Hand Embroidery: Constellations

Constellations are so pretty and ever since I heard the Jack Johnson song Constellations I've been a little bit in love.
So embroidering constellations seemed like a logical step to include them in my home.



The things you'll need are: 

Your chosen constellations, 
Needles,
Fabric- I think embroidery is a perfect time to use up the scraps you might have laying around,
Coloured embroidery thread, 
Pencil, 
Embroidery hoop, 

First of all look for your chosen constellations. I just did a quick google search and loads of images popped up, draw these down on a scrap of paper so you have them to hand. 


Choose which of your constellations you’re going to embroider, and lightly draw them on to your fabric. It’s easier to draw on the fabric not in your hoop and then pop it in when your ready to sew. 
I've chosen Ursa Major and Ursa Minor: 




Next step pop your fabric in your embroidery hoop. 



Thread wise I use embroidery thread which usually comes in a string made up of around 6 thinner threads, I split these in to two groups of three so I get a thinner line when I sew. But if you want yours thicker or thinner then just change up how many of these threads you use.





Next up thread your needle and tie a knot in the other end as you usually would with hand sewing. 


Start of with a cross, this is to mark each spot where the stars are on your constellation. 


Then connect this to your next marked point with a straight line. 


Do this for all of your constellation until you've connected all of your 'stars'. 


To do the crosses can sometimes get more difficult especially around the corner of shapes, so here's a little step by step: 


Once you've finished connecting all of your 'stars' your embroidery should look like 4 in the step by step above and something like this...

A simple way to finish your embroidery at the back of your fabric is like below:


Firstly slide your needle underneath the nearest strings of thread like in 1. This will make a little loop like you see in 2. slip your needle through the loop and pull tight. Like in 3. you should end up with a tight knot. You might want to repeat this once more to make sure the knot will hold and then snip the end of the thread short. 


These are really easy to do and you can do them in which ever constellation you like.
I've also done the Aries constellation (Me) and the Scorpius constellation (G) underlined with our dates of birth.

Embroidery is much simpler than everyone thinks, you can embroider anything you like, I'm in the process of doing a geometric pattern in a selection of bright colours. Keep your eyes pealed for a how to. 

I'd love to hear about anyone else's embroidery and techniques!?

Katy


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