How to Make a Kitty Hat (for Humans!)  

Back to List

How to Make an Embossed Photo Frame for Your Pet

How to Turn a Photo of Your Pet into a Thread Painting

Jennifer Stern, contributor

10 users recommend

When you work on the outline detail, black might be too much, so try a really dark shade of the color palette you're working with instead.

Jen Stern

Use a Sharpie marker to fill in some of the "bald spots" so your embroidery doesn't get too thick!

Jen Stern

Be careful using the Sharpie marker around the edges—the color can bleed into the background fabric (like it did here). To fix this problem, I'm going to thead-paint the entire background white and put the embroidery in a small oval frame to hang on the wall.

Jen Stern

When you work on the outline detail, black might be too much, so try a really dark shade of the color palette you're working with instead.

Photo: Jen Stern

Add Comment
Print

Here's a cool way to machine-embroider a picture of your pet without an embroidery machine. Drop the feed dogs on your sewing machine, attach your free-motion quilting foot, and you're ready to go! I took a picture of Emma and traced the outline and features from the photo onto a piece of white Kona cotton using a light box. Then I picked a range of embroidery thread colors to work with. Unlike some kinds of free-motion embroidery, thread painting is very forgiving if you make a mistake—all you have to do is cover up the boo-boo with a lighter or darker color depending on your design and try again. I had some trouble getting the eyes to look right, so I "painted over" the darker detail with a light honey color so I could work on the outline again...I'm pretty happy with them now!  Another trick is to use Sharpie markers to color in any areas that show too much of the background fabric; that way, your embroidery won't get too heavy from trying to fill in every speck of fabric.

What you'll need:

• A photo of your pet
• Light box
• Lightweight white fabric, such as Kona cotton
• A pencil
• A nice range of embroidery thread colors to stitch with
• Thin cotton batting
• White bobbin thread
• A frame to put your painting in when you're done

Print a copy of your photo on plain paper, then trace the outline and details of the photo onto a piece of white fabric. (I used a sharp pencil to trace with.) You don't have to trace every little detail, just get all the major shapes and areas of shading.

If you don't have a light box, tape a copy of the photo to a window. Tape the fabric over it. The natural light coming through the window works just like a light box!

In addition to tracing the details, note the areas that are dark or light so you have a reference right on the fabric to help you choose the right shade.

I can't draw to save my life, so I love that I can start with a tracing of the photo...it makes me feel like an artist!

Pick a range of colors to thread-paint with. Keep in mind that you will need one shade that's really light and one that's really dark so that all the colors don't blend into one. I'm working with the "Vizsla" palette, which is mostly honey brown and a little Irish Setter red.

Initially, I picked black as my darkest shade. I decided later that it was too dark and switched to a really dark brown.

Layer your fabric with a thin cotton batting. I used 505 Temporary Adhesive Spray to "baste" the fabric to the batting. Get your machine ready to free-motion stitch by putting down the feed dogs. (If your feed dogs don't drop, you can get a small plastic plate that fits over the feed dogs to keep them away from the fabric. Check with your local sewing machine dealer if you need to get that part; it's really inexpensive.) Then, put a free-motion foot on your machine. (If you don't have a free-motion foot, a darning foot will work great, too.) Check your sewing machine manual for any specific information about how to set up your machine for free-motion (or darning) stitching.

If you're brand new to free-motion stitching, cut a square of fabric and batting and practice first. When you start stitching, don't worry about where you're stitching; just get the feel of moving the fabric under the presser foot. Here's how to control the length of your stitch: Keeping the speed of the machine at a constant, the faster you move your fabric, the longer your stitch will be. If you're moving your fabric back and forth too fast for the speed of the machine, press on the foot control harder and speed up the machine to keep up with how fast you're moving the fabric. Or, slow down the movement of the fabric. Find a balance between the speed of the needle going up and down and the speed at which you're moving the fabric that makes you feel relaxed. If everything is going too fast, slow down—you'll be amazed at how quickly you get the hang of it and your speed will increase. You want to shoot for an approximately 3mm length stitch.

Start by picking one of the darker shades and fill in some of the shadows. Filling in areas spread across the design will help hold the fabric to the batting.

Don't worry about staying in the lines—they're just a guide to get the basic shapes and shading right.

Next, working with the lightest shade, fill in some of the highlights. I did complete circles around the eye to make them stand out. Most of that light stitching will get covered up with darker detail later.

As you add more stitching, the areas with no stitching will start to pop up.  Emma's eyeballs are starting to get a bug-eyed look. Go to the iron and press the fabric down before you work on any of the dark outline details.

The one detail that requires a shade that might surprise you is the nose. Looking at the photo closely, I noticed that there was a subtle shade of mauve. So, I picked a light mauve and stitched around the shape of her nose. I did have a moment of panic when I saw how funny it looked...

Using light mauve for the nose made it look a bit funny initially.

But then I used a light cream color over the mauve to blend it in—much better.

As I add more honey colors around the nose, it will blend in even more.

After you get all the detail colors stitched, use the main color to fill in the rest of the design.

Don't worry if all your detail gets "washed away." The next step is to redefine the details with the darkest colors.

I used a dark red-brown and a darker black-brown to redefine and add shading to the face and eyes.

Now the mauve nose looks like it's the right color.

To fill in some of the white fabric that's showing through the stitching, use a Sharpie marker of a similar color to blend it in.  The embroidery will have a richer look to it, and you won't make the embroidery too heavy trying to fill in all the specks of fabric showing through.

As I looked at this picture, it occurred to me that you can "color" in the white fabric before you free-motion stitch it. I think I'm going to color in the rest of the lower body before I fill it in!

Add Comment Print

Comments (3)

SuzanandChelsea writes: I have been wanting to start free motion embroidery, your dog project inspired me. I like the idea of coloring the design first. Very well done.

Suzan
Posted: 9:57 am on May 30th

JenniferStern writes: Have you ever tried Holoshimmer thread from Sulky...it's a great alternative to traditional metallic thread. It's actually a sliver of holographic material that is more durable (breaks much less than metallic threads). Bonus Tip--if you're having problems with your metallic threads, use a vertical spool pin with a metallic needle and a little Sewers' Aid on the spool if you have any tension or breakage problems.
Posted: 9:46 am on February 28th

SewDanish writes: Free motion machine embroidery is SO much fun. It is so liberating :-) This is a great project, with a beautiful result. The colors are truely blended, which is the key to a great result. I like using the "top stitch" needles either #90 or 100 as the larger eye will accomedate metallic threads with out breaking it.
Birgitte
http://www.SewDanish.etsy.com
Scandinavian Textile Art, Unique Handmade Supplies

Posted: 2:52 am on February 28th

You must be logged in to post comments. Click here to login.