Embroidery & Hand Lettering: 3 Stitches for Smooth Lettering | Floor Giebels | Skillshare
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Embroidery & Hand Lettering: 3 Stitches for Smooth Lettering

teacher avatar Floor Giebels, Embroidery Artist

Watch this class and thousands more

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Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      Introduction

      1:17

    • 2.

      Class Project

      1:19

    • 3.

      Materials

      8:24

    • 4.

      Fabric versus Hoop

      2:00

    • 5.

      Your First Stitch

      3:56

    • 6.

      Three different stitches

      8:44

    • 7.

      Transfering Your Design

      2:42

    • 8.

      Embroider Your Name

      7:06

    • 9.

      Finishing Hoop

      2:58

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About This Class

Make your letters come to life with hand embroidery. There are 3 type of stitches that are perfect for making letters with hand embroidery. In this class we are going to cover the following topics:

  • Class project
  • Materials
  • Fabric versus hoop
  • Your first stitch
  • Three different stitches
  • Transfering your design
  • Embroidery your name
  • Finishing hoop

In the end you will know everything you need to know about embroidering those smooth lines on your fabric

Meet Your Teacher

Teacher Profile Image

Floor Giebels

Embroidery Artist

Top Teacher

Hi, my name is Floor and I'm a Dutch embroidery artist living in The Netherlands.

Originally from a design background, I found my artistic freedom and expression through the more traditional art of embroidery. Entirely self-taught, I started my journey in 2016 and am continually learning new skills and applying them to my work. I also like to explore the boundaries of traditional hand embroidery by creating some pieces as mixed media, to contrast and compliment the thread itself. 

I have found that embroidery has led me to explore the textures present in the world around me - living on the coast, the beautiful beaches, scenery and animals constantly offer me inspiration for new projects. One of my favorite topics to explore in my pieces is the interplay b... See full profile

