Stitching on Paper - Paper Embroidery Tutorials

In a recent newsletter, I asked readers to email me if there was anything they would like to see featured here on the blog. In no time at all a message popped up... I would love to see more about people who are combining paperwork and embroidery. I'm a needleworker myself, but love paper art and have been trying to figure out a way to combine the two.

Carol, thanks for asking... this post is for you and everyone who wants to give paper stitching a try.

Stitcher-extraordinaire Mary Corbet of Needle 'n Thread posted about bringing holiday greetings to life with paper embroidery. Embroider Your Christmas Cards includes many helpful tips. Start now for next December perhaps? Another post is titled When You Care Enough - Embroider Your Cards!

I love this graphic heart with gradient shading that was created by Maria of BlackRedDots. It would be perfect to send as a Valentine; instructions can be found at Craft Tuts.

The geometric trend is still going strong and this free Heart Card pattern [edit: no longer available] by Pumora would be another nice one for Valentine's Day.

The Framed Geometric Heart of mine could be made as a card instead. All of these projects can be completed in an evening... my favorite kind.

For the extra-ambitious stitchers among us, the next few designs are more time-consuming, but just as simple to do.

I used fine silver metallic thread and followed a free pattern from Card Inspirations for this spirelli design. You'll find more ideas at Card Inspirations, and Stitching Cards has many options too, including fonts, words, borders, animals, etc.

Here's another spirelli pattern I love... Stefani Tadio created it as a project for my All Things Paper how-to book. It's just the right size to hold a tablet of Post-it Notes and is reusable.

Another unique project in the book is this stitched tote bag by Richela Fabian Morgan. It's made of upcycled grocery bag handles... if you have a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's nearby, you'll know the bags I mean. Hey, using a sewing machine still counts as stitching on paper!

You'll find inspiring paper stitching posts, including ones about freestyle stitching on newspaper and thread on paper as modern art, in previous All Things Paper posts via this list. Google is your friend too... there are many more paper stitching projects waiting to be discovered.

I came across an interesting post on Vintage Copywriting about an industry that sprang up during WWI... French and Belgian women embroidered ornate designs on silk - often forget-me-not flowers - that were mounted on postcards and sent to soldiers.

It triggered a memory... when I was a kid, my grandmother and aunt often traveled to far-flung places. Aside from waving at every plane that flew over our house in the hope they might be on it, I loved receiving the colorful postcards they would send.

I recall satin-stitched scenes on heavy card stock of Dutch children playing near a windmill and a Spanish dancer holding castanets... not the exact card (above) that I found on Pinterest, but similar... even the deckle edge was the same.

And speaking of postcards, Céline Nardou does contemporary embroidery on vintage postcards; her Instagram feed is fascinating. This one, of course, was tagged #prayforparis.

And lastly, Liz Sofield, @liz.sofield.artist on Instagram, is a textile artist who creates beautiful stitched geometrics on watercolor paper. This linoblock print with copper stitching is part of her Tapa Star series. Peak (below) is also in her Etsy shop [edit: not currently open] and would be a wonderful Valentine's Day gift.

Have you tried paper stitching? I'd love to hear about your experiences. If you have any favorite tutorials, please share the links below.