Hand Sewing: Embroidered Picture / Collage

Materials required:

Woven fabric

Sewing thread (to secure edges of fabric)

Sewing needle (large eye and sharp point)

Embroidery thread (to embroider on fabric)

Ribbon (optional)

Scissors

Pen/pencil (to mark outline of shapes)

Uses:

A decorative centrepiece, or framed as a picture, or to be used as the image in a greetings card.

Note:

You may choose to include pieces of fabric in order to make a collage — raw edges can be used to give texture; the work could include beads and different types of paper (tissue paper, crepe paper, newspaper, printed paper kitchen towels etc.) to create a mixed-media piece.

Instructions:

Cut a piece of fabric at least 10 cm by 10 cm (4 inches by 4 inches).

Select design you wish to embroider, or design your own!

Choose colours you would like to include, e.g. greens for foliage; browns for trees; red, pink, purple, white for flowers, blue and white for water; yellow for corn.

You may wish to include some or all of the following stitches in your design:

Chain stitch
Couching
French knots
Herringbone stitch
Satin stitch
Stem stitch

You will need split the six-stranded embroidery thread into two or three strands in order to do the embroidery.

French knots can look particularly effective if you mix several different colours together at the same time. I did this with the tree/shrub in the final picture: for the leaves in French knots and chain stitch for the bark of the tree. Blossom could be suggested by mixing red, pink and white for a few French knots. Different shades of mauve and purple could be used in the lavender flowers (French knots again).

Of course, you may include other stitches if you wish!

You will have used blanket stitch and running stitch earlier in the course.

There are some embroidery stitches described here:

https://www.dmc.com/uk/p-embroidery-stitch-guide.html

https://cutesycrafts.com/embroidery-stitches

https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/stitches-every-embroiderer-should-know-4122123

You could include fly stitch (an open form of a single chain stitch) to suggest a bird in the sky.

Here are some images for inspiration. Your embroidery can be as detailed as you wish — but don't try to do so much that you feel that you might never finish it! This project should be fun so you can use your imagination and creativity. Enjoy!