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Beaded Blackberries: Inspired by Regency Fiction

     Anne      Leave a Comment

Hello dear friend,

Today on the blog, I have something very special to show you: a beaded blackberries embroidery project. I’ve been planning it out for a long time and it’s inspired by one of my favourite books. It turned out even better than I expected and I have been so looking forward to sharing it with you all! To add to the excitement, my work was also featured on Hannah’s lovely blog The Bohemian Bookworm just yesterday! I highly encourage you to give her a visit. Her blog is full of charming bookish and period drama inspiration (not to mention it now features an amazing book review and embroidery project by yours truly!).

 

needlework inspiration from georgette heyer: venetia's blackberries

 

‘I mean to know you better, Miss Lanyon of Undershaw!’

‘To be sure, it does seem a pity you should not, after such a promising start, but life, you know, is full of disappointments, and that, I must warn you, is likely to prove one of them.'”

Georgette Heyer, Venetia

 

Ahhh, Venetia! What a complete delight of a book you are! (If we take out the parts with Mrs. Scorrier, of course. And Edward Yardley. He is most definitely not delightful.) I’ve mentioned it on my blog before, in my post called 10 Wonderful Classic Books to Read This Summer (although after revisiting it lately, I have realized that a large portion of it takes place in autumn, so…what better time to go read it than now?!). I also wrote a full gushy, incoherent essay on it over on Goodreads, if you want more of my fangirling thoughts on it.

 

My Thoughts on Venetia

flat lay view of Venetia book, plate of blackberries, beaded blackberries project, cup of tea and embroidery notions

 

One of Georgette Heyer’s most acclaimed works and a favourite among readers, Venetia is undoubtedly one of my favourite romances of all times. I assure you that you will seldom find a more perfect one. While Heyer’s Regency novels tend to be more comedy than romance, Venetia is certainly more romance than comedy. The signature funny, witty style is there of course, but it’s overall more serious and lyrical than her typical screwball comedy.

Taking place in the countryside of Yorkshire in 1818, the story is rather quiet (despite the passionate romance scalding off the pages) for a Heyer book. Although Venetia does go to London later in the book, this is not your usual romp full of glittering balls and soirées. It’s a more mature story, with an “older” heroine (really, she’s only 25, but most Heyer heroines tend to be 17-20) and everyone’s favourite seasoned rake, Lord Damerel, kindly christened the Wicked Baron by Venetia and her siblings.

 

“‘[…]your quotations don’t make your advances a whit more acceptable to me – and they don’t deceive me into thinking you anything but a pestilent, complete knave!’”.

 

A Beautiful Romance

There is no doubt that Venetia and Lord Damerel are among Heyer’s best-matched couples, if not the best. Most readers unanimously agree that they are perfect for each other, unlike some other couples. Their romance is ultimately grounded in solid trust and friendship nearly from the start (we shall magnanimously gloss over the aforementioned “advances”). They laugh together, share inside jokes, understand each other, and best of all, they can’t stop quoting classic literature.

 

‘Item, two lips, indifferent red-’

‘Oh, no, you’re quite out, and have gone to the wrong poet besides! They look like rosebuds filled with snow!’”

 

Ahh. Their bond is undeniably strong, and unlike in other Heyer novels, you don’t have to read between the lines to see how attracted they are to each other, and how much in love they soon fall. It’s palpable in their every interaction. I might make it sound a little spicy, but fear not, this is a clean book. 😉 Orgies may be mentioned now and again, but what’s to be expected from a novel so bent on referencing ancient Greece and Rome if not to throw in a little orgy (pardon me, a splendid orgy!)?

 

I’m kidding of course, there are no orgies in this book. It’s all in good taste, I promise. For all this talk about passionate romance, that isn’t exactly what makes their relationship so good. As mentioned previously, it’s the fact that they are so completely in tune with each other and become such good friends so quickly.

 

The Idyllic Setting

 

Somewhere in the garden a thrush was singing, the joyous sweetness of its note so much in harmony with [Venetia’s] mood that it seemed a part of her happiness. She was content for some moments to listen, not questioning the source of her happiness; but presently she came to full consciousness, and remembered that she had found a friend.”

 

Venetia book copy being held against backdrop of brambles and blackberries

 

I think this is probably the passage that touches me the most in the entire book, and trust me there’s a lot in there to delight you. But that sweet passage, the opening of Chapter 5, in which she wakes up to the delicious memory that she has found a friend in Lord Damerel is just so pure and heart-melting that I can’t help sighing contentedly.

