The Diary of a Northern Belle

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Two Different Ways to Embroider Hydrangeas

     Anne      Leave a Comment

Hello friend, it’s already time for a new mini-embroidery pattern for the 2022 Tea Party Mini-Quilt Stitch-along! For August, we have a sweet little posy of hydrangeas in a vase, freshly picked from the garden and ready to adorn our tea table. I spent a very peaceful afternoon playing around with different stitches and colour combinations to embroider the hydrangeas, and thought I’d share a bit of my process with you here today.

 

 

An endlessly fascinating and beautiful subject, florals can be embroidered in about as many different ways as there are embroiderers. I absolutely love scrolling through Instagram or Pinterest to see how everyone likes to stitch flowers. There are so many lovely colours, and so many stitches to choose from! The best way to figure out what works best is to just try out different things and have fun.

 

August’s Hydrangea Posy

I absolutely love a good hydrangea bush, all puffy with big pastel pompoms. And when dried well, they look nearly just as good in a vase as they do crowding the front steps. They are also wonderful to look at during the colder months.

For this mini-embroidery pattern, I knew that the hydrangeas would be quite small so anything too detailed (like long & short stitch) would likely not work. French knots and lazy-daisy stitch are both so versatile and useful for depicting many kinds of flowers, especially for small subjects. So I had a go an embroidering hydrangeas with both stitches, and ran a little poll on Insta to see what people preferred.

The French knots won, but I admit I was more drawn to the lazy-daisy stitch version. I love the fullness that the French knots give, but I feel it could also be mistaken for other flowers (like chrysanthemums or zinnias) and looks a bit too abstract. The lazy-daisy stitches give it a bit more definition. You can place your stitches to form an “X” to imitate the petals, but since the flower was pretty small, they kinda crowded over each other and ended up looking a bit messy.

 

French Knots vs. Lazy-Daisy Stitches

I think the size of the flower greatly influences the type of stitch that works best. For a very small flower, the French knots are perfect for giving it dimension and texture. The lovely combination of the sweet shades of blue #3811 and #827 leave it with no mistake that it is in fact a hydrangea. (Plus, when it’s your embroidery, you can absolutely claim that it’s whatever flower you say it is, even if it doesn’t exist!). If I were stitching a hydrangea bush or flowering pot, I would definitely use French knots, since they would be depicted from even further away.

But for a single flower, I really do love the lazy-daisy stitches.

I made this one bigger, and used the same two shades of blue. It’s not as dimensional, but it does have more definition and works better for this size. The bigger is it, the easier it is to add details. If I were to stitch a much larger, detailed version, I would probably use satin stitch or long & short, and perhaps bullion knots to add some texture, much like I did for the lilac branch project.

 

Which version?

This was a fun little exercise, but in the end I just couldn’t decide! Both versions ended up in the August pattern! Everything is stitched with 2 strands, but you can of course substitute the lazy-daisies for French knots or vice versa. Or use another stitch altogether, if you have another way to embroider hydrangeas! I’d love to know.

Also, if anyone has any great tips for drying hydrangeas to display, please let me know! The last bunch I tried failed miserably, and the ones I did manage from a few years ago have sadly lost most of their colour.

I hope you enjoyed these different ways to embroider hydrangeas, and that you enjoy stitching the August pattern. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram (@northernbelle.atelier) and use the hashtag #northernbellesal. I always love to see your work!

 

Fondly,

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Stumpwork Robin Eggs: Easy Embroidery Tutorial

     Anne      Leave a Comment

Today on the blog, I have a really fun tutorial to share with you: how to make stumpwork robin eggs! I shared a glimpse of the making process a few weeks ago on Instagram, and some of you were interested in seeing the full tutorial so I’m happy to oblige. One day, I hope to be able to film things properly, but for now I hope you’ll enjoy this step-by-step photo tutorial.

 

 

The eggs and nest are part of a larger pattern, which is available as a PDF download in my Etsy shop here!

embroidered robin bird on a blossoming branch with its nest of blue stumpwork eggs

So if you fancy a bit of needle-painting, a bit of stumpwork, and a bit of French knot magic, you’ll love “The Robin’s Nest”!

