So today I’m really excited to tell you more about the recent big commission I was working on. It was this Top 50 Stitches booklet with Love Embroidery magazine, and it’s free with Issue 16 in July!

It’s SO hard not being able to share things when you’re working on a commission, especially when it’s this exciting! This free booklet contains so much embroidery goodness. And if you’re joining in with The Happy Stitch Project then you’ll definitely want to pick up a copy! It includes step-by-step photos and instructions to be able to stitch the Top 50 stitches, and if that wasn’t enough there are 3 mini rainbow-themed projects for you to stitch too. Yay! This booklet is sponsored by Anchor thread, and they kindly sent me the thread to be able to stitch this. It’s stitched in an 8″ hoop, and I’ve painted this in one of my favourite shades called ‘Alfie’. You can find the painted hoops here in my haberdashery.

Subscribe to Love Embroidery magazine today!

Subscribe to Love Embroidery by 29^th June to receive my exclusive Top 50 Stitches booklet! Master the art of modern embroidery with this essential 64-page guide, including rainbow-inspired projects, step-by-step tutorials, expert tips, templates and more. This is ONLY available with issue 16 of Love Embroidery magazine, so sign up here today to get yours! By clicking on this link you will receive 6 issues for £9.99 which is a bargain (UK only) I can’t wait for you to read it! I’ll add more to this post once the issue is out in the world.

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This week, we’re adding Danish knots to the knot sampler that we started last week in The Happy Stitch Project. They take a little practice, but once you’ve got the knack then you’ll be stitching them in no time!  The Danish knots are triangular in shape, and they’d be great for filling in other shapes or for using in borders. I’ve just stitched them in one colour on my knot sampler, but you can use as many as you like! If you missed last week, we stitched cable stitch around the edges. You’ll find the knot sampler templates in this post if you want to join in. I’m also going to stitch French knots in the smallest circle at the top – this week was super busy so I didn’t get the chance, but that’s okay! Work at your own pace too

Watch the Danish knot videos from week 14

The Danish knot stitch tutorial is here:

And the project tutorial (where I add Danish knots to the knot sampler hoop) is here:

The Hello! Hooray! studio is coming

So this week has been super busy for me, because I finally completed and signed the lease on my new studio space! Yay! I’ve been working on this for several months now, but with the pandemic it has taken slightly longer than I’d hoped. But the solicitors have done their thing and I got the keys yesterday morning (nope, not an April fool!) and I can’t wait. I’ll be writing a separate post about that once I’ve decorated, but keep an eye on Instagram to see decorating progress in the coming week

You may also like…

This teapot kit by Nancy Nicholson was really fun to stitch:

Nancy Nicholson – teapot sew kit review

Make these treats in time for Easter this weekend:

Mini Egg rocky road

Find out more about my book or buy a copy here!

Introducing Colourful Fun Embroidery!

Find all the posts from The Happy Stitch Project and other useful links here.

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This Sprinkles Hoop is the first design for The Happy Stitch Project and I really hope that you enjoy making it to practice the first two stitches, straight stitch and back stitch. I am thrilled with the response to The Happy Stitch Project so far, and we have only just begun! Thank you for all your comments and messages, it’s really brilliant I can’t wait to see what you stitch this year!

The sprinkles hoop for The Happy Stitch Project

Anyway, let’s talk a little bit more about this hoop. The Sprinkles hoop for The Happy Stitch Project was designed as a reminder to hold on to hope as we move into 2021. Last year was so tough, and holding onto hope seemed impossible at times. It still feels hard now, with everything that’s going on in the world doesn’t it? But I’m trying my best to focus on the positives (being creative is one of them) and so the sprinkles here represent the chaos in the world, with the word ‘hope’ standing out in the middle as a reminder that it is still there. We can do this, 2021!

This design brings together the two stitches that we’ve learnt (or revised, if you know them already!) in week 1 – straight stitch and back stitch. It can be stitched in a couple of hours, or you can take your time over it, and please remember that you should stitch at your own pace and do what works for you. There’s no pressure to finish this week, just enjoy the process

Materials list

For this project, you will need the following materials:

• A piece of cotton fabric – I am stitching in a 10cm (4″) hoop and have used an 18x18cm piece, but you can use a larger piece with a larger hoop (see video!)
• A 10cm (4″) embroidery hoop (coming to the haberdashery this week!)
• Needle
• Small pair of sharp scissors (the ones in the video are available here) plus a larger pair to finish later
• A selection of embroidery thread – I have used my loose ends here, but you could use any colours (rainbow or pastel would work well)
• An air erasable pen
• Templates (click to download) if you wish, or just freestyle it!
• Some perle thread to finish the back (this will be in my haberdashery this week too!)