The imagery conjured up is also very beautiful. Venetia awaking – probably wearing a charmingly embroidered white nightgown – to the first rays of sunlight on a golden autumn day, a thrush sweetly singing in the garden…Very romantic and period-drama-esque indeed.

 

Embroidery Inspiration

 

flat lay showing venetia book, beaded blackberries project, plate of blackberries, cup of tea, and dried botanicals

 

Georgette Heyer’s books are always lavishly detailed, usually describing people’s dress at length, providing a veritable treasure trove of ideas for historical costumers. In Venetia however, I found the setting and romantic tones of the book even more inspiring. I love to create embroideries inspired by classic novels, and the blackberry project came to mind from what is surely the most famous “first encounter” scene between the hero and heroine in all GH’s books.

 

‘Fair Fatality, you are the most unusual female I have encountered in all my thirty-eight years!’

‘You can’t think how deeply flattered I am!’ she assured him. ‘I daresay my head would be quite turned if I didn’t suspect that amongst so many a dozen or so may have slipped from your memory.’”

 

Repeatedly warned by family and friends against the dangerously rakish Lord Damerel, Venetia nevertheless doesn’t scruple to wander about his grounds when she knows he is not at home. He’s not there, darn it, and his blackberries are going to waste!

 

It came, therefore, as a surprise to Venetia, serenely filling her basket with his blackberries, when she discovered that he was much nearer at hand than anyone had supposed.”

 

Venetia book copy and plate of real blackberries

 

Naturally, who should happen upon the charming picture of Venetia in an old dress and straw bonnet quietly picking blackberries but Lord Damerel himself (on his horse, no less)? Actually, he happens upon her as she is trying to disentangle herself from an especially encroaching bramble. He then starts (naturally) to quote classic literature, and after recovering from the shock of being ruthlessly kissed, Venetia starts (naturally) to quote back. I love this unforgettable scene so much, and have associated Venetia with blackberries ever since.

 

The Project: Beaded Blackberries

flat lay close-up on beaded blackberries project and plate of blackberries with embroidery notions and dried flowers

 

I’ve been dreaming of embroidering my own beaded blackberries after seeing beautiful photos on Pinterest and in the book Embroideries From an English Garden by Carol Andrews. What a perfect project that would always remind me of Venetia!

The design is my own, and I embroidered the piece using different techniques.

 

The Embroidered Leaves

I started by stitching the leaves and branch in needle-painting style, using the long & short stitch. I’ve talked about this technique before in my post Garden Bouquet Embroidery Part 2: Wild Roses. It was a little faster here because I used two strands for most of it, except for the veins and tiny thorns that border the leaves’ jagged edges. I used very small straight stitches for those.

 

close up of embroidered leaves in long & short stitch
close-up of leaves' tiny thorns being stitched with straight stitches

 

The Ribbon Flowers

Next, I created the flowers with small pieces of ribbon. I wanted them to have the round petals of a real blackberry flower. To do this, I cut out each petal out of a wide piece of ribbon and singed the raw edges with a candle. Then I ran a gathering stitch along the bottom to create a fold, and sewed each petal one by one to form the flower. I later added the center details using embroidery floss.

 

blackberry flowers made with white ribbon pieces gathered together
blackberry flowers close-up showing embroidered center details

I used polyester ribbon which wasn’t the best and it unraveled easily, but the candle flame and a bit of Fray Check glue did the trick. 😉

 

The Beaded Blackberries

And finally, for the blackberries, I knew I wanted to use beads to make them sparkle and shine and look as good as real ones. I also wanted to raise them a little bit, so I decided to do a bit of stumpwork. Stumpwork is raised, or 3D, embroidery, and one of my favourite things to try lately. I used felt and pieces of cotton ball to create the blackberry shape, and then hand-sewed beads one by one to cover the shape entirely.

 

close-up of beaded blackberry in the making; beads are stitch on a padded piece of felt

 

And voilà, beaded blackberries! I’m immensely pleased with how it turned out! It was a lot of tedious work but I enjoyed it a lot and it certainly paid off. And now I’m reminded of Damerel and Venetia’s witty banter and swoon-worthy romance every time I look at my beaded blackberries. It probably didn’t help that I compulsively listened to the audiobook version narrated by Richard Armitage while I worked!

