Heart embroidery sampler, for learning and practice

The ancient Greeks acknowledged several types of love, from romantic to friendship, familial and self-love – something to think about while stitching a heart-shaped embroidery sampler.

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Incorporating more than 20 different surface embroidery stitches, Heart Sampler is designed for learning new stitches and practising those you already know – have you embroidered pinwheels before? It shows you how to switch colours halfway through a row, which is handy to know. And it stitches up quickly, making it a good weekend embroidery project.

The pattern includes a mini hoop design, using Dandelyne’s 55mm (2.2”) necklace kit. And while the sampler is embroidered in fresh, cool colours, the mini hoop design is stitched in warmer reds and pinks, giving you a sense of how the larger design might look if you choose to go that route with your thread colours.

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There are also some printables included with the pattern – a greeting card, three gift tags and a pillow gift box that fits the mini hoop necklace – in two different colourways, so you can use them any time of year.

Heart Sampler is available as a digital PDF pattern that can be downloaded instantly from my Etsy shop. It’s also available as a bundle with 120 Embroidery Stitches, if you’re a beginner or unfamiliar with the variety of stitches used in this style of embroidery.

Note: Bluprint is making changes and as a result, I’m not able to upload any new patterns to my Bluprint shop for now.

Herbarium, pressed flowers embroidered

Last year it was terrariums, this year it’s herbariums.

I’ve not pressed flowers since I was child, when I did so with my gran using flowers from her farm garden. So it was a bit of a trip down memory lane creating the herbariums – embroidered and floral – for this pattern.

Embroidery stitches are especially well suited to nature, with many that effortlessly mimic flowers, leaves and stems. And so Herbarium came together quite organically, starting with the fishbone leaves that are so pleasurable to stitch. Fly stitch leaves are another favourite and so there are a few of those in there, and then some textural stitches to add dimension.

Herbariums are typically framed and so this one went into a hoop to create some hoop art. It’s an uncomplicated pattern with a feeling of lightness and ease of stitching about it, which you’ll easily finish in a day or two.

Herbarium is available as an instant download, PDF pattern from my Etsy shop.

Note: Craftsy is making changes and as a result, I’m not able to upload any new patterns to my Craftsy shop for now.

Yule Trees: Christmas embroidery + stitched cards

My second festive design for this year uses patterning to create a fresh, almost minimalist Christmas embroidery pattern and includes two printable embroidered greeting cards.

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The design is easy to embroider, it uses a number of different embroidery stitches arranged to create repeat patterns. And you can easily change the thread colours to embroider the trees in blues, greys, different shades of green… whatever colours you fancy.

The pattern includes two printable Christmas cards, with step-by-step photo instructions on how to embroider them. Stitching on paper is quick and fun, and can be done with kids as a holiday activity. Try out different threads and personalise your cards with additional embellishments. You can adjust the size of the cards as well, to suit your needs.

Yule Trees is available as an instant download, PDF pattern from my Etsy and Craftsy shops.

Embroidery Basics: Finishing off + project ideas

This is the sixth and final part of a six-part series on the basics of creative surface embroidery, for beginners and those looking to refresh their hand embroidery skills and knowledge.

Your embroidery is done, now what? If you had a finished product in mind, you’ll need to prep your embroidery for the next phase of that project, whether it’s sewing, framing or some other creative idea. If not, you might want to just leave it in the hoop as hoop art. Either way, you’ll want a piece of smooth embroidered fabric to work with.

Ironing your embroidery

Fortunately, you can iron this style of embroidery with the help of a plush towel. Mollie Johanson explains step by step how to iron your finished hand embroidery on The Spruce Crafts. And that’s it.

Framing your embroidery

If you plan to frame your work, you’ll need to mount or stretch it on to board first. This can be done by some professional framers, or you can do it yourself using foam board.

• Trish Burr has a quick and easy method of mounting embroidery on to foam board using double-sided tape.

• Amanda from Wandering Threads Embroidery shows you how to mount your embroidery on to foam board using the lacing method.

• And Tanja Berlin of Berlin Embroidery Designs has a detailed tutorial on how to mount your embroidery for framing in a store-bought frame, with a PDF download of the tutorial for you to print and keep.

How to make hoop art

Another popular way to display finished work is to frame your embroidery in the hoop. Back it with a piece of felt for a professional finish. Jessica from Cutesy Crafts shows you how:

Sewing project ideas

Obviously, you can embroider pretty much anything you can sew. Plus a bunch of other stuff.

• Mollie Johanson explains how to embroider on T-shirts and other clothing made from stretch fabric. She’s also written about how to embellish your jeans with embroidery.

• Jessica Long from Namaste Embroidery shows you how to turn your hand embroidery into a patch.

• There are lots of ideas for embroidered home décor in my book, Embroidered Home. Think cushions, tote bags, pouches, napkins, tea towels, wall art, notebooks, tablet cases, quilts, pillowcases, placemats...

A popular item to embroider is tea towels, but the trick is knowing how to start and end your threads neatly as the back of your work will be visible. The same goes for fabric napkins. Sarah Homfray shows you how to start and end threads from the front of your fabric, keeping the visible back of your tea towel or napkin neat and tidy:

There’s some good advice on how to care for your embroidery – when washing and ironing the finished work, as well as while stitching – in Embroidery Tips, Tricks & Techniques, including an extreme solution if your thread colour runs into your fabric and you just can’t get it out!

SALE : 25% off all embroidery patterns and ebooks for four days

It’s annual sale time… everything in my Etsy shop is less 25% for four days from Black Friday on 23 November to Cyber Monday on 26 November.

Each item will be shown at the sale price, so you just shop as usual. This includes pattern and ebook bundles, so you're effectively getting 25% off already reduced bundle prices as well.

The sale runs for four days to give all of you around the world plenty of time to browse and shop, whatever your time zone. It's a good way to stock up on patterns for some holiday stitching or get any items you may have had your eye on at a lower price.

That’s it. Happy shopping!