Level: All Levels

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Transcripts

1. Introduction: I think there is nothing more fancy than hand imported letters. My name is floor and I'm enhancing already artists. I like to mix embroidery with other mediums, but I also love traditional hand embroidery. In this class, we are going to do exactly that. We are going to make imported letters in a script fonts. I'm going to show you everything you need to know about importing a lines from starting your first stage, making three different stitches or four in bordering lines. And how to get that design on your fabric. And you will know how to make your own imported letters and be able to a monogram anything or have the best gifts at Christmas. This class is for beginners. You don't need any experience with embroidery. This class is great. If you want to try out embroidery, I want to be able to make those as smooth lines with threat. Let's go to our next lesson where I will show you in the class projects and join me. 2. Class Project : In this class, we are going to cover the following materials or what do we need and how are we going to use them? I will show you everything you need to complete this project and some other options that you might want to try out. Fabric versus our hoop. What fabric is best to use, and some little tips to keep the back nice and society, your first stage, how do you start that first stage? And how do you end the first stage? I'm going to cover three different stitches. A debt you can use for lines, transfer your design on fabric. The best ways to get your design on fabric. It is way easier than you think, trust me. And then it is time to make our class projects. For the class project, I want you to have letters or maybe an illustration with lines and only lines. I will show you all the steps you need to make your project. In the end, you will have a hoop ready with some nice line work on it. Let's start with our materials. 3. Materials: Before we do anything, we have to have our materials. For embroidery don't need much materials. And there are many options open in the materials. And I'm going to start with the hoop. I have two groups here. This is a bamboo hoop, and as you can see with the bamboo hoop, it's not completely round. Sometimes they are around, I have to say. But with bamboo it can happen that it is not perfectly round and that your edges are a bit more rough. Now, if you spend a little tiny bit more money, nothing wrong with a bamboo hoop. But I do like the wooden hoops. You can see that. But it wouldn't hope you have read as nice round shape. That is persistence. And this one has a little bit of roughness here. So it can't be that it's not completely smooth because this is not a super quality. Wouldn't hope this is a group that is not from very fancy material, but it is a slightly more up than a bamboo hoop. And in a materialist you can find everywhere where you can get these things. And I will also put in some really fancy hoops. You do have a really, really nice hoops that are more expensive. What is also really good idea is to look at places like eBay or a thrift shops or wherever you have a line, you can look at Etsy. I live in the Netherlands that we have marked clades and all those vintage websites where you can buy stuff. A lot of times they have vintage hoops which are really cool, which have these big, big screw here, and it's from having materials. So keep an eye out for that because a lot of embroidery stuff is on those places on the secondhand website or in thrift shops because unfortunately when someone passes away or something happens, don't know what to do it. It is not something that they generally think is worse allowance or debt. They can do anything. Widths are just, they just get rid of it. So always look for that if you are interested in this kind of thing. And same goes for threads. Look online at second-hand eBay, a lot of great deals and a lot of science. You have these used embroidery stuff that you can just get for really cheap because someone doesn't need it anymore. Needles are very personal. What I would advise you to do is to get some different kinds of needles. Make sure they are have a pointy tip and that are not too thick. Most of the time. They're called embroidery needles. But you have them in different thickness and lengths and it's so personal what you like. I sometimes like to have a shorter one because it just easily goes up and down. Sometimes I like a longer one. And I just wanted to show you here that I have when I really like It's a very thin needle, but because the needle is so tin, it is very easily that it bends. You can see that is not straight anymore. It has been it from use, so that will happen quickly. The thinner a goes with this. I have no idea what brand they are anymore because I have so many jars with needles in them. But in the class description, any downloads, you can find some examples of needles that I really like. But again, my advice is to try different things. It also depends on how many strands you want to use, how to make your tread is. But we are going to make really fine lines and then it's nice to have a quite thin needle for our tread. I have some different examples they can use in different situations. This is a MATLAB and this is a machine embroidery. That means is very thin, but it is very good to use when you are doing fine lines. It doesn't have to call up pucker or it doesn't. It's a very tread that is very nice and smooth. No edges around it. It's nice and smooth tread. That will last a really long time. You have this also in cotton or even silk. Some cases, if you want to use more strands or he just wants. A slightly thicker line and does because this one is going to make a really, really thin line. You