Embroidery Ideas

Rainbow heart

Wed, 22 Apr 2020 15:44:34 GMT

A Rainbow Heart

For all those that need a little love right now and need something to do.

This is an easy project and you can make it as large or as small as you would like.

Make something for your hero in these difficult times.

Bring a smile to someone.

Hi Everyone, I have been inspired this month by all the key workers across the world who have been helping all the sick and vulnerable with Covid 19. The NHS rainbows that I have seen on peoples windows are a wonderful way to say thank you. So using this as my influence I embroidered a rainbow heart. The idea is for you to use this design and embroider onto a garment that needs a little love and care and by wearing it you will remember all those that have helped and suffered during the current times of lockdown in a positive way. You can use this idea to make a card or a cushion to give to someone who perhaps needs a little love right now or just to give to your hero during the Covid crisis.

I took the same idea and made a personalised lavender pillow for someone.

The first thing you need to do is to decide what you are going to embroider. The beauty about this design is that you can work any size you like. Draw a heart shape out and play around with the size on your printer. I also think a small heart on the back of a jumper would be great, or on a cuff.

Pin the shape in place, if you are using an embroidery frame make sure the size fits. Use a small running stitch around the motifs edges. You are now ready to start your embroidery.

Divide the shape into seven equal sizes. We are using seven rows as there are seven colours in the rainbow.

Run the guide lines across the whole piece.

I used DMC six stranded floss and used the following colours, red 817, orange 740, yellow 726, green 701, blue 798, indigo 158, purple 550. I also used a few strands of DMC colour variations, red 4200, orange 4124, yellow 4075, green 4045 and indigo 4240.

I generally split the thread into two, so worked with three strands. You can vary this. Occasionally I used only one thread. For french knots I wound the thread three times around the needle.

At the very end I also added just a few threads from the DMC Etoile range to add a tiny bit of sparkle. Feel free to add whatever you feel that might add further interest and depth. You might have a few odd ends of thread you might want to use up. But make sure whatever threads you use they are machine washable.

The DMC Etoile Mouline range used just for small highlights at the end, it just adds a hint of sparkle. I used five DMC colour variations as shown and listed above.

Now you can start embroidering. Try and work from the top down but sometimes it is nice to see how the colour balance is working out, so feel free to do other sections at the same time. Work the flower shapes (made up from lazy daisy stitches) first. I think it is important to get a central purple flower at the bottom of the point. Once you have some flower shapes embroidered work other stitches around them. I have used cross stitch, cross stitch with a small straight stitch, ermine filling stitch, seeding, french knots and straight stitch which is used to fill the lazy daisy stitches and sometimes added between the flower shapes.

When starting and finishing the thread embroider into the stitches at the back. If you are starting right at the beginning work a small double stitch into the back of the fabric with a waste knot i.e. place a knot through the right side of the work someway from where you are going to embroider. When you have secured the thread with a double stitch on the back of the fabric, or under an area that embroidery stitching will hide the double stitch, cut the waste knot off.

Keep going.

When you are happy with the stitching remove the white lines. Have one last check just in case you would like to add some further stitches in any gaps that might have opened up.

Stitches Used

Below are all the stitches I have used to create this piece.

Please note with the straight stitch illustrated is inside the loop of the lazy daisy stitch, you can also add the straight stitches in between the lazy daisy stitch. The fly stitch can be used in a row not just randomly stitched as shown.

The Ermine stitch shown makes an equal circle but you can vary the length of the crosses.

If you want to make the item more personalised then add some writing using stem stitch as shown here.

When you go around curves work a smaller stitch. Always keep the thread to the left and start/finish with a half stitch so the first and last stitch have support and do not collapse.

I hope you have fun and any ideas you want to share with me please do.

Find me on social media under Inspirational Embroidery.

Happy to inspire and keep safe.

Love you all

Jill

A Beetle

Sun, 05 Apr 2020 20:00:45 GMT

How to Make an Embroidered Beetle

I have tried to design a beetle that you can easily make. The key to this is to buy the real beetle wings and match them well.

All measurements are driven from the length of the wings you have. You can purchase all the goldwork products from golden hinde https://golden-hinde.co.uk/shop

Create the body by using some carpet padding.I actually used some padding that was wrapped around some food that was delivered to my house. You never know where you might find something to use for your embroidery. the padding needs to be the length of the wing. The shape needs to be square on top, with rounded top corners. Narrow the shape towards the bottom and create a round shape as shown.. Use a dressmaking cotton and use straight lines across the piece to hold it in place. Start with a central vertical and horizontal line first.

