Embroidery flowers

Pattern transfer, especially onto darker fabrics, can appear daunting, but with practice (and the right tools and tricks), anyone can become a transfer master. One of the easiest ways to transfer a pattern to fabric is to place the fabric over the pattern and simply trace over the pattern with a pencil or transfer pen. 1. Place the fabric in an embroidery frame (wooden hoop or PVC Q-Snap frame), and pull the fabric taut: tighten the frame until the fabric makes a sound when tapped (imagine tapping the head of a drum). 2. Take the frame and turn it upside down over the pattern, so that the fabric is pressing right against the pattern. 3. For darker fabrics, place the pattern and fabric-filled frame over an illuminated surface – such as a light box, a window or an electronic tablet – to make the pattern more visible through the fabric (1). 4. Using a standard pencil for lighter fabrics and a white colored pencil for darker fabrics, trace the pattern onto the fabric (1). 5. ...

If you are working on darker fabrics and you do not have a light source for the simple pattern transfer, or if the fabric you want to embroider is too thick, then a more complex pattern transfer is needed. For this method, an embroidery frame is not required, and the pattern is transferred directly onto the right side of the fabric with a carbon tracing paper (I use DMC transfer paper: see Materials & Equipment). 1. Cut a piece of transfer paper to the dimensions of the pattern and place it onto the fabric with the carbon side facing down. 2. Place the pattern, right side facing up, on top of the transfer paper. 3. Pin the pattern and transfer paper to the fabric, making sure not to smudge carbon onto the fabric, which is easy to do if you are not careful. 4. Using a ballpoint pen (or stylus), trace over the pattern, pressing down hard to ensure the pattern transfers to the fabric (1). 5. Remove some of the pins to check that the pattern has transferred successfully;...