#Stumpwork embroidery patterns free full
#Stumpwork embroidery patterns free free

The next stitch will come up right next to c and pull through the loop made from c-d. Next, go down at d, again leaving a loop. Come up at c, right next to a, and pull the needle through the loop to tighten. Go down at b, over the wire and leave a loop. Starting at the base of your shape, come up at a, on the outside edge of your wire. Be consistent with the direction you pull your stitches (up from the hoop or parallel with it) so your edge is clean. Stitches should touch to completely cover the wire. Using a single ply of floss use buttonhole stitches to secure the wire to the fabric. The wire will be the 'couched thread' in the diagram below. This step secures the wire for our next step.

Using a single ply of floss couch down the wire to your fabric.

#Stumpwork embroidery patterns free free

Feel free to trim excess wire but keep a 1-2 inch wire tail for securing the slip to your surface embroidery. Simply use your print out and once you have the desired shape you can move to the fabric. It’s okay to skip transferring your diagram to the fabric. Use your diagram as a guide for creating the desired shape. The wire should be thin enough to easily manipulate by hand but feel free to utilize needle nosed pliers and other tools. I usually use a neutral colored cotton fabric for my back layer. If you want to transfer your main surface embroidery design to your fabric with the light transfer method, you may want to wait to hoop up that second layer of fabric until after you’ve traced your design. The back fabric will never be seen, its purpose is for the attachment of the wires and also to provide more support for these heavier elements.

Darning needle or some other large eyed needle will be useful for inserting the wire slips into the main embroidery piece.Īssuming you want to attach your wire slips to a surface embroidery you’ll need to remember to use 2 layers of fabric for the main project.

Thin wire (30 gauge) is easily manipulated by hand and can be cut with scissors.

Wire cutters, needle nosed pliers and tweezers may be useful for cutting and shaping the wire.

#Stumpwork embroidery patterns free full

Use a full strand (6-ply) for couching the back of the wire to the main embroidery. Some people like to splurge on silk floss when filling slips with single stranded thread painting. Use more strands for added texture and for filling the shape. To avoid bulky edges use a single ply of six stranded cotton. Use a small size embroidery needle (8 – 10) for single ply work. I use Kona cotton (double it if you want a thicker fabric) but sheer fabrics (organza, tulle) can be fun for clear insect wings.

Some fabric edge will be visible after you cut your slips out so you want pick a color that will blend in. Match your fabric to your floss and avoid light or bright colors. Green wire is great for leaves but you can also color white wrapped wire with archival ink to match your floss color. Look for smaller gauge (30) for a less bulky edge. Let's get started! Skip the text and watch the video tutorial here: You can find her on Instagram ( and her website is Her work is inspiring me to keep playing and pushing this amazing technique to create more realistic and three dimensional art. You will need plenty of patience to tackle a stumpwork project but you only need to know a handful of stitches to create these dynamic additions to your hand embroidery art.įor some incredible inspiration please go check out embroidery artist Pippa Haynes of Lemon Pepper Studio. This tutorial will focus on wired slips which are 3D elements created using wire, fabric and floss.

Stumpwork is a three dimensional embroidery technique utilizing padding and wire.