Summer Creative Retreat: Pumpkin Embroidery on Watercolor

The second project I completed during Summer Creative Retreat was this embroidered pumpkin. 

I made it during a workshop called "Embroidery on Watercolor" which was taught by Jessica Mack of Brown Paper Bunny Studios. 

As you can see on the graphic, Jessica taught us how to make different kinds of flowers. I went my own direction and made a pumpkin, which is the official state fruit of New Hampshire. She used a loop start to begin her embroidery, which is something I've never done before. I love taking classes, not only for the inspiration but for those little tips that I otherwise wouldn't have known. Affiliate links below. 

Pumpkin Embroidery on Watercolor

Materials:

• watercolor paper (300 series is best for embroidery)
• watercolors
• paper piercer
• embroidery floss

Steps: 

Cut your watercolor paper down to the desired size. Mine is 5" square. Add multiple bands of color to the paper. I used green, yellow, and orange and blended them a bit. 

When the paint is dry, use a pencil to draw the design you want as lightly as possible. Poke holes along the pencil lines (always poking from the front) with the paper piercer. Then use embroidery floss to backstitch the design. 

Then fill in the pumpkin and stem with watercolor. 

This is a fun and easy project that can easily be adapted to practically any design. It's a great way to introduce kids to embroidery. Give it a try!

Fabric Applique Wall Hanging

After making the stuffed cross ornament, I tried another idea using the same fabric. This basic applique project is a great introduction to hand sewing and makes a cute wall hanging. Obviously, you can use a cut-out design from any fabric; it doesn't need to be a cross. The link in the materials list goes to some adorable forest animals. Affiliate links below. 

Fabric Applique Wall Hanging

Materials: 

• applique fabric
• iron-on interfacing
• fabric scissors
• background fabric
• embroidery hoop
• embroidery floss
• needle
• craft glue

Steps: 

Cut out the image you're going to applique, leaving a 1/2" border around the edges. Fuse the interfacing to the fabric, then cut out the image precisely. Cut the background fabric about 2" larger than the diameter of the embroidery hoop. Put the background fabric into the hoop, then position the applique piece where you want it. 

Cut a length of embroidery floss in a matching or contrasting color. Choose a hand stitch for your project. I debated blanket stitch but decided to go for the simpler whip stitch. Sew all the way around your shape. 

If your applique is not perfectly centered in the hoop, loosen the embroidery hoop slightly to adjust the background fabric until it looks good. Tighten the hoop, then trim the excess background fabric, leaving 1/4". Glue that to the back of the hoop. 

State Flag Embroidery for Kids

Back in my teaching days, I always did at least one (and usually) two stitching projects with my fifth grade students. In December, we sewed felt stockings. Later in the year, we made colonial samplers or a similar project that supported what we were studying in history. 

The vast majority of my students had absolutely no needlework experience. There was always some frustration with threading needles, dealing with tangles, and accidentally pulling the thread out of the needle two seconds after finally getting the darn thing threaded, but overall, almost everyone enjoyed learning how to sew by hand. I had to establish a lot of ground rules regarding needle use and safety, but in 11 years, I literally never had to take a needle away from anyone for using it inappropriately. And nobody ever lost a needle. A few were dropped, but when that happened everyone did exactly what I'd told them to do: freeze until the person who dropped it has picked it back up. (Or else. See: Miss Jones means what she says.)

As a teacher, it can be really hard to squeeze in projects like these. The schedule is already packed with curricula you have to cover - a year's worth of material in Math, English/Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, PE, Music, and whatever else your state or district may require. When you add in the extra effort (and money) it takes to get 32 sets of supplies and then deal with safety protocols before you even teach the skill... well, it can be daunting. But projects like these are SO important for so many reasons. 

With all that said, today's project is for you teachers (and homeschool moms) out there. Specifically, I'm thinking of those of you in Alabama and New Mexico, because your state flags make fantastic beginning embroidery projects. Affiliate links below. 

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State Flag Embroidery for Kids

Materials:

• felt (yellow for New Mexico, white for Alabama)
• scissors
• ultra-fine red Sharpie
• red embroidery floss
• large-eye needle

Steps: 

Cut felt into 3x5" squares. I photographed the threaded needle on the fabric to remind myself to tell you to use all 6 strands of the floss. That's why the large-eye needles are important. 

Use a ruler and a Sharpie to draw the design you'll be stitching. It's just corner-to-corner for Alabama; for New Mexico, it's a set of 16 lines. You can pre-draw these for students, or better yet, lead them through a lesson that reinforces measuring skills and/or geometry terms. 

