Love Letters Day 29 | DIY Hand-Embroidered Stationery

I was thinking back to the lesson I learned in the MoreLoveLetters Twitter party when MoreLoveLetters tweeted “Inject your personality into the love letters. Make someone feel like they are finding a piece of your soul.” And Sharpies and colored cards are one thing, but how awesome would it be to open a letter than had been embroidered? How amazing would it feel to know that so much care went into the letter, not just to write it, but also to stitch into the paper. So I started experimenting, and I wanted to share with this embroidered stationery.

Here’s all that you need:

• Thick stationery or card stock (I found some at the office supply store, and any size will work.)
• Embroidery thread (Remember the colored string you used to make friendship bracelets back in the day? Yeah. That.)
• Needle
• Pencil

Start by lightly drawing the pattern or shape you want on your stationery. Simple shapes and patterns will work best. I tried flowers and a chevron pattern and neither turned out well because they were too busy. But my hearts, simple letters, and stripes look clean and lovely. You can use a complete outline, or just the dots to mark where your stitches will go. I just used the dots.

Then, use your needle to poke holes on each of your dots. This will make it much easier to “sew” your pattern later.

Tie a small knot at the end of a piece of thread. The neater your knots, the neater the back of your page will look. I know I like to fill up the font and back of a letter.

Now start sewing. Starting from the back of the card stock, sew your needle and thread through to the front. Follow the holes you poked earlier, making sure to pull your thread all the way through each time.

Easy, right. Each time you change colors, tie the knot carefully and trim the ends. You can add as many colors and patterns as you like. Think about monograms, stripes, circles, dots, squares, and more. Here are some of the pages I made.

Wouldn’t this make a lovely love letter? Or what about making a set of note cards for your mother for Mother’s Day? Hand made and totally thoughtful, right?