Simple Hand Stitched Cards

   

Hand Stitched Cards

Homemade cards are something I love to receive as gifts, but I don't always have time to make them myself. After I had a baby a friend gave me a stack of handmade "Thank You" cards as a gift. It was one of the most practical and appreciated gifts I have received! I loved them and was sad when I used the last one! I thought it would be fun to make some homemade cards to give as gifts too. My husband's grandmother has a birthday coming up and she always hand writes her letters to us. I think she would appreciate some of these for her mailings.

My kids always did pin-push letters in preschool and kindergarten. They'd come home with worksheets and instead of tracing the letters, they'd use a push pin and poke small holes around the perimeter. It was a great hand-eye coordination exercise for those little 5 year old hands. I used this technique to create designs that can be hand-stitched to add a fun detail and dimension to cards. 

The design options for hand-stitched note cards are limitless. It just depends on how long you want to sit there and hand-stitch your card. I kept mine super simple. I printed out a few designs using Pic Monkey, so that I wouldn't have to free hand my designs.

You are welcome to print out these and use them as well. Click here to download the free PDF Printable template.

To add a hand-stitched element to your handmade card, cut out the design or lettering you'd like to use. Make sure you have something to protect your table from poke marks. A foam mouse pad works great. I used a needle point canvas. Using a push pin, poke around the perimeter of your design. Using embroidery floss, or thin baker's twine, thread your needle and stitch in the holes you created with the push pin.

If you'd like to hide the stitching on the back, you can line the inside of your handmade card with a piece of coordinating paper. Or even do your stitching a separate sheet of card stock and cut it out, and adhere it to the front of your card.

Wrap a set in string and it makes the perfect gift! What is your favorite way to add a little detail to your cards? Stickers, stamps, embossing?