If you’re on the minimalist, moon, and goddesses-obsessed side, then you’re in the right place! This celestial decoration tutorial will show you how to stitch this beautiful universe-inspired pattern.
This pattern is perfect for beginners, even if you never stitched in your life I promise you will end up with a nice item for your collection. Take your time, enjoy the process, and let your individual identity shine!
Disclaimer: This post might contain some affiliate links, you can find my full Disclosure Policy here.
OVERVIEW
PROJECT SIZE: 9cm x 9 cm (3.5 x 3.5 in)
STITCHES USED: Back Stitch, Straight Stitch, French Knot
The story behind this pattern is a watercolor series I sketched a while ago. Luna Goddess is one of a few goddesses designs initially painted, then turned into stitched decoration pieces. This pattern is very dear to me, it was actually one of the first patterns I stitched.
Luna Goddess was created with the mindfulness practice in mind, on the principle less is more – fewer stitches that are easy to learn for anyone. The pattern uses just a few basic stitches – Back Stitch, Straight Stitch, and French Knot.
TOOLS & MATERIALS
Download the Celestial pattern from my Free Pattern Library. To get access to the Free Pattern Library fill out the form below and I will send you an email with your password. You can read more about my Free Pattern Library here.
PREPARING YOUR FABRIC
Before tracing the pattern cut your fabric into a 10inch (25cm) square. As with most of my projects, I would normally wash the fabric first and iron it to remove any creases.
1. Cut your fabric into a 10inch (25cm) square
2. Iron your fabric to remove any creases
If you’re wondering how I created these zig-zag margins, the answer is this Dressmaking Zig Zag Scissors. Just use the zig-zag scissors when cutting your fabric and voila!
3. Create zig-zagged margins for your fabric
4. Use Zig Zag Scissors when cutting your fabric
STEP 3: DOWNLOAD THE FREE EMBROIDERY PATTERN
Download the Celestial embroidery pattern from my Free Pattern Library. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter and get instant access to my Free Pattern Library! Fill out the form below and I will send you an email with your password. Once you got your password copy and paste it here Login Free Library.
Once you have downloaded the pattern, print the Cut and Trace file on A4 paper.
The pattern you have downloaded is full size, so when printed on the A4 paper will have the exact size to fit into a 6inch hoop. You just need to have the Fill Entire Paper option selected.
Note: If you do not own a printer, you can just trace the pattern on A4 paper, then trace it onto your fabric using one of the methods explained below.
TRANSFERING THE PATTERN ONTO THE FABRIC
When transferring patterns onto dark fabrics the normal transferring methods will be hard to work. You might get away with using the Lightbox technique, only if your fabric is light enough to see through it. With most fabrics like linen blend or cotton, you won’t be able to do that though. But do not worry, there’s an easy way to transfer patterns onto darker fabrics.
My go-to method to manually transfer patterns onto dark fabrics is to use white carbon transfer paper. Let me show how easy it is to transfer your patterns onto black fabric.
To transfer the Luna Goddess pattern manually using white carbon transfer paper, you can use this simple method:
1. Crop the tracing pattern as indicated
2. Place the white carbon paper (face down)
3. Place the pattern on top of the tracing paper and secure it with masking tape
4. Trace over the pattern’s lines with the tracing tools or an HB mechanical pencil
5. This is my final result after tracing the pattern using white carbon paper
This result would be good enough if you would start stitching straight away. But if you don’t, or if you’re using this technique for preparing an Embroidery Kit for a client, then you will have to reinforce the traced pattern. Imagine you send Kit to your customer and by the time it arrives the traced pattern fades away!
For reinforcing the pattern I am using the SAKURA – Gelly Pen Basic White.
Go very gently one more time with the gelly pen over the traced pattern. Use gentle moves and don’t press the fabric too much, you want your outlines to be thin, especially for this project when they will be covered only with the backstitch outline.
6. Use a white gelly pen to go over your traced pattern
7. Use the gelly pen very gently, lightly touching the fabric
8. And here it is! You can see what a difference the gelly pen made! Leave it aside for a few minutes, just for the gel to properly dry. You wouldn’t want to smudge it after all the work.
MOUNTING THE FABRIC IN THE HOOP
For this project, I used the same hoop for stitching and for displaying the finished embroidery decoration piece. My go-to hoops for this kind of project are the Elbesee wooden embroidery hoops. They are quality, sturdy and they look amazing!
Place your fabric over the inner hoop, then place the outer hoop on top of both.
Push the outer hoop down until it slips under the inner hoop. Then tighten the screw and stretch the fabric. You might need to repeat this until the fabric is really tight.
