Now that you have mastered these basic stitches I am going to show you how to combine them all into a beautifully stitched piece of embroidery filling a letter of your choice. This finished piece can make a beautiful unique gift or even keep to hang on your wall.

For the finished project you will need;

*2 pieces of fabric of your choice (cotton, denim, tweed or whatever you have to hand) approx 8” square. 1 for practice stitching and 1 for your final piece

*1 6” embroidery hoop

*1 embroidery needle (size 7 or 8) *needle threader optional

*4 different coloured embroidery threads or pearl cotton

*1 small pair of scissors

*access to a printer to print out a letter of your choice (approx 4” in size)

*tracing paper or carbon paper

*1 pencil/pen

This project is lovely and relaxing, you can take your time with finishing it as it is more about the stitching than rushing to the finished product.

To get started you will print off your letter of your choice using a home printer, (or you can free hand draw it). Use tracing paper or carbon paper to transfer the letter outline on to the fabric you will use. Once the letter is visible on the fabric separate the hoop and place the fabric in it, ensuring the fabric is firmly in place and to test you can tap to make sure it sounds like a ‘drum’.

Next load up your thread through your needle. If using embroidery floss where there are 6 strands together, you will have to separate the threads so you have 2 sets of three. To do this cut an arms length of thread and carefully separate so you have 3 threads together. Tie a knot at the bottom of the thread and thread the needle.

Before you begin you might want to plot out on your letter where you want the rose stitch to go. As this is the biggest stitch I find it easier to place these and stitch them first. Just draw out some circles to suggest where these will go on your letter. Ensuring you space them out equally. Once you are happy with the amount of rose stitches you have continue to fill the space with the stitches you have just learned, French knots make lovely textures, then straight stitch and satin stitch to make sure whole area is covered.

Voila, before you know it you will have stitched your very own embroidered letter to hang on your wall or give as a gift. In my bonus video I will show you how to finish the back on the hoop if you wish to hang it up.

I hope you enjoyed this class, please share your work and work in progress in the class projects section as I love to see everyone’s work and happy to answer any questions!

I have created 2 downloads of notes for you to refer to if you wish. Please download these and if you have any questions please get in touch. I cannot wait to see what you create! If you want to see more of my classes be sure to hit the follow me button. Or follow me on my instagram page or to purchase some of my embroidery kits please visit www.lisadolsondesigns.com

Belén Cortez

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