The stumpwork was actually the easiest and most fun part of the whole project, so I’m excited to share more about it with you today.

 

What is Stumpwork?

“Stumpwork” is, quite simply, a fancy word for 3D embroidery. It refers to the various techniques used to “raise” embroidery, from 3D stitches to padding, stuffing, and the use of any other material to create three-dimensional scenes or elements. I’ve shared a bit about stumpwork here on the blog before, in these two projects:

flat lay close-up on beaded blackberries project and plate of blackberries with embroidery notions and dried flowers
Beaded Blackberries: Inspired by Regency Fiction
finished embroidered currant berry branch on garden bouquet project
Garden Bouquet Embroidery Part 3: Beautiful Berries

There are pretty much no limits when it comes to stumpwork, and a million ways to get creative and make your embroidery pop. Bird eggs seemed to me the perfect subject to try a little felt padding, and I absolutely love it!

 

Materials:

To make these stumpwork blue eggs, you’ll need:

  • Scrap of blue felt big enough to cut 3 little eggs from. My eggs were about ½” each, so you really only need a tiny scrap.
  • Sewing thread (use a matching blue, or anything pale) and a hand-sewing needle
  • Snips
  • Embroidery floss DMC #3811 or other lovely robin egg blue shade you have
  • Hand-embroidery needle

 

Stumpwork Eggs Tutorial:

1. Start by cutting 3 little eggs from the blue felt. The felt is used as padding and will be entirely covered with stitching, so don’t worry if it’s not exactly the right shade of blue. You can use white felt too, if you don’t have blue.

3 eggs cut out of blue felt

 

2. I’m stitching these eggs inside a nest here, so I’ve arranged them how I want to determine which to stitch first. I like them to overlap, especially with the angle my nest is seen from, but they could be beside each other and not touching if you prefer.

felt eggs arranged in nest

 

3. Once you’ve decided how to arrange your eggs, stitch the first one in place with sewing thread and a simple backstitch. This is to prevent the shape from shifting when we embroider.

first egg stitched down

 

4. When it’s stitched in place, thread your hand-embroidery needle with 2 strands of #3811 and cover the egg with satin stitch, vertically (top to bottom or vice versa).

egg embroidered with satin stitch

 

5. Arrange the second egg, and sew it down in place like you did the first one. If they are overlapping, stitch right through the other egg. Again, cover with satin stitch in the same way as the first.

felt egg being covered with satin stitch
two eggs fully covered with satin stitch

6. Finally, place the last egg and stitch it down in place over the previous two. Cover with satin stitch, always following the direction the egg is laying in.

third egg overlapping the other two

 

And now you have the cutest, bluest little 3D robin eggs!!

3 stumpwork eggs finished

 

Felt is truly amazing for stumpwork, and really easy to work with. I even considered stuffing the felt, but didn’t need to since it turned out dimensional enough. You can use bits of felt like this to raise any embroidered element that you like.

stumpwork eggs in their embroidered nest surrounded by blossoming flowers

 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and small glimpse into “The Robin’s Nest”! The full pattern is available for purchase here if you’d like to stitch the whole thing. Suitable for enthusiastic beginners of the needle-painting technique and more advanced stitchers. If you’re just starting out with needle-painting, it’s not too difficult as the robin is pretty straightforward. If you’re a complete beginner to hand embroidery, I do suggest practicing basic stitches and needle-painting first.

 

You can visit my Stitch Library for full tutorials on basic embroidery stitches and more!

 

As always, thank you for reading my blog and happy stitching!

Fondly,

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How to Paint Fabric For Embroidery

     Anne      3 Comments

Hello dear friend, and welcome back to another fun fabric adventure! A few weeks ago I shared how to tea-dye fabric for an embroidery project, and today I’ll be sharing how to paint your fabric for embroidery using watercolour. It’s super easy and fun and you don’t need to be an expert watercolour artist.

