Be Happy and Be Kind – Hexagon Canvas Embroideries

Stitch up these sweet Be Happy and Be Kind – Hexagon Canvas Embroideries. They are so fun to make and the patterns are free!

So it’s no secret that I like to stitch on unusual materials. I think you can really have some fun with different stitches and surfaces!

A few weeks ago, I was walking down the craft aisle in Target and I noticed these little hexagon art canvases. I stood there for a while admiring the cute shape – then I got to wondering if they would be stitchable. I mean, they’re just canvas, treated with some magical art substance right? It turns out that you can totally stitch on them!

I wanted to hang them together so I came up with these sweet phrases – be happy and be kind. And of course I added some pretty flowers too! They were surprisingly easy to do, the canvas is so easy to stitch on, and the “hoops” are built right in because of the wood frames!

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own Be Happy and Be Kind – Hexagon Canvas Embroideries!

Materials:

• Set of 2 Hexagon Canvases (you could make these in hoops if you can’t find them) 7.8″ x 9″ – from Target
• DMC Embroidery Floss – colors
• 3820, 413, 699, 700, 912, 3809, 504, 776, 351
• Embroidery Needle (smaller size)
• Tracing Paper – I used the blue color of this brand
• Be Happy and Be Kind Embroidery Patterns

To work with the canvas, you need to keep a few things in mind:

1. Don’t stretch it out or put pressure on the canvas. You can’t tighten this fabric like you can with a hoop – once it’s got a dent in it, it’s there for good. So go lightly with your tracing and as you are stitching.
   1. For tracing the pattern, I tried to keep my pressure as light as possible, and still be able to see the lines. It helps to hold the hexagon upright and place your hand on the wrong side so you can keep the surface material flat.
2. The canvas is not really self-healing like fabric. If you make a mistake and need to remove stitches, you will still be able to see those little holes from your thread and needle, so try not to make mistakes. :)
3. Along those same lines, if you use a big needle, you’re going to leave a big hole. So for this you’ll want to use the smallest embroidery needle you can, and still be able to thread it.

I don’t really have a full tutorial for you – but here are basic instructions:

Trace your design onto the canvas hexagons. The inner gray line is the wood frame line – you want all of your stitching inside that because you can’t stitch where the wood is anyway.

All the stitching is done with three strands of DMC embroidery floss. The letters are back stitched on the outlines, then the larger sections are filled in with a sketchy satin stitch. The flowers and large leaves are satin stitched. The curved fern type leaves are made with three sizes of lazy daisy stitches. Start with the darkest green on the outside, then use the medium green inside that, then the lightest green for the smallest stitch in the center. The decorative circles on the flowers are French Knots. Use the photos as a color guide.

I didn’t finish the backs of these, but if you want to you could place a piece of felt on the back to hide your stitches. If you do that, you’ll need to add hardware for hanging them.

That’s it!

Now that I’ve done these – I want to do more! I have some larger stitched canvas projects in the works – I can’t wait to show you!

I’d love to hear what you think!

 

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