Yesterday, we began a darling wall quilt that is helping us bust through that pile of scraps we can’t seem to toss aside. Today, we’re going to transfer the words that serve as both a motto and a warning to all those who venture near our crafty space. It’s all about the work of our hands as we begin embellishing the Darling Diva wall quilt.
There are lots of fancy methods to transfer words and artwork onto fabric for embroidery. I favor a low tech one: a sunny window and a sharp pencil. Lay the wording underneath the neutral fabric so the words are about 2″ from the top and about 3″ from each side. Pin the wording to the fabric. Tape the fabric to a sunny window. Patio doors are a great choice.
- Trace the wording with a sharp pencil as lightly as possible. Take your time to get all the lines marked.
- Remove the fabric and the tape from the window, and unpin the wording. Touch up any areas you may have missed with the pencil.
- Iron a piece of lightweight interfacing under the wording area and place the fabric in an embroidery hoop. Use an embroidery needle threaded with two strands of embroidery floss. I used a mid-brown shade because it’s softer than using black, but you can use whatever color you like.
- My favorite embroidery stitch for outlining is split stitch, as I find I can control the loops and curves. However, back stitch or stem stitch would also work well.
- Try to keep knots to a minimum and as small as possible on the back. Also, don’t trail the floss from letter to letter. It will show up on the right side of the work. You’ll be happier with the finished results if you embroider small areas, tie off, and begin again in a new area.
That’s all for today. I hope you’re enjoying the work of our hands: embellishing the Darling Diva wall quilt. Tomorrow, we’ll dress up our darling diva, in more ways than one!
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