 

watercolour painting for embroidery

 

In fact, I will preface this tutorial right away by readily admitting that I know next to nothing about watercolour painting. I’ve never taken any lessons or anything, and I don’t know all the correct techniques…but that’s ok! For our purposes here, we really don’t need anything fancy. The point of this little tutorial is to show you how to complement an embroidery project by adding simple painting such as for backgrounds, or other areas you’d rather not fill with stitches. Nothing detailed, and nothing complicated. Very beginner-friendly stuff. 🙂

Of course, if you do happen to know a thing or two about watercolour, I’d love to hear your tips in the comments!

 

Please Note:

Using watercolour paint on fabric is only suitable if you don’t intend to wash the embroidery piece. It’s perfect for when you intend to frame a piece, or turn into a box cover or something like that.

 

There are so many techniques that look beautiful paired with embroidery. Appliqué, stumpwork, ribbon-work, or even adding pressed flowers to a piece. Sometimes, you just don’t want to fill everything with thread, and you don’t want to leave just an outline either. Sometimes you just need to use another medium. All the techniques I mentioned above are very lovely, but there is none so quick and subtle as adding a bit of watercolour paint.

While appliqués and ribbons are gorgeous, sometimes they take a bit too much attention away from the actual embroidery. Sometimes that’s the look you’re going for, but sometimes it’s not. That’s why adding paint is so perfect! Simple, subtle, yet really makes a piece of work come alive.

 

Ready to see how I do it? I’ll be working on a little sample piece for my next pattern, experimenting with greens and grasses.

 

Materials

In addition to basic embroidery supplies (as needed for your project), you’ll also need:

  • Watercolour paint. This is where my non-expertise comes in as I tell you that I have no idea which paint is best. Since we’re not doing anything fancy here, I’m sure a basic set would be just fine. I’m using these Pébéo tubes since I already had them and they work really well, but there are a number of sets you can choose from and you don’t have to get the tubes if you prefer a tablet set. I actually find the latter easier to work with and carry around.

  • Watercolour paintbrush. Again, I really couldn’t say which brand is “best”, but then again you really don’t need a “good” brush necessarily. I like to use the rounded brushes since they work great for dabbing the paint gently on fabric. Unless you intend on adding lots of details, I would suggest experimenting with a few different sizes, depending on the size of the areas you intend to fill. For example in my project here, I used a size 8 (bigger) for the grass and a size 3 (smaller) for the door. My paintbrushes are kinda old and not the best quality, but something like this it works just fine.

  • Paint palette: this is really helpful for mixing colours if you’re using paint tubes, but you can also use a small dish if you don’t have one. If you’re using a tablet set, you can often do the mixing directly in the inside of the lid.

  • Some water and a towel. This will be needed to activate the paint, and rinse your brush as you go.

  • Sketchbook or paper to test out colours (doesn’t need to be watercolour paper, it’s just to get the colours you want).

  • Scrap of the fabric you intend to use for your final project. I am working with this Ditte cotton fabric from IKEA.

  • Scrap paper (to put underneath your fabric and protect your work surface as you paint).

 

Painting on Fabric Tutorial

1. First, have your embroidery pattern ready. This can be just a little sketch, or a pattern you’ve downloaded or purchased. (You can check out my Etsy shop if you need ideas!) Having the pattern ready will help to visualize how you’ll want to approach it, which areas you’ll want to paint, etc… Here I have my little sketch of a rounded door in the grass. I’m thinking of painting the door in brown, and playing around with the green to add the grass effect.

sketch of a rounded door in the grass on fabric

 

2. Test out the paint on paper. Watercolour paint needs water to activate it, so dip your paintbrush in water and rub it over a tablet, or mix with a dab of paint if you’re using a tube. I’ve found that you really only need a little bit of the actual paint from the tube, and lots of water to give it the right look and consistency. Play around with it until you are satisfied with the ratio and the paint isn’t too opaque or overly watery. Depending on the watercolour set you’re using, you might need to do a lot or very little mixing between colours to get your desired shade. The only green I had was sap green, which actually ended up being pretty close to what I wanted. I added a bit of black and a bit of primary blue, until I was satisfied with the result.

