Hand Embroidered Cards and tagged

Look what I found in my desk drawer!

I made these embroidered cards so long ago and then just tucked them away in a drawer to be forgotten about. What a shame!

I thought these cards would make a great DIY for the blog because they're easy and fun to make, and you probably have all the supplies on hand already. If you're anything like me you have waaaaay too many colors of embroidery floss tucked away somewhere.

What you'll need:

Pencil for drawing your design Piece of thick cardboard Embroidery floss Sheets of blank paper Embroidery needle and a pin with a head Blank Card

Start by drawing out your design on a piece of thin blank paper. It's best to keep it simple unless you're super awesome at embroidery. Tape your design on to the card or secure it with a couple paper clips.

When I made my fruit cards, I actually used an iron-on transfer from Sublime Stitching, which is a really great book that you should all run out and buy right this very second. I transfered the design on to a sheet of card stock so I didn't put holes in the original.

Now you can start poking holes along the lines using the pin with a head. A push pin will also work, you just need something to hold on to. Put the piece of cardboard behind the card so you can poke the pin all the way trough. The holes will be your guide when you start the embroidery.

Now comes the fun part! Oh, did I say fun part? I meant painful part! Seriously though, I haven't done any embroidery in a while so my fingers got pretty sore. Be careful not to pull the thread too tight or you'll tear the paper. I used 4 strands of thread for my stitching. I found that the whole piece of floss was too hard to pull through and less than 4 strands showed the holes too much.

I just used a back stitch for my whole design, but you could get really creative here with different stitches. Just carefully tie knots in the back to secure your stitches.

Once you're done, admire your work!

The back didn't look too bad, but I wanted to cover it up anyways.

I just cut a piece of white paper just a bit smaller than the card and secured it using a bit of glue along the fold.

There are a million possibilities for this project, so let me know in the comments if you decide to give it a try. I'd love to see your work! You'll notice in the photo with the supplies, I also have a card made from black shimmery cardstock. I have plans for that guy, and I'll show you the photo when I'm done!

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EDIT: If you liked this post, check out this one. Stitch your own neon gem card, with a free pattern.