Tuesday, March 04, 2008

A little hand stitching

Hi everyone, this week's little extra is another one of our tutorials.....

Hello, it's Mel here this week to show you all how easy and effective a little hand stitching can be on your work. Hand stitching doesn't have to be long and complicated to achieve a really lovely finish on your cards. Sometimes even a tiny bit of cross stitch here and there is a nice way to add an extra element of 'handmade'.

To begin you will need some basic supplies - needle, cotton/embroidery thread, scissors, ruler (handy for measuring spaces or helping with straight lines), pencil and eraser. I tend to use stranded embroidery thread for handstitching but you can even use machine cotton if you are stuck - it just gives a thinner appearance when stitched on the card. If you are using stranded embroidery thread you can vary the strands for a different thickness....mostly I use 2 or 3 strands but if you really want the embroidery to 'pop' try using the entire 6 strands.

Start by working out your design. You might decide to just stitch a straight line on your card or perhaps draw around a template (circles, stars etc..). The possibilities are endless. Use your pencil (and ruler if you aren't using a template) to draw/measure the area that you wish to stitch.Now pin prick holes with a pin or needle directly onto the card.

Use an eraser to rub out any pencil lines. Thread your needle and begin stitching through the the pin pricked holes. Adhere the start of the thread using double sided tape or a photo tab.
Once the design is finished you can adhere the last piece of thread into position using another photo tab or piece of double sided tape.


Here are a few more handstitching cards to inspire you:
Thankyou also to all the fabulous 'I am woman' cards from Lythan's Friday dare. WOW, there were some really beautiful cards created by you all for the dare. Thanks so much for joining in and having a play.

Well, have fun stitching and we can't wait to see all your gorgeous creations for this week's mid week dare.

21 comments :

SueH said...

I missed the launch with my card this morning so I've put it stright on My Blog

Thanks for the tutorial Mel.

artfulstampin said...

Had a go... its on my blog...

tracie said...

wow I'm 3rd - I am on the ball tonight. Beautiful card girls and love the tutorial :-)x
Mines on my blog

Jay said...

Whoa! I've never posted this early before! Cool! Great cards and super tutorial! My card is on my blog...

http://indigoinklings.blogspot.com/2008/03/little-hand-stitching-dcm.html

Rosanne said...

Love the tutorial and the DT cards!

I had fun with this challenge, my card is on my blog

Judy said...

My 'effort' is on my blog!!
http://mangaroamade.blogspot.com/
Judy NZ

Gina said...

I'm following Judy again!
Thanks for the tutorial Mel.
My card is on my blog:

http://gingerbread.typepad.com

Sanisi said...

Here's my handstitched card:
Congratulations card

Rika said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rika said...

Here is my
card

Unknown said...

Thanks for the theme - it got my unused stitching stickers out of the drawer! My card is on my blog. Lol Lynn x

Rainbow Lady said...

Here is my entry for this week.
Thanks for looking
Love Cynthia x

http://rainbowladyscraftyblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/alphabet-stitching.html

stamp and scrape said...

I think this combines all my main interests : music, stitching and stamping. So satisfying!
http://stampandscrape.blogspot.com/2008/03/in-spotlight.html
Ros

Ellen said...

oh I prefer to sew on cards rather than for real it's so much quicker.

here is my take http://scrappanic.blogspot.com/2008/03/little-handstitching.html

Denise said...

I loved this little extra dare, my card is on my blog....here:-
http://densbloggers.blogspot.com/2008/03/daring-cardmakers-challenge-little-hand.html

Sari K. said...

My card is on my blog now.
Card

Deborah March said...

I LOVE hand stitching, great challenge! Here's mine:

http://cardsandthings.blogspot.com/2008/03/hand-sewing.html

debby4000 said...

I love hand stitching only because my sewing machine hates me. Here's my card
http://debby4000.blogspot.com/2008/03/cheeky-monkey.html

Kate said...

My 1st join in this year is here, will try and dip in more frequently!

Annie said...

I prefer hand stitching on cards to machine (too much hassle to get the monster out) so have had fun with this challenge. It's on my blog at http://inknrubba.blogspot.com/2008/03/dcm-extra-little-hand-stitching.html

Anonymous said...

Because I hand stitched mine it's taken me nearly all week. It's here.