test print

the 'see through shadows' you can see are the second try on the back of the fabric - I thought what the heck...

any way - it was definitaly worth trying this. I'm going to keep freezer paper on my shopping list :-)

And a bonus out of the deal, a list of pattern and stencil links!
http://www.cameopaints.com/library/Free-Stencil-Designs.html

I havn't checked them out yet, it's going to take a whole weekend or more, it's a heck of a list!

printing embroidery patterns

well, I tried a 'trick' I found at http://www.quiltbus.com/freezer.htm

They say:
Freezer paper can also help you to print on fabric. For example, if you would like to personalize your labels, you can iron your freezer paper to the wrong side of the fabric, cut it to just shy of 8 ½" x 11" so stray threads don’t get caught in the printer, and print your labels on the fabric. The freezer paper gives the fabric just enough body to go through the printer as if it were a piece of paper.

So off I troddle (cause I don't feel well at all today - and since I needed cough drops anyway...) down to our little store. However, the only freezer paper they have is PLASTIC coated :-(

I just don't think that's such a good idea...
So I get my cough drops, back to the house, and try waxed paper. No. I try spray starch - LOTS AND LOTS of spray starch. No - the paper won't adhere to the fabric. hmmmm - so I melt up a bit of parafin and quickly (so very quickly cause it's hardening mid air on the brush...) paint the paper and iron it to the fabric. No. I have a WELL starched and waxy piece of fabric and a waxy piece of paper. hmmmmm.

So I tape the edge of the fabric to the edge of a sheet of cardstock, and shove the darned thing in the printer. ha!

And I hit print. Well, it printed well enough I'm happy to say, it just didnt feed early enough for the print so my shepardess pattern is without a head. But ever so lovely a print it was :-)

My camera won't talk to Vista on this machine, so I'll post a scan asap.

I intend to figure this out. I'll let you know when I try it again :-)

awesome stitcher's blog

Ingols Patterns

http://own-two-hands.livejournal.com/

Wow, love it!

She recently posted a link to an incredible red work resourse - http://www.jfingalls.com/jfimag001.html This is over 250 pages of scanned original embroidery patterns - so very suitable for red work. Course I snagged the lot...

She has a load of other links to other embroidery resourses, and other crafts as well. Seems she is drawn in as many different directions as I am - I love it!

I have done a bit of drawing over some of the patterns presented in the Ingalls book. See if I can get an image to load here. The full size is almost 6.5 wide by 10.8 inches high. I enlarged the provided scan by 300 percent, and then printed it after playing a bit to clean it up. Then I traced the printed sheet on my light table, and this is what you get :-)

If you use it, great! Sew as many things as you like with the use of the pattern - but don't sell the pattern!

{ { { smooooooch } } }

... 2008

so here it is already pushing the end of January

We finally signed up for high speed internet service, and got a new computer to boot through the Telus deal. Vista takes a bit to get used to, and it had some serious fits the first few weeks, but, knock on wood, seems to be going along ok now.

I've discovered a few divine internet links recently, and have been downloading some LOVELY antique documents. All to do with needlework and such. Heaven!

A collection of .jpg images from old old old cross stitch booklets, all zipped up for downloading. The site is french, so I got lost pretty easily after snagging these lovelies. The link is http://www.lamaisondanael.com/livrets_nouveaux/anciens.htm

They also have a collection of other patterns, http://www.lamaisondanael.com/grilles/mois.php

Now for the amazing link...
This place has hundreds of pattern booklets in pdf format - free to download and use for derivative works or to share the patterns for free - but NOT to sell the patterns. Some real lovely ones in here - lots of art deco style...
http://www.antiquepatternlibrary.org/

and if that's not enough to fill your socks, you can check out a site that has provided quite a few documents to the Antique Pattern Library, http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books.html

Don't let the 'weaving' part discourage you, there are tons of needlepoint, cross stitch, lace, embroidery, and yes - weaving. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds publications, all antique. They actually have a system where you can purchase the files on cd, and I can tell you, the amount of hours I spent here collecting and then burning the files to cd, it would have been well worth it to purchase them. Don't have an 'extra' $250.00 laying around though...

Sooooo. That brings me to my current personal data torture.
One of the books is a study of American Samplers, published in 1921. Quite a lovely book. I wish the images were a bit higher resolution, but hey, it's free. And quite a lot of information on sampler in the 1600 - 1800. The torture part comes in here. I've decided to use this particular book in my personal education and study of the art of the sampler.

I hope I can make separate blog entries for this project. I'm not real familiar with this whole blogging thing, we'll see how it all goes shall we?

:-) hugs to all my loved ones (-:
Sandra Rose