Watch the tutorial video: Sprinkles hoop for The Happy Stitch Project

Full written instructions are below if you prefer, but you can watch the video here:

Step 1

Take the template and place the fabric on top. Using your air erasable pen, trace over the lettering carefully. Then position your fabric in the hoop, making sure that the tension is just right (don’t pull too tightly so it’s out of shape, but don’t leave it too loose either).

Step 2

Thread your needle with 3 strands of embroidery thread (you may find a thread conditioner helpful, as mentioned in the video). Tie a knot in the end, trimming the excess so that it doesn’t accidentally come through the front as you stitch! The, use a small back stitch to stitch the lettering (see my tutorial video for back stitch here).

Step 3

Add the sprinkles by stitching straight stitches in different colours around the edges. You could use your loose ends of thread for this – these are little pieces of thread saved in a jar or a box from previous projects, which minimise waste. You’ll need to use all 6 strands for the sprinkles, to make them stand out.

I started by stitching 3 of each colour sprinkle, and then went back and added more where there were gaps. You can either do this freestyle like I did in the video, or by drawing the lines on first. Just do what works for you!

I personally found that it was best to tie a knot at the end of each sprinkle and trim before repeating the process, as this avoided seeing lines of thread through the front of the fabric. This is around 13:10 on the video if you want to see.

Step 4

When the embroidery is complete, position the fabric so you are happy with how it looks (you could always iron the edges but NOT over the stitching!). Tighten the screw at the top of the hoop, and turn over to the back. With a larger pair of scissors, trim the excess fabric to around 2cm (just under 1″). Thread your needle with a length of perle thread the circumference of the hoop, and tie a not in the end but don’t trim the excess. Stitch a running stitch around the edge of the fabric, pull and tie a knot or two to secure. You’ll find this section from 15:41 on the video if you’d like to watch to see how I did this.

Ta-dah!

A beautifully simple hoop, which will hopefully give you lots of joy to stitch and some comfort during the rest of 2021 and beyond Newsletter subscribers have already received some alternative words to stitch, and with an air erasable pen you can easily make this project your own. I’d really LOVE to see what you stitch, so do share with me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter – or drop me an email if you’d rather.

So what’s next?!

Next week, we’ll be doing my favourite stitch – satin stitch! It’s the only stitch in my Keep Going kit, and I use it in the Sunbeams kit too. It’s so versatile and lovely and I know you’re going to enjoy it! As you can see above, I’ve got the next few weeks mapped out – January will be the rest of the stitches that I know, and then from February we’ll be learning together. And I can’t wait!

As I said before, please let me know if you have any comments or questions. I’d love to hear what you think and how you’re getting on!

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You will need

16 count, white Aida

Embroidery thread – DMC 224, 368, 827, 3042 and 3078. Or pastel pink, green, blue, purple and yellow in your choice of brand.

A size 26 tapestry/cross stitch needle

A pattern (available to download)

A 5 inch hoop or frame to hold your fabric while you’re stitching and to frame it.

Scissors

A pen or pencil

A comfy spot to sit and stitch (preferably with good light).

Optional extras

A needle minder

Pom pom trim (approx. 16 inches/41cm)

A bag or box to keep your supplies in

A warm drink and yummy snack.

Starting your hoop

You always start stitching in the centre of your fabric and you can find the centre by folding your fabric/aida in half, length ways and width ways. Where they meet is your centre square and you can find the centre of your pattern by following the arrows. Then pop your aida in the hoop, trying to keep it centre. Pull the aida as tight as you can get it; this will make it much easier to stitch on.

Snip your thread ready to use. A good rule to measure it is to pull it from your finger tips to your elbow. Or a handy hint; if you take the full skein and snip all the loops at the bottom end you should be left with strands of thread the perfect length!

For this pattern I recommend using the knotless loop method to start. Take 1 strand of the 6 on your length of thread and fold it in half. Thread your needle where the 2 ends meet, and you should have a loop at the bottom.

