Embroidered birthday gift for my husband

I’m still very new to embroidery, but I sometimes like to make things for people as gifts. This past Thursday was my husband’s birthday, and since I didn’t have any pressing deadlines I thought I would try to make him something.

It can be very hard to keep something secret from my husband, Christopher.  We’re constantly together!  He loves to see what I’m working on, and he can usually tell when I have been sewing.  So he knew I was up to something, but he didn’t know what it looked like.  The funniest part was that I’d actually chatted with him enough where he should have known what I was up to, but I managed to time the conversation when he’d had a few drinks and he probably didn’t remember it.  Whew!

I decided to keep this project simple, so I opted for a hand sewn handkerchief.  It’s made from the cotton fabric I’ve been using for mock-ups and linings, and I used DMC cotton embroidery floss.  I had some pretty navy thread, and then I decided to get something with a copper tone for the initial.

I had been practicing various embroidery stitches, and when I was sewing the herringbone stitch in the navy thread I had, I fell in love with it and knew I had to use it on a project soon.

I didn’t quite get the corners just right, but hey — that’s what practice is for.  This was also the first time I had done satin stitch for a letter.  I felt a little rushed with it, but it works and Christopher was very pleased with it.

I hope to make him some nicer gifts for Christmas (sorry dear!  I won’t be discussing any details with you about those! Bwahahaha!), but it will definitely be hard to keep it secret.  Especially if I get started early enough and they turn out like I hope they do.

The embroidered handkerchief I made for my husband's birthday. I don't quite have the corners right yet for this stitch, but it was a fun project and he loved it.