- Choose a letter from the set of stencils. Place the letter on the canvas, measuring with the ruler to make sure it is precisely in the center.

- Hold the letter in place with one hand while you lightly trace around the letter with a pencil.

- With ruler and pencil, make marks at the top and bottom of the canvas about 1" apart across the canvas.

TIP: Do not make any marks on the outer 2" of the canvas. This outer portion covers the wood framing and you will not be able to stitch through the canvas.

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- Cut approximately 30"–36" piece of Tidal yarn and thread it through the eye of a yarn darner, leaving a tail that’s about 4"–6" long. Make a knot in the end of the yarn.

- Use your needle to poke a hole at the top of your first vertical mark, which should be 2" from both the left side and the top side of the canvas. This will help you to know where to bring up your needle from underneath the canvas.

TIP: If you prefer, you can continue to poke a hole from the front side of the canvas each time before stitching up from underneath. This will make it easy for you to know where to bring up your stitch every time.

- Bring the needle up through the hole you made, pulling the yarn through until taut. Stitch down again into the vertical mark at the bottom of the canvas, pulling the yarn through and creating a straight line of yarn down the left side of the canvas.

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- As in the previous step, poke your needle through the second mark on the bottom of the canvas, next to where you just stitched down. Bring your needle up through this hole, pulling the yarn through. Stitch down again into the vertical mark directly above at the top of the canvas, pulling the yarn through and creating the second straight line of yarn on the canvas.

- Continue to stitch vertical lines with Tidal yarn at the 1" intervals you have marked. If your traced letter is in the path of your vertical line, then stitch down into the canvas at the edge of the outline, and up again where the letter ends. The idea is that you will stitch underneath the letter as you make your vertical lines of yarn, so that the letter stands out as negative space, outlined by the yarn. Use the image as a guide.

- If you reach the end of your threaded yarn, knot it at the back of the canvas by slipping the needle under a nearby stitch twice to create a loop. Thread the needle once through the loop you have created, then pull taut to create a knot. Trim the yarn, re-thread and continue. Once you have finished stitching lines across the canvas with Tidal, knot the yarn on the back of the canvas and trim away the excess.

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- Re-thread the needle with your second color of yarn (Lavender Blue) and knot the end. Repeat the previous steps to make vertical lines across the canvas in the new color. However, instead of stitching up and down at the marks you have made, space these new vertical lines so that they are halfway between the lines of Tidal yarn. As before, when you reach the letter tracing in the center of the canvas, stitch underneath it so that eventually the shape will be outlined by the lines of yarn. When you have finished with this color of yarn, knot off and trim.

- Repeat the previous steps with your third color of yarn (Blue Mint), continuing to stitch lines of yarn in between the existing lines, so that you slowly fill the space around the letter, making it stand out clearly in the midst of the yarn lines.

- Continue to alternate yarns to stitch new vertical lines in between existing lines on the canvas until the letter is clearly visible. Thread your needle with Woollike™ yarn and stitch lines that fill the last remaining gaps. Finally, knot off the yarn at the back of the canvas and trim away the excess.

Free Yarn Class: Yarn Letter Canvas

Instructions

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS