Easy applique embroidery project!

Sew... My 8 year old likes to hand stitch. I will admit I am not one for embroidery, but thanks to youtube she has learned a few tricks! This project started when we were at goodwill and found a never used, wrapped burlap canvas for $1. We bought it without knowing what we would do with it, but once we got it home, Rena decided it needed to be Mississippi art. So we went through my fabric scraps and this is what she came up with:

She picked orange to stitch around the edges, and made a little heart where our town is! How cool is that! It hangs in our breakfast nook. I love it. She carefully did a split stitch around the edge, but in enough to let the fabric fray a bit.

So a few days ago we were at Joann fabrics and they had Jute bags on sale. They are a pretty good size, and we picked up the last two because Rena wanted to slap some Mississippi on them! You can do any state you like, but the process is the same. Here is what we did with some tips.

First, find a reversed picture of what you want to add to your bag. 

Then, take a piece of wonder under and trace the pattern.  For the canvas we used fabric spray adhesive, but it didn't hold the edges down as well as needed, so this time we used wonder under! 

After tracing, cut about 1/2 inch from the outside of your pattern piece and lay sticky side down onto the wrong side of your fabric. Iron on. 

now, trim to size. The reason we do it this way is so the sticky stuff on wonder under is all the way to the edge of the fabric. Now, peel off the paper backing to expose the second sticky side. Position the applique onto your bag or canvas. 

Iron down very carefully. I used a medium heat setting, and you will get bumpies because Jute is bumpy. As long as the edges are down well, you will be OK.

You will need a needle with a large hole and one that is pretty thick. We found a nice size one in our craft needle pack. Do not split apart the embroidery thread, there are six strands, you can use all six. In fact, for a nice thick outline double that sucker up. There are a lot of stitch tutorials on youtube if you have not embroidered before. You can take this to your machine, but use a 90/14 needle and go slow. 

Ta-da! The bag is a pretty good size. Rena doesn't like the smell of jute, so she is saving this for her teacher next year!

Happy Sewing!