might want to use embroidery scheme. If you want to know the color of black embroidery thread, a debt is the DRI said, this is just a thicker thread than this one. With this one, you can also use more strands. So make tick aligns with this one. You cannot really use more strands because it doesn't look nice, nice to each other. They don't attach well to each other. These are really made as a scheme. So if you use two or three, they release it. Nice to get into kind of like, you know, stick together. And this really doesn't stick together if you use two strands and I'm using the MC, but you don't need to use DMC. Embroidery. Thread is fine. I have some cheaper options that you can use that are also in a PDF. And for our scissors, you can use any scissors she wants. I know already where these came from. If I see acute center somewhere, then, you know, I'm going to buy it and I found these look very cute. Always be on the lookout for cute scissors because why not? It's so much fun. This is something that is very handy to have. This is called a friction pen. And what it does is that you can draw with it and it is erasable. And it is erasable with friction from the backside of this and also true heat. So if you draw on your fabric and you put heat on it, then it will disappear. If you want to know more about how to get your designs on fabric, I have a separate class for that that you can watch. It's all about how to craft your ideas onto fabric and how to make it come alive. If you want to know more about that and know how different ways on how to get your design on the fabric. Then, then you should watch the class. I will link it down below that you can also watch it. But today we're just going to use this pen and I'm just going to draw some lines and show you how we're gonna do that. Now, 40 fabric. I'm going to use this fabric. And it still has the little sack on here. And the tag says it's called quality protists, whites quality, but this is a fabric that you can get anywhere. I know, I know that it's also available on Amazon and it's just a really nice sturdy cotton. You can find all the materials in the PDF download. I have options for fancy silk or options that are more budget friendly. Let me know in the project section what materials you are going to use for your project. In our next lesson, we are going to put the fabric in the hoop with some tips and tricks. 4. Fabric versus Hoop: I remember when I started with embroidery, I had to Google how to put fabric in an embroidery hoop. I had no idea how to do that and it didn't make sense to me. So don't think that it's strange when you don't know something. So if we're working with lines, with thin lines and letters, I'm not the neatest portion. I like to go up and then down and all over the place so the backside will not be super neat. And you can look through this fabric a little bit. And my advise to use a two pieces of fabric. Then it's much easier to just do your thing without thinking and not worry about how it's going to shine through or if it's going to shine through. Okay? Now when it is in your hoop, you want to make sure that it is nice and tight. And let's get rid of all that excess fabric. That is just gonna be in our way. Remember that fabric should not have a stretch. And other than that, you are good to go. I hope my tip I'm using the two layers will make you more relaxed about not having to keep the bag so neat. I would love it if you show me any project section, what kind of fabric you are using and if you would, also use two layers, we are almost ready to make our first stitches. But first, I want to show you how you start your stitching and how you end your stitching. 5. Your First Stitch: For some people, this might be super obvious. But how do you start making those first stitches and how do you end your stitching? We all have different ways of doing this. The way I do it is in no way a professional way. This is just the way I like to do it. Here has a DMC tread and there are six little strands in a scheme. And I can take all of these individual treads out. I like to do it like this. I can hold one in my hand and then I slip it off. So what it will do is I go in with my needle and then I leave my finger right here. And I will keep that finger on there for about three stitches. So here we have one. Number one, I can turn it around and I can pull as hard as I want and it will stay there. So if I'm stitching and I have some more stitches. And now it depends because if I'm not done yet, if I'm still want to search something else after it is in the same project. I will adjust, cut it off. And then I will cut it off till here. And then if I stitch again, I'll do that actually. I will cut it off till here. And then I will do the exact same thing. Put my hand on it. I think there. You will see that it then sorts itself out. See this is really like nice and tight. This will also not go anywhere. But it also really depends what you're doing because if it's for clotting, then yeah, I would not leave this hanging. But if it's just for normal stitching like something you're gonna put on a wall. I just loved this because it will not come off unless you're really yanking at it. Now, if you want to be more secure, what I do is I weave it underneath. And then I go into that little hoop, that little loop here. And I just make a little not that way. It really is secure. I want to point out again that this is the way that I do it and you can do it the way you would do it. Show me any product section out. You like to start an end your stitch. Now that we have this information, it is definitely time to make some stitches. Let's make some stitches. 