Make sure the padding is the correct shape, take your time and use a pair of tweezers to adjust the shape if you need to.

Now create the padding for head with three layers of felt. Cut three semi circles as shown.

Take the needle down into the felt and start with the smallest piece first and build up the layers one on top of each other. I have used contrast threads here for purposes of illustration, please use matching thread to your felt.

Add pearl purl antennae and you can couch these down just at the bottom, just tucking them under the felt for the head. I used a number 3 from golden antennae here. Then cut out a piece of leather or kid to stitch over the felt that has been laid for the head.

Stab stitch the leather in place, taking the stitch from the outside of the shape into the leather. Work the legs using a chain stitch for the first part of the legs and then straight stitches for the rest of the legs. aLways take the stitch down into the previous stitch.

Cut out the felt to cover the padding of the body.

Stab stitch the felt in place.

Cover the body with long and short. Working from the top downwards and work from centre out. I used short stitches at the top and about a third down I took long stitches, almost turning to a satin stitch.

Add a couple of rows of crinkle plate across the top of the body.

Use a twist if you have not got any plate.

Add a piece of blue twist across the bottom of the head. Couch a piece of pearl purl around the head. I used number 1 from Golden Hinde.

Add the eyes at the bottom of the antenna. I used some old clear glass studs that I had, but you can use beads or french knots.

I also added a line of blue DMC thread above the blue twist as I felt i needed a little more colour. I used three strands of stranded floss. I also added a one thread of blue stranded floss in the chain stitch on top of each leg. Add the wings, stitching through the predrilled holes.

I also couched a green/blue twist around the body of the beetle and stitched a contrast thread down the middle of the body of the beetle.

Why Everyone should Embroider

Fri, 04 Oct 2019 11:01:49 GMT

Love embroidery and find your inner peace

If you are interested in knowing how and why you should embroider please read.

For me embroidery is about connecting and finding inner peace. It is like a form of meditation.

If I can help just one person achieve what I feel i would be so happy.

When I embroider I loose myself into a peace of mind that is wonderfully calming. Embroidery is not about perfection but about expressing yourself however you feel. I love designing all my own work, but sometimes if you don't feel up to the challenge then pick up a printed piece of cloth and just stitch. There are also some great websites that you can scan pictures to and they will generate a cross stitch pattern of the design for you.
One thing I always say to my pupils...you can always unpick it if you really aren't happy...but walk away from it and come back to it before you do to decide it has to go.
It is so special to make something for yourself, family or friends.

I love historical embroidery and think it is wonderful to create a piece that will be around long after yourself.
With all the recent press about mental illness I do feel that if one person reads this and they start embroidery as a hobby and if it helps them find inner peace then I will be a very happy person.

Embroidery is a wonderful craft and can be used in many different ways . Traditional hand stitches can create texture and make a piece personal. Machine embroidery can be used to create a drawing like quality. I feel very lucky to have this great craft as part of my life. My mother taught me as a child, in her day it was something that was taught in school....to aid a woman to be the perfect housewife, how things have changed. I love teaching and creating something with thread and fabric, by hand or machine. I adore layering and having my designs created into something totally individual and unique. Its a great feeling to know that your work will certainly will live on.

Its very hard these days to know where to start there is so much information out there...some excellent and some not. When people come to my lessons they have already usually decided they want to learn either hand or machine embroidery...often they start one method and then see other people in my classes trying other aspects of embroidery and give it ago..its interesting to watch my students grow with confidence and love it when they want to create something that I am challenged with in teaching.

The above picture is taken from a wedding dress that one of my students designed and embroidered herself. I know in years to come she will look back on what is a beautiful piece of embroidery. The student was a complete beginner and certainly took to embroidery and design.

Above is just one of many examples of how you can use embroidery. I embroidered a piece and then had a photograph of the work printed into a Christmas card.

I love making cards for people. I like to think my cards people will treasure them. When I make an individual card I like to think of what that person would like. not only the design but the colours.

