November FREE Embroidery Pattern – Have the Day You Deserve
November’s FREE embroidery pattern is here! The next time someone is rude, just remember they will have the day they deserve.
For me, November always seems to be a dreary month. Around here, it’s dark, and the beautiful fall foliage has already fallen off the trees. To top it off, the change in weather seem to bring out the worst in some people.
But you don’t have to worry the next time someone gets in your face over something petty. Just smile, and wish them the day they deserve.
If you are in the Tacoma, Washington area, be sure to check out my events page to see when the next in person embroidery class will be. As always, they are held at Mattice Beauty Supply. This is an amazing place to shop for any hair needs. Not to mention that without Mattice, these fun embroidery patterns wouldn’t exist. So be sure to tell her, “thank you,” when you visit her store!
What You’ll Need
- A 6-inch embroidery hoop to hold your fabric
- A 9×9 inch square of gray woven fabric
- Embroidery needles
- Scissors
- Marking tool to draw your design
- Up to seven colors of embroidery floss
- Optional: A bit of thread
- Optional: A 6-inch circle of felt
What Colors to Use
I always encourage you to use whatever colors you already have or like for your embroidery. But, if you want to use the same colors as me, here are my suggestions:
- DMC 815 – Medium Garnet
- DMC 645 – Dark Beaver Gray
- DMC 3021 – Ink
- DMC 927 – Oyster
- DMC 926 – Grey Green
- DMC 3768 – Storm
- DMC 3866 – Garlic White
Embroidery Stitches in This Pattern
Back Stitch
The first stitch in this pattern is the back stitch. This is a basic stitch for embroidery, and for hand sewing in general.
To start, anchor your thread with a small knot. Starting from the back of the fabric, bring the needle up, starting one stitch length from the start of your stitch line. Then, bring the needle back down at the start of the stitch line. This creates the first stitch.
Keep bringing the needle up one stitch length away from the previous stitch, and back down so it meets the stitch before. When you’ve reached the end of your stitch line, secure your thread on the back of the work and trim away excess thread.
Split Stitch
The split stitch is a strong boarder stitch that is a bit more decorative than some other choices.
Making a split stitch is very similar to sewing a back stitch. Starting from the back of the fabric, bring the needle up, starting one stitch length from the start of your stitch line. Then, bring the needle back down at the start of the stitch line. This creates the first stitch, just like a back stitch.
On the next stitch, bring the needle up one stitch length away from the previous stitch, and back down through the middle of the stitch before. Repeat bringing the thread up and then back through the previous stitch until the end of your stitch line. Secure the thread on the back of the work.
Woven Stitch
A woven embroidery stitch is just like it sounds, you weave rows of embroidery floss together.
Starting with a knotted thread coming from behind the work, come up on one side of the shape you want to fill and lay down parallel lines of stitches. Working in a serpentine pattern minimizes the amount of wasted thread on the back.
Once you have one direction of threads stitched, start adding thread in the perpendicular direction. As you cross the stitches you’ve already made, you will alternate going over and under each stitch. Continue to weave your thread until the shape is filled.
Running Stitch
The running stitch is one of the easiest stitches in embroidery. Starting with a knotted thread behind the work, come up to the front of the work at one end of the line you want to stitch. Then, bring the needle up and down through the fabric to create a dashed line.
You can play around with how thick or thin the stitches and spaces between stitches are to get different effects.
Stem Stitch
The stem stitch is a very useful stitch for creating solid outlines.
It starts with anchoring your thread. This time, you’ll bring the needle up at the start of your line. Then, bring the needle through to the back of the fabric, one stitch length away. But, while you pull the thread through, stop before it is tight against the fabric and bring the needle back up through the fabric, along the stitch line, between where the stitch started and ended.
At this point, you should have one stitch on the front of the fabric, with the thread coming through from the bottom, next to the first stitch.
Then, you’ll bring the needle through to the back, about half a stitch length away from the end of the first stitch, and back up at the same spot as the end of the previous stitch.
