I'm back at the "Pinterest Made Me Do It" posts; at least for this week. =)
I saw this embroidered map on Pinterest a month ago and fell in love.
On our travel gallery wall, we have a world map that is magnetic. We have different magnetic balls placed where we traveled. We love the map, but it doesn't have a breakdown of the United States. So, that's where this little project comes in. I thought it would be fun to do the United States and we will cross them off only when we have traveled to each state as a family of three. Luke and I have been to most of the states, but we want Greyson to continue to take an active part in our travels.
Step 1: Gather your supplies. I picked up the embroidery thread and hoop at JoAnn's. I used a coupon and I think it came to about $3.20. I have quite the fabric stash, so I dug through that to get a piece that would work.
Step 2: Print or draw (which Luke did by hand - our printer isn't working right now) a map and tape it to a window. Make sure your map is small enough to fit in the embroidery hoop.
Step 3: Tape your fabric over the map and use a Sharpie to trace the United States.
4. Put your fabric in your embroidery hoop and start filling in the places you have traveled.
I really like how it turned out. Each time we travel with Greyson we can fill it in and I think he will really enjoy that. Now, I just need to add it to the travel gallery wall.
Some of my past "Pinterest Made Me Do It" posts include: Creating a cursive quote art, How-To Clean a Mattress and a Photoshop tutorial for get a circle cut picture.
Linking up to:
Charlotte @ couldntkeepit2myself
I love this! Such a cool idea. And, uh, totally impressed that Luke hand drew that. I think he missed an opportunity in Art/Graphic Deign! =)
Ashley Mayes
Thanks! It's funny that you say that about him. What first attracted me to him was that he was an artist. He used to paint, draw, doodle... all the time. He had a sketch book that he used and I used to always love looking through it. He doesn't do it much anymore ( I think the lack of personal time is what is lacking), but I do enjoy it when he does. If I'm lucky, I get hand-doodled love notes...my favorite. =)
Julia@Cuckoo4Design
Love this idea! i should do this with Europe for my kiddos. Looks great
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Julia! You could also do some sort of yarn stitching for each individual trip...kinda like showcasing a road trip. =)
Ashley
Love this so much!
Ashley Mayes
Thanks!
Megan
I love this! We have a giant school map (the vintage pull down type) in our son's room but this would be a fun addition as we continue our travels. Plus the customizable colors is nice!
Ashley Mayes
I've been looking for one of those pull down maps. I love those!
Heather
I love this and would like to make it just wanted an explanation on how you filled in the states. Did you see around the outline of the state first and then wrap your thread under each stitch??
Ashley Mayes
I just went over and under on the state lines.
Renate
Love IT! What type of embroidery fabric did you use?
Ashley Mayes
I just used some linen scrap fabric that I had.
Melissa
How are you going to/did you fill in the Great Lakes? Love this!
Ashley Mayes
We haven't been yet but that would be a fun addition!