Have a go and you need help come and have a chat with me

Find me at www.inspirationalembroidery.co.uk

Allium Flower to make

Mon, 10 Jun 2019 21:16:01 GMT

A simple flower to embroider that can be used for a card or to decorate your favorite top

Using french knots,beads and straight stitches

This is a simple project that every level of embroiderer should be able to make.

Start with a simple drawing. This does not have to be complicated, using lines and circles to create a diagram to work from.Think about stitches like straight, french knots and seeding.

Look at threads, colours and items that can create texture like beads.

Cut out a piece of tracing paper the size that you would like to make your flower head.

I used a stranded cotton and straight stitch to start the process off. I used three,two and one strand to create depth and interest. Take the stitches to the middle of the flower.

Add some seeding and small straight stitches to create the seed heads. Embroider these at angels and use a perle thread, either no five or eight. Use your tracing paper template to make sure you maintain a good shape.

Add some beads and french knots to create texture. I use a three stranded silk thread for the french knots to add another dimension.

This motif would be ideal for a garment and if several were embroidered over a garment it could look very pretty.

Stumpwork flower to make

Thu, 20 Sep 2018 22:05:37 GMT

Flowers always bring a smile so make some that will always there for you.

The petals of this flower have wire embroidered into the edges making them mailable and give the piece more interest and depth to the work.The next few pictures will show you how to achieve a 3D flower for your embroidery projects. I hope this blog will help you understand the basic principal if you have any queries please contact me for help.

Materials and tools required for the project
Bead wire 3mm bead wire or a 30 gauge floral wire.
DMC memory wire for the central stamens.
Some plain fabric to embroider the 3D elements with. I use a good quality calico.
Hemline craft glue.
DMC six stranded floss. No 552 and 554.
Wire cutters and a pair of flat nosed pliers.
Scissors.
Needles.
Matching dressmaking thread.
Stiletto.

I used a clematis plant from my garden for the start of the design. Its good to take a photograph and if you don't feel confident painting try drawing simple lines, even take the flower apart petal by petal to clearly see the shape and how it is formed. You can even trace shapes using tracing paper over the photograph.

You now need to create the wire shapes for the petals. Draw the shape onto a piece of paper and use a pair of flat nosed pliers to create the shape, this looks more difficult than is is and keep trying.

Attach the shapes to the fabric that you are going to embroider. Use a fine needle and matching dressmaking cotton.
Make sure the wire is securely fastened where it overlaps. Now using three strands of the dmc thread in the lighter colour fill the shape in, start at the top using long and short stitches. It can be useful to draw directional lines towards the growing point at the bottom of the petal.

Use the darker DMC thread at the very bottom of the petal to create depth

Work buttonhole stitch enclosing the wire. Change the colour as the embroidery colour changes in the main body. Work from the botom left around to the bottom right.

You can add further interest by using french knots or straight stitches as shown.

Carefully cut out the embroidered petals. Leave about 2/3mm of fabric around the edge.

Use hemline craft glue to carefully glue the excess fabric to the back of the piece. Use a cocktail stick to manipulate the fabric if you find it a bit messy on your fingers. Make sure the fabric is really pulled to the back of the piece so the buttonhole stitch stands proud.

Arrange the petals onto the main embroidery. Sew the petals' using one strand of the DMC thread or matching dressmaking thread. Sew at the bottom of the petal only.

Make the stamens for the flower using memory wire. Curl the end as shown above using your flight nose pliers. You may want to put a piece of glue onto the end before curling to prevent unravelling of the thread around the wire.

Using a stiletto make a hole in the centre of the flower and insert the stamens.Turn the piece over and secure the memory wire to the back of the piece using an overcast stitch with dressmaking cotton. Cut off the excess wire.

Finished Flower with 3D petals.

Beginners guide to lattice stitches

Tue, 17 Jul 2018 13:04:55 GMT

A guide on how to understand filling stitches for embroidery
Trellis and honeycombe

There are numerous patterns and designs you can make in embroidery for filling stitches but its really important to create a good framework. This blog is for those who want to understand technically how to create the base of the design Its a really good idea to practise in 4cm squares. Use Appleton wool 2 ply or three stranded cotton floss.

Equipment

Any good quality embroidery fabric would be good. I used a linen twill in the samples shown here and 2ply Appleton wool. Apart from the obvious like a good crewel needle it would make life a little easier if you have a plastic see through ruler, protractor and set square. Also a water slouble pen and paintbrush.

