How to Embroider a Portrait

Needle and thread for embroidering

Embroidering a portrait takes much less skill than one might think. All you need is some good photo editing software and stitching know-how. Embroider portraits on pillowcases, blankets, shirts, or wall hangings and impress friends and loved ones with your artistic abilities.

Things You'll Need

• Favorite photo
• Photo editing software
• Tracing light box
• Thin fabric pens

Instructions

1. Open up your photo editing software and bring up your favorite portrait photo. Crop the photo to show only the face or faces that will be embroidered.

2. Take away all color in the photo. If you have Adobe Photoshop, for example, select "mode" from the Image menu and then choose the "gray scale" option. If you have other editing software, make the photo black and white.

3. Turn the image into a line-based picture with special filter features on your photo editing software. Most software packages give you the option to turn your pictures into sketches. In Adobe Photoshop, for example, this is found in the filter menu under "sketch" and "photocopy."

4. Increase the contrast of the photo as high as it goes. This makes the white brighter and the lines darker.

5. Resize the image to the size you want to print. Programs let you choose the height and width of a picture so you can enlarge photos any size you want. When you get it the size you want, print the photo.

6. Use your tracing light box with your embroidery fabric and printed sheet of paper. The light box shines light through the fabric and paper to help you see the traced lines. For this step, use a thin fabric pen that makes 0.01mm lines.

7. Sew over the traced lines with single-strand pearl cotton. This type of thread easily covers 0.01mm pen lines.

Tips & Warnings

• Trace on a sheet of paper before marking on your fabric. You probably won't want to trace every single line shown on the photograph, so the practice sheet helps you work through possible mistakes.

References

• Quilter's Muse: Embroidering a Portrait