Tiny Cottage Needlepoint w/Finishing Technique Tute

I've been taking on a lot of large projects lately and sometimes with the big ones it seems like the end is never in sight! At these times I like to give myself a tiny project to work on in my off hours. Something with instant gratification. Tiny needlepoint is usually the answer. I love needlepoint because it allows for total creativity; a blue house with an orange roof!? Sounds good to me! 

I did want to share with you a couple of the "in between" pictures. Just for fun. This is the original idea, it came from a sketch I was working on late one night. 

Sometimes you've just gotta draw cute little houses. You can see some purple on the fabric in these pictures, it's because I like to use an erasable fabric marker to sketch my designs onto the fabric before I start working. It disappears in time OR you can use water to make it fade away. 

Lighting change! I wasn't sure what to do with the little clouds of chimney smoke, I made a few swirls at first but they just didn't look right. I also tried out a dark blue door but it just looked terrible! Avert your eyes! 

In the end I really like how it turned out. Especially the cute little pebbles on the walkway and the happy little trees. 

Now, I'd like to show you how I finish my embroidery projects. It's a little bit time consuming but the reason I do it this way is that I like to have the option in the future to take the backing piece off the fabric and wash it if need be. Fabric projects can get stained and dusty with age so it's always nice to have the option of cleaning them somewhere down the line. They also will become less taut over time and lose tension so you should reasonably be able to remove them and re-stretch the fabric in the future. This tutorial really helped me the first time I finished a piece. I've since added to it and made it my own. 

I forgot to include pics of the beginning of the process. I like to measure the hoop and make sure I have a piece of lightweight iron on interfacing placed behind the image to keep the project nice and stable before I start stitching. You can see the interfacing a little bit here. 

Now, for finishing the project I like to cut around the edges as pictured^. I then run a basting stitch around the edge of the project with a long strand of embroidery floss to gather.

Then gather all the thread together and tie a double knot. 

Then grab a coordinating piece of felt and cut it to the appropriate size to fit the back of your hoop.  

I then do a little whip stitch around the edge to secure it all up. 

I think it turned out pretty darn cute! I love tiny embroidery hoops, they make awesome gifts and fun little projects to work on when you have a little extra time on your hands. 

Here's a copy of my original image if you'd like to trace it onto some fabric and make an adorable little house for yourself! You could always print it and then change the size for whatever hoop you have available. Or, if you don't wanna take the time to make one you can always just purchase it from my shop! 

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Let me know if you have any questions! If you haven't tried needlepoint/embroidery before you should definitely give it a shot. It's a cheap hobby and there are all sorts of resources out there on the Pinterest to get you started. I even have a Pinterest board devoted to some of my favorites! 

Hope you're having a happy September!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Ashley