How to design trellis couched filling stitch

This is a horizontal and vertical framework of stitching. Its worked here straight onto a linen twill but as you become more experienced you can work it over embroidery stitches such as satin and long and short.

Mark a 4cm square onto linen twill. Use a washable pen. Mark 5mm gaps around the edges.

If you don't feel confident draw lines across in both directions using a set square to make sure the lines run at 90 degrees to each other and are parellel. Otherwise leave the square with the edge spots for you to use as a guide. See the picture below.

Start with the vertical lines. Work a knot and double stitch into the edge. Cut the knot off after the thread is secure and the double stitch will be covered up by the outline stitch. You can hold the thread across the piece if it will help. Bring the needle up and down through the fabric and when you start a new line work along the line where the last stich came down into the fabric.

Continue vertically and then horizontally until the square is finished.

Use a paintbrush with water to remove the blue lines

Now you can have fun. Work out what you would like to do. You need to make sure the stitches are held down. I decided to add another colour to the lattice. (I threaded the vertical rows under the horizontal rows of the first colour) I then stitched a cross stitch to hold all the threads down.

If you want this stitch to be at an angle to the square then draw a guide line down the middle of the piece at 45 degrees and work ALL lines of this line. Make sure all lines sit 90 degrees to each other.

How to create honeycomb filling Stitch

Honeycomb filling stitch is worked on the diagonal. The article here is written to help those understand the process after a while you will find you will be able to judge the diagonal line by using just your eyes.

Start as you did for the trellis filling stich. Mark up a 4cm square and mark off 5mm sections on the vertical lines. Now place the ruler from one corner to the other this will place the next row of lines at a 45 degree angle. Use a protractor if you want to check its at a 45 degree angle. Draw lines across or mark the spots for the needle around the edge at 5mm apart. Make sure you keep the ruler parallel. When you become more experienced you can change the angle up to 60 degrees. This will give you more of a square shape. 45 degrees gives you a lovely diamond shape.

The protractor can be used to check the angel. The picture above just shows the protractor slightly off the vertical line so you can clearly see where you need to place it.

Use a clean paintbrush dipped into water to remove the lines

Experiment with holding threads. Tent and cross stitches can be used.

How to work out the width of lines for a shape

Now to perfect your technique we need to look at shapes as its rare that you will just be embroidering squares.
When you have a shape measure the widest and longest points.

Using trellis stitch as your base

Now you need to work out how many lines would evenly sit across the piece.If I wanted a 5mm gap I need to divide the length and then the width by 5mm. So the width is 30 mm divided by 5... I need 6 lines going across, the last line should hit the edge of the motif and therefore you do not need to lay it down. Therefore you have 5 lines going across.
The length is 50mm. Divide by 5 is 10 therefore you have 9 lines going down the work.

Draw the lines in making sure you start at the longest and widest points. Check the lines are at right angles using a set square as shown.

The motif finished using a tent stich to hold the trellis work down and then a french knot in every alternate square.

Using honeycomb filling as your base

This base stitch gives a diamond effect.This is can be very pretty and is excellant if using laszy daisy stich as a fill in stitch.

You need to draw the longest directional lines in first and I generally draw then down the length of the shape. If you want to experiment then photocopy the shape onto some paper and draw different angled starting lines and see what you can achieve. Start like you did the trellis filling stitch. Measure the width and divide by a number as equally as you can. So the above shape is 30mm. Divide by 5mm and we have 6 starter lines. Remember the last line will fall on the outer edge so you will not need to draw it in.

You now need to place the protrator onto one of the lines drawn. Line up the bottom line of the protrator onto one of the lines. Place a ruler onto the 45 degree angle mark as shown above. Draw lines on the top and bottom.

The first line is the important guide line. You can now use this to draw the remaining parellel lines in.

Starting at an Angle

When you gain more confidence you can start drawing diagonal lines initially. Its really good to train your eye to do this. If you draw lots of shapes on paper and experiment. Just remember when you draw the first set of lines to use the protractor to get the first line of the oposite grid lines to set them up correctly.

Have fun

How to design the direction of lattice filling stitches for embroidery.

Mon, 16 Jul 2018 18:54:15 GMT

A visual guide on how to decide how you should fill an embroidery shape with a filling stitch.