6. Three different stitches: In this lesson, we are going to make it three different stitches that you can use for making lines. I want to show you really quick what I'm using now. And this is an embroidery stand at you. Screw on to your table. You see here that it is screwed onto my table. And then here I can put my embroidery hoop, it not necessary. This is just something I'm using because it is easy for me to film this way. It's really study. And then you can really have a good look at what I'm doing. The first one that I'm going to make is the outline stitch. And with the LN stitch, I'm using the DM see, I'm using one strand. I think this is like a stage that a lot of people use to do the outline. And what you do is you're going in what you needle. Go a little bit up. And this loop stays on, it's up. For our first stage. We're going in the middle of that stitch back. And now we're going to a little bit to the side, again, keeping this stitch up. And now we are going back into that other stitch. And like go. Again. When you have a curve coming up, make sure that you make that stitch. Smile. Let me see it. If you have a really nice outline stitch, nicer, rounded. To always keep this on top. And this is called the outline stitch. Look at it, it doesn't tangle. And when you want to stop using this stitch, just simply go to last. You ended there. We have another different variation on this stage. How can I use megan that align and dad is called the stem stitch. The stem stitch is exactly the same. For this one I really want to show you. So you have this nylon thread, which is like really good to use. But what you also have is the tread with like lots of colors. And I haven't used this one is actually the first time I used this one. I do have them from a different kind of brands. This one is from DMC, this room is from MATLAB. I will give you all the links or where to buy them and reading from. But it's just a really fun way to just spice up your outline is just the same as this but then colored. So now you can also see how that looks when we work with this strategy, start is more thinner. I really love colorants, stitches. It's just fun. What we're gonna do with this is we're gonna do exactly the same. So you have to be careful with this because it has this tendency to tango more. And we're gonna do the same thing. We're just going to leave a working tread down. So again, we're doing the exact same thing, going into that same stage. But pulling it down. You can see that is quite tricky to work with this stage because with this tread, it is more slippery. You just have to get used to it. So same thing, uh, just to keep the tread there instead of up. I'm going to end it right here again. Now we're going to stitch, that is my favorite stage and that is the split stitch. Going to use some DMC for it is. What we're gonna do is we're going to go in it's it aside. And then again a little bit to the side, go up. What do we do is like we could go in that last stage, but what you wanna do, it just splits search as you go directly in the middle of that our stitch. And then you have this nice seamless line. Say again, going in a nice seamless line. And I love this stage because this stage, well, this is my favorite for doing outlines because I like it that I don't have to, um, work with another thread. It's really easy. Yeah, I like it because it's just it has a good flow and you can immediately see that this is my favorite ride because it goes so fast. From all those tree that I just showed you is just what you prefer. And I really prefer this one because it's just nice and he hands and that's what I like. But this does give a more rounder affects all disk even more. Stitcher effect is just what you prefer. And of course there are many, many more stitches, but these are just the most common stitches for outlining a project. We made the outline stitch, the stems stage, and the split stitch. Show me any project section. The three stages and what your favorite one was. Now, only need to make our design on the fabric. 7. Transfering Your Design: Transferring your design on fabric. It can be done multiple ways. I'm going to show you two ways of doing this with a really easy method of just tracing your design from your laptop and with the help from sulci prints and stitch, I'm going to explain those two methods and the pros and cons for tracing. I have here my name typed out in Canva and I use the font. A great vibes here, you can see it on my screen. I'm taking my hoop, make sure that you only have one layer of fabric for the tracing. You want to see as much as possible to the hoop. Make sure that you only have one layer of fabric for the tracing. You want to see as much as possible through the hoop. I place my hoop against my laptop. Don't worry about your laptop getting scratched. If you push gently, nothing will happen. I use the friction pen on the fabric and trace the lines on the letters. Now I can imagine that this might look intimidating and that's why I also have another option. And that is using the print and stitch from sulci fabrics. You put it in your printer, doesn't matter if it's an income parents or, or a laser printer. You just printed design out and stick it on your fabric. To make this work, we switch are designed to an A4 on Canva and put a sheet upside down in the printer tray. Now I can print out my design and cut it out and stick it on the fabric. I can just wash it off once I'm done. Now both these methods have their downsides of tracing is difficult with small lines as this one. And the prints and stitch method is a grade, but you do have to wash it off once you are done. And because it is disappears when it's wet, it can get sticky if the weather is hot. But if you don't have a sweaty hands and have an air conditioner, has or it is just not that warm. I would definitely go for it. This steak and stitch, that's it. It's so easy to transfer your design and make it look super professional. Show me any projects section what tracing method you like to use now it's time to stitch or name or what ever name you would like to stage. It can also be a drawing. 