Dyed Fabric Embroidery Hoop Art

This is a beginner tutorial for an embroidery hoop art that you can enjoy even if you have never embroidered a day in your life. Often people think that embroidery and cross stitch are the same thing, but actually they are a bit different. Let me tell you why.....cross stitch involves LOTS & LOTS of counting and a real attention to detail. The more exact the better your project will turn out. Now if this sounds like your cup of tea, go for it! But if you are a kind of "just wing it" person like myself you might enjoy embroidery a bit more. It is very forgiving and for this tutorial you don't need to follow any pattern at all. You will free hand the entire thing! You don't have to think too much or concentrate on counting, lose your place and rip out all of the stitches.

We will create a tree lined starry night so let's jump in a get started!

TIP:

This tutorial includes steps that you don't necessarily need to complete. If you are a complete beginner you can skip step 7 (hiding the thread on the backside) until you get more comfortable. You could also paint your fabric with watercolors versus dipping it in acrylic paints. Even if you don't follow this tutorial, I hope it inspires you to create your own masterpiece.

Start with the best fabric possible:

• For a 6" hoop I would recommend using a piece of fabric around 10" x 10".

• It is better to have too much fabric than not enough because you can trim the excess later on.

The photos above show you examples of each fabric.

• DO NOT use traditional embroidery fabric, it is too thick and does an awful job of absorbing water.

• USE linen or a cotton/polyester blend. These are the two fabrics that I have used successfully.

• There are probably many more, I just can't speak to their effectiveness.

For this tutorial I will be using the linen.

TIP: The best place to find fabric is at the thrift store of all places. I bought a large linen curtain and a cotton/polyester blend bed sheet for about 8 dollars! Trust me when I say, you will never run out.

Materials:

• 10” x 10” White Piece of Fabric From Step #1

• Acrylic Liquid Ink - White, Blue, Black, Magenta & Teal are some of my favorites. I used Amsterdam Ink for the tutorial because I was out of Liquitex. The latter is a bit more affordable since we use quite a bit of ink on this project.

• Gloves for Small Hands - Large Hands

• Roll of Paper Towels

• A Dish of Water

• Heat gun or hair dryer (optional)

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases linked in the material section.

Steps:

1. Wet your fabric completely and wring it out. This is crucial, if the fabric is not wet enough the paint will not blend properly.
2. BE PREPARED - THE FOLLOWING STEP IS MESSY! Have an entire roll of paper towels ready. I prefer to do this step in my bathroom sink, but you can also work on a table with a protective cover and a large dish of water. The great thing is that acrylics wash out quite easily as long as you don't let them dry on the surface. (The stains can still be removed when dry, you will just have to use more elbow grease.)
   • TIP - after you have used a color dropper, tighten the lid on the bottle. I tipped one of them over on accident and it was a sad day with a giant mess to clean up!!
3. HERE WE GO.... Start by dropping colors onto the fabric. I start with blue then add a little white and use my finger and water to blend them together. I like to try and achieve a gradient look from light to dark. HOWEVER, this rarely ever happens the first time around. I often go back over and over with droplets of paint to achieve a look I am happy with. I keep adding drops of color directly from the bottle and blend them. Sometimes I will rinse it with water and repeat the step. (Using the sink or your water dish.)
4. There is no right or wrong way to do this, don't over complicate it. Add liquid paint to fabric until you like it - the end.
5. Once you have the fabric dyed to your liking you have two options to dry it:
   • Blot it with paper towels and let it air dry.
   • Use a hair dryer or heat gun to speed up the drying process. I have used the latter for this tutorial.

MY PREFERRED METHOD:

Materials:

• Gloves for Small Hands - Large Hands

• 4” & 6” Beechwood Hoops

• Walnut wood tint (Out of stock everywhere I search.) Similar product

• Paper Towels

Steps:

1. Separate the hoop into its two parts.
2. Dip the paper towel into the wood tint, rub it generously all over the top hoop on the inside of the hoop and on the outside.
3. Wipe it really clean after with a paper towel to remove the excess tint.
4. Make sure you wipe it a few times to make sure there is no tint left.
5. Let it air dry a bit if you feel it’s still too damp.

OR SKIP THIS ENTIRE STEP IF YOU ARE USING THE HOOP BELOW:

• 6” Plastic “Wood” Hoops

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases linked in the material section.