Filling stitches in embroidery can vary greatly. In this blog I would like to help you design your own. The key to a professional finish is to get the 'structure' set up correctly. Some people are happy to lay the trellis stitches by eye but if you need some help this article is for you. I will be showing to create trellis couched stitch and honeycomb filling stitch.

Most filling stiches will need to fit into a shape.Its advisable to plan the direction you would like to follow by carrying out a plan before you start embroidering, so photocopy your design onto a piece of paper before you start to help plan what you would like to achieve.

I find it useful to plan the direction of the bottom thread first. Afterwards you can start to think about if you want the thread to run straight at 90degrees to the bottom thread or diagonally at 45 degrees to the bottom thread. I decided to make the central motif on the diagonal and the side and top pieces to be on the straight.

Start filling in the bottom lines with a pencil and ruler. I find a 3 to 5mm gap is normally large enough. 3mm perhaps if you are using cotton floss and 5mm if you are using 2ply Appleton wool. Any thicker threads you may need to go wider. Think about the size of the piece. If you are going to carry out some stitches inside the boxes then remember to leave a large enough gap, you don't want your stitches to become too squashed.

You can use a protractor (the semi circular piece of plastic shown above) to work out the vertical lines. Place the bottom line of the protractor onto one of the horizontal lines drawn and then line up a ruler from the marked 90 degree angle to the central point of the protractor.

Use the protractor again to help mark the diagonal lines. Place the protractor on one of the vertical lines previously drawn, line up the line marked with the 90 degree angle. Place a ruler along the 45 degree line and mark two points on the design...one at the top and one a t the bottom. Remove the protractor and then using a ruler lined up with the marks previously made draw the diagonal lines. Spacing the same distance as the first row of lines.

I decided to fill in two more of the smaller motifs with honeycomb filling stitch. I decided to reduce the scale to create depth and interest to the piece. When you happy with the direction of the trellis stitches photocopy the design and start thinking about the filling and couching stitches.

Think about the filling stitches and how you are going to couch the lattice stitches down. You can use a mixture of threads like silks and wools. Beads could be used in the centre of some of the shapes. Shown below are just a few examples but once the framework is in you can achieve some wonderful patterns.

Machine Embroidered Birch Trees

Thu, 31 May 2018 19:49:39 GMT

A quick picture of trees that you can make as a present

Using free motion machine embroidery

This piece is created by layering up fabrics and paints and finally machine stitching to create depth and texture.

Materials and Equipment Needed

Birch tree stencil from Thecraftersworkshop.com
A silicone mat
Lutradur 30 fabric
White puff paint and paintbrush
Heatgun
Paintbrush
Polyester felt
Tyvek fabric 43g
Bondaweb
An flat iron
Greaseproof paper
A sewing machine black bobbin fill in the bobbin and Metallic Madeira thread no 40 colour 442 on the top.
A piece of light grey polyester organza

How to make the stencilled picture for the embroidered piece

Lay the piece of lutradur fabric onto the silicone mat, this is heat resistant and must extend past the lutradur fabric for safety reasons.

Use the birch stencil available from The craftworkers Workshop.co. This is an excellent stencil as it holds together when the lutradur is burned away.

Place the birch stencil over the piece of lutradur, tape in place and carefully paint the puff paint on the exposed areas.

Remove the stencil and wash or wipe clean. Now use the heatgun and start heating the painted areas, the puff paint will start to bubble and create texture and the lutradur will start to shrink...be careful not to over heat otherwise the whole piece will shrink too much. Move in circles with the heatgun so you can control the amount of shrinkage . Always use a silicone mat underneath.

Now create the backing fabric

If you don't feel confident in achieving this a have a little practise first. Its important to have plenty of the black felt showing through.

You need a piece of 43gm tyvek fabric, bondaweb, a piece of black polyester felt and a piece of greaseproof paper.

Place the felt onto a silicone mat then the bondaweb (remove the paper) and finally the tyvek paper suede side up

Add a piece of greaseproof paper on top and iron in circular movements. The tyvek fabric will very quickly start to melt. Stop several times and check on the progress of how the new fabric is forming.

Hopefully you will end up with something like above.

Now layer up for the final stage for the machine embroidery

Place the black felt piece at the bottom, then the stencilled piece and finally a piece of light grey organza. Pin or stitch in place.

