Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Embroidery Hoop Silhoutte

I love silhouettes. And silhouettes are all the rage right now, it seems. I wanted to try something new to create keepsakes of my little guy as he grows, and came up with this inexpensive embroidery hoop option.
I started by taking a photo of my son in profile, in front of a lit window. I printed the photo as an 8x10" on cardstock, so that his head was close to life-size. With my scissors, I cut around as many details as possible from the neck up.






Using a large embroidery hoop from JoAnn's, I cut my fabric large enough to fill the hoop and inserted it. It's also helpful to put some Elmer's glue around the inside of the hoop, to lock your fabric in place and keep it from getting loose. When it was tight like a drum head, I placed my cardstock cutout on the fabric and traced it in pen.












I already had some basic black acrylic craft paint...a small bottle will be plenty. It helped to have a small detail paintbrush for the outline and also a large craft sponge/brush to quickly fill the empty space with paint.






To help me remember how old he was in this silhouette, I'm thinking I'll attach a small hang tag from the brass top that says, "18 mos." Wouldn't it be cute to have a wall of these in the nursery of all different sizes, fabrics, and stages of growth?
For some professional silhouette keepsakes, head over to Vana's site, Le Papier Studio.

My favorites are her lockets (have one, love it!) and new vinyl wall decals.





11 comments:

Mandy said...

This on my list of things I want to do. Cute idea.

Jamie said...

This is really darling! It would be so cute to have a whole wall of these!

Unknown said...

aaahhh Ariel... you are such a clever duck with all your tricks!! This is sooo good... where were you in my kids were little??? do you think i could get my 12 year old to do this??? haha!!

xo, Heather

Kerri said...

how beautiful, ariel!! i love it!! i'm sure it will be a keepsake for years to come!! THANKS for sharing!! I'll need to make some too! :)

Jackie said...

I have seen this before and thought it was a great idea. Yours looks great! Is there a good way to finish the edges once the fabric is in the hoop? I have some embroidery hoops lying around. Thanks for sharing. I hope you are feeling well and that things are going great with your pregnancy.

Ariel said...

Jackie, to answer your question...I usually go back with my scissors and trim the fabric really close to the hoop. An exacto knife would also work. :)

Vana said...

Awww thanks for the shout out Ariel! I love how your hoop turned out. I have been playing with the idea too:)

Lynsey Grant said...

I love this idea- how cute!

Unknown said...

oh my goodness this is awesome I want to do this

Poppyprint said...

What a wonderful idea - this is a beautiful keepsake!

savvy stitch said...

Cute idea!