Category: Lucy

Tea Bag

Little carry bag with a tea bunny.

There was a birthday, and I wanted to make a little thing. I’d found this embroidery pattern with a tea drinking rabbit at the same time as the Sea Dice and purchased it specifically for this birthday gift. Tea is a firm favourite in that house. They also have a dog, so in first instance, I was thinking about making a dog poo bags-bag, but that seemed a little less joyous.

Outside view of a bag with grey and white triangles, a rabbit cross stitch and an inner pocket with fish in jars.
Inside view of a bag with grey and white triangles, a rabbit cross stitch and an inner pocket with fish in jars.
Back of a bag with grey and white triangles.

I started by embroidering the little floppy eared bunny with the cup of tea. The pattern actually has two versions with slightly different facial expressions, but I chose to mix and make a smiling rabbit with open eyes. Next came finding a bag pattern. I’d previously used a pattern from Sewing Times when I made my latest EDC (still going strong!). So I decided to browse their website and YouTube channel and settled on the Hanging Coin Pouch.

Embroidery of a rabbit with a tea cup and a blue neck bow, but without the outline stitching.
Embroidery of a rabbit with a cup of tea and a little neck bow

I used materials from my stash and made one change which was to add the embroidery as a pocket to the outside of the baglet. I really enjoyed adding the inner ‘fish in a glass jar’-fabric pocket. That fabric is really fun to me and it allows the user to store a tea bag in there and put something else in the main bit of the bag. The handle also can be clipped off the other end and attached to a belt loop or something. It was sent with some tea bags in the fish pocket and I hope some use will come of it.

ProjectIt’s Always Tea Time
AuthorSVStitch
TypePattern only
Search wordsbunny; cup of tea; bow; smile
LocationDrive
#stitches494
Purchased27-07-2026
Date started22-08-2026
Date finished30-08-2026
Fabric16 ct. aida

Owl Post

Two little owls wishing you the best.

As I was buying some more thread to work on a different project, I couldn’t stop myself from looking at the ‘sale’ section and seeing this little kit being discounted. I thought it was very cute, so in the cart it went, I needed the thread anyway.. right?!

Two cross-stitched owls in a little frame on a card.

It was a very quick afternoon project with only a few colours. I really like how the two owls came out and I’ve kept the pattern and the leftover kit-thread and I think I can make the owls again if I want to. I’d have to find different card, bow and dangle, but that should be doable too. This one is on its way to the recipient for a happy birthday message!

ProjectTwo Owls Card
AuthorLuca-S
TypeKit
Search wordsowls; card
LocationEmbroidery box
#stitches~400
Purchased28-07-2026
Date started07-08-2026
Date finished07-08-2026
Fabric18 ct aida

Duck to Go

Quacking and carrying away.

Waffle Patterns, the designer of the Penguin Bag and the Whale Bag, released two new bag patterns recently. A piggy (biggetje) and a rubber duck (eendje). I loved them, and they went on sale upon release and I couldn’t help myself. Does one need four animal bags? Probably not. Do I have them now and do they come out to play? Absolutely.

Beak view of black bag shaped like a rubber duck.
Side view of black bag shaped like a rubber duck.
Zipper view of black bag shaped like a rubber duck.

I grabbed some of the same black fabric and gray lining that I used for the Penguin and got to work. As usual with waffle pattern bags, the internal bag was a little bit too small for my liking, but I only figured that out after already cutting it out and adding a zipper to the bottom. So I performed some minor surgery and added a strip all the way around the edges so that the bag innards are now a lot bigger. The wings double as extra pockets. They are not very big, but I did put the optional snap in them for some extra closure.

Inner bag
Inner bag
Inside view of black bag shaped like a rubber duck.

Apart from that, the instructions were very good again. If I remember correctly, I followed them pretty closely. There is no nap indicated on the pattern, but my fabric has some. So I tried to think about it while cutting out the duck. That was quite helpful, and he’s very pettable now. I think only one section is upside down, but I wasn’t going to take it back out again. The beak was already quite hard to sew.

Bottom view of black bag shaped like a rubber duck.
Side view of black bag shaped like a rubber duck.
Black rubber duck shaped bag with pens in the wing pocket.