Start stitching using the free motion embroidery technique. Machine around the outer edges of the tree trunks and fill in some of the branches.Black bobbin fill thread underneath and Madeira metallic no 40 colour 442 on the top thread.

Finished piece ready to be mounted or made into a card for a special friend.

How to mount your embroidery professionally

Sat, 28 Apr 2018 21:41:17 GMT

How to Mount your work

It is so important to mount embroidery work correctly. It can make a vast difference to how the embroidery can look and after putting so much effort into creating a work of art its a shame not to put that last bit of energy in. Trust me it can make all the difference. If you mount it correctly it will last a lifetime.

You can use a commercially bought frame but make sure its a box frame as you don’t want your embroidery to touch the glass. When you use a box frame you need to make sure that you have enough depth for your foam board, wadding and your piece of embroidery.

Materials required.

Scissors

Steel rule and set square.

Cutting board

Cutting knife

Pins with a glass head

Foam board

Wadding

Circular needle

Strong thread (you shouldn't be able to break this thread if pulled)

Foam board is used as the base to mount your piece around. a piece of fine cotton wadding is used as an inner layer. This helps to support the embroidery and stops it looking too flat on the board. The wadding I would recommend would be quilters dream cotton select. You can obtain this from Empress Mills at www.empressmills.co.uk . If this is too creamy in colour for your work then they also supply a wadding called quilters dream which is whiter. The wadding is personal and if you wanted to use a thicker wadding then please don’t let me stop you. But remember the thicker the wadding you will need to adjust the size of the foam board accordingly. All measurements given below are allowing for the wadding that I recommend, the quilters dream.

Preparing your embroidery

Remove the embroidered work from its frame if it was in one and place the mount board in the middle of the work. Cut off any access fabric

Now press the embroidered piece. Press from the back and use a water spray. Make sure all items are water resistant before you do so. Never press your actual stitches. Steam the back of the work and have a lint free soft blanket or a towel underneath, this is so the embroidery stitches can “lift’ as they have something to expand into.

The Start of mounting your work

Cut the wadding, using the pre-cut mount board as a guide. This should be smaller than you finished embroidered piece. There should be about 5cm around the board as a minimum.

Mark the centre lines at the edge of your embroidered piece, top, bottom and sides, using a water soluble pen.

Mounting the Embroidery

Now start putting all the pieces together. Matching the lines up as a guide to make sure your piece is centralised. Do all this with the work facing downwards, again woking on a soft clean service.

Now insert the pins into the mount board. start at the top and as you pin one side do the opposite. Pull the fabrics so there is a little tension. Make sure the grain of the fabric is running correctly. ie parallel to the edge of the board.

When you have four pins in place, top, bottom and the sides. Turn the piece over and check the design is correctly positioned.

Have one final check that there are no threads showing through where you don’t want them to be and the piece of work is int he correct position. If you are using a mount place it over the work to check its all in the correct place.

Now turn the work over to the back and cut off the corners of the wadding as shown, this is to make sure your corners do not become too bulky. Throw away the corners of the wadding.

If you want to glue the wadding to the board this is the time to do it. I never do but I know some of my students do prefer to do so. Make sure that you use as little as glue as possible and it has completely dried before you start lacing the back of the work.

Now pin around all the work, mitring the corners as you go. Pin opposite areas at a time, place about 5 pins on one side then the opposite side. Keep going until the whole board is filled with pins. Check the grain line and the tension frequently as you go along. Work with the embroidery facing downwards.

When mitring the corner fold the main fabric at 45 degrees as shown. Then fold the fabric over and pin the edge holding the fabric in place. You can put an extra pin into the edge if it helps.

When you have finished pinning your piece should look like the picture below.

This is the time to check your design is correctly positioned and the mount board fits correctly.

Now you need to lace the work to hold all the pieces in place. use a curved needle. It is impossible to do with a straight needle. Use strong buttonhole or upholsterers thread.

Start with a secure double stitch at the top middle and sew from left to right using a herringbone stitch. Start with the first stitch taking the needle from right to left then go to the bottom edge, take a small stitch from right to left. Keep going from top to bottom, bottom to top and you create a lacing effect on the back of the work. Use your left hand to hold the threads in place so you create a good tension.