paint swatches on paper to get desired shade

 

3. When you’re satisfied with the colour, test how it feels on a scrap of the same fabric you intend to use for your project. I suggest sketching out the basic shapes you intend to fill on your fabric to practice and see how you like it. I like to use a pencil for this, since it will still be visible under the paint and won’t wash away.

adding green paint to fabric swatch

Applying watercolour paint to fabric feels different than on paper, since it’s hard to really “spread” the paint. It works better if you just dab the brush gently on the fabric, and let the colour run. Be mindful that it runs a lot more on fabric than on paper, so try applying colour from the middle of the shape you want to fill, slowly going outward toward the edge. On certain fabrics especially, the paint will still run a bit after a few minutes, so I like to stop a little before the edge of the shape to make sure it won’t “bleed out”.

 

4. Once you are satisfied with your results, it’s time to do it on the real piece! Transfer your embroidery pattern onto your good fabric with a marking tool that won’t easily wash away. Water-soluble pen isn’t good for this, and the heat-erasable pen might not be either if you want to blow-dry the fabric to dry the paint. I like using a pencil instead, and making sure that all markings will be covered with stitching.

painting the door brown
background painted on fabric

 

5. Paint the desired areas of your design, and then wait for it to dry or speed up the process by using a hair-dryer before you begin stitching.

embroidered door and flowers over the painted background on fabric
same embroidered piece with more green paint added to background fabric
I decided to add more green all around the design after I embroidered, but I would suggest adding all the paint before you embroider. It didn’t seem to stain the embroidery or anything though, so it was a good test.

 

And that’s it! Not so intimidating, right? It really just comes down to: practice before trying it on your final project! Be patient, don’t rush it, and don’t worry too much about it either. Adding watercolour to embroidery really gives it a soft, unhurried feel that easily forgives little mistakes. Plus, you can always cover anything with a few stitches if you don’t like it. Embroidery always saves the day.

I hope this tutorial was helpful and that you’ll give painting your fabric a try for your next project! I’m excited to work on the final version of this little home in the high grasses. Who do you think lives there?

 

Happy embroidery adventures my friend!

Fondly,

how to paint fabric for embroidery
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Floss Bow Tutorial – April Embroidery Pattern

     Anne      Leave a Comment

Greetings dear friends, and happy month of April! It is currently lightly snowing outside as I type these words, but no matter because here on the blog I’m definitely in the mood to welcome Spring. And what better way to do this than by sending out this month’s free mini-embroidery pattern featuring the darlingest macarons! 😊 The stitching is very simple, but I thought I would do a quick tutorial on how to do the little floss bow, since it’s easier to see in photos than explain with words. Plus, others can also benefit from it and join the EPP Mini-Quilt stitch-along if they so desire!

 

embroidered macarons hexie

 

Little Floss Bow Tutorial

1. Once you’ve stitched the Delightful Macarons pattern (which subscribers will find in their inbox by tonight), cut out two lengths of floss the color of your choice, about 15 cm (6”) long. I’m using Anchor 1024 – also DMC #3328, plied down to 2 strands.

 

2. Taking one of the lengths, tie at knot at one end or anchor through existing stitches at the back of the work. Come up just above the top macaron.

length of floss coming up from above top macaron

 

3. Remove the needle and leave the floss hanging for now while you do the same thing with the other length. Bring that one up from just below the bottom macaron. Remove the needle, and you should have the two lengths of floss just hanging there.

two lengths of floss on the good side ready to be tied

 

4. Tie them up in a bow, just as you would tie your shoe.

the two lengths getting tied together over the stitched macarons
bow is formed over the stitched macarons

5. Adjust as needed and trim the ends.

ends of the bow trimmed

 

6. To make sure it doesn’t come undone, you can come back with 1 strand of the same floss and gently anchor the bow down. I just took 2-3 stitches around the middle to stitch it down to the fabric.

anchoring the bow down to the fabric

 

And that’s all there is to it! Super simple and cute.

