3 Simple Outline Crafts
Recently I’ve been really into outline art! For a while now, I’ve been seeing outlines of abstract faces all over Pinterest. I thought it was really cool, though I never intended to make or wear anything with that kind of design because it’s not really my style. But then I saw a TikTok where the creator was embroidering these faces onto a half-painted canvas, and I loved it so much that went and made it and thought of more outline crafts to make! These three crafts are so simple and look professional! Even my non-crafty friend, Sam, picked up the process within a few minutes!
1. Embroidery Painting
As soon as I saw that TikTok, I knew I needed to make an embroidery painting. I thought: This is awesome! But I wish I could do it with my own pictures.
Well, why not? So I picked out a few pictures of my friends and me and embroidered them using the backstitch, and I immediately fell in LOVE. The design was chic but minimalistic, and it can be easily incorporated into any style or theme you’re going for!
Now, I’m a very crafty person, but I’m not artsy at all. I can doodle a few flowers, a tree, a fat cat, and decently follow a Bob Ross tutorial, but that’s about it. So, I was nervous about making an outline, but I have the app PicsArt which has an outline feature! This was great for making outlines of faces, and all I had to do after was print the picture out and touch up a few gaps!
If you don’t know how to embroider, you might be a little intimidated by this craft, but up until a week ago, I didn’t know how to embroider either, so no worries! I used the backstitch, which is one of the easiest stitches.
I made this as a gift for my Nonni! This is a picture of us from one of my dance competitions last year!
Tip: If you're tracing your outline onto a separate sheet of paper, use a light table to make it easier to see! If you don't have one, you can hold your papers on a window!
Materials:
- 8 x 10-inch canvas
- Paint (any color)
- Masking tape
- White and other color (same as paint) embroidery thread
- Embroidery needle
- Paper
- Pencil
- Scissors
Directions:
- Put a piece of masking tape on the diagonal of a canvas, one side of the tape going from one corner of the canvas to another
- Paint one half of the canvas in desired color
- Pick out your picture and use the outline feature in PicsArt (or print out image and trace an outline on another sheet of paper) then print
- Tape printed outline on painted canvas and poke holes at each corner or curve of the outline and where each line intersects the division of colors on the canvas
- Take the picture off of the canvas and connect the dots with a pencil, using the image as a reference
- Using two strands of embroidery thread, backstitch along the outline (not the facial features) using the opposite color thread as the color of the canvas
- Backstitch along the facial features using one strand of embroidery thread
2. Mason Jar
Decorating mason jars is so easy and fun! They are so amazing because you can decorate them any way you want, and they make great gifts! This mason jar took me less than a half-hour to make, and it looks so professional! You can do whatever picture you want, but this is an outline of a scene from one of my favorite movies: Dirty Dancing!
Materials:
- Mason jar
- Glass marker (or Sharpie, but a glass marker is better)
- Spray paint
- Tape
- Paper
- Pencil
- Scissors
Directions:
- Print out picture and trace outline onto a separate sheet of paper
- Cut outline to fit into mason jar
- Tape outline to inside of mason jar
- Trace over the outline on the mason jar with a glass marker
- Spraypaint the inside
The end product is so cute! These would make great gifts, or would be the perfect touch to add to a bedroom! I put some colored fairy lights in mine, and I think it looks great!
3. Movie Sweatshirt
Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of this craft because I’m still in the process of making it! I’ve had a plain black sweatshirt folded in my closet for a while now. I intended to put an iron-on on it, but I just never got around to doing it. But now that I’ve made a few outline crafts, I decided to keep going with the theme and embroider my sweatshirt! “What are you going to embroider?” you ask? Well, let me tell you! I’ll be embroidering outlines of scenes and quotes from my favorite movies on the back of it, and as I add more favorite movies to my list, I’ll add them to my sweatshirt too! I’m using the same outline techniques as my other crafts: I printed up a bunch of pictures and traced their outlines onto a separate piece of paper using my light table. So far, I’ve traced scenes from Dirty Dancing, The Princess Bride, The Notebook, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Titanic, The Hunger Games, Grease, Chicago, Singin’ in the Rain, and Harry Potter! This will take me a while to finish, but I will keep you updated on my IG stories, so follow me on Instagram if you aren’t already @dailygemblog !
Materials:
- Sweatshirt
- Embroidery hoop
- Embroidery thread
- Embroidery needle
- Paper
- Pencil
- Scissors
Directions:
- Print out pictures that you want to embroider
- Trace the outlines of the images onto a separate piece of paper
- Cut out the outline
- Tighten the area of the sweatshirt that you want to embroider into the embroidery hoop
- Pin your outline to the part of the sweatshirt that is tightened
- Poke holes along the outline, at each curve and corner
- Embroider along the outline using the backstitch with the paper still on the sweatshirt
- Spray the paper with water and take off
All of the materials listed can be found at your local craft store
Leave any questions in the comments! If you make any of these crafts, feel free to email me or dm me, I would love to see them!
Gemma
Teen creator of the Daily Gem blog! Visit the About Me page and Hello World post for more info
