Project: Turning a Child’s Art into Embroidery

I think it’s important for children to learn “handicrafts” – those crafts such as sewing and embroidery and woodworking that may prove useful in adult life. 

This week, I decided to turn some of their drawings into embroidery designs.  Our eldest son, age 10 (well, okay, he’s turning 11 this week, but I’m in denial) and our eldest daughter, age 8 designed, transferred and embroidered their own designs.  Our 6-year-old son designed and transferred his, but I am embroidering it for him.  (I think he could do it, too, but with a plastic needle and on burlap or plastic canvas.)

Our children like to embroider their drawings.  The following one was created by our eldest daughter (the ballerina) when she was 8 years old.  Here’s how she did it:

STEP ONE:

First, draw a picture.  This is a picture that our ballerina (8) drew of her new kitten.  She drew it left-handed, even though she is a righty, because her right elbow is broken and in a cast right now.   Pretty good, considering all that!

STEP TWO:

Transfer the design onto any fabric of your choice. Denim, broadcloth, linen, cross-stitching Aida cloth, burlap, silk, etc.   For the child’s first time, choose a cloth that is light-weight (eg. not denim this time) so the child can insert the needle easily.  Our ballerina transferred her design onto a piece of pink linen purchased at the needlework store.   

 There are several options for transferring a design. One idea is to just have the child draw on the fabric in the first place. If they drew on paper, you might use a transfer pencil, some kind of transfer paper, or simply do what we did:  put the drawing under the fabric and copy it with a fine-point Sharpie (see Step 4 to view the results) or a pencil.

STEP THREE:

Choose your thread. On burlap or plastic canvas, use yarn.  On the other fabric choices, use perle cotton thread or embroidery thread.  We used DMC cotton embroidery thread, which our model is displaying below.

For the needle, use a chenille needle or a tapestry needle.  You may also use a plastic child’s needle.

step four:

It’s time to embroider! It’s time to embroider!  Back Stitch is the most common stitch used for outlining in cross stitch and was very easy for my children to master.  My favorite is the Stem Stitch (also known as other names).  For filling in small spaces (like the bunny’s carrot in another project), we used Satin Stitch.

Step Five:

When finished, you have lots of options.  Here are a few:

• Leave the project in a wooden embroidery frame, such as above, and hang it on the wall
• Mat and frame the embroidery (with or without glass – nobody seems to agree on this, so you choose)
• Turn the artwork into a small pillow or pillowcase (that’s what we chose to do)
• Use it as a stool cover
• Add the embroidery to a child’s apron
• what else? add your ideas in the comments.