i've got pins and needles . . . .

i've been thinking about making this for AGES

today i had literally minutes to make something
so i gathered up my ingredients
and jumped in with both feet!

ingredients:
an orphaned russian doll
a scrap of fabric
some plain pins
some fancy pins
a styrofoam egg

open up your doll
cover the egg with the scrap of fabric
you want to pull the fabric tight - i used stretch velour
pin fabric to bottom of the egg
cut of excess fabric

pop the covered egg into the doll body
i didn't use glue as it was a perfect fit

load with a few pretty pins
and you're done!

this was so simple
but
i love her!

how to frame your embroidery in a hoop.

i don't know why but when it comes to my crafts
i am a neat freak
so when i did the embroidery for the Alice swap i just couldn't bear to leave the messy stitching exposed,
also i had cut the fabric too small to lace it onto the hoop, i searched for a tutorial to finish off your work in a hoop but couldn't find one, i asked at the PhatQuarter group and got some good ideas there
but
this is what i came up with

take the hoop you will be working your embroidery in and
draw around the inside of the inner hoop on mounting board

cut out your disc, then trim it so it is a little smaller

cut out a circle of fleece or wadding
i drew around a hoop 1" bigger than the hoop i'm doing the embroidery on so the hoop i'm working my piece on is a 4" and the fabric disc is 5"
{edited from 2" to 1"}

next cut out your backing fabric
{again 1" bigger than finished embroidery}

next layer the fabrics and lace onto the card disc

until it looks like this

work your embroidery in your hoop

cut out your finished piece 2" bigger than your embroidery hoop

i added another piece of fleece for a nice padded look
i trimmed this off close to the hoop

then i stuck down my embroidered fabric with
double sided tape on the inside of the hoop

all stuck down

take your disc of fabric covered card
and push into the back of the hoop firmly
{i didn't use any glue}

you get a nice padded effect

finished!

i hope this is easy to follow
and it comes in useful for any other neat freak crafters like me!