New Year 2026 Update

Happy New Year!: 2026

New year begins in the studio with a hand-stitched patch for my old linen smock. I don't recall when I bought this shirt from The Gatsby's boutique in Great Barrington MA, but it may be 30 or more years. The fabric is quite threadbare in spots now, and I'm having a wonderful time stitching and patching so that it can keep going for some more years.  It's a short-sleeve shirt and serves very well to protech my clothing since it is getting thicker and thicker with patches and fill pattern stitches.

This large patch it the greater part of a vintage handkerchief that I scored from Swanson's Fabrics in Turner's Falls MA. https://www.swansonsfabrics.com/ I'm having a very good time stitching all over it to join it firmly to the deteriorating fabric below, and it's slowly stabilizing both fabrics by making them virtually into one strong fabric.

I'm opting for using a variety of stitches to fill in the empty spaces rather than the straight lines of running stitch that is very popular right now.  I'm going for a look on this patch which is more like stippling, It is tiny back stitches that form tiny dots.  I'll use a small variety of other stitches as well.

I've been collecting vintage cotton and linen hankies and table linens from Swanson's for a few years now and will be using them on my signficant mending pile over the course of 2026.  It's time to get everything back into working order!

If you want to see more everyday photos of what I am doing I post frequently on Instagram @journalofathousandlives

https://www.instagram.com/journalofathousandlives/

 

Little Hands Studio News - The Studio is Moving

Yes, Little Hands Studio is changing location, so it'll be topsy-turvey while boxes are getting packed and unpacked.  But it is altogether wonderful to handle all the lovely materials in the process of packing.

This embroidery is an old work in progress and worthy of some time and attention.

I've been mending these old black jeans for years, so this session I got out the bright silks for some dramatic applique and colorful stituches.

An old pal asked me for a favor and so I finished the yoke and neck. It was nice not to have to get through all that gray first!! I really enjoyed working with the bulky lopi.

 

Mending a cashmere sweater

This beautiful red cashmere sweater is from days when I had moths, so they had a fairly substantial snack from the front of this beauty.  I've been contemplating how to mend it for years, and came across this velvet and also another cashmere sweater that I got in a clothing swap.  I think between the two acquired materials I shall be able to do either a patch/patches or some kind of reverse applique.  I want to use a good deal of embroidery too, in order to make the front of the sweater nice and splashy.