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I was inspired by the beautiful embroidery projects on the Prudent Homemaker site to try my hand at embroidery. I had this idea to make my Mom an embroidered pillow for her bed for Mother’s Day.

This project was created with some gray linen blend I had in my stash and white DMC floss (I used three strands at a time). I re-used stuffing from another pillow that was beyond reuse.

To make the initial, I found a free font I liked on the internet (I just did a search for tulip letter). Then using the free downloaded image, I resized it in Microsoft word.

There are several methods of transferring designs to your fabric…you could try graphite paper and a pencil, or tracing it in a window with a disappearing marker. Here are some ideas:

I ended up using sulky transfer paper:

This is amazing! It is designed so you can literally run it through your printer, print the design right on it. Then you peel off the backing and  stick it directly on the fabric you wish to embroider. You then embroider right on top of the design.

To create the letter outline, I used a basic back stitch. I’ve never done embroidery before this project.

The other thing that really helped was using a lighted neck magnifying glass, essential for my tired eyes. If you have great vision, you won’t need this

When the design is completed, you wash it away (I ran it through a regular cycle on my machine). The sulky sheet dissolves, leaving only your work.

To make the pillow, I starched the heck out of the fabric to give it some body as my linen was a loose weave. (You can also use a muslin underlining). With right sides together, I stitched around the outside with my serger (to prevent fraying), leaving just a small area (as big as my hand unfinished. I flipped the pillow right side out, stuffed it and sewed the small opening shut.

I was very pleased with the result.

Total cost of the pillow…about $4.00, the look on the recipient’s face…priceless.