Materials:

• Painted fabric from from step #2

• Embroidery hoop

Steps:

1. Align the top hoop on the fabric until you find a color combo that you like within the circle.
2. I like to use a pen or tool to give me an idea of what the skyline will look like once I have embroidered the ground.
3. Unscrew the top piece of the hoop.
4. Place the bottom hoop below the fabric and push up until it fits inside of the top hoop.
5. Now tighten the screw at the top to make the fabric taut. If it’s too loose you will have trouble poking the needle through the fabric. Keep pulling the fabric taut and retightening until it is very snug. (You will need to repeat this step several times once you begin the embroidery. Any time it begins to feel loose, pull it taut and retighten the screw.) If you don’t have enough fabric around the outer side of the edge, when you are embroidering the fabric can come loose and ruin your project.
6. You see in the photo that the design I wanted inside of my hoop was really close to the edge. Make sure that wherever you decide to place the hoop is AT LEAST 1" from the edge. I did mine a little too close! Now you see the importance of the 10" fabric.
7. Go ahead now and trim off the excess fabric so that it doesn't get in your way when you are embroidering.
8. Now you’re ready to embroider the design!

Materials:

• Watercolor Paint Set with Markers - I used an old set I had laying around

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases linked in the material section.

Tips:

1. Use your watercolors to add a few touch ups and highlights. I like to use a little turquoise, purple and sometimes green throughout the “grass”.
2. You have to be very careful that you don’t let the paint touch the embroidery hoop as it might ruin the wood tint.
3. When you use watercolor, the colors will slowly bleed into the other areas. Be careful, sometimes less is more.

Materials:

• Black & White Embroidery Thread : You can also purchase single skeins at the craft store

• Embroidery Needle

• Scissors

• Your Hoop

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases linked in the material section.

Steps:

1. Thread your needle with about 40" of the black string. Tie a double knot at the bottom of the string.
2. Use the back stitch to complete the design. Poke up from the bottom, make the line you want and then poke it back through in the same hole towards the bottom.
3. When your thread begins to end, with your needle go under all of the threads on the back side a few times to secure it. * See the photo for a better understanding.
4. Rethread the needle like you did in step #1 and continue.

Grass

1. Start on the left hand side of the hoop about an inch or two above the bottom of the hoop. Poke the needle up from underneath the hoop so it comes up through the fabric.
2. With the needle in your hand, move about 1” to the right and now push the needle through from the top of the fabric towards the bottom.
3. You should now have a single black line. It can be a straight line or you can begin to curve it using the same type of stitch.
4. Starting from below you want to poke the needle up about 1” to the right of where you poked the last hole. Come up from below and poke it back in the hole from atop which meets at the end of the black line. Repeat this process until you have a black line from one end to the other of the hoop.

Trees

1. Thread your needle.
2. Create about 6-8 tree trunks in random heights and positions to create depth with a single vertical stitch.
3. Once you have your tree trunks, start on the right hand side of the tree and make small stitches (like the right side of the letter "v") to form the branches. Repeat on the left side.
4. You want the stitches to go from smaller at the top and gradually get larger towards the bottom.
5. Complete this on all of the tree trunks.

Optional: Fill in the trees and grass using various thread counts

1. Grab one string of black thread and separate it into 2 parts, 3 threads a piece. Sometimes it gets tangled when you try to separate the individual strands. You can grab one piece in your mouth to anchor it and then with your arms outstretched separate them into 3 & 3.
2. Thread your needle and repeat the steps from above to create varying size branches. It’s not a necessary step, but it does give the trees a little more detail.
3. Finally you can use the same method to create little sprigs of grass on the ground. (In the shape of a v)

Stars

1. Use the white embroidery thread. The amount of strands you use will determine the size and style of the stars. The simplest method is to poke the needle up from below and then right back down a teensy tiny bit to the side. Repeat over and over until you have a starry sky.
2. You can also make a star shape to add variety. This works best with one or two strands of the embroidery string.

Materials:

• 10" x 10" Light Fabric of Your Choice

• Black & White Embroidery Thread (or colored thread of your choice)

• Embroidery Needle

• Sewing Pins

• Scissors

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases linked in the material section.

Steps:

Clean up the Embroidery Cloth Edges

1. Thread your needle with a strand of embroidery thread, about 30", and tie a knot at the end.
2. Poke it through the 1" fabric outside of the hoop.
3. Use the running stitch to gather the excess fabric so that you can hide it smoothly below the pretty fabric backing.
4. Once you have stitched all the way around you want to layer one stitch on top of each other in the same spot to make sure the thread doesn't come loose. Trim the thread.

Fabric Backing

1. Place the hoop on the 10" x 10" fabric and trim the fabric to be about 1/2" - 1" larger than the size of the hoop all the way around.
2. Place the circular fabric on the back of the hoop and fold the edges under so that you hide the frayed ends. Each edge you fold under you will secure with a sewing pin.
3. Complete this step until the entire fabric backing is attached by sewing pins.
4. Thread your needle with one piece of string, about 60", and make sure you tie a good sized knot at the bottom.
5. You will use a whip stitch for this step.
6. Lift up the fabric and make stich on the embroidery hoop fabric. You want to do this so that you hide the knot under the fancy fabric.
7. Make your way around the hoop using the whip stich: stitch from the outward in over and over again all the way around. Take out the pins as you go.
8. Tie off the end by making a few extra stitches one on top of another and pull it through. Trim the string and you’re done!