for buying an from little dear! Hand embroidery is fun, relaxing and Thankeasy you to learn. If you’ve never stitched before, here are a few tips to help you get started! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Transfer Your Pattern: There are a few different ways you can transfer your pattern to fabric. Here are four methods, you can pick the one that will work best for you. Before you print your pattern out, you can resize it to whatever size you need. * Light table/sunny window: Tape the pattern to a light table or up on a sunny window, and your fabric over that, trace the lines with a fabric pen. I use this way the most because I can remove all pattern lines from the pen when I’m done stitching. This technique works best for light weight, light colored fabrics. * Make an Iron-on: This is a fun little trick, but the results can vary a lot depending on your printer, ink and paper, so be sure to test it on a scrap first to be sure it transfers correctly. Print out your pattern on a laser printer or make a photocopy. (Ink jet will not work.) Be sure to reverse the image before printing if you don’t want it to be backwards. Place the print face down on your fabric and iron it on. * Tissue paper: Trace your pattern onto tissue paper or lightweight , that onto your fabric and through the paper and fabric together. When you’re done, carefully tear away the paper. This method works best for heavy weight fabrics like felt, or dark colored fabrics. * Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy: You can purchase this amazing stuff at craft stores or online. This is a great method for really detailed patterns that you don’t want to hand trace. You can print out your pattern directly onto a sheet of Solvy, position and stick it onto your fabric and stitch through both. When you’re done, the Solvy melts away in water. your Supplies: You will need some fabric (I most often use cotton/muslin or linen,) an embroidery needle (a pack of various sizes is a good place to start,) an , floss and .

Before you begin, be sure your fabric is tightly secured on a hoop. You’ll see that there are two parts of the hoop, a top and a bottom piece that fit together. The metal screw at the top tightens the top hoop and holds your fabric in place. Position the fabric over the bottom hoop, place the top hoop over it, then alternately tighten the screw and gently pull out on the edges of the fabric until you have a tight surface to work on. a piece of floss about 15 inches (35 cm) long. Look closely at the floss and you’ll see that it is made up of 6 threads twisted together. Gently separate the number of the threads you need and pull them apart from the rest. I usually start with 3 threads for most line work. You can use 2 or even 1 for small details, and 4-6 threads for thick lines or Satin Stitches.

Thread your needle, tie a knot in one end and pull it up through the fabric from the back. Now you’re ready to start stitching! Embroidery Stitches: You can use any stitches you like on your pattern, but here are a few I use a lot.

Straight/ The is the most Split Stitch The Split Stitch is used as a bold Running Stitch basic embroidery stitch. Come outline. Make a small stitch from A B up through the fabric at A and C A to B, then bring your needle up back down again at B. Straight at C, splitting the stitch in two. stitches can be stitched Make another small stitch and individually, to form shapes or continue down the line. patterns, or in a line. A line of C A B Straight Stitches is called a Running Stitch. Back Stitch The Back Stitch is third stitch for linework. Make a stitch in the Stem Stitch The Stem Stitch is another opposite direction, from A to B. outlining stitch. Make a stitch Bring your needle back up at C, from A to B, leaving the floss a B A just ahead of the first stitch and little loose. Bring your needle ending at A. Repeat to make each up at C, in between A and B, C new stitch meet the end of the B just to one side. Pull the floss A previous stitch. C tight and continue the line of stitches.

Lazy Daisy The Lazy Daisy is perfect for tiny flower petals or leaf shapes. Bring the needle through the fabric at A and back down in the same spot, French Knot French Knots can be tricky at but instead of pulling the floss all first but are well worth the effort the way through, leave a small to learn . Bring your needle and C B loop. Make a small stitch over the floss through the fabric at A, end of the loop from B to C, then wrap the floss around the A securing it to the fabric. A tip of the needle as shown. Twice around is good, more if you want a larger knot. Put the needle back into the fabric at B, The Satin Stitch is a way to fill in right next to A and pull the floss a small area with solid color. tightly close to the fabric Make a Straight Stitch from A to B. Make another Straight Stitch right as you pull the needle through, C D B next to it from C to D. Continue A securing the knot to the fabric. A B back and forth across the area you want to cover.

Want even more stitches? Please visit my blog: www.littledeartracks.blogspot.com for many more embroidery stitches, tips and tutorials! Floss Colors: Here is a list of DMC floss colors I use most often in my patterns. If your pattern didn’t come with a specific color guide and you’re looking for the colors I used, you can find them on this list. Of course, you can use any colors you like on your pattern! I love to see you get creative with color.

Please visit my blog: www.littledeartracks.blogspot.com, for lots more embroidery fun! You’ll find: *Tutorials for Crayon Color Tinting, Painting with Thread and more stitch instructions *FREE embroidery patterns and craft projects (check the left side link list) *little dear shop updates! *special blog posts for many little dear patterns that include tips, stitches used and more useful details (check etsy listings for the links to these posts.) Look for my Doodle Stitching books in bookstores or online, they contain many more original patterns and craft projects, embroidery stitches, tutorials and much more!

My embroidery pattern PDFs also make great coloring pages! Get out your colored pencils, you can print and color them as many times as you like.

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Have fun and come back soon to visit www.littledear.etsy.com, I’m always listing fun new things!

My patterns are for personal use only, if you are interested in joining my licensing program which will allow you to sell the things you make, please email me for details! [email protected] all artwork © 2018 aimee ray, www.aimeeray.com