It’s May already, and that means a new mini-embroidery pattern for our Tea Party Mini-Quilt SAL! It’s time to crown the Tea Party with its ultimate essential, the Queen of all tea things: the teapot. For this pattern you’ll need to know the spiderweb stitch to embroider the roses, so I thought I’d add to the Stitch Library and post a new stitch tutorial. It’s been a while since I posted one, and this is one of my favourite stitches. It’s so simple, but so pretty!
Of course, you could embroider the roses on the teapot pattern with bullion knots like we did for January’s Teacup pattern, but I decided to switch it up a bit and do spiderweb roses instead. It’s up to you! Initially, I was going to make the teapot a close match to the teacup pattern, and stitch it in the same blue, but then it just happened to turn pink. I’d pulled out DMC #3779 from the floss box and kept gazing at it, and next thing I knew, the teapot was pink. Just like Sleeping Beauty’s dress.
I loved the pink too much to change it, but honestly, I still think they do match. I would buy that tea set in a heartbeat if I saw it. 😉
Anyways, onto the spiderweb stitch tutorial!
Spiderweb Rose Stitch Tutorial
1. First, I recommend marking five straight lines in the shape of a star on your fabric. This will be the foundation for the “spiderweb”. Make sure they are of equal length.
2. Then, I like to use just a strand or two to make straight stitches over the markings. End the stitches in the same hole in the middle.
3. Depending on how big you want your rose to be, use as many or as few strands as you like and come up from the back between two of the base stitches, just above the middle point.
4. Skip over the first straight stitch, and slide your needle under the second stitch. Pull through, and go over the next stitch, and down under the one after. You can go clockwise or anti-clockwise to do this, depending on what you prefer. I like to go anti-clockwise.
5. Repeat these motions, going under and over the straight stitches, and you’ll see the rose start to take shape.
6. Go around the rose several times, until the 5 straight stitches are fully covered. When you’re satisfied, simply bring your needle down to the wrong side, as close to the rose as possible. Anchor your thread on the back, and you’re done!
You can choose to add a French knot or a seed bead to the middle, but often I like to leave it as is and let the 3D effect create the nice center.
This stitch is very addictive, and also looks amazing worked with ribbon. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and that you’ll give it a try.
Here’s the pinnable image if you want to save it for later:
I can’t wait to see all your beautiful teapots! Don’t forget to use the hashtag #northernbellesal and tag me on IG (@northernbelle.atelier) with your lovely embroideries.
If you’re new around here and would like to stitch the pattern too, simply subscribe to my newsletter and you’ll find the pattern in your inbox next newsletter! I send out a newsletter every two weeks, and a new mini-embroidery pattern every month. At the year of the year, the embroideries will be turned into an EPP mini-quilt. 😊
For more information on the project, you can see this post:
And for an introduction to EPP (English Paper Piecing), you can see this one:
As always, thank you so much for reading and following along! Happy stitching, and best of all, happy tea-brewing in your lovely teapots,
Fondly,