Pen to Thread: 750+ Hand-Drawn Embroidery Designs to Inspire Your Stitches!

162 Pages·2015·76.75 MB·English

by  Sarah Watson

G
N 750+
WI
E
S
/ HAND-DRAWN
S
T EMBROIDERY
F
A DESIGNS TO INSPIRE
R
C YOUR STITCHES
P
E
Picture-perfect N

t
o
embroidery projects! T
H
R
E
Looking to add some inspiration to your embroidery? A
Look to Pen to Th read! Illustrator and fabric designer D
Sarah Watson has hand drawn more than 750
whimsical, imaginative motifs in one place—sheer
delight for anyone who wields a needle!
From everyday objects such as birdcages and
backpacks to sophisticated poodles, playful
mermaids, and punchy piñatas, each pattern is more
charming than the next. Sarah has also included
embroidery and stitching basics in case you’re new
to this fun and addictive hobby. She off ers tips on
choosing color as well as a CD containing individual
PDFs of all motifs and alphabets for easy resizing.
Any motif can be made distinctly yours with Sarah’s
eeaasy-to-follow instructions. Your fi nished projects
wwiill make perfect gifts—but you won’t want to give
tthhem away.
WWith pattern chapters such as School Days, In the
KKiitchen, Th e Great Outdoors, and By the Sea, there’s
W
nnoo limit to where Pen to Th read can take you!
A
T
S
O
N
C
P
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Sarah Watson is the
popular fabric designer for US $26.99
Cloud 9 Fabrics with thousands 15SW02 (CAN $29.99)
of yards of her fabric prints on IISSBBNN--1103:: 19-7682-013-36-2905323--8952-7
the market today. See her work 52699
at sarahwatsonillustration.com.
N
EA SA RA H WATS O N
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750+
HAND-DRAWN
EMBROIDERY
DESIGNS TO INSPIRE
YOUR STITCHES

