Chicken Scratch Embroidery

Hey, hey! 

Sewing is one of my favorite crafts. I learned the basics in elementary school and to this day, I pick up needle and thread to make hoop embroidery, decorating handmade pouches, and embroidery for remembrance. 

I joined a virtual sew-along class hosted by Creative Bug.  

Quilter and author Blair Stocker taught us how to do some chicken scratch embroidery. I know, it's also the first time I heard of it! It's also known as Depression Lace, Amish Lace, and Snowflake Embroidery. 

The small stitches look like the footprints chickens leave on the soil. But here is a more descriptive definition: 

"Chicken scratch is a charming form of cross stitch that is worked on gingham fabric and creates an optical illusion of a beautiful lace overlay."   

The gingham (checkered) fabric is key because the squares are used as the guide for both spacing and design. We first sewed on the fabric and then made them into ornaments...TADA!

I didn't have any gingham on hand so I used a polka-dot print fabric, using the dots as my guide. We made marks on the fabric (using a pencil or a nifty erasable FriXion pen) to indicate where to place the stitches. Then we sewed using needle and embroidery floss. We used simple stitches like the back stitch, cross stitch, and Smyrna cross (or double cross).  

Here's how my chicken scratch embroidery progressed. I started with a Smyrna cross at the center, then I made snowflake stitches (diamond shape, followed by a cross stitch), then I made loops connecting one end of the Smyrna cross to one end of the snowflake stitch.

I cut the stitched fabric into a circle, and another fabric circle for the backing. I sewed both circles together and used some leftover lace as my hanging device. And here is my finished chicken scratch embroidery ornament...TADA!

I'll keep experimenting, next time with gingham fabric and neater stitches. But I think this isn't bad for my first try.

That is how I turned some fabric remnants from blah to TADA!

*****

You may subscribe here if you'd like my future blog posts delivered straight to your inbox and you can follow me on Instagram for more crafty ideas.