Free Motion Friday: Robin Wall Hanging

I hardly dare mention it, but I have a Christmassy tutorial for you today for Free Motion Friday. I stitched a cute little robin and mounted him in an embroidery hoop. I always think of robin's as being boys, I don't know why!

If you would like to make a robin wall hanging of your own, you will need the following:

·         Piece of linen type fabric approx 10” square. I used Robert Kaufman Essex Linen in theNatural colourway.
·         Small scraps of fabric in appropriate “robin” colours. I used scraps of “Twist” by Dashwood Studios.
·         Bondaweb – approx 4” square.
·         Iron on interfacing – approx 6” square.
·         Black thread.
·         6” wooden embroidery hoop.
·         Fabric glue. I used Gutermann HT2.

You will also need a darning or embroidery foot for your sewing machine, and you must also be able to lower or cover the feed dogs of your machine.

You can download the template for the robin I used here.

~~~~~

Print and cut out the robin template. If the test square in the corner measures 1” then the robin will fit perfectly in a 6” embroidery hoop.

Turn the template pieces face down and draw round each one on the reverse of the appropriate fabric. You don’t have to use exactly the same colours I’ve used, I just used what I had.

Rough cut each shape out, leaving a small border and iron onto some Bondaweb. Remember to use some greaseproof paper over the Bondaweb so you don’t get any of the glue on the plate of your iron.

Peel the fabric pieces off the Bondaweb backing and cut out exactly.

Prepare the linen fabric by ironing the interfacing onto the back of it to give some stability for stitching.

Arrange the pieces of the robin on the linen, centring them, and then press with a hot iron to adhere them to the linen with the Bondaweb.

You can find a full tutorial explaining these steps in more detail here.

Using free motion embroidery, stitch around the edge of the pieces and add details such as the robins legs, beak and eye. I used scribbly lines rather than straight ones to give a more hand drawn look.

Add details such as a branch for the robin to stand on, or a fence, or anything that takes your fancy! I cut some tiny holly leaves to add a contrasting colour into the design.

Make sure your design fits in a 6” embroidery hoop. Mine does just, but I wanted it to fill the frame, so that's good! Mount your linen in the embroidery hoop so that the fabric sits over the inner ring, press the outer ring down and tighten the top screw.