Kids Embroidery Curriculum Chapter Four: Running Stitch
Welcome, busy homeschooling mamas to my blog where you will find kids embroidery curriculum! It’s free, easy, and fun!
Think of me as your super hero with the power of defeating your hardship in adding handwork / handicrafts to your homeschooling journey! Though my free kids embroidery curriculum is not an exact match for Waldorf and Charlotte Mason homeschoolers, it absolutely has the right spirit of it!
These current lessons teach the very basics of embroidery. Your child will learn each new stitch on their own embroidery sampler.
Stories help guide and excite your children in each lesson. Photos add to ease of learning the lessons and may even be done without you there.
Our main characters are Charlotte and Willow. It was a lucky day when Charlotte, our eager young learner, came upon Willow, a wood nymph who loves to embroider. They have many adventures while learning to embroider.
If you would love to start from the beginning you may click here.
So far we have learned what supplies are needed, made a simple needle book to store those easily lost needles, we drew the a pattern onto paper, transferred the pattern onto white cotton fabric, and have learned the first stitch, which is the straight stitch.
In today’s kids embroidery curriculum, we are learning how to sew the running stitch.
Enjoy!
Kids Embroidery Curriculum
Chapter 4
Learning The Running Stitch
“That’s the sweetest story I have ever heard!” exclaimed Charlotte! (If you missed the last story about Willow’s grandfather, Peter Pumpkin Eater click here to read it!)
Willow was well pleased.
“My grandfather, who is Peter’s and Flossy’s son, has told me stories of his childhood. They had the grandest of times together.” Willow was about to start telling her friend some of these stories but after looking at Charlotte’s, she put aside sampler and added, “but I can tell you more about that some other time. Let’s get to the running stitch.”
Charlotte loved the story of Peter Pumpkin Eater but she was also excited to continue working on her sampler.
“Thread and knot just like you did before. Yep that’s right. There are two places where you can practice the running stitch, one being the border and the other one the heart. Which one do you want to do first?” asked Willow.
Charlotte didn’t need to think long. She loved the look of the heart ever since she drew it in the last lesson. How fun that today she was able to sew it!
“The heart!”
“That’s the one I would have chosen too.” Willow was quite astonished with how much she and her human friend had in common. “Remember to always start from the middle. Pick any line you want to start from and pull up on the left side of the line. That’s right. Pull the needle down again to the other side of the same line.”
Are Running stitches and Straight Stitches The Same?
“Oh!” exclaimed Charlotte, “This is exactly the same as a straight stitch. I don’t understand how the running stitch is different then a straight stitch.” When Charlotte didn’t understand something, a wrinkle appeared on her forehead. Willow noticed it.
“You have a wrinkle on your forehead. It looks really cute! I will call it your confused crinkle.” Willow had a gift for complementing what others would tease and make hurt feelings from.
The confused crinkle disappeared with a laugh from it’s owner. “Oh Willow, I do love you so.” Charlotte bent down and very carefully kissed the top of Willow’s head. Willow was only the size of Charlotte’ palm and so she needed to be gentle.
Feeling the joy only those who give happiness to others can feel, Willow continued the lesson.
“What’s different is that the straight stitch just sits in his chair, very straight and tall and does not go any where. The running stitch on the other hand loves to run. It runs up, it runs down, this way and that way. Adventures await running stitches. They really are the Marco Polo’s of the embroidery world. Watch.”
Willow was sewing her own beginner embroidery sampler right along with her friend. She sewed a few more stitches to show Charlotte what she meant.
“That makes perfect sense!” exclaimed Charlotte, so excited to be understanding now.
Miss “Confused Crinkle” was gone, with excitement taking its place.
The young ladies were quiet as they worked on their hearts. Willow was done first. She waited patiently for her friend to finish.
Charlotte Embroidering The Border On Her Sampler
After the knot was completed, Willow said. “Okay, now you can start on the border. It doesn’t matter which side you start. Just remember to begin sewing underneath. There are not exact lines to follow this time. What you want to do is have your stitches be the same length as your empty space in-between space. Like this. ” Willow did the first few stitches to show Charlotte. “Don’t worry if the stitches are not exactly the same size. I can’t even make perfect stiches and I have been embroidering for years!”
“I understand!” Charlotte picked a spot at random, the top left, and kept sewing.
“This is so much fun!” Charlotte suddenly proclaimed. She was able to let go of the fact that her stitches were not perfect.
Willow was thoroughly enjoying herself, ” It is fun. I love to embroider! I don’t think I will ever get tired of it.”
“Me either. ” agreed Charlotte.
“When you finished the first side, knot and start again on the next side, like this. That way you don’t see the extra strand showing through the back.” said Willow.
The running stitch was much faster than Marco Polo in his travels, and soon her first side was done. Charlotte knotted, and began again on the side. On she sewed until her border was finished.
“I’m done!” declared Charlotte proudly. “Your sampler looks wonderful, Willow.”
“Thank you,” replied Willow. “I am proud of how hard you have been working! It really shows”
Charlotte wanted to move on and learn the next stitch but her tummy rumbled rather loudly and Charlotte was suddenly surprised to discover that she was very hungry too!
“The hunger growlies are talking I hear,” laughed Willow. “Can you come by Saturday afternoon for the next lesson?”
“I’m pretty sure I can” replied Charlotte. “I don’t think anything is going on.”
“Lovely!” exclaimed Willow. “See you then!”
The happy friends gathered up their things, waved goodbye and left for their homes.
An Embroidery Surprise For William
Charlotte just walked out of the woods behind their home when she heard her brother call.
“You have been going into the wood a lot lately. What have you been up to? Are you daring to have fun without me?”
Charlotte laughed, even though her older brother William did like to tease, he was still a good person. She had told him of Willow before and he hadn’t believed her. She was quite upset by this at first, but time cleared her thinking and she realized that if she had not seen a wood nymph with her own eyes she might not believe it either.
This gave Charlotte an idea.
“I am going again this Saturday afternoon. Would you like to come with me?”
“Okay,” William said nonchalantly. Secretly he had been feeling like his sister was leaving him out of something big. “Saturday it is. Do I need to bring anything with me?” he asked.
Charlotte thought for a minute and said, “Just remember when you come, that you don’t know everything!”
“Wait, what? Of course I know everything!” he teased. Though he did his best William failed in persuading Charlotte to tell him what she meant but she kept her secret.
“You will just need to wait until Saturday afternoon, ” She insisted.
Kids Embroidery Curriculum Upcoming
I hope you enjoyed yourself. See you next week to learn the stem stitch!
Also coming are tips for you, and free simple extra kids sewing crafts. Since Christmas is coming, watch out for stories from the Nutcracker Ballet, embroidery patterns, and more!