Embroidery is a kind of creativity, needlework and one of the types of arts and crafts, a way of self-expression and relaxation. The expressive means of embroidery are stitches, the color combination of the base and the pattern, and the features of the material. Using a needle, threads, beads or ribbons, a pattern is applied to the fabric. The motifs and plots of the works are very different: from a simple ornament to paintings – reproductions of paintings by famous artists.

The embroidery is varied. With the help of stitches and threads, the finest fabrics (muslin, veil, cambric) are painted, icon frames and clothes of clergymen are sewn, felt products, leather bags and purses are decorated, even horse harnesses, and carpets are made. Instructions for sewing techniques contain various sites, magazines and books on needlework, they also tell you how to embroider pictures.

The most important thing in embroidery is your desire, time and patience. You can learn the correct execution of stitches and the order of attaching beads in a few lessons, and the subtleties of craftsmanship are known for years. The higher the skill of embroidery, the more perfect the final result.

Embroidery materials

For embroidery you need:

base – ordinary fabric or special (with a large checkered pattern), canvas;

threads (cotton, silk, gold, silver, linen, half-wool or wool),

beads,

tapes,

needles,

diagrams with drawings.

This is the minimum set of materials and tools with which you can start embroidering, however, to facilitate the work, it is better to fix the base material in a round or rectangular hoop, use special desktop or floor machines. Magnifiers that are mounted on the head or table make embroidery much easier.

Embroidery techniques
The most common are cross-stitching, beads, satin stitch, ribbons. Silk and satin ribbons look good in embroidered flowers, floral ornaments. Works with ribbons are voluminous, bright. Typically, ribbons are used in combination with cross-stitch or satin stitch embroidery.

Works embroidered with satin stitch look like paintings. Simple stitches of different lengths, tightly laid on the base material, allow you to draw with silk, cotton threads, linen. The surface does not require an account, but it takes a lot of time and provides an opportunity to create.

Cross stitches distinctive feature of cross stitch. Master classes with step-by-step instructions will teach you how to cross-stitch pictures. Beads, attached with a semi-cross stitch to the base according to the pattern, allow you to create amazingly beautiful pictures.

We sew with beads

Each site on needlework tells how to embroider pictures with beads. Легче начать работать с набором для вышивания бисером, который содержит все необходимое для работы: иглу и beads, подобранный по цвету, ткань с нанесенным рисунком, нити и инструкцию по технике вышивания. You can choose a picture for every taste, taking into account the experience of the embroiderer. Particularly good are reproductions of paintings by famous masters of painting with partial beadwork.

Fasten the fabric in the hoop (preferably in a rectangular one), evenly distributing its tension, smoothing the work surface. You can fix the base on a rectangular wooden frame.

Insert thread into needle. You can embroider with floss threads, ordinary sewing threads, but it is better to sew with monofilament, matching it to the color of the base, since it is almost invisible.

From the wrong side of the work, insert the needle at the point of the lower left corner. String a bead of the desired color and insert the needle into the upper right corner of the cage, tighten the thread, but do not tighten, otherwise the work will be skewed. Repeat embroidering each cell in the same way.

The picture is sewn, observing one direction of work. Broaches on the reverse side of the work are not done, and a path of small stitches is laid to the next fragment as close as possible to the beads. Embroider the work in parts. It is desirable that the picture is completely removed in the hoop, because they leave traces on the fabric, and the finished work cannot be ironed. You can steam the embroidery from the wrong side.

Beaded works look like precious, amazingly beautiful paintings. The refraction of light on the edges of the beads, the shine, the multicolored material create a feeling of illumination from within. Each picture is like a last love. You want to admire such things endlessly.

Pictures, embroidered with a cross

Basic stitches:

Cross (cross). Initially, the stitches are performed diagonally in the cells in one direction, then, crossing the already laid stitches in the opposite direction. In the picture, all the top stitches should have the same direction.

Half cross. A stitch that is 1/2 of a cross. Tapestries and shadows in paintings are embroidered with this stitch.

Seam 3/4 cross. Them the details of the picture are sewn, having a rounded contour. The execution technique is as follows: a full half-cross is sewn in one direction, and in the opposite direction – only until it intersects with the original thread.

A needle or line stitch is used to stroke, emphasize the outline of individual details or the entire picture. Sew a stitch along the cells, with a rounded contour or along the sides of the cell. Them прошивают листья, стебли растений, контуры цветов.

Seam 1/4 cross. Sew from the corner to the center of the cage.

A few tips on how to embroider a picture with a cross. Embroidery starts from the center of the pattern and is sewn in separate single-color fragments. You can use several needles at once. The thread length is from 70 cm to 1 m. The thickness and texture of the threads must correspond to the size of the warp cells. Stitches should be laid by pulling the thread evenly without pulling the fabric. No knots are tied on the inside, but the ends of the threads are hidden under the crosses of the front side.

Embroidering pictures is a laborious and complex process. The number of colors for embroidery work based on paintings by famous artists reaches 50. Many shades of the same color, the play of light, shadows of objects create volume, a sense of life and movement. Threads create miracles, create works of art, elegant, pleasing to the eye, delivering aesthetic pleasure. The emotional impact from the contemplation of embroidered canvases is not inferior in strength to the impact from admiring the picturesque canvases.

Decoration of embroidered pictures

The finished work can be framed on its own or taken to a framing workshop, entrusted to professionals. Even the frame can be made independently using improvised materials.