Hand Embroidery on Paper. Step-by-step Tutorial and Free pdf Pattern
Bored of the classic paper cards for Valentine’s day?
Why don’t you try making an embroidered card for your love note this year?
Hand embroidery on paper is simple and fun. I will show you how in this step-by-step tutorial.
For embroidery on paper, you will need the following:
- Printed pattern. You can sign up for my mailing list and download a Free printable design for the Love Tic Tac Toe card.
- Blank paper card. You can use a bought blank card or make it from sturdy paper. I used a white watercolor paper of 200 gms, cut it into a square shape of 15×15 cm, and folded it in half.
- Hand embroidery floss. I used DMC embroidery floss in Red (#321) and Black (#310) colors. If you prefer pink instead of red, change the colors.
- Hand embroidery needle
- A pin to poke the holes in the paper
- Scissors or a snippet to cut the floss
- A piece of cardboard or foam board to help you poke the holes in the paper card.
Hand embroidery stitches to use
All embroidery on this card is made with a simple Backstitch. If you are unfamiliar with this basic embroidery stitch, watch this video tutorial and learn how to embroider it.
Note. When you embroider on paper, keeping the back side of the embroidery neat and clean is very important. To avoid ugly knots on the back side of the card, use two strands of embroidery floss and secure your first stitch with a folded thread method. You can watch this video tutorial to learn how to start and finish stitching without the knots.
Embroidery on paper – Step-by-step
Step 1.
Download and print the pattern of the Love Tic Tac Toe card and gather all the materials you will need.
Step 2.
Cut out the Tic Tac Toe pattern and center it above the blank card. Place a piece of cardboard or a foamboard to protect your working table and add some softness. Also, it will be easier to poke holes with cardboard.
Use four pins to pin the pattern over the card.
To transfer a pattern to paper – poke the holes along the design. Start with the angles and crossing points. Then, add some holes between these. Each spot you prompt on a paper card will mark a stitch, so make the distance between the holes equal. You can make the stitches smaller on the curved parts of the hearts and bigger on the straight lines. Just keep them similar on each element.
Step 3.
Embroider on a paper card.
First, embroider the grid lines, X signs, and letters with two strands of black embroidery floss (DMC #310). Pass the needle through each hole you poked with a pin. Use folded thread method to secure the starting stitch and avoid the knots on the back side of the card.
Step 4.
Now embroider the hearts. Use two strands of red embroidery floss (DMC #321). To keep the back side of the card neat, start with a folded thread method and anchor the end of the thread under the previous stitches.
Step 5.
Add a personal note inside, and send it!
Video tutorial
Are you a visual learner? In this case, watch this video tutorial and follow me on this embroidery on paper adventure.
Related projects
Want to create something else? Then, check out these tutorials and choose your next project:
N.B. Some of the links may take you to the EasyToMake designs blog. This is my older hand embroidery blog. While I’m dedicating all of my energy to the Practical Embroidery blog, the previous version still has a lot of great content!
