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INSPIRING IDEAS & MOTIFS FOR EVERYONE, EVEN BEGINNERS!
embroidery YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE •DIYS FOR HOME, FASHION & KIDS
29 FRESH PROJECTS
EXCLUSIVE! 102 SWEET PATCHES & BADGE DESIGNS TO TRY
G E T I N TO C R A F T
INSIDE: SUBLIME STITCHING • SEÑORITA LYLO • WILD OLIVE
embroidery YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE •DIYS FOR HOME, FASHION & KIDS
68 Customised denim jacket
100 Stitch a lucky bear
74 Blanket cape
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Get Started
32 CUCKOO CLOCK Bring bright Alpine charm to any room
Fashion
8 EMBROIDERY TRENDS
35 CONSTELLATION WALL HANGING
68 CUSTOMISED DENIM JACKET
We can’t get enough of these lovely ideas
A starry piece inspired by Japanese embroidery
10 DIY COLLECTION
39 FLORAL PHRASE HOOPS
Hit the streets with Lana Red’s exclusive embroidery makeover
Inspirational projects to get you stitching
Stitch an inspirational quote and lift your day
72 CRYSTAL JUMPER
12 EMBROIDERY KNOW-HOW
43 ENVELOPE BUNTING
Learn how to transfer designs onto your fabric
Lovingly handstitch a string of letters
Emblazon a plain jumper with Leanne Garrity’s on-trend quartz motif
14 WHAT YOU NEED…
47 TEA TOWELS
74 BLANKET CAPE
All the tools you need to get you started
Make dishwashing a delight with a pair of embroidered cloths
Transform a blanket into your go-to cover-up
For the Home
51 EMBROIDERED JOURNAL
Get festie-ready and upgrade your cut-offs
Try your hand at bookbinding and give your journal a personalised cover
81 EMBROIDERED TRAINERS
78 FEATHER SHORTS
Create a beautiful shade from scraps of fabric
56 ANCHOR PURSE
Funk up your shoes with Floss & Mischief’s geometric update
22 DEER HOOP
Stitch a mini-pouch that’s perfect for pennies with a symbolic seafaring motif
84 DOODLE SHIRT
18 COLLAGE LAMPSHADE
Stitch and appliqué a folksy summertime fawn
28 BEAUTY & THE BEAST PILLOWCASES Choose which side of bed to get out of…
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58 MINI CACTUS HOOPS Brighten up a neglected corner of your home with some stitched pot plants
Makeover a blouse with this sewing tutorial
86 SIGNATURE COLLAR Create Señorita Lylo’s showstopping accessory
MAKE TODAY
CONTENTS
102 CUTE MOTIFS BY MOLLIE JOHANSON TO STITCH NOW
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98 Hamster hoop
SWEET TREAT MOTIFS Perfect for cutesy homewares, these bake-inspired designs are ready to trace onto your fabric so you can start stitching them right now. Page 62.
81 Geometric trainers
For Kids
stichy know-how
98 HAMSTER HOOP
126 STITCH GUIDE
Whip up this adorable ball of fluff and brighten a little one’s day
Our handy five-page section showcases all the stitches used in our projects, with clear instructions and illustrations. We’ve also included some extra stitches for you to get creative with in your own projects.
100 LUCKY BEAR PLUSHIE Stitch Michelle Galletta’s cuddly bear –he’s small enough to pop in a pocket!
FASHION MOTIFS Sew your own badges with our selection of ready-to-stitch templates. From phones and fries to cassettes and slogans, find your look. Page 92.
104 BABY BIB Make dinnertime cuter than ever with Charlotte Lyons’ birdie feeding-time bib
108 CLOUD PILLOW Stitch a gorgeous Mary Poppins-inspired pillow for guaranteed sweet dreams
112 ALPHABET BANNER Learning the ABCs has never been so sweet than with Nina Dyer’s alphabet wall hanging
56 Anchor purse
117 POLAR BEAR Create Sabina Gibson’s enchanting heirloom polar bear and melt any child’s heart
KIDS’ MOTIFS Rustle up the cutest gifts for children with over 30 quick-stitch designs. Once you’ve started, you’ll want to stitch ’em all. Page 122.
