While do-it-yourself wedding invitations have become a popular trend among brides and grooms, nothing is more personalized and customized than a hand embroidered wedding invitation.

Embroidery is an ancient art which allows you to add decorations to fabric or, in this case, paper. While you can purchase some lovely paper which has designs already embroidered into them, such paper does not give you the chance of truly creating a one-of-a-kind invitation for your guests.

You can use embroidery to add a few flairs to your invitations. For example, you could add your initials, a joined heart design, or something similar to each invitation in order to make it stand out and be original. If you’re already experienced with embroidery, then you could use your imagination and come up with something even more special.

However, if you’re new to embroidery, you may want to pick something that you can easily learn to do and that won’t take you long to add to each of the invitations.

Getting Started with Invitation Embroidery

Before you get started, you’ll need to choose a design to work with. You can find designs for free online or you can purchase them in craft stores. In fact, if you’re new to embroidery you might want to drop by your local craft store just to check out their selection of supplies.

Once you have a design in mind, you’ll need to find the right thread. Because you want to pick the perfect color to match your invitations and your other wedding colors, you may want to choose thread in person. Remember to choose your color carefully. You’ll probably want to choose at least two colors of thread: one for the design’s outline and one for the fill-in stitches. A slightly darker shade would work well for the outline stitching.

After you select the thread you want to use, you can begin choosing the correct mbroidery needles. The three most common are crewel, chenille, and tapestry. You’ll probably be best served by choosing a crewel needle because shorter needles are the easiest to work with. All embroidery needles, including crewel ones, come in a variety of sizes. You’ll want a fairly high number which represents a finer needle so you can make smaller stitches.

Next, you’ll want to match up your needle with the size of your thread. The eye of your needle should only be a little bit thicker than your thread. Choosing one that is too narrow will make it difficult for the thread to get through the paper. Choosing one that is too wide will make it difficult for you to stitch properly.

Putting Your Design on Your Wedding Invitations

Now, you’ll need to transfer the design you want onto your invitations so that you’ll be able to work on the outline. To complete most designs, you’re going to need to learn an outline stitch and a satin stitch. Purchase extra fabric so you’ll be able to practice both types before you begin adding the designs to your invitations.

With the outline stitch, you move from left to right with the needle going to the right of the design’s line as it comes up through the paper then make a back stitch just to the left of the stitch you just made. Repeat this process all around the design.

After you complete the outline, you’ll fill it in with the satin stitch. You start by bringing the needle up through the paper, then bringing it down into the paper on the opposite side. When you bring the needle back up through the paper, you’ll return to your original starting stitch. Keep repeating the process until your design is filled in.

Remember whether you’re experienced at embroidery or not, practice your design many times before you start working on the invitations. If possible, practice on a similar type of paper.