Yarn Embroidery on Burlap

I enjoy doing a wide variety of hand crafts. Embroidery is one of them. I had an old stool that I wanted to fix up for our part-time condo living room. Here's what I did.

After the wood was stripped, sanded, stained and finished with urethane, I started on the seat cover. I chose burlap for the backing because it's easy to count the threads to keep a pattern uniform. One disadvantage of burlap is that it wears through fairly quickly. If your stool is going to get lots of use, a firmer material would be better.

I cut a piece of burlap large enough to cover my stool's top with enough extra to turn under during the upholstery process and a little extra in case the loosely woven material unraveled. You can always trim it to size later.

I drew my border design on the burlap lightly with pencil. Working from the outside in, I first created the frame for my picture. I then drew my central picture on newspaper and transferred it to the burlap, again using light pencil marks. I chose my float cabin and garden for my design.

If you are looking for a good resource on embroidery, go to Sharon b's Dictionary of Stitches for Hand Embroidery and Needlework. It's has both photographs and descriptions of numerous stitches.

Here's the pattern I used for my border. You can use it and then customize the central picture to match your life and interests, or just keep working in geometric shapes. Don't have a stool? The same method can be used for pillow covers.

Fortunately, the stool's padded plywood seat was still in useable condition. When the cover was done, I used upholstery tacks to secure it to the plywood bottom.

So, if you are looking for a simple way to create a unique focal point in your home, try yarn embroidery on burlap.


Head on over to A Peak into My Paradise for the Happiness is Homemade Link Party to see more recipes, crafts and DIY projects. -- Margy