DIY EMBROIDERED HANGING PLANTER

Learn how to make your own embroidered hanging planter! This modern canvas planter tutorial is decorated with beautiful abstract embroidery, and is a great project to get you started with embroidery!

I have always really loved the look of embroidery, and I have been especially intrigued lately by abstract embroidery. I just love how abstract embroidery can create beautiful compositions of color and texture. It is also a great form of creative expression because you aren’t following a pattern or chart. It really feels like painting with thread!

For this abstract embroidery project, I decided rather than embroidering a piece of fabric to hang on the wall, that I wanted to embroider an object. I chose and I am super happy with the way my new planter turned out.

Embroidered Hanging Planter Tutorial:

Step 1. Choose Color Palette.

Because this project uses a variety of embroidery stitches and shapes, using a uniform color palette will help keep your project cohesive. I recommend going through your embroidery thread and limiting yourself to a certain number of colors that work well together.

For my project, I used reds, blues, blush pinks, and a pretty copper color.

Step 2. Embroider.

When you have your colors chosen and you are ready to embroider, start by putting your embroidery hoop onto one side of your canvas planter. Tighten the hoop on the fabric and pull the canvas taut.

Next, it’s time to embroider! With abstract embroidery, there isn’t a clear order of steps to create your design. Really, this is a free form process, which is great for creative expression and relaxation. You can also use this project as a kind of embroidery sampler and a way to play around with different stitches and techniques.

I will walk you through some of the stitches I used to decorate my hanging planter.

Stitch 1. The Back Stitch.

The back stitch is my basic, go-to embroidery stitch. To work the back stitch, start by making a single straight stitch. Then, bring your needle up through the fabric after a space in front of the stitch you just made. Finally, bring your needle back down through the hole at the end of your first stitch. Continue using this stitch to create shapes or lines as you like!

Stitch 2. The Satin Stitch.

The satin stitch is a great stitch for creating filled in shapes and larger swatches of color in your design. I just love the smooth look of the satin stitch.

Here is how I created the satin stitch elements on my planter:

1. First, I traced the design I wanted to stitch over onto my planter with a washable embroidery pencil.
2. Next, I used a split stitch to trace the outside edge of my design. You can skip this tracing stitch if you like, but I find it give my satin stitches a bit more definition.
3. Bring your needle up from one side of the design and then crossing over the design, pull the needle back down through the fabric.

Stitch 3. The French Knot.

French knots are a great way to add some dimensional texture to your piece. I used clusters of french knots all around my planter.

To create a French knot:

1. Bring your needle up through the fabric.
2. Wrap the thread around the needle three or more times.
3. Holding the thread tight to keep the wraps from slipping off the needle, insert your needle back down through the fabric close to the place that you brought your needle up.
4. Pull the needle to tighten and create your knot.