 

finished bow tied over the embroidered macarons

Which one will you have? Lemon, strawberry, or pistachio? It was so hard to pick colours for this pattern, since there are so many pretty pastels to choose from. But that means that you can easily come up with your own palette, or embroider it as many times as you like!

 

One thing’s for sure though, this will make you long to eat one of these delicious bits of colourful goodness. I haven’t had the opportunity to eat them very often, but I did try making some once! My friend kindly threw me a little tea party for my birthday one year, and we tried making macarons together. For a first time it was pretty successful, but the filling was a wee bit runny.

macarons in a saucer with a cup of tea

Nevertheless, it was fun to try and I’d love to give it a go again. I do think we managed a perfectly lovely shade of pink. 😉

 

EPP Mini-Quilt Tea Party

finished embroidered hexies

I’m also very happy with how all the little hexies are looking together! Just missing the March Teabag pattern in that photo, which I haven’t turned into a hexie yet. I work on this project month by month as well, because I love having a little something special to stitch each month. The only thing I have pre-planned with this project are the pattern ideas. I’ve jotted down an idea for each month to make sure I would have a cohesive theme, but I draw and stitch them one by one as the months go by, just a little ahead of you so I can get them out with each first newsletter of the month.

 

Join the Party!

You can subscribe here if you’d like to join in on this EPP Tea-Party! A free embroidery pattern a month, straight in your inbox, which we then turn into hexies and eventually into a mini-quilt.

 

Here’s a look at some of the past months’ patterns, as well as more info on the project and an introduction to English Paper Piecing (EPP):

mini-quilt project: epp & embroidery
January
english paper piecing: how to cut and baste shapes
February
Tea-Dyeing Fabric for Embroidery
March

I hope you enjoyed this mini-tutorial and that you’re excited to stitch up some macarons! Next to eating them, stitching them is best, right?

 

Fondly,

spring embroidery: how to make a floss bow tutorial
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Fabric Tea-Dye For the March Mini Pattern

     Anne      Leave a Comment

March is here, and that means it’s time for a new mini-embroidery pattern to turn into a hexie for the Mini-Quilt stitch-along! I have prepared a darling little teabag for you, because after all, what’s a tea party without the tea? So let me pour you a cup of steaming jasmine and stay a bit while I tell you how to tea-dye fabric for your embroidery. If you’re new here and you’d like to join in on the fun, you can read this post to see what the project’s all about, and sign-up to my newsletter here to receive the mini patterns straight in your inbox each month!

 

embroidered teabag onto tea-dyed fabric

 

When I first started this design, I thought it would be really neat to add a touch of something that wasn’t thread to make it stand out a bit, while still matching the rest of the project. So far, I’ve been embroidering my montly patterns on cotton muslin in an off-white/beige colour. The fabric is a wee bit thick for EPP, so I decided to switch it up this month. I didn’t have other fabric in a similar colour that would be suitable, so I decided to experiment with a little tea-dye! What could be more fitting? 😉

 

How to Tea-Dye Your Fabric

The process is honestly really simple. However, different fabrics might react differently so it’s a good idea to do a test on a piece of scrap first. I’m using a white cotton blend from my stash of scrap muslins…not 100% sure as to its exact fibers, but any cotton/linen blends will likely work. Even if there’s some polyester or other man-made fiber in it, it should be fine (I know mine wasn’t 100% natural).

First, you’ll want to boil the water for the tea. Depending on the size of your piece of fabric, you may need a lot. If you’re just wanting to dye a small piece, such as for the Jasmine Teabag embroidery, a teapot-size amount of water will be sufficient.

Next, pour the boiled water over a teabag or two, either in a teapot or in a big pot (I wanted to drink a cup while I was at it, so teapot it was!). If you want get that old-timey, classic tea-stained browned look, you’ll want to use a strong black tea. Orange pekoe or Earl Grey are great for this, but other black tea blends can also work. The more tea or teabags you add, the stronger the tea, and the darker the stain will be. I used only 1 teabag since my piece of fabric was very small.

