Summer freebie "Primitive" and a textile art tutorial

Hello, again.

Before I show you guys my "best piece so far" - according to my boyfriend (and perhaps myself, too), I want to give you a little present for your patience.

This mini sampler I created inspired by the "primitive" embroidery style. I think it would look really lovely on a cushion or a wall hanging for the summer. I hope lots of my readers will like it and make it. Use your brightest colours. :)

Just click on the picture and you get to the pdf.

And now, here is a little tutorial how to create a piece of fabric art.

I have to say, I am sure I didn't invent this. I have read lots of different instructions and watched countless videos and I am sure they influenced me, but I cannot find any particular one that I followed. I just followed my own heart and head with this project.

I have no pictures of the steps, but it is not so difficult to imagine, I promise :)


First of all, you need a sleepless night. After tossing around in bed for a while, get out and turn on the lights. Take a piece of scrap fabric from your drawer, fold it in half, pick up a pair of scissors and cut out a shape. I cut out a bird, but you can make whatever you like. It doesn't even have to be "something". For me the whole thing was really an improvisation, I didn't draw the shape, but if you feel safer that way, go ahead and draw or use a printed pattern.
By folding the fabric, you get two pieces that are identical but facing each other.

Pick another, slightly bigger piece of fabric, pin the shape to it and sew around with the sewing machine a few times. You can also add extra lines, apart from the outline. In my case I added the beak, the legs and the wings of the bird. Again, you can draw the lines in advance, but I didn't, it doesn't have to be perfect. When you sew the second or third round, you don't have to be precise and follow the first line, on the contrary. Be free, enjoy the process and don't worry too much. You can turn under the edge of your appliqué or leave it to fray, as I did.
If you don't have a sewing machine or love sewing by hand, this can be easily done without a machine, too.

Repeat with the other piece - try to make the second piece similar to the first - or not.

And voila, you have made a lovely piece of fabric art.

Extra: if you feel like it, you can sit down next day and embroider some words on it. I embroidered the word "bird" in English, Swedish and Hungarian and used some sparkly metallic embroidery thread.


This is the result:

Oops, I took the second picture in different light. The first one is truer to the real colours.



I love them so much that now I am having a difficulty deciding what to make of them. I think they will become a decoration on a bag. Or a cushion. Or an apron. Or…

Happy summer crafting to everyone. See you soon, with a sewing pattern, of all things!

Summer holidays = crafting

Hello, hello, my dear readers. I hope you are all having a lovely summer.

Thank you if you are still around, and sorry for not writing for so long. May and half of June was really busy at school, and it was even more difficult because I didn't feel very well. In the beginning of July I had two friends over from Hungary, so I had to prepare for that a little (cleaning! brrrr…). We had a great time though, so I have to say it was worth every minute. Then we went to the mountain area in Sweden for a family event. Want to see some pictures?

My friends in Stockholm.

My friends and me on Åland.

Stephen and me in the mountains - what a silly selfie, isn't it? :D


And now, finally, I am here.

I didn't write my blog but I have been crafting all the same, perhaps not as much as I like to, but there are lots of things to show. So now I am going to write a post every (other?) day, showing you the different things I made or am in the middle of making. There will be some free patterns, too!

Let's start with the most exciting thing: I have been accepted to university! Hipp-hipp-hurray! In August I will start a textile course in Umeå. My only regret is that it is very far away, around a 1000 kms, so I will have to fly - and it won't be cheap. It is a distance course, so I only need to go three times in a term, so perhaps it is not going to be that bad. I applied for another course in Lindköping, that would have been much closer but they requested a teacher degree for admission, and my Hungarian degrees are still not accepted here. :(

Anyway, in Umeå the requirement was some kind of a textile-related course, but for those who might not have it they offered a practical test to prove they know some basic textile skills. They posted an assignment online in May, and we had 3 weeks to complete a project. The topic was: playing with ten-year-olds. We had to send in the project itself, also the plans and sketches (not my strong point) and a 2-page long "reflection" - in Swedish. I made an educational game: a puzzle of the Nordic countries, with "cards" to mach the names of the countries/seas, the capitals and the flags. I used multiple layers (felt, iron-on interfacing and cotton fabric) to sew the puzzle pieces, used velcro to attach the cards, and embroidery to make the flags and the writing on the cards. Here are some pictures:

The background and the puzzle pieces.

This is how it looks put together.

