Hardanger Embroidery Tutorial Pt. 1 (Gather Your Materials)

  I made a little Hardanger Christmas ornament for the purpose of this tutorial.  It took probably less than 6 hours all together, and a part of that 6 hours was taking about 100 photos so I could show you folks step-by-step.    I've been doing needlework like cross-stitch for years, but this was only my second piece of Hardanger.  My mother has been doing this for years, though, and taught me how, so this isn't really like the blind leading the blind.  I've also asked her to check the tutorial for inaccuracies, just so I know I'm not telling you to do something incorrectly.


What You'll Need
  Included in the photo are: Hardanger Fabric (a 22-count evenweave fabric) in white, ball-point hand needles or tapestry needles, tiny little scissors (!), and perle cotton in sizes 5 (skein) and 8 (ball) in matching colors. Not included in the photo is an optional hoop.  I don't use one, but you can if you like.

  Now I'll tell you a little bit more about the components.  You can probably get all of these from your local hobby/craft shop (Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Hancock Fabric, JoAnn Fabrics), or you could get them from My Amazon Shop. *

• Fabric - What I'm currently using is actually called Hardanger fabric and I have it in white.  It's an evenweave fabric woven in pairs (you'll see what I mean in the close up later) with 22 pairs per inch of fabric.  This embroidery can be done on any evenweave between 18 and 26 count whether woven in pairs of singly (so linen is also an option).  If you use a higher count fabric, the design will be smaller because the threads are more tightly packed.  You may be able to find Hardanger fabric in Ivory or Ecru or even some other colors, but you definitely have more options with linen and Aida.  I'd learn on Hardanger fabric though, before moving on.
• Needles - I included ball-point hand sewing needles in the picture because I used the for a while when I couldn't find my tapestry needles, but it's not the best idea.  They split the thread and the fabric and can potentially cause some blood loss in your fingers, so go for the tapestry needles.  They won't hurt when you accidentally stab yourself (unless you do it really hard), and they're much less likely to split the fabric and/or thread.
• Scissors - These are a pair of embroidery scissors given to me by my Granny.  They are super cute.  I'm not sure where you could find some with the same design, but any embroidery scissors will do.
• Thread - Perle Cotton in sizes 5 and 8 (or if you were doing this on a 26-count fabric you might want 8 and 12).  This IS NOT the same as DMC floss that one would use for cross-stitch.  Here I'm using a really lovely dark green so you can see the contrast better.  Colors on white is fine, but white on white or beige on beige is traditional. My mom and I have a light blue-green fabric with matching perle cotton that we're going to do something intricate on when we have more time (lol - more time).

Next up, actually getting started.


* Laura is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

I'm back...

Sorry folks. I know it's been a while, but I haven't abandoned my blog. There's so much to catch up on, and I have a scarf to knit, and two pair of pants and a dress to sew before Christmas, but I wanted to give you a preview of something else I've been working on. It's a technique called Hardanger and I'm going to do a tutorial for you in the next few days/weeks. I may also edit the picture when I take a better one. Hope you're all doing well!