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October FREE Halloween Embroidery Pattern – Booty Ghost

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October is here, which means it’s time for a free Halloween embroidery pattern, featuring an adorable ghost, with some junk in their trunk.

An embroidery hoop with the phrase, "what that booty do?" embroidered on gray fabric with a ghost with a butt sits on a fall themed altar with candles, pumpkins, and rosemary

If you are in the Tacoma, Washington area, be sure to check out my events page to see when the next embroidery class will be. As always, they are held at Mattice Beauty Supply. This is an amazing place to shop for any hair needs.

Without Mattice, these fun embroidery patterns wouldn’t exist, so be sure to tell her, “thank you,” when you visit her store!

Booty Ghost

I am a sucker for a play on words, and a ghost’s, “Boo,” is just a natural fit for a hundred booty jokes (we’re saving the booby jokes for next year).

An embroidery hoop with the phrase, "what that booty do?" embroidered on gray fabric with a ghost with a butt

Every time I look at this pattern, I can’t help but smile. The little ghost butt just makes me laugh.

What You’ll Need

  • A 6 inch embroidery hoop to hold your fabric
  • A 9×9 inch square of grey 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 people to use whatever colors you have or like in their embroidery. But, if you want to use the same colors as me, here are my suggestions:

  1. DMC 310 – Black
  2. DMC 3837 – Dark Lavender
  3. DMC BLANC – White
  4. DMC 3799 – Dark Pewter Gray
  5. DMC 895 – Dark Hunter Green
  6. DMC 3346 – Hunter Green
  7. DMC 648 – Light Beaver Gray

Embroidery Stitches in This Pattern

Back Stitch

a diagram of sewing a backstitch.

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.

Whipped Back Stitch

A diagram of sewing a whipped back stitch.

To make the decorative candycane effect on “BOO,” I used a whipped back stitch. This might look complicated, but is actually quite easy.

First, stitch your design using a back stitch, as described above. Then, with a contrast color, thread the new color through each back stitch in the same direction to create a spiral effect with the two colors.

Satin Stitch

A diagram of sewing a satin stitch

Another foundational embroidery stitch, satin stitch is a common way to fill in shapes. You’ll want to have an outline to follow for this stitch.

With a knotted thread, start at one side of the shape you want to fill and bring the needle up from the back. Then, bring the needle down, directly across from the first point, at the other side of the shape. This makes the first stitch.

Bring the thread up right next to the first point. Then, bring the needle back down right next to the second point to form the second stitch. The goal is to fill in the whole space, so you want your stitches right next to each other.

Keep working densely spaced stitches until the shape is completely filled. The stitches should look about the same on the front and the back of the work.

Don’t forget to secure the thread at the end of your stitches.

Stem Stitch

A diagram of sewing a stem stitch

The next stitch used is a stem stitch. This is also a very popular embroidery stitch for outlines.

Just like the back stitch, the stem stitch 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.

Straight Stitch

A diagram of sewing a straight stitch

The straight stitch is arguably the easiest embroidery stitch.

Starting from the back of the fabric, you simply go up at one end of the line you want to create, and back down at the other end of the line. That’s it!

Secure your thread to the back of your work when you have finished your stitches.

Split Stitch

a diagram of sewing a 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.

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.

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!

Free Halloween Embroidery Pattern Stitch Guide

A color guide for where to sew the different colors on the booty ghost embroidery pattern.

Stitch each section of the pattern, following the color and stitch guide below. I recommend using three strands of embroidery floss for this entire pattern, but you can use more strands if you want a bolder look.

1. “WHAT THAT BOOTY DO?”

2. “BOO”

3. “RIP”

4. Ghost Outline

5. Ghost Face

6. Tombstone

7. Ground

8. Grass

9. Moon

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.

The back of an embroidery hoop showing how to bring in the edges of fabric with a running stitch.

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.

A closeup of stitching down the edge of a circle of felt to cover the back of an  embroideyr hoop.

I hope you have fun stitching this pattern!

Click here for the 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 Halloween joke? Let me know in the comments below!

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