The Diary of a Northern Belle

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Fall Floral Embroidery Pattern: Calendula Wreath

     Anne      Leave a Comment

The latest pattern in my “Botanical Wreaths” series is the “Calendula Wreath”. A lovely autumnal wreath featuring gorgeous orange calendulas, golden leaves, and sweet red berries.

It is a bit on the simpler side than some of the other wreaths in the series, making it very accessible to beginners. Only basic stitches are used, yet you will achieve a beautifully delicate finish by using only 1-2 strands of floss at a time. No long & short stitch this time, so if that’s not your thing, this pattern will be perfect for you! The calendula petals are stitched and blended with satin stitch. The golden leaves are worked with a closed fly stitch, which is a simple yet interesting way of stitching leaves.

 

CALENDULA WREATH PDF PATTERN

 

Here is what the pattern includes:

This pattern comes as a 20-page downloadable PDF pattern, including everything you need to know to get started and successfully complete your project. It includes:

  • The pattern outline to transfer (as well as the reverse transfer if you prefer)
  • A list of the materials & tools you’ll need
  • A Stitch Guide to show you the different floss colours and stitches
  • A Stitch & Colour Diagram to help you interpret the pattern outline
  • Step-by-step Stitch Tutorials for all the stitches used in the pattern
  • Relevant info on how to prep your project: preparing your hoop, how to start your stitches, etc.
  • Step-by-step instructions with photos to guide you through each part of the pattern
  • Tutorial on how to finish the back of your hoop, if you wish

 

 

 

The pattern is written with beginners in mind to ensure you have all the information you need for a successful project. However, the “Calendula Wreath” pattern is also perfect for more advanced stitchers – just grab a cup of tea and relax as you immerse yourself in the delightful autumn shades. Whatever your embroidery level, this pattern is a lovely slow-stitch project full of the little joys of autumn.

 

Designed for a 6″ or 7″ hoop – finished embroidery measures around 5.1″ x 5.1″ (13 x 13 cm)

 

The majority of the stitches in the “Calendula Wreath” pattern can be found here in the Stitch Library, if you wish to practice before trying the pattern!

 

Happy stitching dear friends!

Botanical Wreath Project: A Pattern for Each Month

     Anne      Leave a Comment

Hello, it’s been a while! I’m not very good at keeping up with my blog lately, but I’ve been working on all sorts of lovely things for my shop that will be coming soon. If you’re a newsletter subscriber, then you already know about my Botanical Wreath series, but I thought I’d take some time today to present it here and talk about it.

For 2023, I’ve decided to embroider twelve botanical wreaths: one for each month of the year, inspired by the beautiful flora of the seasons. I’m taking some liberties for the first few months as we are buried under snow here. The idea is to create wreath designs inspired by the flowers and plants surrounding me. I love a touch of whimsy, so the botanicals may not always be completely accurate but that’s part of what I love about creating my own designs!

At the same time, I hope to take the opportunity to enhance my sketchbook a bit and learn more about the plants I choose to feature. I don’t tend to add colour to my sketches before getting them ready for embroidery, but I really want to do more of that this year. I think it will help immensely with colour distribution and the thread selection process, which is a step I somehow don’t enjoy. There’s just too much pressure to choose the *right* colour, when there are so many possibilities! Maybe a bit of botanical accuracy to limit colour choices isn’t so bad after all 😉

 

January Wreath: A Frosty Winter

Designing and stitching the wreath for January resulted in one of my most favourite embroideries ever. I love winter and something about stitching pinecones and fir needles by the window while it snowed outside was purely magical. Usually, my colour palettes feature at least a bit of colourful yellow, pink, or purple. I love vibrant colours and during the Christmas / winter season I’m often drawn to deep greens and velvety reds. But for this wreath I wanted something a bit more muted and wintery without feeling too festive.

With textured pinecones and clusters of snowberries, this wintery wreath is perfectly evocative of slow, tranquil winter days spent drinking cocoa while stitching, as a deep blanket of snow covers the sleeping nature.

 

You can find the pattern with step-by step instructions in my Etsy shop here: January Wreath Pattern

 

I would rate it as an intermediate project because of its small details and cast-on stitch pinecones. All the stitch tutorials and instructions you need to complete the project are included.

 

February: Victorian Valentine

For February, I went back to my beloved pinks and some new purples to create a romantic pansies and roses wreath. I was inspired by Victorian Valentine’s Day cards and images of beautiful purple pansies surrounded by tumbling greenery. It was also a very enjoyable project, despite taking an age to choose the exact shades of purple and yellow I wanted. Who knew there were so many options for pansies?!

Gentle and romantic, you can also find the February wreath pattern in my Etsy shop: February Wreath Pattern

 

I would say it’s an easier embroidery than January’s, featuring mostly basic stitches and a bit of long & short stitch. Again, thorough instructions are included to help you along.

 

So, what do you think? Would you like to join me this year and stitch a beautiful botanical wreath every month? Each pattern is available individually and this project is not a subscription. That way, you can choose to stitch as many or as few wreaths as you’d like. You can also save 10% on each wreath pattern by becoming a newsletter subscriber!