 

flat lay showing embroidered teabag on tea-dyed fabric, teapot, teacup, a book, and dried florals

 

Let It Steep!

Let the tea steep for a good half-hour, if not more, until it’s very dark. Add your fabric to the pot once it’s cooled down, or pour the tea in a different container over the fabric. I just used an old tupperware, with the tea completely cold. Make sure that your fabric is fully submerged, and leave it to soak for several hours. You can stir it from time to time, to make sure it will be evenly dyed. I didn’t leave the teabags in while doing this, but you probably could!

When the fabric is looking nice and stained, wring it out gently and set it out to dry. I just placed mine on a soft towel. When it’s alsmot dry but still a little damp, give it a press with the iron to remove the wrinkles and help set the dye.

Fabric is now ready to be embroidered on 😊. Mine was still see-through enough to transfer the embroidery pattern with a lightbox and pencil no problem. Certain spots are still a bit white and it’s not fully even, but that’s the fun with tea-dyeing, and exactly the look I was going for.

 

white fabric and tea-dyed fabric side by side showing the before and after

Note: I haven’t tested the colourfastness of this method, so it might not be suitable for pieces that are going to be repeatedly washed. For the purposes of this embroidery project, or any embroidery you don’t plan on washing, it works great.

 

Jasmine Teabag Pattern

embroidered teabag with jasmine flowers on it

 

I’m calling this a “jasmine” teabag, even though I don’t think jasmine flowers have a purple center…but for this tea party, they do! You can of course, personalize your tea bag and embroider whatever tea motif you’d like. The jasmine was my inspiration simply because I wanted a floral motif somewhere on the design, and it was the first one I thought of that has to do with tea. Chamomile would have also looked really cute, but I love the scent and colour of jasmine for this time of year.

 

Pale green, flavourful, reminiscent of budding tree leaves…It just feels like a very “spring” tea! Although I’d go for a cup of Earl Grey anytime, and I do love my chamomile in the evening.

flatlay showing the embroidered teabag on tea-dyed fabric, Afternoon Tea book, and dried florals

Do you have a favourite kind of tea? What sort of lovely things would you include if you hosted your dream tea party?

 

I hope you enjoyed this post dear friend, and you’ll find the embroidery pattern waiting in your inbox tonight at 7pm EST if you’re a newsletter subscriber. If you’d like to sign-up, you can click the link here! Stitch & thread recommendations are included with the pattern, and I’ve got all the stitch tutorials you need here on the blog if you get stuck.

It’s a really simple little embroidery, but don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions! Follow on Instagram for more embroidery content if you fancy. 🙂

 

Fondly,

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3 Easy Ways to Transfer a Pattern Onto Dark Fabric

     Anne      2 Comments

Transferring the embroidery pattern onto fabric is probably my least favourite part of the whole embroidery process…and when it has to be done on dark fabric, it’s even worse! Luckily, there are many tools out there to make this process easier. Embroidery on dark fabric can really look stunning, so don’t be discouraged by this part of the process! I’ll show 3 easy ways to successfully transfer your pattern on a dark fabric.

flatlay showing a piece of dark blue fabric, an owl embroidery paper pattern, transfer paper, and an embroidery hoop

 

How do you transfer a pattern on dark fabric?

There are a few different methods and marking tools that you can try for transferring an embroidery pattern onto dark fabric. The best method will depend on the fabric type and weight, and how detailed your pattern is.

In this post, I will show you 3 different ways to successfully transfer a pattern onto dark fabric, using different fabrics and patterns. I will touch on the following materials:

  • Carbon and Transfer Paper
  • Chalk
  • Light Source
  • Dressmaker’s pencil
  • White gel pen
  • Steel-Ball Stylus
  • Ballpoint pen

 

1. Transfer Your Pattern With Carbon or Transfer Paper

This is probably my favourite method for dark fabric. It’s also probably the easiest, if you can find good carbon paper, or transfer paper. Carbon paper has a waxy side and the transferred lines aren’t as easy to erase. Transfer paper, on the other hand, is cleaner and the lines are easy to remove. I’ve been using the wax-free DMC Transfer Paper made for embroidery, and really like it (you can find it on the DMC website). It comes in different colours, so you can choose a colour that will be visible on dark fabric, like this yellow. The marks easily rub off with a cloth, or even just with your finger. This is a bit of a downside since it means they don’t last very long, but there are solutions!

