How to turn your picture to an Embroidery

Doing hand stitching and embroidery can be so rewarding. I find it relaxing and the perfect activity that you can take around wherever you are.

This embroidery tutorial will show you how you can make your own design and template with a picture. It’s super simple and a great way to customize an embroidery for your own home or for someone else.

How To Turn your Home into a Stitchery

–Embroidery Tutorial

1} Take a picture of your home. Digital if at all possible. Much easier, and the most immediately rewarding too.

2} Change the size to around 4 X 6 inches in size. You may choose to do a different size.

I used the good ol’fashioned PAINT program to do this. As shown below in a fuzzy shot of screen:

3} Print off picture in black and white –the size you would like. Oh ,isn’t my home just so cute! That is a cherry tree in the front there…yup, it’s a monster that keeps growing straight up even though we trim it.

4} Take a Sharpie marker and start drawing lines on all the major parts of the home + stuff around it. Like the roof, the chimney, the tree, the windows, doors….get the idea? Don’t make me list anymore. Now, like the paint program we can move things around. go ahead. no one will check. I didn’t include that 5 foot rosemary bush right under the tree.

5} Lay a blank white piece of paper on top of that sharpied black and white picture and put it on a light box. your arms will thank you later –you know, holding to the window-. Trace again. i know, but it will help! Just do it! If you look closely at this one and the finished product you will find some changes

. There is a window in that big triangle that the tree was covering up! and i moved the sidewalk over so it was more ‘centered’.

6} Now is the time to get that tea towel, cotton, muslin or whatever you would like and trace the pattern again onto the fabric. I used a mechanical pencil. Easy.

7} Put into hoop and stitch. Stitch like there’s no tomorrow. I did add some ‘architectural’ details- like some shingles on the roof, some rock where the rock is, and some more round siding in the big triangle, and some lines on the windows. This helps take up big spaces, and makes them look a little better to the eyes. Don’t worry about getting everything in it. You won’t and it will look too crowded. Your mind does a great job of making some stuff up and it looking ok. So don’t worry about it. I mean look at that funky vine growing up the arbor on the left. whatever….

I have been thinking about this here stitchery and boy it has alot of possibilities….. great for grandma presents, even neighbor ones…..take pictures when they are gone or they will think you are nustoids, have a picture this party—everyone bring their own picture and you show then how to do it, oh, everyone is getting into framing their little things in HOOPS. Wouldn’t that just look cute?! You could also do some way cute boxing around it with some victorian type print for the date or year or established….or some vinework

So get out there and take a picture and imortalize your home.

So this one now hangs in the kitchen. Not sure if i want to use it or not yet.

I think that is the hardest thing about handmades. You want to use them, you want to make useful things, but sometimes it take someone else grabbing it with dirty hands and face and wiping all their cooties all over it to get you ok with it. (that didn’t happen, but i just know it will)

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Original article and pictures take http://www.patchworkposse.com/2009/08/picture-this/ site