Embroidery for Beginners

What You Need:

• Burlap fabric (can be any size)
• Various colors of yarn
• Yarn needle
• Markers (same colors as the yarn)

What You Do:

1. Cut a piece of burlap to an appropriate size for your child's embroidery project. It doesn't need to be any larger than one square foot, and you can cut it down after, based on how big her design is.
2. If she wishes, she can draw a basic pattern on the burlap, with markers that correspond to the colors of yarn. This helps to guide kids' stitches. Encourage her to draw a simple design or image, and make sure the lines are spaced fairly far apart so that it's manageable to sew.
3. Next, help her thread one of the colors of yarn through the yarn needle. Pull the yarn through a little ways, so that it doesn't slip through the needle as she's embroidering.
4. Have her pull the needle through the embroidery, and then pull the yarn through the burlap, so that there is a length that's a least as long as the pattern she has drawn for that color. Help her tie a knot on the backside (the side with the marker lines) of the burlap.
5. Now, she can that start stitching, following the marker pattern—or improvising as she goes!
6. When she's done with that color of yarn, have her use the needle to pull the yarn through to the backside of the burlap.
7. Ask her to pull the needle so that the yarn comes loose. Then, tie a knot on the back of the burlap to keep the yarn from slipping out.
8. Follow the above steps with the second color of yarn, and so on.
9. When she's all done, make sure the knots on the back of the burlap are sturdy.

Display her embroidered project in a frame or on a bulletin board. To make it extra fancy, you can even stitch it onto a decorative pillow!