I dabbled in some embroidery projects before, but it was the bare minimum and left me wanting more. I really wanted this particular skill to be in my arsenal, so I was excited to add it to my 30 by 30 list. I haven't had much time for hobbies lately, so I finally approached it in February, and I've totally fallen in love!
I started with the library, because I wanted a physical copy of some instructions and ideas on hand. Sometimes I like to shut the computer down and do something creative without technology involved, despite the ease of access to tutorials online (which of course, I'm also using!). The book I found available at my library was Doodle Stitching: The Motif Collection: 400+ Easy Embroidery Designs by Aimee Ray. So I requested it, and while I waited for it to come in, I started looking for internet resources.
Here are some great links I found:
DMC's Embroidery Stitches & Tips
Sarah's Hand Embroidery Stitch Picture Dictionary
Textile and Stitch's Easy Embroidery Pattern Tutorial
Mary Corbet's Needle 'n Thread Video Tutorials
Mary Corbet's Needle 'n Thread Free Patterns
I read through the first link so I could get a feel for some of the stitches. Since I've "sort of" embroidered in the past, the context made sense for me to read through, but I knew the only way to really learn anything was to give each of the stitches a shot. Anytime I found a new link of any kind, I'd bookmark or pin it - just waiting for some free time to try it all out!
The first thing I did was make a little self-sketched sampler to get a feel for some basic stitches.

6. Satin Stitch / 7. French Knots / 8. Feather Stitch / 9. Back Stitch
I had a lot of fun doing that - I didn't want to stop! I think my favorite stitch to do was the feather stitch. It's really fun to see it come together!
Next, I made a really simple hoop out of a vintage pillow case that I've been cutting up for various projects in our bedroom. I've used this material for a couple of other hoops, as well as a bunting. I kept it super simple, and just added the word I've been using as my decorating inspiration in our bedroom:

I love how it turned out! I used a split stitch on this one, and satin stitch on the heart. The blue thread was a last minute change, I started out with grey - what do you think? I love the bright contrast of yellow & blue together.

It was also glorious to have a seat in my new patio swing and stitch in the sunshine to the tune of the birds and the breeze! Sighhh, heaven.
So now the question is - what's next?!
Eek, I don't know! I think I want to buy a pattern to work with, I just have to decide which! I've been following a ton of Etsy shops with patterns for a long time now, like Kimberly Ouimet, Clementine Patterns, AndWabisabi and Dance Needle. I also found this in the embroidery book I mentioned above, and I'd love to make this for our farmer's market trips on the weekends:

SO cute, right? I am so thrilled to add embroidery to my hobbies!
Do you embroider? Where do you find your favorite patterns? Do share!
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