project // stitching snowflakes on burlap

Back in November? December? Who can tell? Life is a blur. I was at Michael's and they were featuring pre-stretched canvases with burlap instead of canvas. They suggested painting them, but I knew they just NEEDED to be stitched. So I bought one. And it sat here. Waiting. Since November? December? There's that blur of life again...

At last, I've pulled it out and added some stitching! Here's how to make a snowflake canvas like mine:



The canvases come in several sizes, and I went with the larger because the wooden frame obstructs much of the surface on the back. I also grabbed a skein of perle cotton in a light, light blue from the DMC Color Variations line.



By the way, if you look at the back of the canvas, you'll see that it has a coating on it. This makes the burlap not quite as open a weave as what you see. You will need a sharp needle to get through it, but the upside is that it helps hold the stitches in place a lot better than working with plain burlap.



To make big stitches, cut a piece of perle cotton to about 36 inches. Thread the needle and double the thread, tying a knot at the end.




Figure out approximately how you want the snowflakes placed, then start stitching. Snowflakes are really fun and easy to improvise! I started out each of mine with six "spokes" that I guessed at for their length and placement. With those as a framework, you can start adding in the rest of the details.

I did three main snowflakes, each in a different size.



To fill in the empty areas, you can add little twinkle stitch snowflakes!



You now get to see my scary back! For those extra little snowflakes I just jumped around instead of tying off the thread. The real point here is to show you the area you can stitch in. I got as close to the frame as possible, but that still leaves a lot of empty space on the front borders.



To frame up the design, you can use ribbon, ric-rac, fabric, or floss. I used my same perle cotton and wrapped it twice around the canvas, tying it off at the corners. Actually, I only did this to two sides, because I liked the balance of it. Add what you like best to yours!



And with that, you've got embroidered artwork that is suitable for hanging...just like that!