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If you have kids in your life, chances are they have drawn you a picture at some point. With nine nieces and nephews, I’ve gotten so much art over the years, that it’s hard to find room on the wall or fridge for all the drawings and paintings, yet I want to keep them all! I adore this artwork, even when it’s been sketched on random things like paper plates and is falling apart a little bit.
In addition to putting a big smile on your face, one of the fun things about kids’ art is that it makes a great embroidery pattern. The lines are usually simple and can be traced and stitched up really quickly, making it a very unique keepsake or gift. Plus this is a great way to partner with a child that might be too young to stitch a pattern themselves. They become the designer of your pattern while you do the stitching. And the artwork can be featured in many more places than just as wall art. Read on for a quick tutorial for turning kids’ art into an embroidery pattern!
How to Turn Kids’ Art Into an Embroidery Pattern
Supplies:
Child’s artwork
Pencil
Fabric
Hoop
Needle
Thread
Begin by placing a piece of tracing paper over the child’s artwork that you’d like to use for your pattern. Use a pencil to trace the lines, keeping it as true to the original drawing as possible.
Next use your Sharpie marker to trace over your pencil lines. This is your pattern template.
Take your fabric and the transfer method of your choice to transfer the pattern template you’ve created onto your fabric. This might look like using a water erasable pen or Frixion pen to trace the marker lines onto fabric. Or if you want to transfer the pattern to printable dissolvable stabilizer paper, you can either trace the pattern right onto the stabilizer paper, or take a photo of your pattern and print it onto stabilizer paper for stitching.
Once you’ve transferred your kids’ art pattern to fabric, you are ready to stitch! I prefer to use the back stitch and randomly positioned straight stitches when filling a shape to capture the essence of the sketched art. It’s up to you whether you want to change the colors used in the drawing, or stick to the original art as closely as possible.
Remove your transfer lines when you’re done stitching and you have a one-of-a-kind piece of art that will remind you of your kiddo!
10 Embroidery Project Ideas Inspired by Kids’ Art
Now that you have a pattern, there are so many ways you can use kids’ art in your embroidery projects. Here are just a few ideas that would be fun to gift or cherish for yourself.
Kids’ Art Embroidered T-shirt
Somewhere in your stash you have the perfect drawing to put on a t-shirt. It might be a sketch of a dinosaur or Mickey Mouse or a uni-kitty - whatever it is, stitch it and wear it proudly! I got such a kick out of this paper plate drawing I received of Han Solo and Chewbacca that I just knew it had to be transferred to a t-shirt. Embroidery projects like this would make great gifts, especially for something like Father’s Day! Visit this article for tips on how to successfully stitch on t-shirts and other stretchy/knit fabric.
Hand embroidered t-shirts can make great gifts!
Kids’ Art Embroidered Onesie
While we are talking about clothing, who wouldn’t want an adorable stitched onesie, especially when it features stitched art that was drawn by a big brother or sister? An embroidery project like this is a great way to partner with a child to create a gift for their new sibling.
Kids’ Art Embroidered Apron
If your child loves to help you out in the kitchen, have them draw pictures of their favorite foods and then decorate a kid-sized apron with embroidered copies of their art.
Kids’ Art Embroidered Note
I love getting cards from kids and seeing what they’ve written inside. Bonus if you get a drawing along with your note! Trace a heartwarming note from a child and stitch it on lightly striped fabric to represent lined paper.
Kids’ Art Embroidered Quilted Blanket
For an extra precious keepsake, create a quilted blanket or wall hanging that features embroidered blocks of child’s drawings. A handmade gift like this one would make another wonderful gift for a special occasion.
Kid’s Art Embroidered Christmas Stocking
Give kids the chance to help design their own Christmas stocking by stitching a drawing onto it and then giving them the opportunity to add glitter, pom poms, or other embellishments.
Kids’ Art Embroidered Pillow or Plushie
Use a child’s drawing of their favorite animal or a family pet to create a simple pillow or plushie. You may have to enlarge the pattern so that it’s big enough to be stuffed with Poly-fil once it’s stitched on fabric. After stitching your design, leave a few inches of space around it and cut out the shape. Then cut out a second identical shape for the back of the pillow. Place right sides of the fabric together and sew around the outside with a quarter inch (6 mm) seam allowance, leaving a 2 inch (5 cm) gap. Finally, turn the pillow right side out and fill it with Poly-fil, stitching it closed with a ladder stitch.
Kids’ Art Embroidered Tote Bag
If you’re a regular visitor to the library, decorate a tote bag for books with your child’s drawings of their favorite characters or animals. Decorated reusable bags are great for grocery shopping too. For tips on embroidering a tote bag, read this article.
Kids’ Art Embroidered Family Portrait
Embroidering a copy of a child’s family portrait is not only an endearing keepsake, it would make a special gift for Mother’s Day, or be lovely gifted to a grandparent for Christmas. Hang an embroidered family portrait on the wall, embroider it on a pillow, or feature it on a t-shirt.
In this example I took elements of my nephew’s drawing and repositioned them so they would fit in an 8-inch embroidery hoop. I also added some color in the stitching.
Kids’ Art Embroidered Self-Portrait
Turning a child’s self-portrait into embroidered art for extended family is a unique way to duplicate a drawing that you might also want to keep a copy of yourself. If an older child creates the drawing, teach them how to embroider it with you and add the words be-YOU-tiful at the bottom.
This embroidery is based on a drawing my niece made of the two of us for my birthday. I kept her color scheme and added some random straight stitches to give the impression of sketchy coloring.
How will you use child’s art to inspire your embroidery projects?
I would love to hear about (or even see photos!) of what ideas you get from this article and how you use them in an embroidery project. Tell me about them in the comments below or send me an email!