You will need

If you’d like to stitch your own you’ll need to download the templates from Mollie Makes, and then enlarge it to 150% for a large pineapple. You will also need:

A needle and small sharp scissors

An air erasable pen

White fabric

An 8 x 12″ oval embroidery hoop – I got mine here

Paint and paintbrush (optional)

The thread I used is DMC thread in the following colours (Anchor thread numbers also given), and you’ll need 1 skein of each:

Shade 1 = DMC 3842 / Anchor 164

Shade 2 = DMC 3760 / Anchor 169

Shade 3 = DMC 807 / Anchor 168

Shade 4 = DMC 519 / Anchor 1038

Shade 5 = DMC 828 / Anchor 9159

Shade 6 = DMC 905 / Anchor 257

Shade 7 = DMC 907 / Anchor 255

Shade 8 = DMC 904 / Anchor 258

Shade 9 = DMC 472 / Anchor 254

Shades 1-5 are pinks, and 6-9 are greens (refer to template for shade numbers and placement).

Stitching tips

I’ve really worked hard to improve my satin stitch recently, and I’ve found that doing the stitches with little gaps and filling in works a treat. It’s much neater (for me) than doing the stitches immediately next to each other. I also love to use Thread Heaven conditioner on my thread, as it keeps it together as you stitch. I got mine from Cloud Craft. It’s a lifesaver! It definitely helps to keep the thread together more if you’ve split it up. I generally use 3 strands at a time for satin stitch, as I’ve found that this gives the neatest finish.

When embroidering the leaves, you can either draw a line down the middle of each leaf so that you can work out where you are stitching to, or just do it freehand like I did. Start at the outer edge, and stitch diagonally inwards. I varied the angle on each leaf to give contrast.

This blue pineapple was part of a larger embroidery of three pineapples – the middle, larger pineapple is the original colours, and I also included a pink one too. I love how the colours work so well together, and the bright turquoise hoop compliments it I think. I still used an 8 x 12″ hoop for this design, so these pineapples are a little smaller than my original big pink one. It’s actually nice to stitch smaller, although slightly more fiddly.

Hope you have a great weekend! Have you got any stitching plans?

The post Blue pineapple embroidery appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

The design comes from the Flow magazine colouring book, which has the most gorgeous designs by Helen Dardik and Carolyn Gavin. Although I’m pretty good at stitching, I’m rubbish at designing so this was perfect!

I traced the design to make my own pattern on A4 paper to use as a template, as this was easier than trying to trace it onto my fabric out of the book. I used an air erasable pen to transfer it onto my fabric, which was some premium white Kona cotton that I love using for embroidery projects. The colours I used were the following:

Anchor 206, 208 and 210 (greens)

Anchor 28 (pink for the large flowers)

Anchor 26 (pale pink), 293 (yellow), 187 (teal), 146 (cornflower) and 119 (purple) for the shapes

DMC 3845 for the letters

I embroidered the design and then put the banner together in the same way that I did in for my painted banner (click here for the written tutorial or here for the video). I attached the pom poms at the end so they are visible at the back, but no-one is going to see that anyway! The pom pom trim is jumbo size and is from Frumble and I really love it! Each pom pom is 20mm in diameter, so it’s a great size for this banner. I’m obviously trying to think of other things to make with it haha!

I’ve already got my eye on a few other designs from the colouring book that I want to stitch (I will probably colour them in at some point too!). I love this bird and the tea pots too…

I’m now stitching something else for another friend – I am seriously into my embroidery at the moment! When it’s done I’ll share that with you too. What are you making?

The post Embroidered banner appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.