Come up the top left hole of the square you are starting on and leave the loop sticking out of the back. Then go diagonally across into the bottom right hole and put your needle in the loop at the back. Pull your thread gently and you should have made a knot. Then continue your stitching.

Making your “X”

Each square on your aida is one full X stitch from your pattern. As I said above, for your first stitch come up the top left hole of the square you are starting on, then go diagonally across into the bottom right square.

Next, come back up the top right hole and back down into the bottom left. Repeat this until you come to the end of the thread or colour you are using.

There are of course other ways to do this. Some people prefer to start from the right hole first and down into the bottom left. And some people do lots of half cross stitches one way and come back over them the other way. Go with whatever you find easiest; the important thing is to be consistent and do each stitch the same.

Tying off your thread

When you come to the end of your thread or you need to swap colours then you need to securely tie off your thread. To do this, you just simply take your needle and thread it under some of the stitches on the back of your hoop.

If you have quite a bit of thread left when you come to the end the you can snip it off and keep it to use again or “park it” (slip it through an unused part of your fabric such as the aida outside of the hoop) to use later.

Backing your hoop

For backing your hoop you can choose to add felt or not. I don’t always add felt to my hoop if I’m hanging it on the wall, but if you are displaying it somewhere else you may want to add it.

And you also need to decide if you are adding pom-pom trim as you will need to glue this on before backing. To glue it on, craft or PVA will work fine. Glue it on slowly and in stages, holding each part down for 10 seconds so it doesn’t move as you continue around the hoop. Then snip any excess off before gluing the last part down.

To measure your felt, take your inner hoop and draw around the outside of it and cut your felt circle out.

For backing you hoop you will need to use 2 strands of thread. Start by doing a running stitch around the edge of your fabric. This is simply a normal stitch going in and out of your fabric. When you have gone all the way around pull gently and your fabric should bunch together, then tie a knot to secure it.

Next, come up through the edge of the fabric next to your hoop and place your felt at the back. Your felt may have pencil lines on from when you cut it. If this is the case then place the side with the pencil lines down so they are hidden.

Now you do the blanket stitch. Put your needle in the felt about an inch away from the edge of the hoop.

Come out right next to where you first came out and make sure your needle is in front of the thread. Pull gently and you will have made your first stitch.

For your second stitch put your needle in about an inch away from your first and an inch away from the edge again. Come straight up by the edge of your fabric and again make sure the thread is behind your needle. Pull gently and you will have made your second stitch. Repeat until you reach the end.

Ta-dah!

Your Easter hoop is ready to display! Thank you so much for this brilliant tutorial, Hannah – there are some really helpful tips here (I had no idea about snipping a skein to get the right thread lengths!). You can follow Hannah on Instagram for more lovely stitchy goodness, or listen to her podcast via her website. If you’re feeling inspired to get cross-stitching, why not treat yourself to a kit? You can also find Hannah Handmakes on Etsy and Not On The High Street.

Hello! Hooray! for Hannah Handmakes

I said earlier that this was a blog post swap, and these are the hoops that I designed! I ended up with two because I had two ideas and I couldn’t decide which one would be best, so I made both. The colours that I have chosen are inspired by mini eggs, which are my favourite Easter treat! I love the colours and thought they would be a perfect colour palette. These colours have inspired my latest post for #craftycolourpalettes which will be live on my blog later today. You can find the templates and tutorial for both of these hoops over on the Hannah Handmakes blog – and they are super easy to stitch so you can make a last-minute Easter project. Yay!

We would LOVE to see your creations if you make our hoops – so do tag @hellohoorayblog or @hannahhandmakes if you share on social media

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The felt that I used is made from recycled plastic bottles, so it’s vegan-friendly and good for the environment too! I was really surprised at the selection of colours – they are so vibrant, and the felt is lovely to work with. It was important for me to work with materials which fit with the ethos of the magazine, and together with the design I think it compliments it well (I hope you agree with me!). You’ll find all the details along with downloadable templates on the Bibelot Magazine website. If you missed my interview with them a few weeks ago, you can read that here.

A really big thank you to Chloe Owens and Bibelot Magazine for featuring my work. I have been a big fan of Chloe’s for a really long time, so it feels amazing to have created this retro floral felt hoop with Bibelot Magazine in mind.

For more creative inspiration you can check out the crafting category on my blog. And do let me know if you have a go at making this project – I’d love to know how you got on, and to see your brilliant design of course!

Post updated 12th February 2020.

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