You can also play Memory with the little cards. 2 in 1 :D I also made some simple bags to put the whole thing in but I forgot to take pictures.



I have one more photo to show you today: I stitched the free lapwing pattern from my previous post. I hope you like it.

See you soon :) Promise.

Another free lapwing pattern

Happy Easter!


I hope you all have a lovely time.

I am having a very quite spring break, staying at home, stitching a bit and not doing anything. Trying to reload spent batteries. :)


Here are some photos of what I have been doing lately:

I have crocheted quite a few of these bunnies and chicks and sold them to raise money for charity.

Some pillows with bunnies and a hedgehog, they were also sold.

Birds, not finished yet. Some of them will end up as bookmarks, some as… don't know yet. :) Any ideas?

And made a blouse for myself. Tried to practice how to follow a pattern really well, but it turned out horrible. I stretched the fabric on the bias, and the size was not really good either. In some places I needed a 52, in others it was too big. :D :D Anyway, managed to change here and there to make it all right. SO much about following a pattern. :)

Here is another version of the lapwing, this time in colour. Click on the picture.

Have fun stitching it.

Lapwing silhouette - bíbic sziluett

Először is hadd osszak meg veletek valami jópofát. Tegnap Stockholmba mentem a magyar nagykövetségre, szavazni. Amint ott várok, és beszélgetek a barátommal, azt mondja valaki: "Én ismerlek téged a blogodról. Ági vagy, ugye?"
Rita, örülök, hogy találkoztunk! :D :D


First, let me share something nice with you. I went to Stockholm yesterday, to the Hungarian embassy to vote. As I was waiting there, talking to my boyfriend, someone told me: "I know you from your blog. You are Agi, right?"
Rita, I am glad to have met you! :D :D



Mondtam már, hogy szeretem a madarakat? Itt, ahol lakom, sok bíbic fészkel a mezőn, nyáron, ha sétálok, mindig ott sivítoznak a magasban, megpróbálják elijeszteni az arra járót a fészkük közeléből.

Hímeztem egy ingyenes mintát, ahol csak egyszerű sziluett volt a madár, és nagyon hatásosnak találtam, úgyhogy megpróbáltam én is alkotni egyet. Ha tetszik, hímezzétek örömmel!


Have I mentioned that I love birds? Here where I live, there are lots of lapwings nesting on the fields. In summertime, if I go for a walk, they are always crying out in the air, trying to chase away anyone from their nests.

I have embroidered a freebie where the bird was a simple silhouette and found it really effective. So I tried to create one myself. If you like it, have fun stitching it.

PS. A másik nagy kedvencem a barázdabillegető! Another bird that I love a lot is wagtail!

Running bunnies

I have got into the Easter spirit. I have been crocheting bunnies, eggs and a baby chick, although they are not finished yet, so no pictures. I haven't followed any pattern, just went ahead and improvised, and it seemed to work.

I was also trying to put together an Easter bunny chart. I might have to do some more work (or rather playing) on this, but here is the first version. I tried many different colours for the bunnies' fur but couldn't settle for anything really. Finally I decided on something neutral, however, when I get down to stitching this, I am almost sure I would use some variegated thread, and perhaps some really crazy colour, too, like purple or blue. :D

Please feel free to improvise yourself and let me know how it turns out.

Happy stitching :)

Nature's Circle

Here is the result of my latest doodling with my cross stitch program. I called it Nature's Circle.

I am planning to stitch it on a bag I have been designing. Haven't decided on the colours yet. Anyway, I drew the pattern in two different colour-schemes, one with natural, soft colours and the other with brighter ones and love both.

But as usual, I would encourage everyone to try your own colours, choose from your thread stash and have fun with it.

I left the middle of the pattern empty, but actually thinking of filling in that part also. Will show you how it turns out when I can finally decide. Until then, go ahead and create your own version, if you like it.

Happy stitching :)

Spring bookmark - free patterns

It's March! Well, it is not exactly spring yet, at least not here in Sweden, though it is much milder than last year and before. Still, spring cannot be very far away :)

To celebrate, why not stitch a bookmark in your favourite spring colours? Here are some simple free patterns for you to enjoy.


I made two different colour variations on this one, but feel free to use whatever colours you like.

This one can perhaps be even quicker with only a few flower motifs.

Happy stitching :)

If you are new here, why not check out my earlier spring patterns, and also the ones for Easter and St. Patrick's day. Just look for the labels on the right.