How to Design Simple Embroidery Pictures

Designing your own embroidery patterns allows you to create meaningful, playful and personal designs. Embroider your children's artwork, a picture of your cat, or an image with sentimental value. You can work simple embroidery pictures on baby onesies, adult T-shirts, tea towels, pillows or work them for framing. It takes no special skills to design simple embroidery and very few supplies.

Things You'll Need

• Paper Pencil Colored pencils Photo editing software Printer Dressmaker's tracing paper, carbon paper or thin tracing paper Fabric to be embroidered Embroidery floss Embroidery needles Small scissors Suitably-sized embroidery hoop

Instructions

How to Design Simple Embroidery Pictures

1. Find your inspiration. This might be a photograph, a flower in your garden or a picture your child drew. You also can draw out your own embroidery design, working on paper in pencil or pen. If you do draw your own design, keep your lines simple and clear.

2. Open desired image with photo editing software. Resize the image, if needed, and increase the contrast. Print out your correctly-sized, high-contrast image.

3. Trace your image using thin tracing paper or by taping the image to a well-lit window. Use a standard pencil or colored pencils depending upon the design of your embroidery picture.

4. Transfer your embroidery design to fabric by placing carbon or dressmaker's tracing paper over the fabric. Set the embroidery picture on top and trace through all layers. You also can opt to pin the tracing paper design to your fabric and work through all layers. The tracing paper may be torn away when the embroidery is complete (see References 1).

5. Work your embroidery design, using two to four strands of embroidery floss. Use a variety of stitches to add texture and depth to your embroidery design. Satin stitches may be used to fill in large areas; outline, backstitches or chain stitches to outline shapes; and lazy daisies, bullion stitches and french knots as accents (see References 2).