The Powerpuff Girls Embroidery Napkin

It's probably not a huge secret to anyone who knows me well, that I absolutely love The Powerpuff Girls; the classic version of the cartoon, not the new remake they have playing on TV now. I mourn for today's generation.
So, when the day came where my PC finally died from heatstroke and TV had nothing better to offer, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup became my new project.
The type of fabric item you'll use to embroider onto doesn't really matter; whether it will be a clothing item, a tablecloth, a pillowcase, your kitchen curtains, etc. sky is the limit. I chose a lone dinner napkin that had been laying around the house for years, serving no purpose.
My plans for it involves buying a fun frame and placing it on my wall; or when I eventually have the patience for kids of my own, hang it in their room, as decor.

Word of advice, when deciding on the fabric you are going to use for this project, choose one where you can see the thread weave with your naked eye or you are going to struggle to keep track of your stitches.
I wouldn't worry overly much if you haven't much skill at drawing or embroidery, both are simple and easy to do for this project, even if you haven't embroidered or sketched in your life.

Materials Required

• Embroidery Hoop
• Pencil and Eraser
• Embroidery Needle
• Assorted Embroidery Thread (Double up on Black)
• Fabric of Choice

Plastic and Wooden
Embroidery Hoops

Remember: none of these materials should cost you a fortune, the embroidery hoop should be the most expensive item on your shopping list, and should cost R150 at most; anymore and you're wasting money, shop in different area. They do come in a plastic or wooden version, I do have both and prefer using the plastic version. My besty prefers the wooden one, so it really all depends on your personal choice.
Also, embroidery needles are different from sewing needles in that they have a rounder and blunter point, so be sure of which you're buying.
There is a great fabric and material shop in Lenasia called the HRN Brides Boutique, that would cater to most of your embroidery needs. If that is to far for you to travel, your could try Elna, located at the Cresta Shopping Center.

Learning your Embroidery Stitches

The Back Stitch

The Back Stitch

Thread your needle. Do not make your thread piece too long to minimise knotting and fraying. I usually measure out an arm's length.
Your first and last stitches will be different from the rest for this stitch. Pull your needle up from the back though Hole A, and pull the thread through until 7 cm is left, I measure this with my index finger.
Do not knot the end of your thread, ever.
Then push it down through Hole B to create a stitch. The distance between Hole A and B is up to you, my distance was the hole after my fourth thread in the napkin's weave.
Pull your thread back up through Hole C and then back down through Hole B.
With back stitch every hole will be used twice, except Hole A and, of course, your last hole before you run out of thread.
Continue this stitch along your picture's outline until you have about 7 cm left and thread it through to the back.
Weave this extra thread through the stitches at the back of your fabric and remove your needle. Do this with the thread you left at Hole A as well. Do not leave this step for later, loose threads will knot together, create a mess and end up distorting your picture, or worse, pull loose. So, keep your backside clean.

The Satin Stitch

The Satin Stitch

You could do this stitch vertically or horizontally depending on what you're comfortable with. 

Pull your needle up from the back through Hole A, remembering to leave 7 cm of the thread at the back. 

Push your needle down through Hole B, moving sideways. then pull it up through Hole C. Do not skip holes in the fabric's weave when you're moving to a new hole along the horizontal axes, only along the vertical axes, which will be based on the distance within your picture's outlines. Do not make this distance too big either as the threads are likely to hook on something and pull, warping the stitch and picture.

You will then move up and push the needle down through Hole D, and then sideways and up through Hole E until the area is done. Remember to leave 7 cm on your last stitch to finish off at the back.

All parallel holes you are threading through must be in line with each other, A with B, D with C, and E with F. You will start noticing if you've skipped when your stitches start becoming more diagonal. Your project will end up looking messy if your embroidery stitches are going in different directions.

Step 1

Fold your fabric equally
into four sections

Fold your fabric in half horizontally, and then in half vertically. Do this to your reference picture as well.  If your pictures have the tendency to end up largely on the left side with the right side completely empty, like mine, then having this grid and center point on your material will help you plot, place and center your picture.
Draw your Powerpuff Girls picture onto your piece of fabric.
I've used the picture at the beginning of this blog as my reference material.
There are specialised embroidery pencils and kokies for this type of thing, but I found that they tended to fade after being exposed to my sweaty hands or after a period of time has passed. My redraws never come out as perfect as the original, so I prefer using lead pencil and a soft eraser.

Draw your picture onto the fabric

If you are new to drawing, start with the head of the most centralised figure, which in this case would be Bubbles. Where you go from there is up to you. My system is usually head, hair, eyes, bow (where applicable), body, legs (where applicable), arms and mouth for each character. I taught my niece this way and her picture on a paper came out wonderful.
Then move to the figure on your left if you're right-handed or right if you're left-handed. This will minimise smear by your drawing hand.
Once you have your picture down on fabric, its up you to decide what to do with the empty space around it; flowers, that heart background of theirs that pops up at the end of every episode, maybe even a Townsville monster attack scene, if you have the time and ambition. I like labeling and naming pictures, so I went with that option.

Step 2

Secure the portion of your picture that you would like to start with into your embroidery hoop.
Once you have your area secured in the hoop start to outline your picture with black thread using back stitch.
Do not outline their irises and pupils.
Then 'colour in' their pupils, their shoes and Bubbles mouth, using satin stitch.
At this point I ran out of black so I couldn't finish Buttercup's shoes, hair and their stripes on their clothes. Always double up on black.

Satin Stitch their Socks and  Eyes

Step 3

Satin stitch their socks and eyes with white thread.

Step 4

This is the stage where your embroidery project will really start to pop.
Satin Stitch Blossom's hair with orange thread.
Then with yellow thread for Bubbles' hair.

Finish of the Back Stitch and
Satin Stitch with Black Thread

Step 5

At this point I managed to get my hands on more Black thread to satin stitch Buttercup's hair and shoes, the stripes on their clothing as well as outline 'The Powerpuff Girls' wording with back stitch.
I also had to decide whether to follow my pencil design or keep going with my 4 thread system for back stitch.
My OCD tendencies decided straight wording was more important in this case, so I went off the designed path.
Satin stitch Blossom's bow with red thread; and their faces and arms with Flesh thread

Step 6

Back stitch the outline of their names in blue thread for Bubbles, moss green thread for Buttercup and pink thread for Blossom.

Complete the 3 character's respective
colouring with Satin Stitch

Step 7

Satin stitch Bubbles' clothing and eye colour, as well as her name with light blue thread.
Satin Stitch, Buttercup's clothing, eye colour and name with light green thread.
Lastly, satin stitch Blossom's clothing and eye colour, as well as her name with blushing pink thread. Do forget to satin stitch Bubbles' tongue with the same colour thread too.

Step 8

Lastly, satin stitch 'The Powerpuff Girls' wording with pink thread.
Hand wash the material to remove the pencil drawings.
Leave to air dry.
Iron print side down and your embroidery project is done.
Now to find a fun frame...