Welcome to DesignsByMLP
Hi, I'm Mandy and I love crafts.
It's an amazing feeling to take a ball of wool or a piece of fabric and with skill, care, attention and a degree of patience, turn it into something useful. However I believe items shouldn't just be useful, they should also be beautiful and make you f eel good.
I was taught knitting and crochet as a child, but raising a family of 3 and having a nursing career took priority and meant little time for hobbies. Then I rediscovered my love for craft work after acquiring an 80's knitting machine which I restored and patiently learnt the skill. Although the machine speeds up the knitting process, every item is handcrafted from the first cast on loop to the last hand sewn stitch and can take many hours. I hope this is reflected in my items for others to enjoy.
I then became the proud owner of a beautiful new Embroidery Machine and have become fascinated with this amazing skill. Not content on embroidering purchased designs I set out to learn how to create my own. I bought some digitizing embroidery software and a whole new world has been opened up. All my embroidery patterns are manually digitized. I spend alot of time thinking about the best way to digitize my designs, there is alot of thought and effort that go into them to ensure proper sequencing and pathing of designs. But this means that I produce efficient patterns with reduced number of thread changes, this also means less jump stitches and tie-offs. This results in a more efficient and faster stitch time....Important if you are in business and time is money!!!!!
I am having so much fun creating, designing and digitizing embroidery....I really hope you love the designs as much as I do.
Why not follow me on Instagram @designs_by_mlp and Facebook @DesignsByMLP
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read this.
If you're interested in digital products to help you organise your life (and boy have I needed help there!!!!) why not visit my other shop at DandMdigitals.etsy.com for products that you may find useful.