SA RA H WATS O N
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Contents
INTRODUCTION CREATIVE IDEAS
4 34
CHOOSING COLORS
GETTING STARTED: 34
6
THE ESSENTIALS WHERE TO START
36
THREADS
7
THE PATTERNS
42
F ABRIC: A WORLD
10 OF OPTIONS 44 M ADE IN
THE USA
E MBROIDERER’S
16 FOOD
TOOLBOX 52
CRAFT ROOM
58
TRANSFER
18
TECHNIQUES 66 TOOLS OF
THE TRADE
& SUPPLIES
SCHOOL DAYS
72
E MBROIDERY IN THE KITCHEN
22 80
BASICS
IN THE GARDEN
84
22 SETTING UP 90 AROUND THE HOUSE
S TARTING & ENDING FUN!
23 96
YOUR THREAD
THE GREAT
102
OUTDOORS
25 BASIC STITCHES 108 BY THE SEA
RUNNING STITCH ANIMALS
25 114
BACKSTITCH PLANTS
26 122
SATIN STITCH FRAMES
27 128
& BORDERS
SPLIT STITCH
28 FRENCH KNOT 140 ALPHABETS
29
CHAIN STITCH RESOURCES
30 149
SEED STITCH
31 ABOUT THE CD
149
COUCHING STITCH
33
INDEX
150
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
151
151 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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!
o
ll
H e
I KNOW YOU’RE excited to delve
into this book; I’m excited for you!
Whether you’re an old hand or a newcomer to
embroidery, I know you will love this book.
I work as an illustrator and designer, and
I love to create simple, whimsical line
drawings of everyday things—from pizza
to backpacks—often with a touch of make-
believe, such as a mermaid or a unicorn,
thrown in for good measure.
For this book, I have selected my absolute
favorite motifs from the many I have drawn.
As I hope you’ll agree, they are imaginative
and full of personality and range from
tiny, superquick embroideries to large,
intricate designs that may take a day or so
to embroider. No matter what motif you
choose, you can use my inspirational stitched
4
Pen To Thread
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examples to decide how simple or
intricate you’d like yours to be. I’ve also
included useful motifs such as frames,
borders, and alphabets, and a section full of
creative suggestions on where and how to
use your fi nished embroideries.
In addition to motifs of all kinds, I’ve
included some information about the basics,
just in case you are new to embroidery. I
discuss threads, fabrics, and essential
stitch instructions, along with helpful
step-by-step stitch diagrams.
Embroidery is a wonderful skill to
have, a hobby that is relaxing and
portable, and that results in a fantastic
fi nished product. Writing this book has
inspired me to be creative as often as I can,
and I hope it does the same for you. So
gather your threads, needles, and fabric, and
get ready to stitch!
5
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Gett ing Started:
and gain experience. When I
embroider, I usually use just the
t he Ess entials basics—fabric, thread, needle, and
scissors. I love that embroidery
can be so simple.
THERE IS A great deal of para- In this chapter, I’ll introduce you
phernalia available for embroidery. to my favorite things—all the dif-
If you’re new to the craft, it can be ferent types of fabrics and colorful
overwhelming and a bit intimidat- threads that you’ll use for your
ing to walk into the embroidery embroidery.
aisle of your favorite store. Luckily,
embroidery is a craft that you can I’ll also expand past the basic tools
start with some very basic tools. to introduce you to things such as
Th en you can add other supplies hoops and transfer supplies that
and tools as you get more involved you can use when you embroider.
S
L
A
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T
N
E STITCH SAMPLER
S
S
E metallic cotton cotton
E yyyyyyarn embroidery floss wool thread pppppearl cotton tappppppestryyyyyy thread embroideryyyy floss
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However, because you can work
threads
with anything from a single strand
to all six strands, fl oss also works
HOW DO YOU PICK embroidery
well for tiny projects up to very
THE RIGHT THREAD? floss
large ones. Th e delicacy of a single
Th ere are options galore out there, strand is good for tiny motifs,
and each thread has a specifi c end while the more strands you use,
use. Th e most commonly used the bolder the designs become.
threads for hand embroidery are
stranded embroidery fl oss, pearl Along with a great variety of col-
cotton, and crewel thread. If you ors, embroidery fl oss also comes
feel like experimenting with non- in metallic, neon, and glow-in-the-
traditional threads, you can also dark (a favorite of mine). I highly
try sewing thread and yarn. Th ey recommend giving all colors and
all have the same basic structure: types a try.
a fi lament that can be thread-
PEARL COTTON
ed through a needle and pulled
through fabric. When you get past Pearl cotton is usually found on
the basics, though, they’re all quite lime-sized balls of thread and, less
diff erent. Aside from price, color commonly, on a skein. Although
selection, and availability, how pearl cotton is always available in
do you know what’s best for your specialty shops, you can also fi nd it
project? To help you choose, I’ll go at larger craft stores as it becomes
over some of their qualities here. more and more popular. It is made
up of twisted strands, like embroi-
EMBROIDERY FLOSS
dery fl oss, but is non-divisible. So
Embroidery fl oss is usually made that makes it important that you
from cotton, with the exception choose the right size for your proj-
pearl
of some specialty threads, such as ect. Pearl cotton is generally avail-
cotton
metallic and nylon or polyester al- able in a handful of sizes, with size
ternatives. It comes in a multitude 3 being the thickest and size 12 the
of colors and is readily available. fi nest. Size 8 is generally what I’ve
Typically, embroidery fl oss comes used throughout this book.
in a thickness of six strands,
loosely twisted together. Th ere are
two- and four-strand embroidery
threads available, as well as some
that come in 100% wool or a wool/
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advanced work.
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EMBROIDERY
FLOSS
six-strand cotton
six-strand cotton
four-strand wool/polyester
six-strand cotton
six-strand cotton
Metallic
Metallic
pearl cotton - various sizes
CREWEL THREAD YARN, CROCHET, AND
Pearl cotton has a lovely sheen to
TAPESTRY THREAD
it, and the twist of the thread can Crewelwork is a heavier, loftier
add a nice texture to your embroi- type of embroidery, so remem- Th ese three are great for adding
dery. Just like embroidery fl oss, ber that when looking at crewel texture and dimension to an
this is a very common thread for thread. It is most commonly wool, embroidery. Crochet thread varies
all levels of embroiderers, and it’s two-ply and twisted, meaning its in sizes and can easily be confused
useful for the majority of embroi- two strands cannot be separated. with pearl cotton, because it is
dery projects. Because crewel thread is a bit sold in the same cute little balls. It
heavier, it’s best to avoid using it comes in varying sizes, but in gen-
for tiny embroideries. eral, it is thicker than pearl cotton
and therefore works better for
larger embroideries, or for details
8
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such as French knots or decorative weave fabrics accommo- color of sewing thread, just
individual stitches. date larger needles and use a single strand of em-
thicker thread better. broidery fl oss.
Yarn comes in many diff erent
SEWING THREAD
weights (thicknesses), but basically A fun way to experiment with
it’s pretty thick. Tapestry thread, Because it is thin, ordinary sewing sewing thread is to choose three
available in cotton or wool, is about thread is good for stitching really to fi ve diff erent colored threads,
equal thickness, so I’ll describe nice subtle details, such as shading cut them the same length, and
them together. I like to use yarn on or fi ne lines, in your embroidery combine them by slightly twisting
larger-scale embroideries in single project. Or, when used as the sole them together. Use them as
seed stitches (page 31) and for thread choice for an embroidery, you would embroidery fl oss.
French knots (page 29). Be careful sewing thread can result in a very You might need to use a needle
when working with yarn and tapes- neat hand-drawn look. Work in threader (page 17) to get all the
try thread, though. You’re going to a straight stitch or backstitch strands through the eye of the
need to use a larger needle, and this (page 26) and keep your stitch needle, but the eff ect is worth the
will result in larger holes in your length short for better results. eff ort! It’s like creating your own
fabric, which makes mistakes hard- (Long stitches can snag and easily unique, multicolored embroidery
er to cover up. Burlap and loose- break.) If you can’t fi nd the right fl oss.
THREAD
cotton tapestry
kite
string
glow-in-
the-dark
sashiko yarn
linen
pearl cotton size 5
neon
crochet
metallic sewing
cotton quilting
polyester sewing
wool
yarn
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