This Scrap Fabric Embroidery Tutorial was first published on the Liberty of London Craft Blog in 2014. As it’s no longer available there, I’m republishing here at Bonjour Quilts. Enjoy!
This appliqué-and-embroidery project offers a way showcase your favourite fabric scraps so that you can see and enjoy them every day.
Project Requirements (affiliate links*):
8 inch Embroidery Hoop
Linen
Fabric Scraps, pressed
Embroidery Needle
Embroidery floss
Doube-sided fusible adhesive
Water soluble pen
Paper and Pencil
Take your pencil and trace the inner circumference of your embroidery hoop onto paper. Using this template and your recurring shape of choice (in this case, one inspired by Moroccan tiles), sketch how you intend to fill your hoop space.
Once you’ve settled on a design, use your pencil to trace the required number of shapes onto the paper backing of your fusible adhesive. Be sure to use pencil as pen will melt and run under the iron. Once complete, cut the shapes apart into rough squares and then iron them onto the reverse side of your wrinkle-free fabric scraps, according to the adhesive’s instructions. Once cool, you can cut the shapes out as per your pencil marks.
Use the water soluble pen to trace the inner circumference of your hoop onto your ironed linen. Remove the paper from your fabric shapes and arrange them on the linen as per your paper design.
Once you’re happy with the layout iron them in place.
Embellish your fabric shapes with the embroidery stitches of your choice. This is not only decorative but helps to further secure your shapes to the linen. In this case I sewed along several of the edges of my shapes, and for my single red tile I carried the stitches out further onto the linen.
Once your stitching is complete, clean away the soluble pen circumference (I used a damp kitchen sponge). Give your piece an iron face-down on top of a towel (to prevent flattening your embroidery stitches). Then mount your linen in your hoop.
Your piece is ready for display as is, but if you’d like to wrap your frame as I have, you can find instructions for that over in this post (as well as how I like to finish the back of my hoops).
And there you have it – a beautiful piece of handwork to show off your favourite pieces of scrap fabric.
Happy sewing!
*These are affiliate links, which means if you purchase through the link I receive a small, but much appreciated, commission. This is at no cost to you – Amazon pays for it (thanks, Amazon :). These commissions help keep Bonjour Quilts’ website expenses paid, so thank you!
Oh, too, too cute. Darling idea to use my “never can toss” scraps. Love it. Just saw a “hoop wall storage project” for which this scrap patch will make a great front pocket. I save as small as 1″ for scrappy crazy quilts mini blocks. Thanks for sharing your talents.
I was at Liberty’s of London this past June and bought some tiny squares of some lovely Liberty prints. This is the perfect way to show them off. Thanks for saving this tutorial, just for me!