Embroidered Christmas cards
Machine embroidery adds a beautiful texture to a papercraft project. Here are our instructions and two designs for you to try.
If you want to mix and match card designs, you can also make our collage Christmas card.
Finished sizes of embroidery:
- Snowflake: 6.2 x 6.4cm
- Stockings: 5.2 x 8.8cm
We made two cards using this technique.
- One is mounted on a smaller 10 x 15cm card.
- For the other we folded a 12 x 12” sheet of card stock in half. This size card is generous and leaves room for you to add extra detail with a mounting for your embroidery.
Materials
- Sticky back tear-away stabiliser
- Watercolour paper or handmade paper
- Embroidery threads
- Card and cardstock to add mounting and message
Equipment needed
- Embroidery machine and hoop – these designs will fit a 10 x 10 cm frame
- ScanNCut machine
- Standard or auto blade depending on your machine model
- Low tack cutting mat
- Foiling kit and blue foil
Download embroidery and greeting designs here
Note: not all embroidery designs are suitable for embroidering on card. Use a loosely digitized design.
How to
Step 1
Hoop the sticky back stabiliser with the paper and glue side facing up.
Step 2
Score a line just inside the hoop, using a pin. Lift the paper away to reveal the sticky side of the stabiliser.
Step 3
Place the paper of your choice onto the sticky side and press down. If your paper has two different sides, place it so the right side of the card is facing up, with the wrong side on the glue.
Step 4
Transfer the embroidery design to your machine and stitch it out.
Step 5
Remove from the machine and trim with a craft knife or rotary cutter.
Step 6
Cut a piece of contrasting card, ½” larger than the embroidered piece, and mount the stitched picture on that.
Step 7
Transfer the greeting message to your ScanNCut machine. Drawing lines can be drawn with a pen or foiled.
Step 8
Foil, draw or cut the message, then cut around using the preloaded cutting path.
Step 9
Gently remove the greeting from the machine. Glue the greeting as well as the embroidered piece in place on your prepared greeting card.
Step 10
Repeat as many times as you want to make cards.
