Embroidered pins make charming gifts, and they’re quick and easy to make. You can also adapt the following instructions to turn your tiny stitching into buttons with a button kit. For these pin designs, you’ll need to know satin stitch, seed stitch, stem stitch, and straight stitch, as well as how to make French knots.
Poppy Perfection
These beautiful, dainty flowers can often be found growing wild in hedgerows, and they’re a sure sign that summer’s on its way.
Tools & Materials
- Transfer and marking tools
- Woven fabric
- Embroidery hoop
- Needle
- Scissors
- 300-gram-weight paper, to back the cabochon
- Tie tack pin setting
- Glue
- Embroidery floss
- Bright orange-red (4 strands)
- Bright orange (2 strands)
- Medium apricot (4 strands)
- Dark brown-gray (4 strands)
- White (3 strands)
- Medium golden olive (1 strand)
- Golden olive (1 strand)
- Dark topaz (3 strands)
Instructions
1. Transfer the poppy motif (see “Templates”) onto the fabric, and then place the fabric in an embroidery hoop.
2. Work the bottom right petal of the left poppy first, using 2 strands of orange-red and satin stitch. Be sure to make your stitches go from the edge of the petal to the center of the flower.
3. Work the adjacent petals on the left and right in satin stitch, using 1 strand of orange for each, again making sure to take your stitches from the outside edges to the center.
4. Work the final flower petal with 2 strands of apricot and satin stitch, still working your stitches from the outside in.
5. Fill in the middle of the poppy with French knots using 1 strand of brown-gray. Finish by making a single French knot in the center using 1 strand of white.
6. Next, work the middle petal of the poppy on the right, using 2 strands of orange-red and satin stitch, stitching from the upper edge of the petal to its stem. Use 2 strands of apricot for the adjacent petals on the left and right, and stitch them in the same way.
7. Use 1 strand of medium golden olive to work the poppy and bud stems using stem stitch. Make the bud parts by working tiny seed stitches with 1 strand of golden olive.
8. Stitch the bee by making tiny seed stitches using 3 strands of dark topaz for the light stripes, and 3 strands of brown-gray for the dark center stripe. Use 2 strands of white to add the wings by making a single tiny seed stitch for each.
9. Cut a circle from the 300-gram-weight paper to fit in the tie tack pin setting, and then cut the embroidery just a bit larger than the paper circle. Glue the fabric to the paper, notching the edges and folding them to the back, and inset into the setting following the manufacturer’s instructions.
The Bee’s Knees
Set your creativity buzzing with this precious wildlife-inspired pin. With its cheerful colors and delicate design, this little bumblebee looks great on cuffs, collars, pockets, and more.
Tools & Materials
- Transfer and marking tools
- Woven fabric
- Embroidery hoop
- Needle
- Scissors
- 300-gram-weight paper, to back the cabochon
- Tie tack pin setting
- Glue
- Embroidery floss
- Ultra-dark beaver-gray (3 strands)
- Topaz (2 strands)
- Light yellow-beige (3 strands)
Instructions
- Transfer the bumblebee motif (see “Templates”) onto the fabric, and then place the fabric in an embroidery hoop.
- Stitch the bee’s head with 2 strands of beaver-gray, using satin stitch. Continue stitching the body in the same way, leaving gaps between the head and the middle stripe, as well as between the middle stripe and the lower stripe.
- Use 2 strands of topaz and satin stitch to finish the body by filling the gaps.
- Create the wings using straight stitch in 3 strands of yellow-beige.
- Using 1 strand of beaver-gray, work small straight stitches to make the legs.
- Cut a circle from the 300-gram-weight paper to fit in the tie tack pin setting, and then cut the embroidery just a bit larger than the paper circle. Glue the fabric to the paper, notching the edges and folding them to the back, and inset into the setting following the manufacturer’s instructions.
Irem Yazici is a hand embroiderer and designer, and the owner of the Baobap online shop [www.baobap.bigcartel.com]. She loves to stitch tiny things, and has gathered a worldwide following for her miniature embroidered pins and patches. This article is excerpted with permission from her book Tiny Stitches: Buttons, Badges, Patches, and Pins to Embroider (©2018 Roost Books, an imprint of Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boulder, Colorado).
