Spring Boo Bees: Bee Well Bell Pull Finishing Supplies

3/25/2020

For the first time ever, I did a finishing tutorial of my new counted cross stitch pattern, "Spring Boo Bees Bee Well Bell Pull." I posted the tutorial on YouTube sans editing. Making an hour long video with no editing was quite a learning experience. I want to thank all of my Flosstube viewers and commenters for their kind words about my first ever "Stitch with Me" video.

I created this pattern for the Be Well and Stitch movement. With many of us indoors during this time, why not provide some cheer and complimentary stitching to our stitching friends. Given the recent shortage of toilet paper in the United States and the style of my stitched piece, I decided to mount it on an empty toilet paper roll (technically it is a paper towel roll that I cut to size based on the width of my finished piece). I secured the stitched piece with fancy counting pens. The cardboard tube has an 18 inch piece of ribbon attached to it. I figured this unconventional finish would give my stitching friends a laugh.

I received a lot of questions about the interfacing and products I used during the video. Here are some of the things I used:

Pellon 987F Fusible Interfacing
Pellon 44F Interfacing (the thinner type I attach to the back of my ironed and completed needlework). Make sure you have all of the stray threads and fibers off of the back of your piece before attaching the interfacing with a hot dry iron).
An iron. I have a nice red Shark Iron. I really like mine. It isn't fancy and it gets the job done. Remember if you are using the steam feature, add distilled water rather than tap water. This helps keep the mineral deposits at bay.
For the final finishing touches, I added yellow velvet ribbon to the sides of the stitching to hide my uneven seam on the linen. I sewed down both sides of the ribbon using matching yellow thread.
Ten Colour and Cotton colors make up this fun pattern. I really love the orange "Jack-O-Lantern" and the variegated pink aptly titled, "Fiesta."
I created a rainbow of embellishments to hang off the bottom of the piece. This ribbon medley served two purposes.Number one, is so fun and bright! Two, well, I messed up with my binding and wanted to hide my mistake. Of course, Bob Ross would remind me that, "It isn't a mistake, just a happy little accident." If you do not have a stash of ribbon, you can find a nice assortment of ribbons in rainbow colors here.
Wonder Clips are the bees-knees. Well, they are also the cat's meow and the dog's tuxedo. I do not know how to express my love of these wondrous sewing clips. I use them for everything. Literally. Of course, the time I go to film a video I can only find two of them. C'est la vie.