How to: Hand Embroidered & Altered Photos

Dear Lover of All Things Crafty, 

Recently I embarked on a long term project that involves getting creative with family photos. I’ve had this project in the back of my mind for quite a while and it’s finally begun. 

There are just so many ideas and options when it comes to doing a bit of photo embellishment. My goal is to do something a bit different with each photo and use a variety of techniques and skills. Then I’ll display them together in one big creative group.

I’ve completed 3 more family photos, so far, all incorporating embroidery in different ways. Embroidery on paper is such a satisfying process and the results just bring energy and life to the photo. Maybe it’s the real element of texture against the stillness of the photo. I don’t know but I absolutely love how they are turning out.

My most recent piece completed is a photo of my nephew from a few years ago. His calm little face focused on his drawing in the middle of a busy restaurant reminds me of the gift of having peace in heart and mind even when things are wild and unruly all around. 

Where to begin… Let’s start with the first of the 3 embroidered photos. This one is of my mom and dad when they were young before starting a family. It was taken at a fair in one of those old-timey stalls where they got to pick a costume. 

TIP 1: Don’t use the original photo. Scan it and have it printed.

For this altered photo piece I created a gritty background by monoprinting on a gel plate. Then I digitally removed the background and printed the photo onto exam table paper. You know the paper that you sit on at the doctor’s office? When I apply a gel medium to that paper it becomes almost transparent. By printing the image on that paper I can apply it to my monoprint and it gives a photo transfer-ish effect without as much trial and error. 

After some torn edges and mounting the altered photo to a piece of cardstock it was time to embroider.

For the hand embroidered details, no real planning or mapping out my design was involved. I just started by stitching a few stems and then adding the French knot flowers. Then I came back in and added some vines and more stems and flowers until I was happy with it.

Instead of keeping all the embellished details on the photo, I let the birds and flowers come from beyond and creep into the image. 

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The next hand embroidered photo I added was one of another niece. This was a photo I took on my phone after her dance recital. 

I made the image black and white, had it printed on cardstock weight paper, and, as you can see, used the flower bouquet she got as the embroidered area. 

TIP 2: Pick a color palette.

In this piece I did not plan out the design either but let the flowers there guide me. I did, however, choose a color palette for the flowers. Where there were light flowers I kept it light and where there were dark I kept it dark. I also went for a more muted color palette to not make the flowers too bold and overwhelming.

To add some variation I chose 2 shades or tints of the same color for the darker elements. So the dark red flowers got some medium pink highlights, the dark purple French knot clusters got quite a bit of the pale purple French knots as well. And the stems and leaves were either a darker green or a lighter green. 

For the stitches I combined tiny French knots, chain stitches, simple stitches and a couple of rose stitches. Embroidering every flower in the image would have taken away from the details so I chose to focus on the most visible florals in the forefront. The effect was a perfect blend of ooooh without taking away from my niece’s sweet face. 

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The next piece was the embroidered photo of my nephew. You can watch the video above to see how it came about but here are some extras that I didn’t include in the video. 

To prepare the photo I followed the same process as the altered photo of my mom and dad that I shared previously. I first monoprinted a background using copy paper, a gel plate, and acrylic paints. Then I digitally removed the background, made the image black and white, and then printed it on the exam table paper. 

TIP 4: To print on the exam table paper, tape the exam table paper to a piece of copy paper before feeding through your printer. 

Then, using gel medium, I attached the photo to the monoprint and cut it to the size I wanted. 

For the edges, I burned them. Yep, a little bit of “controlled” fire to singe the edges and give it an interesting shape. 

Next, I mounted the photo to a light weight board. It was heavier than cardstock but cardstock would have worked here too. 

Unlike the embroidered pieces above, I decided to plan this one out.

I then used an awl to poke holes through the altered photo and board for a guide to my stitching. I did find that I needed to poke the needle through the holes before completing the stitches- it made the stitching come about a bit more smoothly.

A section of simple leaves splattering across and overlapping the photo turned out to be just enough to add that hand embellished detail without going overboard. I think adding anymore detail to the leaves would have shifted the focal point from my nephew to the leaves.

In the video I also show how I framed this one with a $4 thrifted frame. If you watched the video you will notice that I do not keep the glass in the frame.

TIP 5: Framing embroidery without glass allows the threads, colors, and details of the hand embroidery to really be seen. 

I have found after framing the previous embroidered pieces that they just look better without the glass. That handmade element gets lost behind glass.

I was telling my mom about it and she completely agreed. And that means something coming from someone who is an avid cross stitcher. She gave her own tip-

TIP 6: Use a soft, clean paint brush to dust off the work when needed. 

I hope these altered and hand embroidered photo projects give you some inspiration for your own family photos! If you have any questions feel free to ask me in the comments of the video and I’ll answer as soon as I can!