 

close-up view of finished beaded blackberries
beaded blackberry branch, completed

 

A Bit of Floriography (because I can’t resist)

Of course, I was very curious as to the meaning of the blackberry per the Language of Flowers of the Victorians. I have the handy pocketbook reproduction of the dictionary illustrated by Kate Greenaway (which you can see here), and while there was no entry for “blackberry”, there was one for “bramble”.

 

real blackberry branch in nature

 

Bramble = Lowliness. Envy. Remorse.

 

Well! Not exactly the most joyful thing, but in the context of what we know of Damerel’s character at that point in the story, lowliness would seem fitting! When he surprises Venetia tangled up in brambles, all she (and the reader) know of him is his unsavoury reputation as a degenerate hosting wild orgies during hunting season. Low indeed. Remorse definitely comes later as he starts falling in love with Venetia, but there is no sign of envy about him at all.

Very interesting, isn’t it? I would say the bramble’s floriography meaning is pretty spot on in the context of the story! Although floriography hadn’t really caught on yet in society in 1818, (and I’ve never heard that Heyer purposefully included references to it in her books) it’s always nice when the significance proves apt (or somewhat apt) anyways!

 

flat lay photo as seen earlier, with language of flowers dictionary by kate greenaway

 

Don’t forget to visit Hannah over at The Bohemian Bookworm! I’m very happy and honoured to have been invited to post on her blog and I hope that you enjoyed reading my thoughts on Venetia and seeing my beaded blackberries project. Thank you so much, Hannah, for inviting me on and letting me share my project! 😊

And to conclude, I highly, HIGHLY recommend that you read Venetia (and Georgette Heyer in general) if you haven’t already. You won’t regret it. It’s such an idyllic experience that you won’t want it to end (if you’ve read the book, you will understand this reference haha!).

Until next time, my friends! I should have the next instalment of the Garden Bouquet up on the blog this Saturday.

 

Fondly,

Beaded blackberries inspired by literature

Garden Bouquet Embroidery Part 2: Wild Roses

     Anne      Leave a Comment

Hello dear friend, and welcome to the second instalment of the Garden Bouquet project: the wild roses! (Click here for Part 1 if you missed it)

 

wild roses garden bouquet part 2

 

I’ve worked long and hard on this part, so I’m really excited to share it with you. We will be looking at the wild roses today! Roses are probably my favourite flower (although I kinda love any flower), and it was a real delight to bring these to life.

My plan from the beginning was to embroider the wild roses in needle-painting style using the long & short stitch. I knew they would probably take the longest to stitch out of all the elements in the bouquet, so I decided to do them first. They did indeed take forever. That’s the downside of needle-painting with one strand, but the results are worth it!

 

Here’s a little breakdown of all the threads I used for my wild roses:

thread key: branch DMC 898, Leaves DMC 3345, 3363, Brillanté d'Alger 594, Petals DMC 3805, 603, 605, 776, 778, 963, 225, Flower centers DMC 743, 744, 728, 729

 

Let’s Begin

 

First, I stitched the branches. That was the easiest part, I actually used two strands and took pretty big stitches. The blending is pretty careless, and it looks a little chunky in certain spots. This was (semi) intentional to give the branches a more natural look. I could have used more than one shade of brown to add more dimension, but decided to keep it simple and only used DMC #898.

embroidered branches long & short stitch

 

Next, I tackled the leaves, since they are more in the background than the flowers themselves. I also stitched them using long & short stitches, in a few different shades of green. Each leaf is fairly small so I knew the shading would be a bit tricky, but I think it turned out really well.

I started by outlining each petal with a split stitch, using one strand of green floss. Since the outline ends up being entirely covered, it doesn’t really matter which shade you pick. Ideally not the darkest (sometimes it can be seen through the stitches), unless the stitches covering the outline will be dark as well.

split stitch outline on leaf

 

Once the shape is outlined, I begin making long & short stitches in one shade of green to cover a certain area. Here I sometimes used two strands to go a little faster, but results are definitely nicer with only one strand. I planned in advance where I wanted the shade to hit my leaves, and which part of the leaves would require darker thread. Wild rose leaves have darker veins, so I knew the middle of my leaves would be darker.

long & short stitch first layer on leaf
second layer of shading on leaf
long & short stitch shading on rose leaf
finished leaf in long & short shading stitches

 

I also tried to create a jagged edge to each leaf to make them appear natural. Wild rose leaves have tiny little dark red thorns all around them, but I decided to just leave it at green since my leaves were very small. I created the jagged edge by ending stitches a little further than the splitstitched outline (usually stitches are evenly placed just outside that edge) and spacing them out.

finished leaf embroidered in long & short stitch

I used DMC #3363 and Brillanté d’Alger #594 to cover the leaves in long & short stitches, and then added a few more stitches in DMC #3345 to create the veins and add a bit more shadow as desired.

