Embroidery How To with the Kitschy Stitcher
Hey everyone! Thanks for joining me today for this fun embroidery tutorial! I am SO excited to be a guest contributor on Sew What Alicia. My name is Sara, and I make & sell hand embroidered goods over on Etsy. I also now sell embroidery patterns! I’m hoping to release my first ever Embroidery Kit soon as well. You can find me on Instagram too where I post Live tutorials every Tuesday, as well as post colorful embroidery photos every day!
Embroidery How To with the Kitschy Stitcher
Now, onto the reason why I’m here! Today I will be guiding you through my “Let’s Flamingle” hand embroidery pattern, step by step from how I transfer my patterns onto fabric, to how I back my hoops once they’re finished. Here is an embroidery how to for this flamingo pattern.
This design has 6 embroidery stitch techniques:
-Backstitch
-Layered Backstitch/Brick Stitch
-Wagon Wheel/Woven Rose
-Leaf/Fishbone Stitch
-French Knot
-Padded Satin Stitch
Let’s get started!
How to Transfer the Embroidery Pattern
*You can scale the attached pattern to any size you need* Personally, I make my patterns using Photoshop, then print it onto regular computer paper, then use a lightbox to trace my printed pattern onto my fabric with mechanical pencil. ( I secure my fabric into the hoop first and stretch it tight! ) In order for the pattern to be flush against the fabric & easy to trace, I trace the pattern on with the hoop facing the wrong way, then after the pattern is drawn on, I take the fabric back out and flip it the right way around, then re-secure the fabric into the hoop. Any window will do the trick if you don’t have a lightbox! You can also use a water-soluble transfer pen- found at the craft store. One last option is to print the pattern onto iron-on paper, and iron the pattern onto your fabric.
*If the pencil looks smudged on the fabric, that’s because I darkened the pencil markings on my computer after I took these photos, so that you all can clearly see the pattern on the fabric! The great thing about mechanical pencil is it leaves minimal mess because the lines are so thin! Your thread will always cover the markings.
*Also, I typically use Kona Cotton or Linen fabrics!
What do you need to do embroidery?
Here are the colors you’ll be using (all DMC thread):
#959- text
#893-Flamingo/Biggest Flower
#891-Flamingo
#894-Flamingo
#3713-Flamingo
#783-Flamingo legs/beak & Flowers
#581-Leaves
#964-Blue berries
Woven Roses: #891, #3713, #964, #893 (yellow #728 for the French knots in the centers)
Plus check out these hand embroidery tools for all the other supplies you might need.
How do you do embroidery by hand?
Thread your needle and knot the end of your thread.
We start with the Backstitch! 3 strands
The photos are pretty self-explanatory, right? I do 90% of my designs with Backstitch! It’s the best. You just bring your needle up one stitch ahead each time until you have a whole row of connecting stitches.
How do I do a layered backstitch?
Next up: the Layered Backstitch, or Brick Stitch! 3 strands
This is used on the flamingo’s legs, and the cursive lettering. I’ll show you on the first letter in Flamingle! Sew the first outline of the letter in a straight backstitch, then fill in the rest of the letter by offsetting your lines of straight stitches, like how bricks are laid out. See why it’s called Brick Stitch? 😉 {Note the photos!} Follow the pattern’s lines with more backstitches until the thickness of your letter is filled in.
Now I’ll show you the difference between the regular Backstitch and this Layered Backstitch:
How do I embroider a flower?
This next one is a FUN one! The 3d, woven rose that literally pops off your fabric! The wagon wheel/spider wheel/woven rose. 3 strands. Unlike regular embroidery techniques where you bring the needle up and down through your fabric, this flower is done by weaving your thread around wagon wheel “spoke” stitches, around and around on the surface of the fabric, until your circle flower shape is filled in. Let me show you!
Make sense? So you make 5 (or any odd number of stitches) regular stitches spaced evenly apart, then weave your thread over and under, over and under again and again until your rose is complete. You can make the center with dark thread then switch to light thread for the outer weavings for a fun look, too! I love this one.
How do you do a fishbone stitch?
Next we have the leaf, or fishbone stitch! 3 strands
This one is done by make a series of stitches that all originate from a center “line” of the leaf, like so:
How do I Embroider a French Knot!
French Knot! 3 strands
Don’t let this one scare you; it gets a bad wrap but it’s so easy once you do it a few times! I filled the woven roses with these knots. All you gotta do is bring the needle/thread up where you want your first knot to be, then hold the needle in one hand, and wrap the thread around your needle-wrapping towards you-3 times with your other hand.
Keeping your wrapped thread around the needle tight, put the needle back down right next to where you came up. Then slide those wrapped threads all the way down the needle until they are touching the fabric.
Then pull the needle through the fabric, while still holding onto your wrapped threads with your non-needle hand! Carefully pull that thread through once your needle is through, and you can let go of the wrapped threads when almost all of your thread is pulled through the fabric. Then watch a little knot appear right before your eyes! It gets easier with practice I promise!
You can fill your flowers with as many knots as you want until they look good!
What is a padded satin stitch?
Padded Satin Stitch! 3 strands
The regular satin stitch is filling in an area with long stitches that are right next to each other. It takes a long time to fill in spaces like this so I rarely use it. But for small things like these little yellow flowers it’s just the ticket! So a padded satin stitch is first sewing many random little stitches in the area you want filled in, then going over those stitches with long satin stitches. This gives it a slightly raised look.
Just make sure you’re bringing up your needle across from, not next to your previous satin stitch. This eliminates the little gaps between stitches, making a cleaner satin stitch with the threads right next to each other.
How do I add more color to my embroidery?
This might be the most fun part of the whole thing. Filling in your design with watercolor pencils! I get mine from Hobby Lobby, but you can really get them at any craft store using their generic brand.
You can use them wet or dry! Using them wet will make more of a dark, painted look, and using them dry makes a pastel look. It’s fun to play around with! If you want to use them wet, I suggest dabbing the pencil onto a wet sponge rather than dipping directly into a cup of water. This prevents the colors from bleeding. *I’ve never washed any of the pieces I used the pencils on so I don’t know how they would hold up on clothing! My guess is all the colors would bleed since water activates the color*
I colored in all of this piece with dry pencils.
I mean look at the difference that pop of color makes (not to mention all the time saved from coloring in instead of stitching!)
How do I finish the back of the hoop in hand embroidery?
To finish, trim your fabric down to the same thickness as the hoop (or a little thinner), then brush on Tacky Glue to the fabric and glue it to the hoop.
Next use a circle cutter (optional) to cut some cute scrapbook paper to the size of your hoop, to glue to the back. (I like to stamp the paper with my logo too.) Then brush on the Tacky Glue to the hoop edge and secure the paper to the back.
Now that the fabric has been glued to the inner hoop, it’s ready for the paper!
Tah-dah!!!
Now pat yourself on the back for a job well done and hang this up in your home (or gift to a friend)! You can hang hoops from a bulbed sewing pin or ribbon through the screw area because they weigh almost nothing!
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and don’t forget to come follow along over on Instagram! And check out my other patterns in my Etsy shop! *If you live in the Phoenix area, I also teach workshops occasionally* Thank you!!!
If you love embroidery check out all of these great pattern posts as well.
Animal Embroidery Patterns // Hand Embroidery Patterns // Floral Embroidery Patterns
Do you have questions from this embroidery how to? Share with me in the comments below.
Jan Williams says
Thanks for such clear instructions. Love the pattern, and use of colored pencils!