The duck has one hand strap, and it’s supposed to have a shoulder strap. I stole that one from the penguin temporarily, until I have the materials to make it its own strap. The one problem it still has is that the zipped opening is very small. Only 12-ish centimeters and my hand is not big, but it’s fairly hard to get into it. It can hold my wallet and pens, but not much else. But it wasn’t intended for a giant trek. Still, I think he’s very cute and I look forward to taking him on the go!

Highland Fox

Blue and orange in the mountains.

Ages ago, after I had found the adorable hedgehog that I gave as a gift in April, I looked at the other cross stitch patterns of the same designer and stumbled upon this one. I really loved the colour combinations of the bright orange and the blues. And I thought the fox was adorable. So after finishing all kinds of other projects, I got around to this one.

Embroidery of an orange fox with snow capped mountains in the background.
Embroidery of an orange fox with snow capped mountains in the background.
Orange fox with blue mountain embroidery in frame

It’s tiny in real life, but the colours are really quite striking. While I did follow the instructions, I don’t think my blues were all as intended. There are bits that probably should have been darker, and one a little less bright. Really though, it doesn’t matter because this end result is still very pretty. You could also see the idea of what it was supposed to be, but the backstitch did help a lot. I really like how much detail there is.

The only downside is that it doesn’t work with pattern keeper, and keeping track from paper is harder then when stitches just light up in bright green on an app. That is what it is. I do notice that it holds me back from purchasing some more adorable patterns from this shop (this racoon and this tree owl for example). But who knows, I might just be swayed.

ProjectFox and Mountain
AuthorOwlAndThread
TypePattern only
Search wordsfox; mountain; orange; blue
LocationDrive
#stitchesmax. 2600
Purchased11-02-2026
Date started13-06-2026
Date finished24-06-2026
Fabric16 ct. aida

Winnie the Pooh

Pooh and Piglet brave the unknown.

My friend had her birthday in April this year, but the celebration was a bit impromptu and I had to show up without a gift. I got some really lovely hummingbird cake, so I couldn’t leave it be. I asked her if she was interested in getting a piece of embroidery, perhaps in the style of old-school Winnie the Pooh? She has some vintage Pooh prints on the wall already. It was agreed that that would be a lovely idea. So we settled on a design, that I then promptly ignored because I found one that fits her even better.

Embroidery of old school Winnie the Pooh and Piglet
Embroidery of old school Winnie the Pooh and Piglet
Embroidery of old school Winnie the Pooh and Piglet

I enjoyed working on this one. The text is very cute, the Pooh is very Pooh, and Piglet is very pink. I have all the supplies for the other Pooh, so that might still materialize in the future. For now, this Pooh will grace a lovely wall and the sentiment is being appreciated too.

ProjectClassic Winnie-the-Pooh
AuthorTheCraftyDactyl
TypePattern only
Search wordswinnie the pooh; piglet; friends
LocationDrive
#stitches3307
Purchased01-05-2026
Date started05-06-2026
Date finished13-06-2026
Fabric18 ct. aida

Hedgehog

Cute little hedgehog for a hedgehog keeper

When someone who has built a hedgehog house in the garden has a birthday, the only appropriate gift is hedgehog embroidery, right? At least, that was what I thought back in February. So I set out to find a cute hedgehog and managed to do so in the patterns of OwlAndThread. There is a lot of backstitch in this thing, but it ends up being so cute!

Cross stitch embroidery of a hedgehog in clover - in a blue hoop.
Cross stitch embroidery of a hedgehog in clover - in a green frame.
Cross stitch embroidery of a hedgehog in clover - in a green frame.

After completing the stitching, it needed to be ‘kept’ somehow. First, I found some dark green paper in the hoard and made a little frame. Realistically, it was too much fabric in too small a frame. So in the end, I went out to get some different paper and made a bigger frame. I used my embossing machine to cut out some balloons and wrote a message on the back. I really enjoyed working on this, even if it was not able to be uploaded into Pattern Keeper. Old-School counting all the way.

ProjectHedgehog
AuthorOwlAndThread
TypePattern only
Search wordshedgehog; clover
LocationDrive
#stitchesmax.1960
Purchased11-02-2026
Date started16-02-2026
Date finished28-02-0206

Introducing: Luus.blog

A new link for an old blog.

