Embroidery has its roots in the sumptuous decorative wall hangings found among the remains of ancient European and Eastern civilizations. Over the centuries, the craft morphed into a way to adorn clothing, practice stitching, or pass the time. Today, you can find embroidery designs on everything from gift cards to baseball caps.
Whether you’re starting an embroidery business or want to show off your creations at home, working out how to display embroidery in a way that’s contemporary or classic can be a challenge. Below, we give you step-by-step instructions on how to frame your hand-stitched and sewing machine embroidery.
Display Embroidery on a Stretched Canvas
Instead of using a boring old embroidery hoop, why not stitch directly onto canvas and wrap that over a frame? After all, it’s a valuable work of art! It’s an excellent way to give your work a modern, professional look without breaking the bank.
If you want to try this technique, be sure to leave a lot of fabric around the design when you embroider on a sewing machine. Wrap the fabric over the wooden canvas frame and use a glue or staple gun to attach the leftover to the back. Canvas is heavier than traditional embroidery fabric, so it’s more durable and less likely to wrinkle during mounting.
Add It to a Gift Card
There’s no better way to show off your embroidery than make a gift card out of it. Think embroidered hearts for Valentine’s Day, Christmas gift tags with red-berried holly, or colorful stitched single digits for a toddler’s birthday. If you’re running a small business from home, these cards make popular purchases, too.
It takes some added craft skills to turn embroidery work into a card. You can either embroider straight onto the cardboard or fix small embroidered pieces into a decorative cutout in the front of the card. But don’t worry, for those with the gift of stitch, it should be a cinch.
Turn It Into Jewelry
If you use a sewing machine to embroider, you’ll be able to get works that are fine enough to turn into a unique piece of jewelry.
Be sure to stick with simple, petite designs of a uniform shape (such as circular). This makes them easy to place inside the tiny opening of an earring fixture, ring setting, or pendant frame.
Again, these make great gifts or sale items, especially if you personalize them with the person’s initials or favorite symbols. Don’t forget to make a few for yourself to wear, too!
Hang Embroidery on Unconventional Items
Hit the thrift shops or get out into nature to look for anything “hoop-like” that could work as a hanger for your latest pieces. Some of the more popular options include rustic wooden ladders propped against a wall, high-end wooden coat hangers, or beach-foraged driftwood.
You can even go a step further and find vintage fabric items to embroider and hang. Tea towels, pocket squares and ties, or your grandmother’s apron all work as items to enhance using creative stitching. But really, you’re only limited by your imagination.
Show Off That Sewing Machine Embroidery
Sewing machine embroidery is a skill that takes considerable time and effort to learn.
Don’t let your beautiful, carefully stitched creations pile up in a drawer or cupboard. Instead, use one of these attractive methods to display your work at home or in your retail space. They make great gifts for friends and family, too.
Head over to Ruthies Notions today to take embroidery classes or shop the latest Brother and Baby Lock sewing machines.