DIY Embroidered Handwriting Keepsake

Turn your child's handwriting into an embroidered keepsake.  Those carefully written letters should be preserved and displayed.  A simple and easy way to do that, with embroidery thread.

To create your embroidered keepsake you'll need the following:  fabric, embroidery hoop, water soluble pen, needle and thread.

Enlist your artist of choice to write something onto your fabric.

Center the written sentiment in your embroidery hoop.

Begin embroidering. I used a back stitch for the letters.

To back stitch bring your needle and thread up through the back of the fabric.  I started at the top of the L.  Sew a long stitch forward, bring your needle down.  Return your needle back up, leaving space, approximately the same size as your first stitch.  Return your needle back down, where your first completely stitch ended.  Repeat.

At the end of love, I decided to punctuated it with a heart.  

 

Love should always come from the heart.

 Love was the first word Grace learned to spell. 

Love is what this sweet child of mine shows me every single day.

Love, written by a 5 year old, will be a keepsake I hold dear for always.

How To Embroider Wood Tutorial

I used a power tool for the first time, completely unsupervised and I survived.  All my fingers are intact.

What does one do, after they've used a power tool?  Embroider something of course.

Ever wonder if wood could be embroidered?  The answer is YES!  And, I'm about to show you how.

First, you'll need some sort of wood to embroider (driftwood, barn wood, wood coasters).  If you want to use slices of a log, like I've used, check out my wood coaster tutorial for full directions.

Next, lightly sketch out the shape you want to embroider in pencil.  Once you have your shape drawn, again, in pencil, mark approximate location for the holes to be drilled.

Using the smallest bit on your power drill, begin to drill holes through the wood.
*Place a thick board beneath the piece of wood you are drilling.

Make sure the drill goes completely through the wood.

Once you have completed drilling your holes, you can start embroidering your wood.

Thread an average sewing needle with embroidery thread, knot the end of the embroidery thread.

Start embroidering.

Come up through the back of the wood (point a).  Your knot should hold in the back of point (a) (if the knot comes through the front, simply make your  knot larger).  Bring your needle down through point (b), pulling the thread taunt as you go.  Come back up through point (c), continuing to pull the thread taunt.  Return the needle to point (b), going back down.  Come back up at point (d) then go back down at point (c). 

Continue until you have completed embroidering your shape. 

Whatever shape that might be.

What more fun could you possible have using power tools and embroidery thread?

These would make great coasters, ornaments, home decor, art or the sweetest Valentines.

Of course, if you decide to use them as Valentines, make sure you include a card that says something like:  

Wood you be my Valentine?

LOVED Tee Shirt

With a plain red tee shirt on hand and Valentine's day rapidly approaching, I decided to make Grace a LOVED shirt.

To make your own LOVED tee shirt, get yourself:
a tee shirt
embroidery thread or use 2 strands of DMC thread {I used DMC white}
needle
embroidery hoop
water erasable fabric marking pen

On paper, I wrote out LOVED to figure out the spacing. Then, I folded the tee shirt and determined roughly where the center was and where I would place the lettering. I free handed and drew LOVED onto the tee shirt with a water solvable pen.

The nice thing with the water solvable pen, any perfectionist tendencies you have, if at first you aren't happy, apply some water {let it dry} and then try again.

Embroider the letters using a stain stitch. This basically means, work each stitch smoothly from one side of the letter to the other side of the letter. Lay each stitch as close together as possible (without pulling too tightly). The goal is that no fabric will show through between each satin stitch.

When you are done, use some water to dissolve any exposed lines. And admire!

Yes, Grace is definitely LOVED...

even when she gives me that sassy look.

I hope you've been inspired and feel loved.