Simple Spring Embroidery Sampler: Using Two Beginning Stitches
If you’re anything like me (and live in the Northern hemisphere) you’ve anxiously been waiting the arrival of spring. Here on the front range in Colorado, we still have snow storms until Mother’s day. But the promise of warmer days, blooming flowers, and a garden makes me feel so happy.
Our daffodils wished us a happy spring
The transitioning of a season means a new term and bringing spring into our handicrafts. Last year we focused on flower pressing. This spring our handicraft is embroidery. We’ve dabbled in this area before but it’s nice to re-visit skills with our co-op.
“The points to be borne in mind in children’s handicrafts are: (a) that they should not be employed in making futilities such as pea and stick work, paper mats, and the like; (b) that they should be taught slowly and carefully what they are to do; (c) that slipshod work should not be allowed; (d) and that, therefore, the children’s work should be kept well within their compass.”
In our homeschool, handicrafts serve as a way to nurture our creative outlet as well as practicing the habit of paying attention to detail. After learning paper sloyd, soap carving, flower pressing, and embroidery, I can see how these handicrafts help us in other areas of education like math. Handicrafts also act as a way to create beautiful and useful things. It’s also a perk when they can be gifts!
This sampler is a wonderful spring gift for grandparents or friends.
For this project you need:
A small embroidery hoop
Embroidery needles
Fat quarter cut to size
3 colors of embroidery floss
A needle
A pencil
Begin by drawing an egg design on the fabric in pencil. We chose a zig-zag and dash pattern inside of the egg.
Use a simple backstitch around the border of the egg.
Use a running stitch for the dashes inside the egg and a backstitch for the zig-zags.
Once the sampler is finished, we use a running stitch around the edges of the fabric and pull it tight to hide the extra fabric. This also helps to keep the fabric in the hoop over time so it doesn’t loosen.
I hope you enjoy this project! My 8 year old had a wonderful time working on it!
