Jules Eickmeier: Stitching Technique

I love to send little hand made gifts to friends before the holidays and this year, decided to try stamping and stitching canvas tags that could be used as ornaments or book marks.

I used canvas cloth that I bought at a fabric store, Vivid ink in black by Clearsnap and embroidery thread in black, red and white.




I used a large image Santa stamp from the craft store and stamped the canvas.


I used a chain stitch to outline the stamped image. With my needle, I came up from underneath and made a stitch of about a quarter inch. From underneath again, I came back up half way down the previous stitch bringing the needle through the middle of the thread strands and repeated until the Santa was outlined.


Next I used a loop stitch to create texture for Santa's beard. Coming up from underneath the fabric, I allow the threads to create a small loop. To keep this loop from being pulled flat, I use my finger to hold it underneath until the next loop has been created.



The final stitch I used is a satin stitch. I went from the top to the bottom of the part of the image to be filled in, and then from that bottom back to the top, keeping my threads as close together as possible.




Each of the tags took about 35-45 minutes to create and could be done while listening to music or watching tv.

Thank you for reading my technique and happy stamping and stitching. Jules Eickmeier