You're Great: Hand Stitched Greeting Card Template

I was recently rummaging through boxes of old things up on our third floor (a part of the house that has been neglected for the past hundred years and is currently being used as storage—though some day we hope to renovate and design our dream office space/studio) and came across a box of stitched greeting cards that I made back in 2013/2014.

Now it feels a little hard to believe that my embroidery journey began with stitching simple phrases and geometric patterns on paper since my work has evolved so much in the past seven years, but it did. I opened my Etsy shop in the summer of 2013 with a handful of one of a kind hand stitched greeting cards.

Finding this box of old cards sparked a little joy I had lost. Making these was so fun! I loved working with the paper and playing with different color combinations and the extra special tactile feeling of a card made with thread. And the best part was that their very intention was to brighten someone’s day! Because really, who doesn’t love receiving a special note from a special someone.

So with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought I’d share one of my favorite designs as a how-to.

Supplies:

• ‘You’re Great’ Template

• Metal ruler or other straight edge

• Exacto knife (or a pencil + sharp scissors)

• Cutting mat or scrap cardboard

• Bookbinding awl to pierce holes

• Card stock in two colors

• DMC pearl cotton size 8

• Embroidery needle size 5

• Glue Stick

• A1 envelope

Method:

1. Download the ‘You’re Great’ card template and print it scaled to 100%. This template makes a 3.5 x 5 inch (or A1) card.

2. Using your ruler and exacto knife, cut out a 7 x 5 inch rectangle in your card stock. (If you aren’t comfortable using an exacto knife, you can draw a 7 x 5 inch rectangle with a pencil and use sharp scissors to cut it out.) Fold the rectangle in half to create a 3.5 x 5 inch card. Next, cut out the ‘You’re Great’ speech bubble from the your printed template.

3. Use the cut out speech bubble as a guide to trace the shape onto your second piece of card stock and cut it out. Place the template on top of your card stock speech bubble and use the awl to pierce through both papers to spell out ‘You’re Great.’ Make sure you have a piece of scrap cardboard under your project so the awl doesn’t damage your work surface.

4. Using the needle and pearl cotton, connect the dots to spell out ‘You’re Great’ in thread on the card stock speech bubble.

5. Thoroughly coat the back side of the stitched speech bubble with glue and center it on the front of your card. Make sure to press it down firmly and press out an air bubbles. And that’s it! Your new hand-stitched card is ready for a sweet message for special someone!

I feel like this shouldn’t have to be said, but I am going to say it anyway: this project is for your personal use and enjoyment only.