Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining

This was my introduction to Embroidery - the first time I even considered attempting embroidery.

I was gifted a "Make Your Own Cushion" kit, with a cushion was in the shape of a cloud (which is why I was given it, honestly I love receiving gifts in the shape of clouds)!

I started making it - I traced the shape, I cut out the template, ready to sew it together.

But before I started sewing it, I realised that it would look quite plain and wanted to add something to give it a little something extra.

I decided embroidery could be a good option when I came across some embroidery thread in my Mum's sewing box - well I decided to give it a go anyway, to teach myself a new skill.

The quote "Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining" is one that I have heard many times (another benefit on having my name). I always knew one day that I needed to have something to name Silver Lining, which is why my brand name is Cloud's Silver Linings.

Because this quote has plenty of meaning to me, I decided that would be the perfect think to put on a Cloud shaped cushion.

I created a template for the font online (I say online, it was an online text document, nothing fancy). I selected a font that I thought looked quite nice. I also felt that a font that flowed well would probably be easier to embroider as well.

It took me a couple of printing attempts to get the sizing correct - the unused size I have kept as I can use it for another project one day.

Once I had the design correctly sized and printed, I traced the design onto the fabric using a pencil so the lines don't show up. It started off being a bit of a struggle trying to trace it - eventually I found a clear box lid and put my phone under the lid, torch on and facing up. I pinned the design onto the back of the fabric and then placed that over the box lid. This allowed the design to be seen through the fabric, therefore allowing me to trace it.

Then it was time to start the embroidery. Pretty much I did what I felt I should to make it work, and I'm lucky that it actually worked, because like the rest of the project, it was a complete experiment and I had no idea how it would look - I didn't even look up how to do it!

I decided to use three different colours in the project - highlighting the Cloud in a light blue and the Silver Lining in a grey/silver colour. I'm glad I did it that way as I really like the way it came out.

Once the embroidery was done, it was time to sew it together.

Annoyingly I managed to spill something over the back of the fabric - of course on the side I had embroidered on. And of course, it went through to the outside of the fabric. And of course it doesn't wash out. And of course when I tried to wash it out, it spread. So please excuse the stain!

After a lot of experimenting, this is the final product. I'm so proud of how it came out, seeing as this was something completely new for me, and an absolute experiment.

It made me fall in love with embroidery, and caused me to experiment with a lot of other designs and embroidery pieces.