Pet Portrait Set-Up: Embroidery and Needle Felting

This method is a part of my working process, and everyone has a different approach to creating a pet portrait, so there is no right or wrong way. I am sharing my method here because I failed to create pet portraits when I first started learning embroidery. I had missed some steps in the process. One of the biggest problems I faced when I started embroidering was with the color and direction of the stitches. In this article, I will share steps that you can follow before you start embroidering a pet portrait. These steps will help you a lot while you are working on your pet embroidery.

If you are interested, please check out my work 👉 Here
If you are interested in having me create a custom pet portrait for your pet 👉 Here

Method 1

To complete these steps, you will need an iPad with the Procreate app ( or any drawing app you’re using )or a laptop with a drawing pad using Photoshop, as well as a printer.

1. Draw the line work for the color areas.
Identify and draw the areas that have different colors or color transitions.

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2. Add color to the area you've drawn.
Use the selection tool to pick the color from the area and draw a circle.

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3. Eliminate any colors that are too similar or unnecessary.
If you select too many colors, I recommend deleting the ones that are too similar. Using too many colors can make the piece look muddy.

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4. Print out the line work and color sheet as a guideline.
I like to print it out so I can keep the color transitions, texture direction, and proportions in mind.

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5. Draw the embroidery ( or felting ) direction on the guideline.
After printing it out, I use a red pen to draw the direction. This is a crucial step that ensures your pet looks realistic.

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6. Choose thread or wool colors that match the color sheet. For this step, I take out all my thread boxes or wool, fiber that I have organized by tones, allowing me to quickly find the right colors.

Method 2

If you don’t have an iPad or laptop with a drawing pad, you can print out and trace the color areas.
To complete these steps, you will need a light box tracer and a printer.

1. Print out the pet photo

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2. Draw the line work for the color areas.
If you don’t have an iPad or laptop with a drawing pad, you can print out the image and trace the color areas by drawing lines.

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3. Use colored pencils, watercolors, or any pencil with a variety of colors, and color them on top of the image or draw circles next to it as a color palette. 

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4. Eliminate any colors that are too similar or unnecessary.
If you draw too many colors, I recommend deleting the ones that are too similar. Using too many colors can make the piece look muddy.

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5. Draw the embroidery ( or felting ) direction on the guideline.
After printing it out, I use a highlighter or a red pen to draw the direction. This is a crucial step that ensures your pet looks realistic.

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6. Choose thread or wool colors that match the color palette you made. For this step, I take out all my thread boxes or wool, fiber that I have organized by tones, allowing me to quickly find the right colors.

Tips:
I highly recommend having 2 or 3 digital pet photos with different angles. Having extra photos can help you with embroidering or felting the right transition areas.

If you have any questions or different methods you want to share, please leave them below, and I will do my best to answer them. Let's continue learning and making nice pieces together.