Homemade Christmas Gifts: Redwork Hand Print Sampler

Let me preface this post by explaining

that I am, by no means, a gifted embroiderer.

I saw this wonderful idea a year ago on

Plum Pudding blog and couldn't wait to give it a go!

I made this as a Christmas gift

this year for my mother-in-law

with the hand prints of her three granddaughters.

My two girls, "E and C"

ages 6.5 and 2.5

and their baby cousin "A" age 7 months.

I started by tracing their hands on paper,

then placed the hand drawings

on my light table (you could use a sunny window)

and laid the embroidery hoop on top

to make sure they would all fit.

I traced them very lightly with pencil

on the fabric.

I used a vintage creamy, white linen napkin

from my fabric
hoard
stash.

The Frog Princess helped me paint

the wooden hoop with some red

acrylic craft paint.

(umm...do I really need to say this?!

let it dry completely before you

stretch the fabric!)

I used red embroidery floss

(all of the strands)

to backstitch over

the hand prints, letters, and date.

Then, I used white thread to do

this pathetic "blocking" job on

the back of the hoop

to keep it from poking out

and looking sloppy when it is hung on the wall.

(if my Aunt Linda the master of all things embroidery

is reading this please forgive me!)

The end result?

My MIL loved it and cried

and we have a new family heirloom.

What more could ask of a Christmas gift?

Now I want to make one for myself!