 

Here’s a look at the finished leaves:

 

finished cluster of wild rose leaves embroidered in long & short stitches
(little cluster of leaves situated behind a rose)
finished wild rose leaves in long & short stitch
(finished leaves against the rose branches on either side of the design)

 

The Roses

 

Once the branches and leaves were complete, it was finally time to stitch the rose flowers. They were hands-down the most time-consuming part of this entire project by a long shot, but I loved making them. Working with so many pinks was absolutely fantastic! Definitely a colour palette I really like.

I used the same approach as I did with the leaves. Splitstitch outline each petal first, then gradually fill with long & short stitches to create the needle-painting effect.

petal outline in split stitch

 

I played around with my different shades of pink a lot before deciding which ones I’d use, and how I’d use them. I had recourse to Trish Burr’s fabulous book Colour Confidence in Embroidery to help me out a bit. In particular, I observed and analyzed the shading in the French Rose project. It’s a red rose, but it gave me a good idea of where to place my lighter and darker shades.

I still experimented as I went along, and if you look closely at each finished flower you can easily see that they’re all different, and that most petals within the same flower are also different. The effect isn’t always very realistic, but for the purposes of the project, it works. 😊 I’ll be honest, I’m really no expert in long & short stitch. I’m still playing around with it, practicing, and learning how to do it better. But I must say I’m really pleased with how most of my petals turned out!

 

Here’s a look at how I fill a petal:

 

1. I decide which shades I want to use and in which order. I used seven different pinks to make my roses, but I didn’t use all shades in each petal. The gradients varied, as did the placement of lighter and darker shades.

2. In this case, I’m going dark to light. So I stitch the first layer in DMC #603. I like to make guidelines with my thread to keep the angle right, especially with a petal shape. The stitches are long and short, varying in length, creating a very uneven edge.

 

first layer of long & short stitch on wild rose petal
first layer of the long & short stitch on rose petal

 

3. Once the first layer is completed, I pick a slightly lighter colour (DMC #605) and begin to fill the second layer. I prefer to stitch from bottom to top, so I begin my stitch towards the base of the petal, and end it somewhere in the first layer. To create a beautiful blending effect, the idea is to end the stitches of a new layer well within the previous ones. In other words, I don’t end my stitches at the edge of the first layer, but higher, nestled among the stitches of the previous layer. Again, the length of these stitches shouldn’t be uniform. It looks more naturally blended if the stitches are of varying lengths.

I repeat these steps with as many colours as I wish. For this petal, I added a third and fourth layer, using DMC #776 and #963.

 

finished petal in long & short stitch shading

Doing this with only one strand of floss at a time is incredibly time-consuming, but it’s oh so lovely!

 

Here’s a look at a different wild rose, where I did the shading in the petals differently.

 

shaded wild rose petals in long & short stitch
The petal to the left was the very one I made, and I found it too pale. I tried something completely different for the one above it, where I placed the darkest shade closest to the center.

 

Wild Roses in progress…

embroidered wild roses in needle painting style

 

Rose Centers

 

Once all my petals were stitched, it was time to pick some joyful yellows for the centers. I went with DMC #728, #729, #743, and #744 (#729 is a little darker, a very light goldenish brown). I made straight stitches from the center to the petals using #743 and #744, leaving a very small circle in the middle (the center of the center, lol). In this little center, I used two strands of #743 to make three French knots, filling up the space. Still using only one strand of floss, I used DMC #728, #729, and #744 to make French knots scattered all around the outer edge of the center (at the base of the petals). As much as possible, I made them close to the end of the straight stitches.

yellow straight stitches to form wild rose center
french knots in the very center of the embroidered wild rose

 

Using only one strand of floss, I used DMC #728, #729, and #744 to make more French knots, scattered all around the outer edge of the center (at the base of the petals). As much as possible, I made them close to the end of the straight stitches.

finished embroidered wild rose
(this is the finished center of a different rose flower, because apparently I’m not very consistent with my photos, lol)

 

It really makes the rose come alive, doesn’t it?? I’m so happy with how that turned out, they almost look real!

