Sweet as honey
Create a buzz with tiny embroidered bees
HOW TO TRACE THE BEE
Step one Copy the bee template.
Step two Decide on the placement and whether you’d like a random, scattered pattern or something more symmetrical.
Step three Mark your chosen embroidery placement with your pen.
Step four If your blouse is translucent enough to see the design through the fabric then place it on top of the bee design and trace around the outlines with the pen. 1
Step five If you can’t see the design directly through the fabric then use a water soluble stabiliser ( we used Solvy). This is a very fine film that you trace the design onto, then tack it to your fabric and stitch directly through it. When your embroidery is finished, you simply tear away as much of the stabiliser as you can, and dissolve the rest in water.
Step six Mount the traced areas of your blouse centrally inside the embroidery hoop, making sure the fabric is taut but not too stretched. 2
STARTING OFF
Step one Cut a length of stranded cotton and thread your needle with two strands. 3
Step two Leave a long end at the start and finish of your embroidery so you can go back and weave them in and out of a few stitches at the back so they are secure.
Step one The wings and legs are worked in back stitch. Bring your needle up at the start of the marked line and make one straight stitch, approx 2- 3mm in length down through the fabric. For tight curves, a shorter stitch is best for a neat finish.
Step two Bring your needle back up along the line, but one space ahead. Reinsert your needle at the end of your last stitch to finish it. 4
Step three Continue stitching in this way, always working back on yourself until the drawn line is covered in a row of stitches.
Step four Stitch the wings first using ecru stranded cotton.
Step five Use black stranded cotton to stitch the legs, leaving you with the black thread ready to start the body.
HOW TO STITCH THE BODY
Step one The stripes are made using satin stitch in a more irregular style than usual. Start by stitching the black stripe at the bee’s bottom. 5 Step two Next work the yellow stripe above it, making the bottom of these stitches go into the top of the black stitches in the row below. 6
Step three Continue working the stripes in this way one stripe at a time as opposed to stitching all the black stripes and then the yellow ones. Working in this way will give you a more layered effect, mimicking the natural way the fuzz covers the bee’s body.
HOW TO STITCH THE HEAD
Step one When you reach the head, use back stitch to outline it.
Step two Fill in the head roughly with little straight stitches. For a more of a rounded, 3D feel, leave a little area unfilled.
HOW TO MAKE THE ANTENNAE
Step one To create the antennae, use a long tailed French knot. Bring your needle out right by the head.
Step two Wrap the thread around your needle twice and instead of re- inserting your needle back where you came out as you would with a regular French knot, instead insert your needle at the tip of the antenna. If you’re struggling with this technique, work regular French knot at the end of a single straight stitch instead. 7
Step three Repeat for the other antenna.
FINISHING OFF
Step one Repeat this to embroider all your traced bees in the same way. 8
Step two Remove the pen marks or water soluble stabiliser. Cold water is usually best for a water soluble pen and warm water for the stabiliser, but it’s best to follow the manufacturer’s instructions before doing this.
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