Tutorial Tuesday: Embroidered Easter Eggs (the easy way)

Last week, Craft Gossip posted a link to these embroidered eggs featured on the Needle n Thread blog:

and I've been thinking about them ever since. That led me to find this project

posted along with a tutorial by CelineG on Hand Dyed Fibers.com. First you punch the holes, then you stitch the ribbon through and hope to God it doesn't crack.

I also found these on Wikipedia

 

made by  a Ukrainian folk artist named Forostyuk Inna. Amazing!

I just had to try this myself, so last night I whipped up these:

Except I cheated. I let someone else do the embroidery... a long time ago. I simply got out my vintage suitcase full-o-embroidered pieces that I've purchased at estate sales, flea markets, antique shops, etc. over the years and chose a few to (gasp!) cut up. Apologies to the ladies (I'm assuming) who worked so hard on these but remember, I rescued them because I recognized the time and talent that went into each piece and I held on to them for the perfect project. This was it.

Here's how you do it:

First, blow the yolk out of some eggs. If you're not sure how to do this, read this tutorial - How to Decoupage Easter Eggs - which I posted in 2009. 

Now, find an embroidered linen, the thinner and more lightweight, the better.

Next, carefully cut out the embroidered part close to, but not clipping the stitches.

Now, coat the backside with Mod Podge.

and carefully press onto an egg. For an all-over shiny look you can Mod Podge over top of the embroidered piece if you like. Let it dry overnight. To add a hanging device, squirt some hot glue into the hole and insert a wire or ribbon.

 

 

 

It's the perfect project for those delicate intricately embroidered hankies you never want to blow your nose into but can't bring yourself to give away. It's nice to see these pieces out of storage and on display.

 

Tutorial Tuesday: New Life for Old Embroidery

Since McKenna doesn't read my blog I figure I can share this Christmas present I made for her. When I was her age I had this embroidered piece hanging in my bedroom:

I think my mom made it, but I'm not sure since it doesn't have the M.A.P. initials she usually stitches on her work. I remember it in my bedroom in the first house I lived in, but I think it went into storage after that. When I got it back a few years ago it was falling out of it's frame and had a water stain at the top. I won't recommend doing this to your vintage embroidery, but I took it out of the frame and threw it in the washer. Luckily, it held up well. Next, I folded it in half:

and carefully cut around the boy and the girl making sure not to snip any important parts. If you want to do a project like this and don't have two similarly shaped embroidery pieces, you could simply use fabric for the backing.

I machine stitched those pieces together and when it was still inside-out, I cut out a circle of velvet and stitched it around the base leaving a two-inch opening. I then turned it right-side out, stuffed it, and stitched it closed. In a matter of 15 minutes an old embroidered piece became a brand new two-sided doll.

 I love that something I used to stare at on my wall when I was a three-year-old is now something my three-year-old can hold.