TIP: When you stretch the fabric always do so on the straight grain, otherwise the fabric will overstretch and look distorted.
1. Place your fabric over the inner hoop
2. Push the outer hoop down and tighten the screw
I do not recommend you buy cheap hoop versions, especially if you have your own shop. You can tell the difference in quality only by looking at them. I ordered a few times cheaper versions and more than half of the hoops had manufacturing defects. Totally waste of money, since half of them were unusable.
Personal or business use, do not go cheap with your hoops! It really does make a difference.
Elbesee wooden embroidery hoops are top quality and really easy to find on any platform. I order mine from Lovecrafts, but you can find them on Amazon too, or any other specialty shop.
COLOR PALETTE AND THREAD LIST
For Luna Goddess, I chose a monochromatic approach, but you are free to create your own goddess and combine multiple colors. One thing to consider is to have enough contrast between the thread your using and the background color.
For the entire work, I used DMC-stranded cotton. It’s your choice if you prefer one brand over another, both DMC and Anchor manufacturers offer good-quality stranded cotton in a wide variety of colors. If your brand of choice is DMC, please use the thread color below. I also included a conversion chart DMC to Anchor and DMC to HEX RGB (in case you decide to use the pattern for digital display works).
THREAD CONVERSION CHART
 | | |
| DMC | ANCHOR | HEX RGB |
| White | 2 | #FFFFFF |
The Luna Goddess was stitched with one strand of thread, but it works really well with two strands too.
In order to separate your thread, pull out and cut about 30-40cm length of thread from the skein, more or less the distance between your fingers and your elbow. Separate one strand and thread your needle. Use a needle size 5-7.
NOTE: For the sake of the demonstration below, I used dark shaded thread. You would normally use white thread or the color of your choice.
1. Cut about 30-40cm of thread
2. Separate one strand
3. Pull the separated strand while holding firmly the rest
4. Thread your needle (size 5-7)
MORE COLOR PALETTES YOU’LL LOVE
STITCHING THE PATTERN
BODY & HAIR: Outline the body and the hair with Back Stitch (watch the video tutorial here) using DMC White
STARS: Use Straight Stitches for some of the stars and French Knots for others using DMC White.
1. Outline the body and the hair with Back Stitch
2. Add the stars using Straight Stitch and French Knot
As I mentioned in the beginning this pattern is really easy to stitch. When stitching Luna there aren’t really any complex stitches or techniques. Just remember when outlining with Backstitch do not leave any gaps between your stitches, and leave the French Knots the last as they are really fragile and easy to break when manipulating your hoop.
I’d love to see your progress! Tag @makenstitch on Instagram and hashtag it #makenstitch so I can see your magic!
FINISHING YOUR EMBROIDERY
For this project I decided to leave my final embroidery in the same hoop I stitched it. The Elbesee wooden hoops are not great just for stitching, but they look amazing up on the wall too.
You could take out your embroidery and frame it using a photo frame or a display hoop, but first, you will have to finish the back of your embroidery.
The easiest method for finishing the back of your hoop is to use a Running Stitch and if needed cut out the excess fabric.
1. Stitch the back of your hoop using Running Stitch and cut any excess fabric if needed
2. Luna Goddess is ready to be displayed!
Congratulations! You have successfully created your own celestial embroidery decoration!
I added mine to the mini universe-inspired collection and created a Goddess wall art corner.
New to hand-embroidery? If you’re new to hand-embroidery and you don’t have all the tools yet, purchasing the Embroidery Kit might be the best option for you. The Luna Goddess pattern is also available in my Etsy Shop as an Embroidery Kit and comes with everything you need to get started: embroidery hoop, design already transferred onto 100% natural Cotton Fabric, fabric practice patch, embroidery needle, DMC embroidery thread, and tracing pattern for later multiple uses.
I really hope you enjoyed this tutorial and please let me know in the comments below if you have any questions or suggestions about stitching onto dark fabrics.
I would love to see your progress and end result too. Don’t forget to tag @makenstitch on Instagram and hashtag it #makenstitch so I can see your work!
You can download the Celestial pattern from my Free Pattern Library.
To get access to the Free Pattern Library fill out the form below and I will send you an email with your password. You can read more about my Free Pattern Library here.
SIMILAR EMBROIDERY PROJECTS
Did you try this pattern? Come over to our Facebook Group and show everyone your celestial creation!
SAVE THIS FOR LATER? ADD THE LUNA GODDESS TUTORIAL TO YOUR FAVOURITE PINTEREST BOARD
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