Tutorial: Embroidering a Smile
Today I will show you how I like to embroider a smiling mouth (or any other curved line) on my crocheted toys.
Embroidering smooth lines on a bumpy surface can be a bit tricky. After some trial and error I found a technique that works for me - embroidering the mouth with back stitch and then wrapping the yarn around the row of stitches. But if you have any tips or a different technique you don't mind sharing with others, do leave a comment below.
I like using cotton embroidery floss - it comes in pretty much any color and is easy to split or double up. But you can use any yarn or thread you like, just make sure it doesn't bleed color - toys may get wet or need to be washed.
Tip! If you can, finish embroidering before you sew your toy together - this way you can fasten all yarn tails segurely inside your pieces. If not, fasten and hide all yarn tails using this method.
Tip! Use a sharp embroidery needle that will go through your crochet stitches - you will get a much nicer and smoother line if you don't have to work around them.
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1. Hold up a piece of yarn to find the right shape and size for |
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2. Thread the yarn onto a needle. Insert your needle under the head, |
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3. Hold your working yarn against the head as a guide to see where |
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4. Insert the needle one stitch length ahead of the working yarn and |
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5. Draw the yarn through. |
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6. Insert your needle where the previous stitch ends and bring it up |
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7. Draw the yarn through. |
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8. Keep stitching until you reach the other end of the mouth. |
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9. Make the last stitch and bring the needle up where the mouth ends. |
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10. Draw the yarn through. |
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11. To get a smoother line, wrap your yarn around the stitches, |
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12. Then insert the needle under the next stitch, going in the same |
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13. Continue wrapping the yarn around each stitch. |
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14. Insert the needle where the mouth ends and bring the yarn |
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15. Knot the yarn ends together. |
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16. And done! |
Video Tutorial
If you do not see the videos properly, head over to YouTube.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me, I am always happy to help.
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6 comments
As great and helpful as always a tutorial - big smile and thank you from me. :)
thanks a lot I never could get it right this tutorial was a great help
Now that is fantastic! Thank you for posting this tutorial. Im working on some faces right now so will try this technique as I’m never 100% happy with the way I was embroidering the smiles!
Oh my gosh! i love your tutorial very much. I’m going to try your tutorial on my amigurumi too.
Thanks a bunch!!
Thanks for the excellent tutorial. I saw a tutorial that was on another site that had the same method with the back stitch, but I could never get the smile to turn out as clean as I wanted it too. Wrapping the thread around the stitches is a genius idea!