8. Embroider Your Name: You now know everything you need to know to embroider what ever align you want. This can be letters, but also an illustration, and you can do this on what ever you like. So here it is, This is my name. I'm going to embroider my own name. So you can see that it is a little bit tiny mistakes, but don't worry because we have the erasable pen. I can always get rid of it. I shouldn't do this really like in a classic way and just use black thread. I'm going to use the DMC black thread. I'm going to use one strap, going to start at the very end. Just following the line. To have a big curve here. I make my stitches bit smaller and I'm going to use the split stitch, gonna go in into that other stitch. And always make sure that you keep your fabric side. So just always keep an eye on it, like Okay, it's lighten it up. You don't want it to pucker. And the problem, it's not really a problem. But the thing is with this pen is because it is a warm day here is that it will start to erase. I can still see it and that is fine for me. Now I'm going into a more of a straight allies. I can make my stitches a little bit longer. And I made a mistake. So when I make a mistake, I just whip it out with my needle and go back in. Here. We already have a difficult one. And how I'm going to tackle this is I'm going to make a really small stitch. C can make just a really small stitch just to cover those curves that you come across. I'm going to get c making all these letters. Now that I've done most of it, what I want to look at is add our letters. If we look at our letters, you can see that at some point it is a bit more thicker than at other points. And this is really, if you want to make it more fancy because it already looks really good. And what I'm gonna do is I'm going to use the same method. I'm just gonna go next to it, next to that line and do the same thing. So making that split stitch right next to it. See that already makes a big difference. You can do that at any point where you see that it is a little bit thicker than at other places. See here at the F, it's a bit more ticker. It's always good to use the outer side, right? Because the outer side is just the easiest. But you see sometimes you also have to look at, okay, am I going to use the outer side of this inner side? Because if I use the other side like friends with z, o, if I use the outer side and I'm going to really change the look of a dad letter. So be aware that you don't change the shape too much. So you just do that split search right next to it. That's how you create a difference in thickness. Here I'm going a bit. It's only in that arch. Okay? This is optional because it is already looking really good. But if you really want to make your letters stand out, then this is really a way to do that. Here you see that first letter. It's subtle, but it's definitely there. And does make a difference. Now that you've seen how I did df, but I really want to show you also how we're gonna do the o, because the OH is a bit tricky. Because I think I'm gonna do the inside of the o. Otherwise we get a really huge o and that's also not what we want. You see, it's really on the inside of the OH, that the letter is more thick. Try not to overdo it. It's easy to overdo it. But don't really see where are you going to do it. Getting inserted outside with the L you can do definitely on the outside because you still have a little bit of room there. You do have to like look and choose where it will look good. And you really get that monogram. Look. You did it, you stage your name. Now, how cute is this for Christmas or as a wedding gift? With this skill, you can make a hoop with baby names or a monogram below covers as a wedding gift. The list goes on and on and show me in your project section what you made. I can't wait to see all that creativity comes alive. I do want to do one thing before we are done, and that is finishing our hoop. 9. Finishing Hoop: Like with everything a debt I mentioned, there are so many ways of finishing your hoop. This is just one way of doing it. You can see if you look really, really close because I traces of course, would depend that we can still see a little bit of those lines versus what's a b here. We still have that line and now I'm going to use the hairdryer on it and get rid of those lines. First gonna go around and cut off the edges. I did the initial cutting. I'm going to cut it like really short on the ends. Oh, I remember the first time I did this. This was so scary because I was afraid that I wouldn't be enough fabric left to put down to glue down. These are all things that you just have to, at some point you have to trust yourself and you've done it so many times that you know, okay. I can get it this shirt, It will be fine. But I'm using I'm just using an all-purpose glue. So any glue actually will do just putting a little bit on it. I'm not yet gonna glue it down and first waiting to it so little bit tacky. Do that all around the hoop. Putting it on the edge. Now that I put the glue all over, I'm just going to use my thumb and push it down. I'm just going to go over that again and again until it really is glued down. Now I'm going to let it dry eye disease and we're done. And now we are really, really done. I hope you enjoyed this class and I really hope you will share any project section. You're finished hoop. Please leave a review and also tag me on Instagram, which your finished piece so I can share it on full metal needle on Instagram. And I will see you in my next Skillshare class. Thank you so much.