February is “I love to read” month! What better way to celebrate reading and the month of love, than with an adorable oversized bookmark!!!
Valentine Skunk Fabric Bookmark
Hello! This is Jennifer Long of Bee Sew Inspired – Modern Rag Doll Designer, Educator, and Riley Blake fabric designer. As a maker, I love showing family, friends, and teachers how much I love them by giving them homemade gifts! It is also so rewarding to witness them actually using and enjoying those gifts in their everyday lives. This bookmark is completely constructed “in-the-hoop” of your domestic, home embroidery machine!!! The best part is this felt bookmark is stabilized and will never tear! Are you ready to make this adorable character bookmark with me?
Beginner Friendly!
This Valentine Skunk Bookmark does not require any special skills. You can easily make this bookmark on your home embroidery machine! You will need about 1 hour per bookmark from start to finish. This oversized bookmark (great for little hands) finishes at 4” x 9 ½”.
What You Need:
Valentine Skunk Embroidery Machine Files
Use the download code “THERMOWEBSKUNK” at http://www.beesewinspired.com to download all the Digital Embroidery files for FREE!
Home Embroidery Machine
6 x10 hoop or larger
Stitch n Sew – Sew in Stabilizer Medium weight
Embroidery Threads
Applique and straight scissors
Benzie Felt in the following colors:
Fushia Wool Blend
Black Wool Blend Felt
White Wool Blend Felt
Use the code “BEESEWINSPIRED” at Benzie Design checkout to receive 10% off your first Felt purchase!
Basic Instructions:
Each Valentine Skunk Bookmark is made in one complete hooping. Download the Embroidery Files to use on your home embroidery machine. You will need to have at least a 6″ x 10″ hoop on your machine. The files are formatted in (DST, EXP, JEF, PES, VP3 and XXX) to work in all home embroidery machines. Use the download code “THERMOWEBSKUNK” at http://www.beesewinspired.com to download all the Digital Embroidery files for FREE!
Hoop your Stitch n Sew – Sew in Stabilizer Medium weight into your embroidery hoop.
Step 1 & 2 Placement Step and Tack Down Step:
Stitch out step 1 so you know where to place your felt fabric. Using a coordinating thread color, place the main felt fabric face up over the entire placement stitch. Stitch out the tack down a step.
Step 3 & 4: Main Skunk Body:
Stitch out the placement of the skunk body in step 3. Then using a black embroidery thread, place the black felt fabric over top of the placement stitches and tack down the skunk in a triple stitch outline. Using your curved embroidery scissors, trim away the excess felt from your skunk applique shape.
Step 5 & 6: White Fur Accent:
Change to a white embroidery thread, and repeat the placement and tack down stitch directions from above using the white fur accent head and tail sections.
Step 7: Eyes and Nose Details:
Change to a charcoal thread color and stitch out the eyelashes and nose details.
Step 8: Pink Hearts:
Change to a pink thread color and stitch out the heart details.
Step 9: Lettering Embroidery:
Using the color of choice for the lettering, stitch out step 9 to say “I love you so stinking much”.
Remove the hoop from the machine and flip upside-down. Spray the backside of the stitched area with Spray n Bond Basting Adhesive. Press a coordinating piece of felt on the backside of the hoop. Replace the hoop inside the embroidery unit in the machine.
Step 10: Outline Stitch:
Change to a coordinating thread color and stitch out the outline finishing step through all the layers of felt and Stitch n Sew stabilizer.
Remove the project from the hoop and place it on your cutting mat. Using a ruler and a rotary cutter (or straight scissors) cut around the outside perimeter of the final stitch line, leaving a 1/8” border.
Your Valentine Skunk Bookmark is complete!!!
Repeat this process to make many gifts for loved ones and teachers!
Thank you for joining me for this fun and whimsical tutorial.
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Jennifer Long grew up training to be a professional ballet dancer. She taught ballet and ran her own dance studio all the while sewing and designing costumes for herself and many of her collages and students. Jennifer is married and lives on a rural acreage in Prairie Canada with her husband and 4 children. She sold her studio to raise to raise her children and wanted to find dolls and toys for her children with healthy body images. She immersed herself Modern Rag Doll design and soon found she had a unique set of skills for Doll Making from all the years of costume design and aesthetic skills from the dance training. Her love of color and fabric has led her to become a professional Modern Rag Doll Designer and Quilt Pattern Designer designing not only under her own label (Bee Sew Inspired), but also for authors, fabric designers and International Companies around the world! Jennifer remains passionate about teaching and is the founder of two FREE educational FB groups Inspired Doll Making and Inspired Quilt Making. Come join her on this creative journey!!!