Fast Embroidery Poodle - Tutorial

Labels are great to work with to define embroidery shapes...because they are sticky on the back...and can be positioned then removed without any harm to most all fabrics. I trace simple shapes on the label...then cut that out...and place them on the fabric. For this poodle, I only need the circular shape of the top of the head, the tail, the breast, the rear, and at least two lower legs.

For a poodle...first find a photo or drawing (or make one) that you can use to give you a visual reference for your own version. Here is the poodle I created as a line art design...but you can download all kinds of images on the internet for use...coloring book pages are great resources.

Next I drew out some circles on my label, cut them out, and placed them on the fabric where I wanted the poodle to be stitched. Then I began stitching French knots around each of the circles. After this first row is completed, the label circles can be removed.

Here all of the circles are outlined with the French knots, and I've added some simple straight stitches to connect these circles into a dog shape. There needs to be feet, legs, tail, belly, and snout stitched. Sometimes you don't need very many stitches...that depends on how man knots you have in place.

Lastly, add one black French Knot for the eye; a couple of tiny pink straight stitches for the tip of the nose; and a pink bow made of detached chain and straight stitches...or bit of ribbon. And your sassy little Miss Poodle is all done! Using labels means no marking on the fabric...which is really helpful if you are working on black fabric like this poodle is.