Instructions & Tips To 'Stitch Your City' San Francisco

Follow our tutorials and top tips for stitching up your San Francisco Tea Towel!

This is a great project for trying out new embroidery stitches and bringing colour to the city of San Francisco!

Whether you sew each icon as you see it, or just fill in your favourite San Fran symbol, your the tea towel will soon come to life with colourful stitches. 

The Basics: Step by step 

Dividing your thread

- Our embroidery thread is made up of 6 strands. We recommend splitting your thread in half to 3 strands for the main outlines (but you can use a mixture of thicknesses for various textures.)

- Separate the threads in half at one end - then gently pull them apart. 

- The thread has a tendency to tangle so it is best to keep the other end taught as you separate them (a third hand is helpful if you have someone nearby!)

- Now thread your needle (moisten the ends to help guide all 3 strands through) and tie a knot in the other end. You're ready to start stitching! 

Backstitch

Backstitch is brilliant for outlining the icons and is the perfect stitch to master as a beginner. 

- Starting from the back of the fabric, push your needle through the grey outline at your starting point, pulling the thread fully through. 

- Put your needle back down about 3mm along the grey outline. Pull the thread firmly through to make your first stitch. 

- Push your needle back up through the fabric another 3mm along the outline from your last stitch. Pull the thread fully through. 

 - Now push your needle back down the same hole as your last stitch so that the line has no gaps. 

- Continue to stitch 3mm ahead and then back down the previous hole to make a continuous line... this is backstitch!  

- Complete the outline in this way until you get to the end of the design. 

- Tie off your thread (see the last stage). Now you can swap your thread for the next colour. Remember to divide the green down to 3 strands, thread the needle and knot the end. 

- You can continue to use backstitch to outline the stalk until it is complete. 

- For the detail marks, we recommend using only 1 strand of thread for a finer line. Like before, split the thread so that you have only 1 strand.  

- Use backstitch to fill in the detail lines

- Try to keep using neat, close stitches for a consistent look. 

Tying off your thread

- When you've finished with a colour you need to tie off your thread. Turn your bag or apron over so you're looking at the back of your fabric. With your needle still threaded, go through a stitch (but not through the fabric) - and rather than pulling it all the way, pull the thread just halfway through.

- A loop is created - put your needle through the loop and then pull the thread tight to create a knot. Repeat this stage to secure the stitch. 

- Cut the thread close to the knot, and trim any other loose threads from the back. 

You've finished your first design

Video Tutorials

Getting started with back stitch 

Doing chain stitch to create the clouds

For the clouds, we used chain stitch to give a chunky, fluffy outline. Follow our video tutorial below, to see how we do it. 

Doing stem stitch to create the bridge 

Follow this simple tutorial to learn how to create a textured stem stitch. This simple stitch is really useful and creates a sort of twisted line which is perfect for the bridge chains.

Thread Colours 

These are the thread colours that come in your kit, but feel free to get creative and mix colours, you don't need to stick to our example.

Have fun stitching your tea towel and if you have any queries, please do email us at info@chasingthreads.com - we'd also love to see your embroidered items <3