Welcome to the Pet Portrait Tips page! Here you’ll find useful resources in how to stitch and finish your pet portrait, along with other embroidery tips. Please email kendall.kulper@gmail.com with any questions!

General Tips

• Your pattern paper is water-soluble, so be careful around any moisture, drinks, or bad weather!

• Work back to front (parts of the face farthest from the viewer to closest) and out to in (sides to nose). Save elements that are on top of the face (like whiskers, ear tuffs, and eyebrow whiskers) for last.

• To make whiskers, you can either use the single-strand method shown in the video tutorial below or use the same reverse split stitch method used for the text.

• Make sure your fabric stays taut after washing out the pattern paper! If you need to add more stitches or adjust the fabric tension after washing, you can snip off the running stitch you used to gather the fabric, adjust as needed, and re-gather the fabric in the back

Supplies

Thread: DMC 310 (black). For storage, I like these plastic bobbins. Make sure you write down the color code before you unravel the skein. If you're having trouble threading your needle, try a needle threader.

Hoop: We used basic bamboo hoops in class, made by Caydo. Here’s a link to a variety of their sizes. I personally use hoops made by ACMS. They’re beautiful and can be fitted into hoop frames. They can be slippery, so I always wrap my hoops in athletic tape before stitching 

Fabric: We used this white canvas fabric. The fabric I usually use for my colored projects is a cotton-linen blend from Robert Kaufman’s Essex line.

Needles: We used standard embroidery needles, usually in size 5 or 7. Good manufacturers are DMC and Bohin. The needle I use is by Tulip and is a Milliner’s needle in Size 7. 

Pattern-making: The water-soluble pattern paper we used is called Sticky Fabri-Solvy by Sulky. I made all your patterns with my iPad using Procreate. To draw patterns onto fabric, you can use a water-soluble marker or a heat-erasable pen.

Hoop stand and accessories: Highly recommend a nice hoop holder, either this tabletop version like I used in class or a floor version I use in my studio. It helps to glue a magnet to it for needle storage or you can get a needle minder. 

Good lighting: I use this craft light while I work and it’s very helpful to avoid eye strain.

Video tutorials