I’m about half-way through designing the March wreath (running a bit behind schedule lately!) and already loving it. Since there are no flowers here yet, I have taken the liberty to imagine the woods filled with bluebells and periwinkles… Can’t wait to start stitching it and showing you! Follow along on Instagram (@northernbelle.atelier) to see progress and updates!

 

Fondly,

Fabric Tea-Dye For the March Mini Pattern

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March is here, and that means it’s time for a new mini-embroidery pattern to turn into a hexie for the Mini-Quilt stitch-along! I have prepared a darling little teabag for you, because after all, what’s a tea party without the tea? So let me pour you a cup of steaming jasmine and stay a bit while I tell you how to tea-dye fabric for your embroidery. If you’re new here and you’d like to join in on the fun, you can read this post to see what the project’s all about, and sign-up to my newsletter here to receive the mini patterns straight in your inbox each month!

 

embroidered teabag onto tea-dyed fabric

 

When I first started this design, I thought it would be really neat to add a touch of something that wasn’t thread to make it stand out a bit, while still matching the rest of the project. So far, I’ve been embroidering my montly patterns on cotton muslin in an off-white/beige colour. The fabric is a wee bit thick for EPP, so I decided to switch it up this month. I didn’t have other fabric in a similar colour that would be suitable, so I decided to experiment with a little tea-dye! What could be more fitting? 😉

 

How to Tea-Dye Your Fabric

The process is honestly really simple. However, different fabrics might react differently so it’s a good idea to do a test on a piece of scrap first. I’m using a white cotton blend from my stash of scrap muslins…not 100% sure as to its exact fibers, but any cotton/linen blends will likely work. Even if there’s some polyester or other man-made fiber in it, it should be fine (I know mine wasn’t 100% natural).

First, you’ll want to boil the water for the tea. Depending on the size of your piece of fabric, you may need a lot. If you’re just wanting to dye a small piece, such as for the Jasmine Teabag embroidery, a teapot-size amount of water will be sufficient.

Next, pour the boiled water over a teabag or two, either in a teapot or in a big pot (I wanted to drink a cup while I was at it, so teapot it was!). If you want get that old-timey, classic tea-stained browned look, you’ll want to use a strong black tea. Orange pekoe or Earl Grey are great for this, but other black tea blends can also work. The more tea or teabags you add, the stronger the tea, and the darker the stain will be. I used only 1 teabag since my piece of fabric was very small.

 

flat lay showing embroidered teabag on tea-dyed fabric, teapot, teacup, a book, and dried florals

 

Let It Steep!

Let the tea steep for a good half-hour, if not more, until it’s very dark. Add your fabric to the pot once it’s cooled down, or pour the tea in a different container over the fabric. I just used an old tupperware, with the tea completely cold. Make sure that your fabric is fully submerged, and leave it to soak for several hours. You can stir it from time to time, to make sure it will be evenly dyed. I didn’t leave the teabags in while doing this, but you probably could!

When the fabric is looking nice and stained, wring it out gently and set it out to dry. I just placed mine on a soft towel. When it’s alsmot dry but still a little damp, give it a press with the iron to remove the wrinkles and help set the dye.

Fabric is now ready to be embroidered on 😊. Mine was still see-through enough to transfer the embroidery pattern with a lightbox and pencil no problem. Certain spots are still a bit white and it’s not fully even, but that’s the fun with tea-dyeing, and exactly the look I was going for.

 

white fabric and tea-dyed fabric side by side showing the before and after

Note: I haven’t tested the colourfastness of this method, so it might not be suitable for pieces that are going to be repeatedly washed. For the purposes of this embroidery project, or any embroidery you don’t plan on washing, it works great.

 

Jasmine Teabag Pattern

embroidered teabag with jasmine flowers on it

 

I’m calling this a “jasmine” teabag, even though I don’t think jasmine flowers have a purple center…but for this tea party, they do! You can of course, personalize your tea bag and embroider whatever tea motif you’d like. The jasmine was my inspiration simply because I wanted a floral motif somewhere on the design, and it was the first one I thought of that has to do with tea. Chamomile would have also looked really cute, but I love the scent and colour of jasmine for this time of year.

 

Pale green, flavourful, reminiscent of budding tree leaves…It just feels like a very “spring” tea! Although I’d go for a cup of Earl Grey anytime, and I do love my chamomile in the evening.

flatlay showing the embroidered teabag on tea-dyed fabric, Afternoon Tea book, and dried florals

Do you have a favourite kind of tea? What sort of lovely things would you include if you hosted your dream tea party?

 

I hope you enjoyed this post dear friend, and you’ll find the embroidery pattern waiting in your inbox tonight at 7pm EST if you’re a newsletter subscriber. If you’d like to sign-up, you can click the link here! Stitch & thread recommendations are included with the pattern, and I’ve got all the stitch tutorials you need here on the blog if you get stuck.

It’s a really simple little embroidery, but don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions! Follow on Instagram for more embroidery content if you fancy. 🙂

 

Fondly,

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