Free Embroidery Sampler For Kids Chapter Three
Free embroidery sampler for kids is just the thing you need to add Charlotte Mason inspired handicrafts to your homeschool day.
Embroidery samplers are so much fun to make! What is even more fun? Learning how with Willow the wood nymph and Charlotte!
Welcome to my blog! My name is Merrilee McDonald I am a story teller and crafter. I tell stories to make teaching your children to embroider fun and easy.
Today our main characters, Willow the wood nymph will teach her human friend Charlotte, how to start her embroidery sampler.
Come follow along to learn how to sew your own embroidery sampler too! You and your children will love it!
Let’s begin.
Free Embroidery Sampler For Kids
Chapter 3
Charlotte Begins Her Embroidery Sampler
It was a warm day. Charlotte Oak went into her back yard. In her arms was a blanket and her journal. She spread the blanket and sat down.
Charlotte had first met Willow 2 weeks ago. Since then Charlotte purchased the items she needed to start learning to embroider and had made a simple needle book. Willow was a great teacher! She was kind, patient and made Charlotte laugh.
She was so full of excitement for her next lesson that she could hardly stand it! She hoped writing in her journal would help her get some of her excitement out. Writing so much made her hand start to ache. This inconvenience, however, did not keep her from smiling as she wrote about her time with Willow.
Charlotte was planning on seeing her friend in a couple of days. She had been helping her mom harvest the garden and putting in a pea gravel patio. It was a lot of work but it should be done in a couple of days.
Charlotte loved her mom and dad and wanted to help but she couldn’t help feeling anxious to go into the woods to find Willow.
“Charlotte!” called mom.
“I’m outside!” called Charlotte.
Mom found her and told her wonderful news! “Uncle George and Aunt Milly are coming to help finish the patio and canning today. You have been so helpful this week that I want you to have some free time today.”
Forgetting that she could even write, Charlotte dropped her journal and gave her mom a huge hug.
“Thank you mom!”
Mom laughed and said, ” Go have fun. Be back for dinner. And don’t forget tp put your journal and stuff away!”
“i will!”
Free Embroidery Sampler For Kids
The Sweetest Sight
Off Charlotte ran to put her things away and to get her sewing basket and raced into the woods behind her house to find her Willow.
It didn’t take long for Willow’s house was not far.
All around the Willow tree house were rugs, blankets, towels, and curtains in one state or other of the washing process. Everyone was helping who was old enough and the children who were to little to help “helped” anyway! It was a jolly little scene.
Some of the children were going in and out of the house carrying linens or clothing in their arms. The piles were so high you could only see tops of heads and feet moving. Other wood nymph children were on balcony’s banging dust out of rugs. Buckets of water went this way and that way for mama to use for the washing with the baby slung on her back. Papa was wringing out the clean clothes and filling up baskets. Willow was taking the baskets to be hanged.
Charlotte’s eyes loved watching this tiny family working together. But she suddenly felt like an intruder. She had not met Willows family before. She was wondering whether she should go back home when she heard her name.
“Charlotte! How lovely! Come meet my family!” called out Willow cheerily.
Willow introduced Charlotte to her whole family, including all 9 siblings.
“And lastly this is Mossy my baby sister! Isn’t she so cute?” declared Willow very proudly.
Cute was an understatement! Smaller than Charlotte’s 8 year old thumb, baby Mossy was a bundle of pink snugly giggles!
“I’ve never seen cuter!” declared Charlotte. Which was true. her baby sister was just as cute but in a different way.
Free Embroidery Sampler For Kids
Charlotte Helps With The Laundry
“Why are you washing everything at once?” Charlotte asked Willow.
“Grandpa and grandma are coming in a few days. Mama likes the house to be perfect for them.”
“Oh I understand. My mom loves to clean the whole house when my grandparents come too. Can I help?”
“That is so kind of you, ” said Willow’s mama, “Would you help Willow hang all this clean laundry to dry?”
And so Charlotte hung up tiny clothing, blankets, sheets, towels, and curtains on the line with the tiniest clothes pins you’ve ever seen! Charlotte loved how tiny everything was! Everything reminded Charlotte of a doll’s house but everything was real!
As the young friends worked they talked about all sorts of things. Projects they had been helping their parents with, books they have read, recipes they have made.
“With you helping me, we will be done so much quicker. I bet I will have time to teach your next embroidery lesson today!”
