Clover & Violet – Embroidering on Printed Fabric
This post is part of the A Season by Hand series. Find the schedule here.
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Hi! It’s Jennie stopping in here today. One of our posters was unable to share, so we did a little shuffling, and I’m going to be showing off some of what I’ve been working on. Just last week Josiah and I drove from California to Virginia {the little ones stayed at my parents’ house, so they didn’t have to spend six days in the car!}. Since I actually didn’t do much driving, I got quite a bit of time for stitching. I brought a variety of hand work with me, but ended up spending most of my time working on embroidery.
I had seen embroidery done directly on printed fabric before, and had been wanting to try it, but hadn’t really gotten to it. So, when it was Rhonda’s month in the Modern Stitching Bee, she asked for a block with applique or embroidery that would make her think of each maker, I thought it might be the perfect time to give this a try!
I chose one of my favorite prints from Vintage Modern by Bonnie & Camille {because, obviously, I love their fabric!}, and decided to try my hand at embroidering on the print.
Since we were going to be spending a week in the car, I packed up my coordinating threads {I just used regular embroidery floss because it was much easier to pack than the perle cotton I usually use, you can find the exact colors here}, cut a piece to fill my hoop, and put it in my travel bag.
I think the most enjoyable thing about stitching directly on the print was I could stop at any time, or fill in any way I liked. Since the flowers had a lot of outlines already, I traced some of those with back stitch, some with split stitch, and some with stem stitch.
I sewed my embroidered piece into the Checkers block from Modern Blocks and I think it looks pretty cute! I think I will be doing more of this type of stitching in the future, as it really is open for interpretation, instead of having a pattern to complete. It would also look cute in a mini quilt or just hanging in a hoop.
Have you ever embroidered on a print? Any tips, hints, or suggestions?
Wow that looks great. Such a simple idea but great results.
What a cute idea! I’ve seen it on another blog and it looked so pretty, but I’ve never tried it. I’m getting ready for a road/camping trip. It might be a good reason to start!
What a great idea! I have never seen this done before. Your stitches are always so perfect. Well done!
What a cool thing to do. I can see doing that on children’s clothing too.
That is so pretty. thanks for the reminder that I need to do this more often. I always like it when I do.
OOOO! That would be a fun way to dress up a single-fabric pillow. Thanks for sharing!
I love this fabric! Very pretty embroidery!!!
Wow, that is gorgeous! I love it!
I love this Jen! It is soooo you!
That is gorgeous! I have never thought about doing that before but I will now, thank you for sharing xx
Such a wonderful idea…I’ve done this in the past but totally forgotten about it, thank you for reminding me. And your square turned out beautiful!!
Thanks for sharing – your stitching is beautiful!
Love, love, love this block and the way you stitched it is so cute!!
Now that is lovely. Who would have thought to do that? Thanks for sharing.
I love how that block turned out! The embroidery really compliments that VM print. I hope your move is going well! xoxo
I have been wanting to try this too! I seen it done on blue or black toile. Great Job Jen, and I love Vintage Modern too.
What a cute block! I’ve embroidered for years, and have yet to embroider on printed fabric (by following the printed design, I mean)! 🙂
I love this! What a great idea. Your project turned out wonderfully. I must keep this in mind to try in the future.
I’ve never seen this before…what a great idea, and I love how you framed it within the block itself.
What a great idea! I’ve never seen this before. Your block turned out really well.
That is absolutely beautiful! Thank you for sharing the idea.
wow, very pretty, and the lines where already there, how cool is that.
What a clever idea. I would never have thought of doing that. Your stitching looks great.
This is so pretty ~ a lovely touch to your beautiful fabric! How nice to travel with Josiah, a bit of a break although I am sure you missed those two beautiful darlins’! XOXO
Wow, what a difference the embroidery made!! It looks to delicate and adds a new dimension to your block. Love it!!
c’est super sympa de rebroder les fleurs!
à bientôt!
coccinelle.
What a simple and lovely idea! I’m going to look through my stash right now.
Never thought of doing this, but it gives texture and dimension that really is impressive! I’m looking forward to trying it.
Beautiful!!!! I remember hearing about this idea awhile back but forgot all about it. Thank you for reminding me. You took an already gorgeous fabric and made it come to life! I can’t wait to get started! Thank you!
What a pretty way to highlight the design of the fabric. Thanks for sharing your idea!
I hadn’t seen that, very cute. Thanks for sharing. I don’t often do hand sewing, at all. Except when I travel. That looks like a fun project for my next trip. I like the idea someone had of using it on children’s clothing. Ideas are formulating.
Oh I just love this idea! I have never tried it but now it is in my to try pile!
Oh my gosh!! Thank you so much for doing a post about this!! Can you tell I’m ecstatic? Lol. I bought a print panel that I fell in love with but had no clue where or how to go about it. Now I can put it on my list of summer hand stitching projects!! Yay!
This is so beautiful! What a clever idea!
Such a great idea. Thanks for sharing
This is so gorgeous, I LOVE the pretty embroidery on the print, and the block you made with it is delightful!
Helen x
What a fun idea! I am using a piece of Anna Maria Horner’s Loulouthi fabric as the backing for my Garden Steps quilt and I have been admiring the big flowers on it. I’d love to try that or perle cotton quilting around them.
I love this idea and I am totally going to try this.
Oooh so envious of your flosses’ collections!:)
That is such a great idea. Thanks for sharing!
I just love this idea Jennie! I had seen it before too, but forgot all about it until I saw your post. 🙂 I am going to be searching my fabrics for something to try this on when we take a trip. Thank you!
I have done that before. There are so many great fabrics that would work with embroidery done on them. Cute block.
Beautiful! I’ve always wanted to try this, but never seem to find appropriate fabric. Yours looks great.
Sweet. Doing hand embroidery on printed fabric was a cool concept. Really cute.
I love all of the handwork, embroidery etc. I have added embroidered blocks along with other quilt blocks often in my quilts, and I especially love what you did with the print fabric. I really love the “Vintage Modern” line of fabric and it is what I am using in my “Farmer’s Wife” quilt . I’m inspired by the embroidery that you did with this fabric and may do some on my blocks.
Thanks for sharing.
cheers
maggie
Beautiful! I’m just doing my first embroidery on fabric right now also using a Sew Stitchy panel by Aneela Hoey. I love it! I don’t have to think to hard about it — just enjoy the process!
These last few weeks I have been cutting and stitching away here and there – mostly there in the late, late night, when the house is quiet and I have a moment to make a strong cup of tea, breathe, then sit and sew.
Ornamental stitching was first practiced in China way back in 5th Century, BC. Decorative embroidery came about as a prettier way to mend, tailor and reinforce cloth. It spread throughout Europe and the Middle East, and when the Industrial Revolution came about, people started looking for ways to reproduce it mechanically.
How cute! And I love your thread holder thingy!
so pretty! I keep meaning to try this. By the way, the sudden influx of comments is because I just realised I’d lost you from my reader when I swapped from Google Reader… I didn’t think I’d had any casualties but now I’m wondering who else I’m missing!