How to Embroider Tulips

While continuing to await the arrival of rescue fabric, I've got a simple embroidery tutorial on how to make a tulip.  This is probably the easiest of the flower embroidery tutorials, so if you've never embroidered before this could be a great intro project!

Embroidery is a great way to add some unique personality to garments you already have in your closet.  Whether it's a nice floral detail or a monogrammed initial, it immediately personalizes your garment.

You'll need:
- needle
- embroidery floss
- something to embroider
- hoop
- scissors

1. Thread your needle.  On the fabric, draw your tulip as large as you would like it to be by first drawing a “U”, then starting at the top of the “U,” draw four points .  This is your tulip template.   Put your fabric in a hoop.

2. Next, you’ll be stitching on the lines you just drew.  If you’re nervous about keeping your stitches even, draw evenly spaced dots along this line to mark where your needle will go through the fabric. Keep the dots close enough together that you’ll be able to “curve” the line of stitches in the design.  Starting at the bottom of the tulip, go up through your first dot, and down through the second.  Next, go up through your third dot, and down through the second.

3. Essentially from this point on you’ll be sewing one dot forward, one dot back.  So your next stitch will go up into the fourth dot, down into the third.  Next, up into the fifth dot, down into the fourth, and so on all the way around the tulip.

Here are other tutorials if you'd like to try different flowers:
How to Embroider Lazy Daisies
How to Embroider Dandelions