For your class project, you will be creating a series of seven mixed media art pieces, combining embroidery with different materials and techniques. Each project will take around an hour to complete, and the concept is to complete them in seven days, however in the event that you don’t have time to keep to this schedule, feel free to arrange your own; work on one project a week for example, or dedicate three days to each prompt. In short, figure out a system that works for you, and keep yourself on track.

The following steps are a good place to start for any of the prompts:

Start with figuring out what kind of fabric to use for each prompt and how you want to transfer the image on to the fabric.
After that, it is time to gather your materials and download the patterns for the prompts (included in the resources section to your right).
You can find all the materials and links of where to buy these items in the worksheet. It also includes all the color codes for the embroidery threads I used for these projects.

When you have all your materials set up, start with the Basic Stitches exercise - this can help even if you are already familiar with embroidery. It covers an introduction to my needle painting technique and may include other tips you might not know. It’s also a great warm-up for the prompts.

Then you’re ready to work on your prompts! Remember:

You should spend about an hour a day on each project, or figure out a system that works for you (i.e, a prompt a week, or one every three days).
Focus on the journey, and not the final product. This may be your first time working with a lot of these materials, and the purpose is to get to know them, not master them! ;) We’re learning the possibilities!
As you finish each prompt, finalize your hoop, take a nice picture and share it in the Project Gallery for feedback, and so we can celebrate each other’s progress! (:
Write down a few notes for yourself, consider questions like: How was it like working with this medium? Did you enjoy the process and the result? Did you run into any difficulties? Any notes for yourself on how to use this medium in the future? Would you use this medium again? Finally, any ideas of what designs to use with this medium? Or what other mediums would go well with it?
Include any questions or doubts you may have in the Discussions section of this class - I’m happy to help!
Celebrate your progress! It’s important!

Essentially, the purpose of these prompts is to get you familiarized with each of these materials, so you feel confident enough to experiment and to mix and match different mediums together! Below, you can see an example in which I combined a few different mediums to create a snazzy banana!

Can’t wait to see your projects!

Connect with me:

Check out my Instagram and website,
If you share your projects on social media, use this hashtag: #7daysofmixmediaembroidery

& Feel free to check out my other Skillshare class on creating texture with hand embroidery. It more closely covers the needle painting techniques used in this class.

Kim Arsenault

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