The Stitch ATC stencil by Kristin Williams was born when, while teaching stitching classes, she’d grab a dishtowel or random piece of fabric to use to demonstrate specific embroidery stitches. After a while, Kristin had an “Aha! Moment,” realizing a stencil with her favorite stitches would be great to use for students as well as teachers.

Using muslin or any lightweight fabric, stencil so that you have about 3-4 inches on each side —this makes it easier to place a hoop anywhere on the fabric. Stencil with any matte acrylic paint (like Paper Artsy) or black or white gesso and then use the stenciled marks as a guide for stitching.

Not a stitcher? You can always use these great patterns in your art journaling backgrounds or to integrate your mixed media or paper crafting designs. You can also cut the stencil into pieces so that each design becomes its own stencil, perfectly sized for creating ATC (Artist Trading Card) backgrounds.