Techniques That Will Help You Enhance Your Embroidery
Techniques That Will Help You Enhance Your Embroidery
Embroidery is gaining more attention because people are pushing the boundaries of the craft. These innovators armed with needles and thread are proving to the public that the artform is anything but boring. Here is how you can follow the path of these trailblazers and raise your embroidery skills to new heights.
The first thing you should do to enhance your skills is to learn stitches that will add more dimension and texture. Techniques like picot stitches, woven wheel stitches, bullion knots, French knots and whipped spider webs will give your work an upgrade.
Another way that you can give your projects a boost is by replacing the thread with different materials. Swap out the regular thread for the common types of yarn for crochet and knitting - this is what expert embroiderer Thimble and Bee did with one of their floral creations on a twelve-inch hoop.
Picking up alternative materials can give the piece attention-grabbing texture and depth that ordinary thread can't provide. Try a chunky wool yarn to make thick spiral roses or a silk bamboo one to add sleek leaves to their stems.
If this is how you want to change up your next project, you should go to the website Yarnspirations to look through their unbelievable supply of yarn - they carry all sorts of different fibers and beautiful colors for you to make your work stand out more than ever. You can order a whole assortment of brilliant spools to embellish your project and have it delivered to your doorstep. When you get over seventy-five-dollars-worth of supplies, the shipping costs will be completely free.
People who are feeling particularly adventurous can switch up the background too. In place of a regular beige or cream fabric, go for a fun pattern or an unexpected shade like black. Or you can copy what many contemporary embroidery artists are doing and get away from a traditional canvas background altogether - some examples include Maryam Ashkanian making scenes on stuffed pillows and Danielle Clough using the grids of tennis rackets for her projects.
Finally, an interesting technique that you can incorporate into your designs is to move the pattern beyond the canvas. One artist that might inspire you is Veselka Bulkan who embroiders delicate leaves towards the bottom of her hoops and then attaches felted carrots and radishes to the stem so that they look like vegetables freshly uprooted from a garden.
Other crafters let their embroidery dangle from the surface to mimic strands of hair, falling water and more. There is no reason why you should feel restricted by the confines of the hoop - there are technically no limitations to what you can do with your handiwork.
The best thing to remind yourself is that there are no rules when it comes to this craft. Even if you don't have the right thread or canvas in your hoop, it still counts as embroidery. There's no use getting bogged down by what your piece is supposed to look like, so let go and have fun with it.
