Ashley Potts

Austin, Tx

A little more about Ashley . . .

What kind of creative projects are your favorite?

I love all sorts DIY…as long as it’s colorful and makes me smile. I lean towards home improvement at the moment as we remodel our 1975 generic home into a fun, colorful space!

When is your most productive time for creating?

It seems to hit me at the inappropriate times..I rearrange rooms before work and always start painting projects at night when the kid goes to bed!

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What is your favorite storage tip for your creative supplies?
I love old cracker, sugar and flour containers – the metal kind from my grandmothers. They are colorful AND have special memories associated, so it’s a double whammy!

Tell me more about your home dec projects. How often do you move your furniture, art and accessories around in your home?

I move furniture, artwork and accessories around every week! Why not, if it doesn’t work..I move it again. It’s a never ending process ’round here.

When you are in your creative mood, do you listen to music, watch tv or do you prefer a quiet spot? If it is music, what types do you listen to? If watching tv, what kinds of shows?

I always have TV on in the background..the usuals are HGTV and the cooking channel. I judge the people remodeling and wonder what I would do in their shoes and when listening to the cooking shows I wonder what it would be like to actually cook!!

Embroidery: Algerian Eye Stitch

The Algerian Eye Stitch is also known as the Algerian Eyelet Stitch or the Star Eyelet Stitch. It is used in cross stitch, embroidery and hardanger.

How to Copy a Ready-to-Wear Dress Without Taking It Apart

I wanted to pull a pattern for this comfy dress and make more. Make the pattern by tracing the original garment and adding seam allowances. Big pockets, too!

DIY Pen Holder for Notebook

As I used my bullet journal and pen quiver over the past six months, I realized I wanted 5 colors of pens with me, and that I wanted a pocket…

Japanese Lotus-Style Kinchaku Bag Pattern & Tutorial

This is my first sewing project on a sewing machine! My sister helped me make these little bags for birthday gifts to my other sisters.

How To Make a Custom Bag

I bought this lovely leather while in Paris and made a lined bag that had all of the pockets I wanted on the inside, and just the right size for…

How to Make Fabric Fortune Cookies

For Fortune Cookie Day, I thought I'd make fabric ones. I cut circles from fused fabrics, added covered wire and formed into shape before inserting fortunes.

Finishing a Needlepoint Pillow

I found this needlepoint piece at a garage sale and wanted to make a throw pillow. I framed it with upholstery fabric and embellished with hand embroidery.

Laced Double Running Stitch

The Laced Double Running Stitch starts with two running stitches on separate lines. Lace the working thread between the two lines for a zigzag effect.

Star Stitch Embroidery: How To Tutorial with Video

The Star Stitch can be used as a combination stitch, or as a filler stitch on your hand embroidery projects. Each star has 8 or more points. Lots of variations.

Feather Stitch Embroidery Tutorial

The Feather Stitch is a hand embroidery stitch for both straight and curved lines, used quite often in crazy quilting and garden or underwater scene fillers.

French Knot Embroidery Stitch Tutorial with Video

The French Knot can be used alone to fill a space or used as part of a combination stitch. It can seem difficult at first, but is easy after some…

Chevron Embroidery Stitch

The Chevron hand embroidery stitch is great for decorative bands and can be used with other stitches to make a great combination stitch. Quick and easy stitch.

Upcycled Crewel Embroidery Pillow

I found this unfinished crewel embroidery piece at a creative reuse store and brought it home to finish. It was easy to add borders and make it into a pillow.

Heavy Chain Stitch Embroidery Tutorial: Step-by-Step

The Heavy Chain Stitch is a thicker variation of the chain stitch and is perfect for outlines where you really want the hand embroidery stitch to stand out.

Herringbone Stitch Embroidery

The Herringbone Stitch is great for filling spaces on a hand embroidery project. It's an easy, fast criss-cross stitch, done here with variegated thread.

Leaf Stitch Embroidery

The Leaf Embroidery Stitch forms the spine of the leaf with overlapping hand stitches. Work from alternating sides to form the crossovers in the center.

Scroll Stitch Embroidery

The scroll stitch is a form of the running knotted stitch that forms a line of little scrolls. This hand embroidery stitch is great for outlines and edges.

Pearl Stitch Embroidery

The pearl stitch is a knotted hand embroidery stitch that is worked in a line; so it gives great texture with the knots. Great for outlines.