Embroidery hoop & modern calligraphy

I finally took the leap and tried embroidery + handlettering as a Christmas gift for my friend K, who teaches workshops on mindful brushlettering.

 I was worried that the letters would turn out all shaky or crooked but am pleased with the final result! K had mentioned that the combination of embroidery with calligraphy has been a rising trend this year. I've been practicing brushlettering with brushes, Tombow dual pens, and Daiso pens recently, and Andrew also gifted me with this calligraphy set that I'm excited to try out soon.

 Mindfulness is a practiced discipline of just noticing and describing events so as to process them more carefully instead of automatically repeating a script or mantra. The Mindful Brain, by Dan Siegel

Click below for the tutorial!
Materials:

• embroidery hoop
• any fabric (I used thick canvas-y corduroy fabric)
• needle and embroidery thread
• hot glue gun

Tighten the embroidery hoop around the fabric

Print or draw out the lettering you want to trace and tape to a sunny window

Trace letters in pencil 

Knot your thread and start embroidering! This video is helpful on basic embroidering techniques. I did a backstitch for all the letters and a French knot for dotting the "i"

All done! Next, tuck in the edges of the fabric

Sew a simple running stitch (I think that's a surgical suturing term, not an embroidery term? I miss suturing) all the way around, then pull/cinch it closed like a drawstring. Finally, I used a hot glue gun to hold the fabric down.

K told me that she will be hanging this in her future office!