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A Light Touch
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PHOTOGRAPH: EVE PHOTOGRAPHY
We asked celebrated seamstress Marna Lunt to show us how to create a beautiful lampshade from scraps of thread, fabric and yarn
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HOW TO MAKE… A COLLAGE LAMPSHADE MATERIALS ■ A 20cm drum lampshade kit (containing wire hoops, lining plastic and lampshade tape) ■ A piece of fabric a few inches larger than the plastic lampshade lining (chose fabric with a fairly close weave to help stop fraying)
■ Embroidery scissors ■ Fabric scissors ■ Needles ■ Cotton thread ■ A mixture of threads (a nice range of textures is fun to play around with) ■ Pins or stick glue ■ A water-soluble pen or pencil ■ Fabric scraps
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With two of our favourite crafts in one project, this colourful appliqué and embroidery lampshade is a winning combo. It all begins with picking out some of your treasured fabric scraps and layering them into pretty patchwork-style flowers that pop from a neutral background. Then comes the equally fun bit of adding texture with embroidery in bright threads – use wool yarn too to get a brilliant dimensional effect. Just flick to page 126 to find out how to embroider the stitches used here. The beauty of this design is that you get to improvise the size, shape and placement of your flowers, playing with the fabrics and threads you have to hand to create a unique lampshade. A sure-fire way to add a lovely,
boho note to any room, switch on your lamp day or night and let the bright colours of the flowers glow warmly. Go on, light up your life! 01 Iron your base fabric and, using your water-soluble pen, draw round the lining plastic for your lampshade. Cut your fabric to size, leaving a few centimetres around the marked lines. 02 Using your water-soluble pen, roughly draw out your design using bold circular shapes. Start with the main design in the middle of the fabric as this will be the part you’ll see when your lampshade is finished. (Remember to draw on the fabric after you’ve ironed it. Ironing over the water-soluble pen can fix the marks to your fabric, making it hard to dissolve the ink.)
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I made you this… Which side of bed do you get out of in the morning? Hand-embroider two pillowcases for you and your SO using Charlie Moorby’s just-for-us floral pattern
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HOW TO MAKE… EMBROIDERED PILLOWCASES MATERIALS ■ DMC stranded cotton in the following colours: 3799 (charcoal), 3705 (dark pink), 3706 (medium pink), 3708 (light pink), 959 (medium turquoise), 185 (light turquoise), 166 (medium lime), 3819 (light lime) ■ 2 plain white pillowcases ■ Water-soluble pen ■ Embroidery hoop ■ Crewel needle, size 5 ■ Scissors
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Know a couple about to tie the knot? Or perhaps you sleep alone and your mood can go either way in the morning. Give someone (or yourself!) a giggle by customising these sweet pillowcases – either on fresh white linen or cotton, or some lovely patterned vintage finds. Adjust the colours you stitch in to suit your background. These make a great handmade wedding or new home present, so go ahead and make a few sets for easy gifting. You could use the flower pattern to pretty-up table linen, too. HOW TO THREAD YOUR NEEDLE WITH NO KNOTS! Ensure no bulky knots show through to the right side with this easy no-knot method to threading your needle. This is especially useful to ensure a neat finish when you’re stitching on very transparent or lightly-coloured fabrics. 01 Cut a length from the skein that’s twice as long as you intend to stitch with. We cut ours to approximately 1.5m (59”).
02 Now separate two strands only (from the six). 03 Fold your separated two lengths in half so that cut ends meet. You will now have a length of thread that’s four strands thick, and approximately 75cm (29½”) long. 04 Thread all four ends through the eye of your needle. 05 Pass the needle up through the fabric (from the back), but don’t pull it all the way through. Instead, leave a ‘loop’ open at the back. 06 Now insert your needle down through the fabric approximately 4mm away (as if you were starting to back stitch). 07 As you’re pushing it through, turn over your hoop and feed your needle through this ‘loop’. 08 Pull it tight all the way through to secure. Now continue stitching as you would normally. 09 To change colour, or finish, simply thread it through the back of your stitching a few times, backwards and forwards. 10 Snip as close to the stitching as possible to secure and finish.