Embroidery lesson! Of course! Charlotte had completely forgotten all about sewing, which says how much she had been enjoying herself.
Willow made sure it was alright with her mother. It was fine with her so as soon as they were done hanging out the laundry, Willow and Charlotte found a comfy place to sit.
Free Embroidery Sampler For Kids
Drawing The Embroidery Sampler
“Did you remember to bring what I told you?”
“I sure did!” Charlotte brought out her paper, pencil, and ruler.”
“Wonderful! Let’s get started.”
Willow was making everything she was teaching to Charlotte to help her friend learn with greater ease. She brought out her own pencil, paper, and ruler.
“Draw a rectangle like this. Yes that’s right. Write down, ‘Blanket stitch.’ Next draw another ranctanle inside the first. Label this one, ‘Stem stitch’.
“Are these the name of the stitches you are going to teach me?’ asked Chsrlotte?
“Righty tighty you are! ” beamed Willow. “Sewing the boarder is your first step in practicing the stitches. You practice them again with little pictures inside the lovely boarder you will sew, ” Charlotte always appreciated Willow’s kind words and Willow was always full of them,”Let’s keep drawing your embroidery sampler.”
So the boarder continued until it looked like this.
“The first picture is a grow box with 5 simple plants growing. Next one is a heart. In the middle is a watering can, followed by a corn plant and ending with a skirt. Write the stitch for each picture here, ” Willow finished the writing and drawing to show her friend.
“Those are so cute! I don’t think i can draw them so cute.”
“If they don’t look the same as mine, that doesn’t mean it won’t be cute! If yours is cuter than mine I will be quite put out! After all I have much more experience than you!” Willow looked stern but blink.
Both ladies laughed.
Charlotte followed Willow’s drawing, there were some erasing done by both of them but at last it was done.
While looking at her drawing Charlotte became excited to start.
Free Embroidery Sampler For Kids
Transferring The Drawing To Fabric
“To transfer your pattern to the fabric you place the fabric on top, hold it to the sunlight and trace the outline using a pencil.”
Willow watched Charlotte struggle then added,
“It’s much easier to hold it against the window. Do you want to go home and trace it there? You couldn’t fit in our tree house to use our window!”
Charlotte did not want to wait so she struggled through but those at home can have a much easier time than Charlotte did at your window.
“I did it!” said Charlotte feeling quite proud as well she should be for it was a very difficult thing to do. She made a some mistakes but that is to be expected.
“Next cut your fabric out about an inch longer then the pattern you we just drew. Now we put the hoop on. Unscrew the top, put the inner hoop down, your fabric on top of that, the other hoop on top of your fabric. Tighten like this….that is done! Next we thread all 6 strands like we did last time, through the needle. Yep that’s right!. Knot the end…”
Free Embroidery Sampler For Kids
Sewing At Last
“Now which stitch is the lucky stitch?” asked Charlotte with a grin.
Willow laughed,”The lucky winner is….the Straight Stitch! It is also the easiest one.”
“Really you already know the straight stitch. You used it to make your needle book. Start from underneath the top right square, pull up, now down at the end, up and down and up and down”
Charlotte’s eye brows showed how hard she was concentrating. When her needle poked through the first time she realized she wasn’t on her line so she kept poking until she got it. She needed to repeat this process each time but she managed to finished the first box!
“Wonderfully done! Knot like you did with your needle book and start again with the next square.”
Charlote worked hard on the next square with Willow sewing on her own sampler. When this was done, it was time to tackle the flower box.
Willow noticed that her friend looked nervous. Willow put down her sewing, walked over to Charlotte, looked her in the eye and said, ” You are doing a great job! You are working hard and persevering and I am a very proud teacher.”
Charlotte relaxed with her laugh and said, ” You are a fabulous friend and teacher Willow.”
“Thank you.” grinned Willow.
“Start underneath one of the corners of the grow box then back down at each corner. Each stitch is just up and down following the lines.” Both young ladies worked together in silence.
“Done!” Declared Charlotte! It wasn’t perfect but she was proud. “This was so much fun! Unfortunately it is getting close to dinner time, I promised my mom I would be back in time for dinner. Thank you so much for your help!”
“You are welcome! Thank you for your help with the laundry.”
“Glad to do it.”
So the friends parted until another day and another lesson.
The End
Thank you for joining these adorable girls in creating their sampler! Your child can follow right along with the help of the photos. I hope to see you next time when Charlotte learns to sew the running stitch.
Until next time.
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