How to Do Madeira Embroidery by Hand
Madeira embroidery is a type of English embroidery that creates floral designs with whte satin. It typically uses eyelets and more sophisticated examples of Madeira embroidery also use brighter colors and complex cutwork. Madeira embroidery is typically sewn by hand.
Things You Need:
- Iron
- Water-soluble pen
- Embroidery hoop
- Needle
- Thread
- Stiletto
Instructions:
- Launder, dry and iron the fabric upon which you plan to put the Madeira embroidery. Mark the location where you plan to center the embroidery with a water-soluble pen.
- Mount the fabric to an embroidery hoop according to the manufacturer's instructions. This generally involves centering the fabric within the hoop and pulling it tight to hold the fabric in place.
- Draw a Madeira design onto the fabric with a water-soluble pen, ensuring the design is centered on the mark you made in step one. A flower with eight petals is a common Madeira design and you can also draw leaves by making oval shapes. Add circles of various sizes to indicate eyelets. Indicate which elements will be open and which elements will be solid with the water-soluble pen.
- Make a simple up-and-down stitch around the solid elements of your Madeira design, ensuring that each stitch is the same distance apart. Complete stitch by running the thread several times underneath the fabric and clip the thread to the stitching.
- Cut out the eyelets of your Madiera design with a stiletto. Push the stiletto into the center of small areas, and cut a cross in the center of the fabric if it is a large area.
- Bring the needle up on the outside of the running stitches, take it down through the fabric, then take the needle up through the adjacent to your first stitch. Continue this pattern to create an embroidery around the eyelet. Complete the stitching by running the thread through several stitches on the underside of the fabric, and cut the thread.