Once you've drawn your guidelines, start stitching! I recommend kids start with no more than 18" of floss or there will be major tangles. Teach them not to knot (ha!) the needle; the only knot should be at the end of the floss. Use backstitch for New Mexico and satin stitch (equidistant across the diagonal lines) for Alabama. 

This is a case of "do as I say and not as I do" because I actually made my sample with a couching stitch. It started out fine...

... but it was extremely difficult to keep the main thread straight. About halfway through, I'd wished I'd just drawn the lines with the Sharpie. 

The Alabama flag takes a lot more floss than New Mexico; plan on 4 kids sharing a skein if you make your stripes narrow like I did. If you make the stripes more true to size, you'll need a lot more floss.  

You can hang your finished flags vertically to make a cool classroom banner, or attach them to dowels and flag bases, then display them on students' desks.  

It would be so neat to see a classroom full of these!

Stuffed Felt Bunny (Bunny Week 2020, Day 3)

The inspiration for today's Bunny Week project came from this Bucilla Easter Egg Felt Applique Wreath Kit (affiliate link here and below). It came in the BORC I received in February. Felt applique is new to me and I've really enjoyed it. I hope this easy stuffed bunny project inspires you to give felt applique a try!

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Stuffed Felt Bunny

Materials:

• mottled grey felt
• embroidery floss (grey, pink, white, black)
• sequins (black, pink)
• white pom pom
• Poly-Fil

Steps:

Cut two identical egg-shaped pieces of felt for the rabbit's body. Set one piece aside. Using a single strand of embroidery floss, sew two black sequins and one pink sequin to the pointy end to make a face. Sew the pom pom to the rounded end. Add white whiskers to the face by tying a knot at the end of the floss, sewing up through the cheek area, then cutting the floss. Repeat the process to make three whiskers on each side. They aren't secure now and can be pulled out from the bottom, but they will be trapped in place once you stuff and sew the bunny. 

Cut two matching ears from the felt scraps. Use pink embroidery floss to stitch the inner ears. This is what the backsides of all the stitched pieces will look like:

Applique the ears to the body. 

This is the completed front:

Sew the back piece to the front, leaving a gap for stuffing. Leave the needle and thread attached. Add  Poly-fil, then finish sewing the two layers together.  

Here's the finished bunny. 

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This body position is known as a meatloaf and is a favorite of happy, relaxed buns. They tuck all four feet beneath, relax their ears, and snuggle down, often for a brief snooze. Here's Trouble, demonstrating the meatloaf position. Mostly. That ear is listening to me. 

It's very difficult to photograph a bunny in a proper meatloaf, because as soon as you get close enough to take a picture, an ear starts following you. Or, both ears. If you persist, an eye will crack open to glare at you. Sorry, Trouble. 

 I know, I know... those darn diurnal family members won't let you get a decent day's sleep. 

My Version of the Stitched Bucilla Camper

Recently, the Plaid Ambassadors received something exciting in the mail. We're calling it a BORC (pronounced bork), which stands for 'Box of Random Challenge.' Each ambassador's BORC was specially curated to contain Plaid items that the recipient doesn't normally use, with the goal of challenging us to see what we can create. My box held all sorts of interesting items, including this camper-themed Bucilla embroidery kit (affiliate link here and throughout the post). 

I didn't want to just complete the kit as is. In the spirit of the BORC, I used Fabric Creations fabric inks for the first time. I used brush to paint the inks onto the unstitched canvas, let it dry, and was delighted to find that the inks covered perfectly in a single coat and the fabric remained soft and flexible. 

On to the stitching! Because the design is printed on the canvas, I opted not to use the directions to determine which stitch to use where and instead did whatever stitch I felt like using. 

I did my stitching in the evening. Thank goodness for my Brightech lamp! It makes stitching so much easier, not to mention the fact that I can thread a needle in a single attempt when I use the magnifying lamp. It's almost like being young again, LOL!

The kit comes with a wood frame, but again, I didn't want to just use it as is. I dug around through my ever-increasing stash of Plaid products and found Folk Art Transparent Soft Gel Paint in sepia. I used a cotton ball to rub the gel into the wood, then let it dry before framing my stitching. Here is my completed project:

And for comparison, here is the picture on the front of the package next to what I made. 

I had a lot of fun with this quick and easy project. I particularly love that it gave me the chance to try two types of colorants that were totally new to me. I'm looking forward to my next BORC project!