Doodles into stitches

This is such a great idea that I cannot let this one be forgotten. It's an easy way to turn a child's artwork into a timeless heirloom. I made this way back in 2007 and it can be seen in flickr as the Bear Family. I decided to embroider this simple drawing made by Olivia because it was such a beautiful drawing that I could not let it be lost in our house. I can't believe I forgot to blog about it, so why not now?

Olivia drew this picture of the family when she was four, I happened upon the drawing while cleaning, prior to that it was on the fridge. I converted it to embroidery and meant to make a pillow for her. Except that pillow has not been made. No worries I'll make a pillow one day. Perhaps there is something in me that does not want to let go of the most absolute perfect child drawn rendition of our family. I am so fond of this that I'm not ready to let it go. She is quite proud of this drawing and looks forward to having the pillow complete. If I just keep thinking about how important this drawing is to her too then I would have that pillow made by now.

This will always be my favorite easy stitching project. Anyone can do this so long as you take the time to give it a try. And those of you with little ones, now is the time to start collecting those darling simple drawings. What a perfect gift this would make for grandparents. Stitch a drawing your child made and turn it into a pillow. Or just stitch it leave in in the hoop and it becomes its own little work of art to hang anywhere. (See how SouleMama does it on her blog.) I think I can hear grandmothers all over taking a breath as they open up a present like this one.

Begin by tracing the picture on your fabric. To transfer the drawing to fabric tape the drawing on a sunny window, then tape the fabric over it, and lightly trace the drawing underneath with a pencil or fabric pen. Another option is to trace onto tracing paper then use a transfer pen to trace over the reversed image. Pin to fabric and iron. You will get a reverse image when you use this method. Once the picture has been traced onto your fabric you can begin to replicate it using thread. I chose similar colors and began to stitch the drawing. Working this might make you want to create more. Have fun and if you create your own please show me.