HOW TO EMBROIDER THE PILLOWCASES 11 Print out both pillowcase designs at 200% using the templates on page 31. They have been designed to fit on an A3 sheet of paper. 12 Trace the designs onto the bottom left-hand side of your first pillowcase using a water-soluble pen. We’ve placed ours approx. 5cm away from the bottom and side edges so it’s clearly visible even when stuffed with a lovely plump cushion. 13 Lay out your chosen thread colours and make a note of each colour so you don’t get mixed up half way through. Now thread your first colour using the no-knots method explained above. You can use as many strands as you like to stitch with. We’ve used four strands (from the six-strand skein) to make sure it’s chunky enough to show up on our large pillowcases. 14 To gain access to the pillowcase front and start stitching you’ll need to roll back the open end of your
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Back stitched Your denim jacket will earn a wardrobe promotion with Lana Red Studio’s exclusive embroidery makeover
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HOW TO MAKE… A CUSTOMISED DENIM JACKET MATERIALS ■ Denim jacket ■ Embroidery thread ■ Needle ■ Embroidery hoop ■ Pins ■ Scissors ■ Acrylic or fabric paint ■ Paintbrush ■ Hobby knife
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Don’t let them forget who’s in charge with this no-nonsense jacket makeover. If you have an old denim jacket languishing at the back of your wardrobe or have spotted one in the charity shop, give it renewed love and respect with this on-trend DIY. You can choose your own word and create your own stencil – just use our template on page 71 as a guide. If you’re unsure how to create all the
embroidery stitches for this project, just go to page 126 and follow the easy instructions. Go for your brightest candy shades for this design so the colours really pop from the denim blue. When you make your stitches, place them close together so you can pack each shape with thread. 01 Place the template on a cutting board and remove the areas
between the lines, leaving the letters intact. 02 Place your denim jacket face down on a flat surface. Smooth out the back of the jacket and place the stencil on top. Measure carefully from the sides of the jacket to make sure that the stencil is in the middle. Once you’ve decided on the placement, pin the stencil in place. 03 Dip your paintbrush in the paint
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HOW TO MAKE… A BEAR PLUSHIE MATERIALS ■ Embroidery hoop ■ Brown and cream material, a close weave cotton works well ■ Embroidery backing ■ Needle ■ Embroidery threads in a variety of colours ■ Embroidery scissors ■ Stuffing
“Every year, once the cold ends, I make my way out of the big city and escape to the Canadian wilderness to take in the lakes and forests,” says designer Michelle Galletta. “There are deer, moose, beavers and, of course, black bears! After a long snowy winter, this little bear has come out of hibernation and picked a basket of flowers. He’s a sweet addition to any home. Stand him up on a shelf, carry him in your pocket, or give him to a little one to play with. 01 Use the template on page 103 to draw your bear front piece outline and details in chalk in the centre of a piece of dark brown fabric, big enough to fit in your
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hoop. Place the pattern face up in your embroidery hoop – a 15cm (6”) hoop will work best. Make sure you are using a good quality hoop that does not allow the fabric to slip or loosen during embroidery. Carefully pull the fabric taut without distorting the pattern. Tighten the nut. 02 Using the chart (page 102) and referring to the image above, embroider in the following order, using one strand: basket weave, basket outline, arms and claws, flowers (embroider the background flora such as the daisies and flower stalks first). Then embroider the eyes, ears and claws. 03 Use the template on page 103 to cut a cream snout piece from
a close weave cream fabric (this will prevent fraying). Now hold it in place in the right position on your bear by tacking a small stitch in the middle that you can later remove. Continue embroidering around the snout piece to hold it in place with a chain stitch. Then you can work the bear’s nose and mouth in satin stitch and straight stitch respectively. 04 Now work the outline of the bear using two strands. 05 Now cut a separate rectangle of brown fabric, and place it over your embroidered bear, still in the hoop, right sides (RS) together. Use pins to hold this piece in place. 06 Leave the pieces on the hoop and begin to sew, using a small
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Alphabet playtime Helping a little one to learn their ABCs has never looked cuter than Nina Dyer’s just-for-us embroidered banner
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HOW TO MAKE… AN ALPHABET BANNER MATERIALS ■ Thread in different colours ■ Cream fabric, 35 x 49cm (13¾ x 19¼”) ■ Coloured fabric, 35 x 49cm (13¾ x 19¼”) ■ Yarn for tassel ■ Yarn for pom poms (optional) ■ Tapestry needle ■ Embroidery needle ■ Embroidery hoop ■ Water-soluble pen
■ Pins ■ Sewing machine ■ Sewing thread ■ Dowel ■ Baker’s twine or string ■ Scissors (or rotary cutter and metal ruler)
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Make an educational wall hanging for little learners using just two simple embroidery techniques. The best thing about this project is that you can choose shades of thread to match any playroom or nursery colour scheme. Alternatively, go rainbow on your choice of threads for a playful colour palette like ours. For a helping hand with how to embroider the stitches, turn to our guide on page 126. 01 Print out the alphabet design on page 115 then transfer the pattern to your white/cream fabric using the light transfer method with a water-soluble pen (or pencil). Make sure the design is in the centre.
02 Cut the fabric into a banner flag shape. To do this, fold the fabric in half, lengthways, right sides facing. 03 Now take the bottom corner (where the corners of the fabric ends meet) and fold toward the centre, creating a 45-degree angle. Press to crease this line. 04 Unfold and cut along the 45-degree line with scissors or a rotary cutter and metal ruler. Do the same with the coloured back fabric piece. 05 Choosing your embroidery thread colours at random, or using our photo as a guide, begin embroidering the alphabet using a simple backstitch. 06 Embroider the bee, plane and whale using a satin stitch. For the
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132 PAGES OF ON-TREND STITCHING DIYS AND INSPIRATION
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