Embroidery to match your fabric...

I can't draw to save my life. & here comes the but; the very big BUT!

I can color & I can trace!

& I can embroider.

So, what do I do when I want an embroidery pattern to match the fabric I am working with? Do I search through my stash of patterns, books, quotes, photos, & other random bits of ephemera? Sometimes, but usually I create a pattern from the fabric. Using the fabric as the base for my embroidery pattern ensures that it will match!

Step 1. Scan the fabric & save it. I save it to my Dropbox account so that I can have it wherever I go. Especially if I'm blogging on the go. Or need a new pattern while at a friend's house for tea.


Ghastlies Witch under embroidery transformation

Step 2. Print out the scanned image to the size you want, then trace the image onto your fabric. I taped the bleached cotton muslin fabric & paper to the window & used natural light. I almost always use regular pencil to trace patterns.

Step 3. Start embroidering. I mainly used an outline stitch with 3 strands of floss. The hair & face I used 2 strands & a modified back stitch. The DNC floss is a dark gray that looks like pencil (I don't recall the number). I used a rather old 6" spring hoop & what ever needle I had laying around.

Ghastlies Witch transformed

Step 4. Give it to your amazing mother to make it into whatever you or she wants! LOL! For me, this is true because I cannot sew. I'll have to take a class one of these days! Mom made it in to a tea cozy.

Embroidered front of completed tea cozy

fabric back of completed tea cozy

If you like the fabric, it is a series called The Ghastlies by Alexander Henry Fabrics. You can buy it a bunch of places, but I like Hawthorn Threads.