Be sure to bring the thread up on the same side of the previous stitch to keep the twisting appearing of the stem stitch.
This stitch sounds may seem more confusing than the back stitch, but they are actually different sides of the same stitch.
At the end of your stitches, secure the thread on the back and trim away any excess thread.
Stitching the Pattern
Get Your Fabric Ready
Start by tracing the pattern onto the 9-inch by 9-inch fabric with whatever marking tool you want to use.
If you don’t want your drawing to show at all in the final project, you can use heat erasable or water-soluble ink pens. I like to use water-soluble ink. When I’m done stitching, I just get the fabric wet and all the markings instantly disappear. If you use a pen or pencil, be sure to cover all the markings with your stitches.
Because this pattern is sewn onto a darker fabric, it can be tricky to see the pattern through the fabric to trace. Having a light behind the paper and fabric makes it much easier to work with. You can use a window on a bright day, or a light on your phone or tablet. There are even backlight apps available.
Once your pattern is ready to go, place the fabric into the embroidery hoop.
Start by laying the fabric over the smaller hoop (the one without the screw). Then, place the outer ring over the fabric, so the fabric is pinched between the two rings of the hoop. To tension the fabric, alternate between gently pulling on the fabric edges, and tightening the screw of the hoop. You want the fabric to be taught like a drum.
Now you’re ready to get stitching!
Stitch each section of the pattern, following the color and stitch guide below. Each section will indicate what section to stitch, what color of embroidery floss is suggested, how many strands of embroidery floss to use, and which stitch to use.
Note: Embroidery floss comes with six separate strands. You can play around with stitching with different amounts of strands to get different effects. This pattern in particular plays around with the number of strands to make the final design.
1. “have the day you deserve”
Color 1 – Red
Strands – 3
Stitch – Back Stitch
2. Spiral Cloud
Color 2 – Gray
Strands – 6
Stitch – Split Stitch
3. Woven Cloud Border
Color 3 – Dark Gray
Strands – 6
Stitch – Split Stitch
4. Woven Cloud
Color 3 – Dark Gray
Strands – 6
Stitch – Woven Stitch
5. Rain
Color 4/5/6 – Shades of Blue
Strands – 3
Stitch – Running Stitch
6. Lightning
Color 7 – Off White
Strands – 6/4/2*
Stitch – Stem Stitch
*To create realistic lightning, use different amounts of floss strands depending on what part of the lightning you are stitching. The center bolt should be thickest, with 6 strands of floss. The lightning coming off of the middle get thinner, with 4 strands. The lightning furthest out are thinnest and only use 2 strands of embroidery floss.
Finishing Your Hoop
Now that you’re done stitching, it’s time to get your masterpiece ready to display or gift.
If you’ve used a removable ink to mark your pattern, now is the time to take it out of the hoop and either iron or wet the fabric to erase your markings, depending on what kind of ink you used.
To display your embroidery in the hoop, here are a couple of options for finishing the back of your work.
Back Finishing Option 1
The easiest way to finish your embroidery is to put it back into the hoop and just trim away excess fabric, as close to the frame as possible. The stitches will still show on the back, but if it’s hanging on a wall, no one will see it anyway.
Back Finishing Option 2
If you don’t want any stitches to show on the back of your hoop, you can cover the back with a circle of felt, the same size as the inner ring of your embroidery hoop.
After placing the fabric back into the hoop, trim away excess fabric, leaving about 1.5 inches of fabric around the edge of the hoop. Then, use a quick running stitch around the edge of the fabric and pull it tight to draw the edges of fabric toward the middle of the hoop.
With the fabric tucked in, you can glue the felt circle to the back, or stitch it down with a whip stitch around the edge.
Click here for the FREE Printable Embroidery Pattern and Instructions!
If you’re in the Tacoma area, be sure to check out my upcoming events and come say, “Hi!”
For more embroidery patterns and inspiration, click here.
What’s your favorite comeback for someone being rude? Let me know in the comments below!