiting!



11 comments:

see mary stamp said...

What a great project. I love penny circle mats and didn't realize the largest of the stitched circle dies would work for the center circle. Very nicely done!

Cindy H. said...

The term penny mat is new to me...where have I been? I do think your project is so creative and incredibly adorable! I love it!

Kelly said...

i love penny mats and have been making them like crazy since the circle stitching dies have been released! this is such a cute project, you did a great job!

Diana K said...

Such a cute idea and so beautifully done!

Linda said...

This is an adorable idea Amy! Love your color choices...love Purples for Halloween!

Linda

Noreen said...

What a fun idea! Even kids can make these.

Kay Miller said...

Amy, Amy Amy! I just love this!! What a great way to use the circle dies! I want to make this now! You are so clever, and I just adore how this turned out!

Kathy said...

These are very familiar to me, but I've never made one, nor seen one with Halloween decorations. I love the color choices and the items you chose for the holiday!

María Alba Negrón said...

Hi Amy,

What a SUPERB idea these penny mats are! I did not see the extra stitching but correct me if I am wrong,
maybe you could sew each one in the middle being careful that the stitch goes to the first layer and does not goes to the second, am I making sense?
Nevertheless GORGEOUS!!!!

Cariños,
María Alba

Nancy Penir said...

Amy, haven't seen these in years. You gave vintage a sassy new look for Halloween! Love your style! Beautiful and well done too.

Susan said...

Amy - your penny mat is adorable! You did a great job on it! I have made many penny rugs over the years and other wool projects, and you have inspired me to make one like this. I do not have the stitched circles, as I usually just do the blanket stitch without pre-punched holes, but I like the way they allow you to have such nice, even stitches. Again - great job on this mat!