carbon paper shown on waxy yellow side

 

To transfer the pattern, start by placing the carbon/transfer paper colour side down against your fabric, and then tape your pattern over it.

owl embroidery pattern taped to carbon paper, face down on dark blue fabric, with a pencil and stylus laying beside

 

Using a ballpoint pen or a steel-ball stylus, go over all the pattern lines, applying a good amount of pressure to transfer them. I like the stylus a lot since it’s “cleaner” than the pen, but the latter works really well too.

close-up view of owl pattern lines gone over with steel-ball stylus

 

Peel back all the layers, and your pattern is transferred!

transferred owl pattern on dark blue fabric

You will notice that the transferred lines, although visible, are a bit pale…And as soon as I pick up the hoop to stitch, they become even harder to see. As I mentioned earlier, the marks also rub off very easily. So, I would definitely recommend having a dressmaker’s pencil or white gelly roll pen at hand to go over the lines. The branch details on this particular pattern definitely needed a little help!

 

Different Marking Tools

I really like the white gel pen, but be mindful that the marks are really hard to remove. The dressmaker’s chalk pen is a better option if you think you’ll want to erase any lines later. Also, the gel pen doesn’t roll easily depending on your fabric choice. I used a dark blue linen fabric that is a bit loosely weaved for this transfer, and had a bit of trouble getting the pen to glide. Since the pattern isn’t too detailed though, it works just fine for what I needed.

close-up of the embroidery project in the hoop, showing tree lines drawn in white gel pen and an embroidered moon

*The products I’ve linked are not affiliate links, just genuine recommendations of tools I enjoy using.

 

2. Transferring a Pattern With Chalk

A quick alternative to the carbon or transfer paper if you don’t have any is to use some chalk instead. Print or create a reverse version of your pattern, and go over it with chalk. I’m using a piece of white tailor’s chalk (used for marking fabric), and going over the pattern lines very generously. This doesn’t have to be precise, you just want to make sure to go over all the lines. I’m using a thicker, dark purple cotton for the fabric.

reverse bird pattern on paper against dark purple fabric, a piece of tailor's chalk and an embroidery hoop
Bird pattern is a free download by Diana Vingert

 

Place your pattern reverse side down against the fabric, and go over it again with a pencil or stylus. You don’t need to apply as much pressure as with the transfer paper since there’s one less layer.

transferred bird pattern on dark purple fabric, with stylus and white gel pen beside it

 

Pattern transferred! Again though, the lines are rather pale, so I suggest going over it with the gel pen.

bird pattern traced over with white gel pen, framed by the embroidery hoop over the fabric
The fabric is more closely woven than the previous one, making it really easy to trace with the gel pen.

 

3. Transfer your Pattern With a Light Source

I’ve covered how to transfer a pattern using a window or a lightbox before in this post, and you can do exactly the same thing if your dark fabric is lightweight and transparent enough. The green cotton I’m using here worked really well with a window, since it’s see-through enough. The sun was really strong that day and I could see my pattern lines clearly, although it doesn’t show in the picture.

 

All you need to do is tape your pattern to a window or light box, and then tape your fabric over it. Transfer the pattern with the gelly roll pen or dressmaker’s pencil (or any other marking tool you can see on dark fabric), and you’re done! The dressmaker’s pencil worked better with this fabric type here.

paper pattern and dark green fabric taped over a sunny window in winter
sunflower paper pattern next to transferred image in white chalk on green fabric

Embroidery on dark fabric is certainly a little trickier to prep and a little harder on the eyes to work with, but it’s definitely worth it. I hope you found this post helpful and that you will be inspired to stitch something on dark fabric now that you know how to easily transfer your pattern!

 

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Fondly,

3 ways to transfer a pattern on dark fabric
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