If your feed reader suddenly got a lot of posts from me, or something else strange started happening… It’s because I was playing around unsupervised in the back-end of my blog. I wanted to have a plugin installed, which meant that suddenly the link to my blog became luus.wpcomstaging.com instead of luus.wordpress.com as it always was – they did tell me this, I didn’t think it through. I really didn’t like the new link, so I finally settled for applying for a new domain.

If everything went well, you should now be able to find my posts on luus.blog.

I think I was fairly lucky that that one was still available as it is also my email address: luus.blog@gmail.com – if you ever need to reach me. In any case, none of this was premeditated and stuff just sort of .. happened. For now, I’m going to continue my quest of changing every instance of ‘gray’ to ‘grey’, after seeing the most perfect post from Merriam-Webster yesterday. This is the little beauty started started the whole mess in the first place.

Hope to see you around on the new – but not very improved luus.blog!

Go Get It!

Motivational bear reaching for the stars!

Another colleague of mine decided to pursue her dreams and is leaving my work soon. For the goodbye party, I wanted to stitch a cute little something so that she can feel motivated. I chose this adorable bear that originally said ‘Yes I can’ in the bottom. I changed it to ‘Go get it’ because she should reach for the stars and she’ll grasp them. It was a fun quick stitch with a lot of backstitching.

Embroidered bear on a ladder with Go get it underneath
Embroidered bear on a ladder with Go get it underneath
Embroidered bear on a ladder with Go get it underneath

I really love how this one turned out and I can absolutely see myself making it again for a different occasion. She said that she really liked it and that it had sentimental value for her too, so my goal was achieved. She’ll go get it too!

ProjectYes I can Bear
AuthorStitchDI
TypePattern only
Search wordsbear; ladder; yes I can; stars
LocationDrive
#stitches873
Purchased28-05-2026
Date started30-05-2026
Date finished31-05-2026

Cat Suit – Sorta

Cat printed dungarees for the summer.

I made another iteration of the Ophelia Overalls from Decades of Style (previous versions here and here). This time, I used a ‘fine rib cord with cat print’ from a shop called babystofjes.nl (baby fabrics). I am not a baby, but I thought it was cute so I decided to go for it.

Brown dungarees with cat faces print
Brown dungarees with cat faces print
Brown dungarees with cat faces print

I made some changes to the pattern; I eliminated the buttons and flaps along the side, added an extra d-ring to the front pocket and the side, fully lined the front bib and made some adjustments to the facings of the back, and I cut it a little longer. Then I started thinking about wearing it with the straps down and what to do with them. The ochre version has shown me that it’s a little tight if I keep them attached to the bib. So, I improvised some ‘stap holders’ that attach with snaps at the pockets. This seems to work quite well.

Brown dungarees strap attachment
Brown dungarees bib view
Brown dungarees with large pockets

The one down side I’ve experienced so far is that the side straps are a bit slippy, so I tends to loosen a bit over time. If it turns out to be a massive problem, I’ll figure out a solution in due course. Probably more snaps..

Brown dungarees with cat faces print
Brown dungarees with the straps down.
Brown dungarees with the straps down.

I do think these are adorable though. The fabric is quite soft, doesn’t fray and is very light weight. Other people also seem to like them, so that’s fun. They are mostly for the hotter months though, I think a breeze would blow straight through.

Not My Monkeys

Oh no! This is a circus and those are monkeys!

A colleague of mine is leaving to pursue another job and I wanted to make her a little gift. So I figured that I would embroider the saying that we use in the office a lot: ‘Not my circus, not my monkeys’, which in essence means ‘not my problem’. However, it needed some adaptation since it will be her circus. So I found a pattern of a set of monkeys with tails in a heart shape, and found a 5-stitch high font here that I adapted a little. The final result is a ‘This is my circus and these are my monkeys’ embroidery with the name of her new company in the middle.

Two embroidered monkeys with the saying 'this is my circus and these are my monkeys' above it.
Two embroidered monkeys with the saying 'this is my circus and these are my monkeys' above it. Framed

I personally think this is hilarious. I hope she likes it.

ProjectMonkey Love – adapted
AuthorPixAndPrintCo
TypePattern only
Search wordsmonkeys; heart
LocationDrive
#stitches1751
Purchased01-05-2026
Date started25-05-2026
Date finished27-05-2026