Christmas Tree Embroidery Hoop DIY - 2

In case you missed the original post, here's a link to my first Christmas Tree Embroidery Hoop DIY. I realized after posting it that I didn't really show a good slideshow of each step but I was going to make another one tonight. Hopefully this will clear up any confusion there might have been from the first post!

You'll Need:

• 6" Wooden Embroidery Hoop
• Paint
• Fabric
• Felt
• Buttons
• Embroidery Floss
• Craft Glue
• Scissors
• Needle

How To:

Once again, I'm using burlap for my base. I stretched it between the hoops, laid out my green buttons to get a design in place. This is what I came up with:

Click to Enlarge!

I took off white felt like last time and cut out enough for the back, to anchor my stitches just like I did last time. The rest of the felt was used to make the snow, which was stitched with a blanket stitch to the burlap in off white embroidery floss. Here's a shot of the snow from the front and the back:

Next, I took the small brown buttons that I used on the last project to make a stump for my tree. This time I only used two by two buttons since the hoop and the tree are smaller this go around. To secure them down, I used matching brown floss and ran my needle through the buttons twice. Back and front shots:

Now we're back to the sticky part. I laid out the bottom row and worked my way up. When I was satisfied, I began gluing the bottom row and working my way back up, row by row. Here's a picture once I was finished:

After the glue dried, I began sewing the buttons down using a bright red embroidery floss. Just like the last one, I wanted there to be some contrasting to the finished piece. Here's an in progress shot:

When I finished sewing them all down, including the star, I trimmed the felt along the back. Front and back shots:

We're done with the sewing part of the project. I went ahead and prepped the ring, painting it red this time. Unlike last time, though, it did need two coats of paint. The first coat made the ring look pink so after it dried, I just added a second coat. Here's what it looks like:

After it dried, I cut out fabric for the backing.I wedged the burlap and the backing fabric between the two hoops, tightened it as much as I could, then pulled both fabrics taunt. As I mentioned in my last post, this takes patience and control. You  may pop the fabric out more than once. If you do, just try, try again. When you get it as taunt as you like it, tighten the screw of the hoop down as tight as you possibly can. Here's a picture of what it looks like with the fabric pieces not trimmed and glued down:

Here's some pictures of the fabric trimmed. Be sure to trim the backing fabric as close to the inside hoop as possible. This makes it easier when you glue the front fabric down along the edges.

Once you're ready to start gluing, glue along the top of the inside hoop as well as the sides to ensure that your fabric stays put. As I mentioned in my last post, the burlap will leave your fingers very very sticky. I also used glue on the snow along the front to make sure it didn't flip up since I decided not to sew down the sides or bottom of the snow on this project either. And here's the finished product, front and back:

 Hopefully this has helped! Let me know what you think about this tutorial in the comment section and I would love to see your versions. I look forward to hearing from you!