DIY Network

Embroidered Escape Map Embroider a map to decorate the cover of a vacation scrapbook. From "Uncommon Threads" episode DUCT-104

Stitching a map of your favorite hike, drive or vacation destination and placing it in a scrapbook-cover window is a great way to identify the theme of an album, especially for travel scrapbooks. Stitching is easy to do: all you need is fabric, a needle, some thread and an embroidery hoop. Melinda Barta, the author of Hip to Stitch (Interweave Press, 2005), shows how to make an Embroidered Escape Map for any location, with the help of her friends, Rose Wallick and Laurel Kluber.

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Embroidered Escape Map

Prepare the map pattern:
Draw or photocopy the map of your journey; draw a square around the areas you want to embroider. Working on the photocopy with a permanent marker, draw over the paths you wish to highlight in your embroidery and outline the important reference points such as roads, waterways and county or state boundaries. Reduce or enlarge the drawing or photocopy it so that the drawn square is the size of the scrapbook window; in our case, that is 2-1/2" (6.4 cm) square (the size of the opening of the scrapbook cover in this project).

Transfer map pattern to fabric:
There are a number of methods people can use to transfer patterns to fabric, but Melinda's favorite is using a light source: simply tape the pattern to a window, tape the fabric on top of it and trace the lines onto the fabric using air- and water-soluble fabric-marking pens.

Mount map in embroidery hoop:
To mount the fabric in the embroidery hoop, first lay the inner ring on a flat surface. Next, center the design to be stitched over the ring and lay the outer ring of the hoop directly over the inner ring to sandwich the fabric; press down with even pressure and tighten the screw. It's best to use a hoop that's larger in diameter than the motif to be stitched so that the fabric doesn't need to be moved during stitching and stitches aren't pressed between the rings.

Stitch the map;
Now you're ready to begin stitching the outlines you made on the fabric. Feel free to experiment with different stitches, but do keep your map simple. Don't include too many points of interest or the design will become cluttered and confusing.

Limit your palette to four or five colors; using too many colors will make the map difficult to read. Avoid using light colors that can show dust and wear over time.

Begin by threading the needle with two strands of thread using a needle threader (or wet the thread before you slide it through the eye of the needle). Double-knot one thread tail; don't knot the ends together. Bring the needle up on the wrong side of the fabric.

Here are the basic stitches used in Mt. Evans:

• Roads in backstitch
  Working from right to left, bring the needle up at 1 and insert behind the starting point at 2. Bring the needle up at 3, repeat by inserting at 1, and bring the needle up at a point that is a stitch length beyond 3.

• Trails and mountains in running stitch (a series of straight stitches)
  Working from right to left, make a straight stitch by bringing the needle up and insert at 1, 1/8" to 1/4" (3 to 6 mm) from the starting point. To make a line of running stitches (a row of straight stitches worked one after the other), bring the needle up at 2 and repeat.

• Lakes, streams and rivers in couching stitch
  Working from right to left, use one thread, known as the couching or working thread, to tack down a laid thread, known as the couched thread. Bring the working thread up at 1 and insert at 2, over the laid thread to tack it down; repeat by inserting the needle at 3. This stitch may also be worked from left to right, and the spacing between the couching threads may vary for different design effects.

• Map's legend, compass and mileage bar in couching and satin stitch
  Generally worked from left to right, this stitch is used to fill shapes. Bring the needle up at 1, insert at 2 and bring back up at 3. Repeat.

Final touches:
When the design is complete and the thread runs out, take the needle to the wrong side of the fabric, make a small stitch next to the base of the thread and pull the needle to create a loop; insert the needle through the loop and pull taut to knot. Repeat. If you don't secure the tail of a thread with a knot, weave the needle through the back of several previous stitches; pull the thread taut and trim. Remove the fabric from the hoop and trim as needed to fit the window of your photo album.

Alternative concept for embroidered map:
To reduce the time it takes to make the embroidered map, consider stitching on an actual map. Fuse a piece of medium-weight interfacing to the back of a paper map according to the manufacturer's directions and stitch the areas of interest with contrasting threads.