Sometimes creativity needs a kick start or a reboot. That is what embroidery is for me. I love the colors and the motion of sewing in and out of the fabric. It is an art that makes you go slow and think through the creative process. If I am drawing blanks when it comes to crocheting or knitting I always turn to embroidery. It is just a slightly different medium to give my brain a rest and think on different things.
I made a few of these last year during my Christmas break. It was to late in the season to blog about them, so I have been holding on to them until now to share them with you. These trees were a fun way to express my creativity. There was no right or wrong, I just let the curls make their own rules.
Tutorial
To start I marked my fabric where I wanted to add the buttons. I made a long triangle and then I staggered where I would put the buttons on the tree.
After that I rough sketched where the swirls would go. (It might be better to put the buttons on first then add the sketch of swirls).
I put the fabric in the hoop and stretched it tight and added the buttons using 3 strands the silver thread. I made 6 long stitches through the button holes and then put 2 stitches over each of the 6 long stitches.
I picked 6 to 7 colors and just went to town with the stem stitch all around the tree. I started at the bottom and worked my way up. I tried to work it so that one color never touched itself, and that the swirls went across the whole tree at some points.
The point is to have fun and to just let the stitches speak for themselves.
As you go along you can go back to the empty spaces and fill them in with other colors.
What colors would you make your trees?
What do you like to do to express your creativity? I'd love to know in the comments.
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Finding Inspiration in NatureEmbroidery Bookmark