Embroidery beginnings

I thought I would be brave and show my first attempt at a fully embroidered picture.  I have done little bits of embroidery over the years but never had a real go at it.  I am totally hooked!  I was making this for a friend but I am not happy enough with it to use for a gift.  The eyes are a bit weird (I made them too big and they are different sizes), the stitch lengths are all uneven, yada yada yada.  But I am quite happy with it for myself.  I will have to do another one for my friend.  I bought a few embroidery books recently to help kickstart my attempts and this pattern comes from Doodle Stitching by Aimee Ray (she has a really lovely blog and Etsy shop too).  By the way, I have absolutely no affiliations with Aimee - I just bought her book and checked her out.  I don't have affiliations with Amazon either (but I probably should if I am going to recommend anything).  Anyway, what I love about her book is that it comes with a CD with all the designs on it and you can print them off very easily and trace the patterns onto your fabric using a water soluble marker.  So, so easy and lots of cute, simple designs to start off with.

The very best thing of all though, was that it captivated the interest of my 8 yr old (Pupster - as a refresher for her new nickname) so much that she has completed her first one and has started on another.  She has taken to it so well and it makes me so happy to sit and do it with her and the chatting time that comes with that.

Here is her first completed one (a dog of course!).  We are going to applique this on to a t-shirt for her.

Here is her second one in progress.

Jughead wanted to try one as well today (he has had a hoop with burlap in it for awhile that he has enjoyed randomly stitching in).  He really wanted a picture to do so I will get a photo and show you as well when I get another minute.  So fun (for me particularly)!