I love it! the back, the front, the letters, everything. I once made a tea cosy and know how hard those layers are on the sewing machine. I ended up hand sewing the final bit.
Buy a washout tracing pen from craft/quilt store. Trace the pattern onto your fabric (needs to be thin for this) by taping pattern and fabric onto your window. Instant light box! I do this all the time and it works well.
Prewash to be safe and use DMC or Anchor. I have never had red run and I embroider with it a lot but have always heard it is the least stable dye colour. I usually wash my work afterwards if it is redwork to get the tracing pen out.