The Essential Guide to Choosing the Perfect Embroidery Hoop for Flawless Hand Stitching

Stitchdoodles Blog – by Nicola Stanton

Discover Mindfulness Hand Embroidery: A Creative Journey

Embroidery Journals or Thread Journals as they are sometimes known, are wonderful creations. They are so simple in concept and if you stick with it and manage to complete your year of stitches then the resulting embroidery is really beautiful and well worth the time and effort involved. However… Its not as simple as it looks! Here’s my 2021 attempt! I had a great start and was managing to keep up with my little stitcheries and then boom, the odd day I didn’t do it, turned in to the odd few and before I knew it I was playing catch up continually. I had to give it up eventually as it was more of a chore than a joy and thats not why I stitch! It has to be fun!!! So, for those of you like me who love the idea of creating a visually stimulating array of motifs, but don’t want to be tied down by it, I thought it would be fun to tweak the original concept a little bit so it is more attainable for the less committed! Embroidery Journal ‘made easy’ I have designed 2 different templates for you to choose from using the traditional format of 12 divisions – 1 for each month of the year… Why is this journal easier than the usual? The big difference is this is 8 inches in size. Most embroidery journals are 10 or 12 inches which can be a lot of space to fill and become pretty overwhelming. There are over 150 hand drawn motifs ready and done for you – there is something for every occasion if you are struggling for your own ideas. This is not about stitching something every day this is a relaxed project that fits in with you – no need to play catch up and remember what you had for breakfast yesterday! If you haven’t stitched for a few days or even a month – fill the space with stitches – they are fun, need no thinking about and can be used for all spaces big and small! Will it still look as amazing as a traditional journal? Of course! I had fun playing around with the Icons available with the template and here’s how it might look if you are someone like me who doesn’t want to play catch up, and those inevitable gaps just keep happening!… and then, if like me you love just playing around with stitches, here’s how wonderful stitches would look filling in those spaces. You don’t need to follow a pattern, just pop in the stitches you know in any of the gaps you find! I love it! This is the ultimate mindfulness project if you just want to have a project you pick up and stitch! You could just do stitches each month – ooh now that is very tempting! A How to Guide is included with your template… …so if you are completely new to the whole concept, you will be stitching your journal in no time. Find out… How to transfer the motif to your journal fabric Lots of ideas for what to include in addition to the 150 hand drawn motifs provided. Where to find designs and motifs – perfect for people who don’t draw. Which embroidery thread to use. Which stitches to use. How to fill the empty space. Would you like to create an Embroidery Journal made just that little bit easier? You can purchase the following in the Stitchdoodles Shop, all contain the ‘How to Guide’ and over 150 hand drawn icons… Embroidery Journal Template Embroidery Journal Pre Printed Fabric Embroidery Journal Complete Starter Kit I can’t wait to see your Journals take place, join the Happy Stitching Facebook group and share your progress along the way as well as get lots of inspiration and ideas to add to your journal as you go through the year. You can also tag me on Instagram with #stitchdoodlesembroidery, or send your photos to nicola@stitchdoodles.com and I will include them here with your permission.