In recent months lots of A-Z Animals tapestries have been sent in for our Making up Service. As we discussed in an earlier blog post, the A-Zs are great little kits. They don’t take too long to stitch and the imagery in them appeals equally to boys and girls. Whether the tapestries are framed, or made into the centre of a book bag or a cushion, these tapestry treasures will be admired for years to come.
Today we’ll concentrate on cushions, and we hope these stunning customer creations will give you ideas and inspiration for colours to use for the finishing touches for your own tapestry. The colour you choose for the border of your tapestry will pull the whole design together, and make you super proud of all your work. You’ve made a future family heirloom so you’re wise to spend a bit of time on these details.
Here are some of the recent A-Z Animals that our team of sewing ladies have made up, starting with Tehya’s T for Tiger. The design features a tiger, a tortoise and a toucan in a tree. In the border there are numbers 1 – 10, and ten tomatoes, and triangles in the corners.
Tehya’s name was stitched in purple, and we made up her cushion using purple wool blend fabric for border and backing and red for piping which works really well as it’s close to the colour of the tomatoes. Teyha’s cushion has a 3″ mitred border.
For Joshua’s J for Jungle we used a lime green cotton fabric for border, piping and backing, with a 2″ border all round. Both Teyha’s and Joshua’s cushions have their name stitched using the larger of the two alphabets that we provide with the A-Z Animals kits.
TOP TIP: If you want to start stitching before the new baby in your family is born, it’s worth noting that some of the A-Z Animals designs have broad themes so don’t necessarily have to be stitched for a particular initial. You can leave out the letters in the top corners and stitch the baby’s name in the main space, and it’ll still balance up and look fantastic. Take a look at A for Ark and Z for Zebra.
Q: What if the baby or child I’m stitching for has a name that doesn’t start with his/her favourite design? Not to worry, just choose the design they like (or that their parents like!) and leave out the two initials in the corners. It’ll be fine. For instance, if owls are a family favourite, then you can choose from O for Owls or N for Nocturnal. Once the name is stitched below the design nobody will give two hoots (!) about whether the name begins with ‘O’ or ‘N’.
Here’s Lucy’s I for Iguana, demonstrating the point perfectly:
‘I’ for Lucy? It really doesn’t matter. The iguana was Lucy’s favourite design so it was as simple as that. The colours in this design are quite soft. We made Lucy’s cushion up using a faded red cotton for border and backing, with lavender piping for contrast.
George’s G for Giraffe cushion looked fabulous in orange velvet, picking out the orange of the goldfish. A cute design, and as well as the main giraffe and the goldfish swimming in the border you’ll also spot guinea pigs, geese on green grass, and there are geometric shapes in the corners.
Side view of George’s cushion, with powder blue velvet piping and backing. The border is 3″ all round.
Here’s Florence’s F for Farmyard, also made up in velvet, this time a bright red. F for Farmyard could be stitched for a child with any initial as all children enjoy the outdoor life!
F For Farmyard shows many of the favourite animals found on the farm: pigs, cows, sheep, chickens, geese, and a collie and a farm cat. There’s a red tractor and a country farmhouse in the top border, and four different types of fruit in the corners.
Florence’s Farmyard cushion has her name and date of birth in the name panel, using the smaller alphabet and numbers chart provided with the kit.
Last but not least, and finishing as we began with a T for Tiger design, we present Ted’s terrific cushion. Ted’s cushion is one that we made earlier but we couldn’t resist showing it now because it’s very nearly Ted’s 1st birthday!
We made up Ted’s cushion using a soft yellow cotton for the 3″ border, with red piping as contrast. Ted’s tapestry is a good reminder to us all that you can mix up the alphabets, and have large lettering if the name allows, and still comfortably fit in two rows for the date of birth.
Give us a call or email kelly@jollyred.co.uk if you’ve finished an A-Z Alphabet (or any other tapestry!), and we’ll be able to discuss the fabric and colour options for your work.
Happy stitching, and we hope the sun will shine for any birthdays or christenings in the coming months!