When sewing the corners together use the curved needle, insert it into the fold of the fabric and then take it across to the other side. Work a couple of stitches and then pull tight bringing the edges together. Work right up to the corner and then work back along the same area.

Start from the middle and work from left to right always, rotate the work in order to achieve this direction at the start of each process.

The embroidery is ready for framing. Its been kept taught and supported by the board, the lacing and the wadding underneath ready for your to admire forever.

Embroidering a printed cloth

Sun, 18 Mar 2018 20:59:54 GMT

Bringing life to a flat print with embroidery

A fell in love with an antique piece of cloth in a craft fair and had it printed onto linen. I knew immediately it would make a great piece to embroider. Its wonderful to see a flat print come alive with embroidery stitches. You can feel free to embroider as little or as much as you like. Its great to use stitches like stem, chain and running to outline and then satin to fill in. Feather stitch to create flow with fly stitch to add texture and not forgetting everyone's favourite french knots.

Directory of Stitches

Tue, 30 Jan 2018 17:09:57 GMT

Create a wonderful reference for embroidery

If you are starting out into the embroidery world I think its great to work some stitch samples. Here are two pieces from my collection. It is something that really helps you to understand how thread, fabric and needle all work together to create a pattern and texture.

Find a good embroidery stitch book and work through it. Think about colours before you start and how each stitch works with the one next to it.

If you don’t understand how to carry out the stitch leave it out..come back to it another time.

A Goldwork Bird.

Mon, 29 Jan 2018 18:24:00 GMT

A Goldwork Bird

The pictures show a story of a goldwork bird being designed and embroidered by one of my students and then applied onto a piece of denim that has been painted with fabric paints using a stencil.

The stencilled design using metallic paints onto denim, to create a wonderful background for the goldwork bird.

The bird being embroidered. The body of the bird was padded with felt and then gold leather was applied on top.

Applying gold check and pearl purl.

Detail showing the bird being applied onto the fabric. The wings were made separately using wire and angelina fibres. These were added separately onto the body of the bird after it was applied to the main fabric.

Close up of the finished bird and painted design.

Sequins and beads added to create texture and interest to the painted design.

The finished design mounted ready for framing.

Thank you to Helen for creating this fantastic piece

Story of a Wedding Dress

Mon, 29 Jan 2018 12:04:10 GMT

See how one of my students created a wonderful dress for her
Wedding day

A young lady approached me to help design and teach her embroidery for her wedding dress. The student was getting married in a woodland and wanted the dress to reflect the atmosphere of the natural surroundings. You can see below by the photographs, a beautiful dress unfolding for a special day.

Selecting colours using the design we created and the practise piece of embroidery.

The pattern pieces were used as a template for the design and careful planning of the main motifs took place before commencing the work.

Planning and designing the embroidery on paper, using the pattern bodice pieces as guides.

Embroidery underway on dupion silk. Using a slate frame to keep a good even tension while being embroidered. Ribbon embroidery, beading, sequins, french knots and satin stitch are just a few of the techniques used.

See below more beautiful photgraphs of the finished dress showing the detail of the handembroidery.

All I can say it was an honor to help my student achieve her ideal dress. It really suited the venue and she looked absolutely beautiful on the day.

Embroidered Card for a Special friend

Mon, 13 Nov 2017 19:11:50 GMT

Machine embroidered card for a friend

I really enjoyed making this card for a friend. I have shared some quick notes on how I made it if you would like to have a go at making one for yourself.

Start working out the size of the circle that fits the blank card the finished design will be mounted onto.
Draw onto the fabric the writing you would like to embroider, their name age etc. I machine embroidered the writing using metallic rayon thread on a sewing machine by using free motion embroidery.

I added some dye cut flower motifs to the centre of the design. These were made from painted tyvek fabric. Please read my future blogs to find out how this is done. Use Liberty cottons if you haven't got time or not sure how to make tyvek fabrics. Cut the finished size required. A pen line is then drawn 5mm inside from the outer edge. Stitch the fabric using a sewing machine using straight stitch onto a piece of card.

Then sew the outer edge. Use closed zig-zag stitch and go around the circle very carefully going over the fabric edge.
Cut off any excess card.

Glue the finished piece onto a blank card of your choice. Be careful that no excess glue comes out of the edges.
Well done and enjoy seeing your friends face when he or she realises that you have gone to considerable effort to make a wonderful personalised card.