This was my first attempt at doing some embroidery.  I chose to do it on felt because of the following post here on Crafster. http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=193085.0I don't have an embroidery hoop, so I needed some stiff fabric in order to try this.  I had the goal of making this into a bracelet, though mine is not nearly as good as http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=57051 I'm confident that I can improve my skills.

This first picture was when I initially started to embroider on this piece of felt.  That brown swirly design in the middle was supposed to be a tree (doesn't make sense to me either now that I look at it), but then I thought i could make it into a tree stump. 

For this darker green portion I used chain stitch.  I was trying to create leaves for tree branches, but again I went about it all backwards because I should have started with brown. 

With the lighter green stitches I used fern stitch.  I varied the length to create smaller ferns and larger ferns.  They're so cute I think! 

I picked out all the stitches from my "tree stump" and created a new one.  I used backstitch with the darker brown and split stitch for the tan color.


So, what do you think?  For all you embroiderers out there, what can I do to improve my stitches?  Also, what does this look like to you guys?  I mean, I kind of just stitched because I wanted to keep my hands busy.  The picture in my head didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to.  Oh, well! 

I have lurked on Craftster for YEARS!  While I know the crafty community is very accepting, I have never felt the inclination to post any of my projects until this very day.  My mother taught me to sew when I was a little girl and I haven't been able to stop.  Of course, there have been lapses in my sewing so I could learn new crafty things (college, relationships, moving, etc.),but I never leave it for very long. 

My latest (completed) project is the following green bag.  It's absolutely huge and I would recommend cutting down the size to make something more manageable as an every day bag.  I love purses, but I don't carry large ones as it becomes too heavy to carry. 

Here's the whole bag!

The details of the fabric. 

The fabric on the handles is pretty cool.  It makes the whole bag seem like a tree!

If you would like to read more about it and see the link to the pattern just follow my http://knititinthebud.blogspot.com/2009/06/crafter-fo-evah.html blog.  You'll have to read about my adventures in growing plants first, but the actual blog post is in the second half of that post. 

I'd appreciate any feedback you have for me.  Thank you all in advance.