Stitch doodling embroidery from the book The Big-Ass book of Home Decor

How the crafty planets collided in my world today.
I had a bunch of these plain black skirts that were just screaming for some embellishment and I had the new book The Big-Ass book of Home Decor full of great ideas that were on my "to try" list. Within seconds the plan was formed. I would try the "stitch doodle" technique pictured here as a butterfly motif. I'm not too much of a butterfly girl, I'm more of a jackalope type.

So I put the skirt on to figure out where I wanted my jackalope to be. (You can see the dressmaker's chalk square still there a bit in the lower photo)

Then I printed out my jackalope image to size and cut it out.

I traced the image onto the skirt again using the dressmaker's chalk.

Then all that was left to do was two laps around the outline with some white thread in the machine. Once the dressmaker's chalk is brushed off it will be a bit more crisp but I like the imperfect look. Really doable by every type of sewer I think. Oh, and fast!

More about
The Big-Ass book of Home Decor:
More than 100 Inventive Projects for Cool Homes Like Yours
By
Mark Montano
from the publisher Stewart, Tabori & Chang

"You have a problem. Your current home “décor” is ugly, shabby, and boring, but you can’t afford lots of new stuff. Or maybe your house is filled with tired old junk that you just can’t bear to throw away. Or maybe you bought all your furniture at a big box store, but it irritates you that it all looks like you bought it there.

You have a solution—or, rather, a whole houseful of solutions. In this newest Big-Ass Book, do-it-yourself guru Mark Montano presents 105 practical, simple, and decidedly unboring projects for every space in your home. Montano’s wizardry—accomplished with masking tape, spray paint, and glue—transforms everything from accessories, to walls and windows, to lighting, to major pieces like headboards, tables, dressers, and chairs. (And there’s even a chapter on turning the anonymous items you got at IKEA into one-of-a-kind treasures.)

About the Author
Mark Montano is a designer and well-known host on TLC’s While You Were Out and 10 Years Younger, We’s She’s Moving In, and Style Network’s My Celebrity Home. He is the author of CosmoGIRL Cool Room, The Big-Ass Book of Crafts, Super Suite, and Dollar Store Décor. Montano is based in Los Angeles and New York."

Plaid Jackalope Engraved Glass Bottle using the great How-to from the beautiful book-Glass Engraving by Sonia Lucano

The designs in this book are just so captivating and inspiring:

Glass Engraving: 25 Projects for the Home
by
Sonia Lucano

Turn everyday glassware into modern, custom pieces perfect for your home. With Sonia Lucano’s Glass Engraving, you can turn any bowl into a conversation piece, design wine glasses to toast a special occasion, or create a personalized vase to use as a centerpiece. All the projects require only an inexpensive engraving tool available at craft stores, and the simple skill of tracing.

The dozens of templates provided will enable you to add florals, modern geometrics, or text and monograms to any glass surface, including mirrors. The personalized pieces you create will also make a perfect gift–one that can last a lifetime! With Lucano’s guidance and advice, you can master this simple craft quickly and transform your home with one-of-a-kind designs.

SONIA LUCANO is a designer, crafter, and author. She has worked in both fashion and design since studying at France’s National School of Decorative Arts. She lives in Paris.

I've done the glass etching with the chemical stuff but I had never broken out the engraving bit for my Dremel and tried it. Well, the beautiful designs in Glass Engraving: 25 Projects for the Home got my creative juices flowing and was just the boot in the but I needed to give it a try!
I am on a mission to make everything I can in plaid and I love the jackalope so I went to my jackalope template and reduced it down 50%. I then followed the directions in Glass Engraving: 25 Projects for the Home for transfering the image.
So here is the outline of the jackalope. It was really easy, although I hve to say the Dremel got a bit heavy so I think I need to go hunting in the garage for the flex-shaft attachement.
Here it is all done with the plaid pattern filled in. I bet that there isn't another plaid jackalope engraved bottle out there.

I can tell no glass surface is going to stay plain long.

Jackalope Pillow-Upcycled, Recycled wool felted sweater surgery style

To end the year I have probably one of my favorite Sweater Surgery projects yet to share with you!
It uses the combination of two of my favorite images into another of my favorite images.
The Jackalope!
I love it so much I used it twice!

Here is the template I used.
I cut a jackalope out of each color of the wool felted sweater taking care to flip the template over for the opposite pointing jackalope. Also paying attention to which color the background was the each was going to be needle felted on.
This is what it looked like on the back after I needle felted the 2 pieces together. I sewed up the sides and I have a cute new slip cover for my old little pillow.

Happy New Year Ya'll!