Here is a colorful portrait of one of my beagles resting on some flowers. Personally, this was my first big attempt at embroidery overlooking all of those practice videos that I was never really one to follow. Though it took one of my English teachers showing me all of her tips and tricks that officially got me hooked, and inspired this piece.

Supplies

To make something similar to this, you are going to need the basics.

Embroidery hoop ( The size of my hoop was 8in x 10in)
Your choice in colored thread ( The brand I used is mondo llama. Though it can be any thread you prefer that has multiple strands)
Point sewing needle ( Your going to want a decently sized eye to fit the thicker strings)
Needlework fabric (The bigger the squares, the lesser your detailing will need to be)
Fabric marker and or pencil for sketching

Step 1: Adding the Fabric to the Hoop

Assembling your hoop is a lot simpler than it looks.

Your going to want to take your screw ( that little metal bult looking thing on the top of the hoop) and you want to continuously turn it until you can easily pull the 2 sections of the hoop apart.

*Now I will say, you need a main piece of the hoop, the one that the screw is attached to, and a secondary piece that simply allows your fabric to be tightly held during the needling process.

Finally, you need to place your fabric in the middle, and reverse the process. Turning the screw with the 2 pieces reconnected until you can't turn it any further. You want the hold on your fabric to be as tight as physically possible so that you can easily maneuver and not haft to worry about thread not being held in correctly.

Step 2: Reference Photo/ Sketch

Firstly, you are going to want to have an idea in mind. Find a picture of reference you can use and create a basic sketch outlining the main details.

Some tips for if you'd rather sketch on paper than your fabric would be to either graphite transfer your work, or possibly pin the picture to your hoop and trace it from there. Some fabrics can be quite see- though and allow this type of access.

Your end results should be a clear map of how you are going to add your colors to compliment the shadows and creases in your reference.

Step 3: Mapping Out Your Shadows

As mentioned, your sketch is going to need to depict the shadows and creases. So, to do this you are going to want to find where your light is coming from.

In my image, my dog is sitting under a dining room fan light. Meaning my light is coming from above, leaving shadows to appear under his eyes, nose, ears, etc. Though if your image has more surrounding light, its always good to highlight based off of bone structure and how different parts of the body stick out. The further something sticks out, the greater the shadow underneath is.

Knowing where the light touches will help you plan out where you want your lighter shades of color to show.

Step 4: Mapping Out Your Colors

Once you have your sketch, you are going to want to start thinking of what your making and how it makes you feel.

Different colors can relay different feelings based on how hot or cold they are. So, though it is complementary fine to use the exact colors in your image, if you want a more rainbow effect like my project had, you need a plan of action.

My dogs personality gave me a more energetic type of feeling. And because of this, I based my main colors mostly on bright warm tomes that matched their personality. Specifically yellow, orange, and red. Though for shadow effects and darker colors, I looked at the points of light on the picture to determine where to add the BRIGHTEST and darkest shades of secondary colors (for me, the colder colors). This is where you map your sketch and see what parts shine out the most, and which dark areas are more shaded.

Step 5: Threading the Needle

Now, for embroidery you want to have thread that can fit through a needle, make a decent sized line line, but also still be thin enough not to over stretch your fabric.

So, since this demonstration is meant to be universal to all materials and people, the main trick I use in picking our thread is to get one with multiple strands creating a main string.

What do you mean? You might ask.

But fear not! Because most common threads look like the picture I have added above. You can see how it naturally separates into roughly 6 pieces of thread all intertwined to make the main string as foretold.

You are going to want to cut the piece of string (roughly an arms length or more), and simply strip the different pieces until you now have 6 usable thread strings.

Step 6: How to Start

Okay, so now that you have your strings, you can start threading your needle to make the process happen.

To thread your needle, you start by folding your piece of thread onto itself once over. So the end result looks like your holding the ends of a big letter U.

Next, you are going to want to take the end of your U that connects, and push that end through the needle. Then you pull the string all the way through until you have about 2 inches left on the other side of the needle.

I know the process seems tedious, but its much easier to thread the needle with a single string rather than the 2 pieces.

Your goal is to use the loop at the end to ground your string to your fabric. And to do this you note where you want your first mark to be, and you pop your needle through the back of the hoop at your starting point ( note you WILL haft to poke the needle back through to make a knot, so make sure your first line is somewhat short. Also you need to pop your needle at the end of your line, so the top can be where you pop your needle back.

Now you have your line, and your needle is in the back of the hoop. You are going to take the loop, and push your needle through it. This will make a tie that you can now start more lines with. Except this time, you don't haft to start a loop all over again. Its a one and done process until the line runs out.

Step 7: The Fun Part!

Now that you have your planned masterpiece, you can start using your needle to actually make marks!

To make a mark, you simply think of however you want your line to be, and just poke in that direction.

Its as simple as sewing, and once you've poked though to the other side of the fabric ( the same side your knot is on) you can follow the same process beside your line, or even overlapping the separate lines at the corners to get curves and different shapes that aren't so square. Just follow your planned markings and try to fill in the spaces.

This process of up and down can be continued through the whole piece. Though if you want to try and get different effects other than just lines, you can do loops and all other sorts of tricks to get results.
For example, though I did the flowers and such as the last step of my piece, I used different methods to create a 3d texture. For the bigger flowers, I used the pom-pom method of wrapping the string around my 2 fingers repetitively until I determined the thickness of petals I wanted, then I tied the middle of the wrapping to look like a bow tie, cut the looped ends, and sewed the result on with yellow string to make the base. And for the smaller flowers, I wrapped my thread around my needle 3 times, and poked through the 3 loops center like how you would a bow tie. Basically making a fancy knot. There are many great options!

Step 8: When You Come to the End of Your Thread

So, you remember how in step 5 we took the string apart into roughly 6 pieces?

Well im afraid that once your piece comes to an end, you are going to need to tie off your current thread piece, and restart the threading process with the needle all over again.

You will continue this process for EVERY STRING! You cant have a continuous source since you need to tie the thread in order to have a base to start.

I know this is annoying, especially when you only need a small amount of a color, but this is the struggle you haft to deal with in order to make art.

Step 9: How to Tie Off Your Thread

To tie off your thread, you normally have 2 choices.

Simply tie a knot at the end. You want to get the knot as close to the fabric as possible to make sure you don't have a loose string.
You can move to the back of the fabric (where your original knot was from the start) and notice how you have these lines where your designs were. Once you see your work in process, pull your needle through some of these lines and make a loop. The strength of your lines will support your string if you loop it enough times ( maybe 2 or 3). With this method, you can simply pull the string and slide the needle off.

Also I will say that I used method 2 in the picture above!

Step 10: Final Results

Okay, so now you planned your piece, know how to thread and make marks, and I mentioned the different types of lines even though I personally only focused on the basics.

I have full confidence that you can repeat these steps and make yourself a wonderful piece of art. Have fun, and don't poke your fingers with the needle!