Create It Samantha Blog: Embroidery Hoop Art

Monday, 27 June 2016

Embroidery Hoop Art

Adding More Vintage Charm to Your Embroidery Hoops

Hello,

So earlier on in the Spring I hosted a blogger meet with the Krafty Kat and the girls Sew Essential. In the afternoon we made embroidery hoop art using templates, linen fabrics and stitched with gorgeous fabrics from the Sew Essential shop.

That was a few months ago and I've been hooked on the hoops every since. This post is how I add more than just embroidery into my embroidery hoops and some basics tips to get you started...it's addictive and perfect to pop in your bag for crafting on the go!

For this project, I started with a wooden embroidery hoop with a gold fastening and square piece of plain linen fabric about 5 to 7.5cm (2-3in) larger than my hoop.

Firstly, put your hoop on your fabric and work out where you want your template. Prym do some fab plastic templates which you can trace around with a fabric pencil or felt tip. I always move my hoop around my fabric when stitching to a natural position where I can hold it. When you put your fabric in the hoop pull your fabric in your hoop tight as poss, a little bit like a drum so you don't end up with baggy stitching on your final piece.

I started with a basic back stitch using just two threads of embroidery thread. I love to use a gold eye needle for all my work as it means that you get less fluff on your fabric off the embroidery threads. I cut a piece of thread about the length of a small ruler and divide the six strands down to just two.

Once you have stitched around the edge start 'colouring in' the middle again using two strands of embroidery thread and using a long and short stitch on a 45 degree angel. This may take a few hours, but it's perfect if you are on a train on whilst a baby is sleeping or if you just want to out your feet up on a rainy day!

I have to admit about half way through my stitching, I like to have a break and think of how I can add more to my final piece. It's a nice break. I've started to layout out everything, like EVERYTHING! I want to use and then start to pull out the fabrics or trims that would look great.

I then narrow down what I want and start to cut the fabrics and the trims up to add to my embroidery.

When I've stitched up my letter, I can then start to stitch on my fabrics and bows. This is the fun part, I recommend the more is less option and layer up the trims little by little.

I started with the sheer fabrics as a base to build on and then added the pearls and beads.

Throughout the project I used a variety of small and large hoops for my work and swapped between the tow. It just made it quicker to stitch. I love the colours and textures you can create.