[stars & stripes series] diy #3

This might be my favorite one of the bunch!

It's so quick, simple, and really cute. And involves one of my favorite things...embroidery!

Here it is!

[pssst...I'll have a tutorial for the quilt in the near future too!]

First, you upload/print the pattern below. Get a 9" embroidery hoop. Trace the map outline on a piece of fabric. (I backed my fabric with interfacing just to make it a little bit more sturdy. Not necessary though.) And I traced the pattern with a light box and, my all time favorite, a Frixion pen. Which you can buy at ETC! (YOU NEED ONE IN YOUR LIFE - fyi)

And don't forget to draw your little heart in your most favorite state!

Next, using some red embroidery floss, stitch along the outline. I used the split stitch, which is demonstrated in THIS adorable video. It's the first stitch shown, so no fast forwarding! And using blue thread, I stitched on the heart.

Now trim off your excess fabric, leaving about an inch along the edge. I then used hot glue along the inside of the embroidery frame to hide the raw edges.

If you used a Frixion pen, you'll want to take your project over to the iron and gently, using the heat from the iron, run it over the top to make the pen markings disappear.

And now you have the cutest Fourth of July decoration!

<3 Lindsey

Almost forgot the most important part! Your embroidery pattern! Here you go!

One more thing! When you print this out, print it in a 5x7 size for a 9" embroidery hoop. NOT a full page size (unless your embroidery hoop is big enough for it.) I print from Microsoft, select "Print", and then pick the 5x7 option on the right hand side. Should be able to print two 5x7's on one page that way. But like I said, you can adjust this pattern to the size of your hoop!