We have another fabulous Guest Designer with us this weekend.
Here is the amazing project that she put together for us.
A Touch of Embroidery
Fabric, ribbon and stitching are popular elements in paper crafting and add beautiful dimension to your cards and scrapbook layouts. But why spend money on pre-made embellishments when you can add charm with handcrafted sweetness? I created a simple card featuring a couple of basic embroidery stitches you can learn with ease. Let’s get started:
I stamped the image with my favorite ink, Memento
Tuxedo Black and then colored in the image. You can see the main colors of Copics I used in the photo above and I used additional markers for shading.
Be sure to use a cardstock that isn’t too heavy – this will make the stitching a little easier.
I then laid out my card and adhered the DP to the card front. Set this aside.
Now let’s start stitching! We are going to add 2 flowers using the lazy daisy stitch and a backstitch. Here are a couple of “official” diagrams of the stitches:
Start by threading your needle with two strands of embroidery floss and bring the needle from the back of the cardstock to the front. Put the needle back into the hole you just made and pull but leave a small loop sticking out of the card front.
Make a 2nd hole from the back, to the front, bringing the needle through the loop. Then put the needle back through the hole you just made and pull snug but not too tight or your loop will flatten out and not look like a petal.
Now continue to create petals, starting each stitch in the center hole and then securing each petal at the outer edge of the petal. 5 petals makes a great number for a well spaced flower. And the petals don’t have to be perfect! The little variances make for more realistic and whimsical flowers.
To start your stem, thread your needle with 2 strands and bring your needle from the back of the card to the front just a little ways away from the flower’s center. Then “back stitch” by putting your needle back into the cardstock closer to the flower’s center. The next stitch starts a little space away from the first and then you back stitch to meet the first stitch, and so on – see the photo for a sample of these stitches
Make as many flowers as you would like and then finish up your card.
I chose to keep it simple, cutting the image with a
Nestabilities die, and sponging a little light yellow ink and a light tan distressing ink around the image before adding it to the card front on foam tape for dimension. The ink toned down the “whiteness” of the cardstock and created a look that matched the DP better. A loop of ribbon tied with a section of embroidery floss finishes the
embellishing of this springy card.
I hope you’ll try your hand at hand stitching on your next project!
The DCRU Team hopes that you try it too!
Mary thank you for a wonderful tutorial.
After you pop over to Mary's blog and leave her some LOVE why don't you move on over to our new address:
A Crafty Little Place? Take a peek around and sign up to follow.
SMiLES!
GWeN