The last little touch was adding little thorns along the branches. I used one strand of DMC #898 (same colour as the branch).

finished embroidered wild roses

 

And here we are! WILD ROSES COMPLETED!! WEEEE!!! (Sorry but this totally deserved some all caps squealing for joy :P)

 

completed branch of embroidered wild roses

 

I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I’ve never been able to believe it. I don’t believe a rose would be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage.”

L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

 

finished wild rose close-up

 

I hope you enjoyed following along and I can’t wait to show you Part 3! Raspberries and currants are up next! 😊

 

Other posts you might find useful:

 

And just in case you missed, here’s PART 1 of the Garden Bouquet project, all about the inspiration behind the pattern & setting up for stitching.

garden bouquet project part 1

 

Fondly,

garden bouquet embroidery: wild roses
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Garden Bouquet PART 1: A Most Ambitious Project

     Anne      Leave a Comment

Dear friend, are you ready to embark upon a serious embroidery endeavour with me? I have here, sketched, planned, and transferred, the most ambitious embroidery project I’ve ever attempted: a beautiful garden bouquet. I’m equal parts nervous and excited about it. It will feature techniques I haven’t tried yet, some tried-and-true favourites, and of course, loads of beautiful flowers!

 

A Garden Bouquet Embroidery Project

 

Let’s go on a garden tour and I will show you the inspiration behind the pattern. I suggest you put on your best hat and gloves, and you mustn’t forget a basket for you will surely wish to pick a few blooms for yourself. 😉 We are going to visit my grandmother’s garden.

 

red rose
What’s a grandmother’s garden without a rose?

 

catnip flower bed
A big patch of catnip of the prettiest purple

 

white peonies bush
The peonies this year were particularly impressive

 

close-up of a white peony

 

flowering wild rose bush
And just look at this wild rose tree!!

 

A Garden Bouquet

 

The title of this piece is “Bouquet du Jardin Turenne”, which is French for “Turenne Garden Bouquet”. As far as I can remember, my grandparents have always had the most beautiful garden. My childhood memories are full of colourful flower-beds, well-tended and orderly, where butterflies swirl and birds chirp. I remember being sent to pick currants with my brothers and cousins, and I remember the smell of thyme and fallen rose petals.

 

cluster of pink wild roses

My fondest memory of the garden however, has to be the raspberries. On either side of the house, there grows the biggest, juiciest and most perfect raspberries of all. They are truly unequaled. And there was always such a quantity of them!

 

Sketching the Design

 

Such happy, wonderful moments were spent in my grandparents’ garden. I have many cousins, and we all cherish fond memories of outdoor fun and botanical lessons. My grandparents recently celebrated 55 years of marriage, and although my gift will be late, I really wanted to make something worthy of the occasion. The idea of an embroidered bouquet inspired by their garden had been brewing in my mind for a while, and in fact I started sketching the piece about a year ago.

 

garden bouquet sketch with selected dmc threads and Gone With the Wind pouch

 

If you know me, you know I will tell you I’m no sketcher. I belong to the race of those “who can’t draw”. But as all the experts say, anybody can draw. You just need a lot of patience and determination. Well, this is no Mona Lisa, but I’m really proud to say that after many efforts, endless erasing and frustration, I managed to sketch this entire design by myself. I had recourse to Pinterest for reference images, but I actually drew the whole thing! I’m so happy with this achievement. Even if the embroidery completely fails, I will be proud of this at least!

 

close-up of the garden bouquet final sketch

 

Picking the Flowers

 

Choosing which florals to include was a massive task. I began by recruiting my mom to help me make a list of as many flowers as we could name from the grandparents’ garden. There have been A LOT over the years. I wanted the bouquet to represent the most staple specimens of the garden, while also staying balanced. For this reason, an apple tree branch was painstakingly drawn and unfortunately erased. I wanted to feature some of my favourites from the garden, as well as elements I knew were also special to my grandparents.

 

sketchbook page showing garden bouquet embroidery pattern

 

Therefore, our final contestants were the wild roses, the raspberries, the day lily, the currants, and yellow daisies. I began to realize, as I sketched and pondered that nearly all the elements I wanted to include were similar colours; pink roses, red raspberries, red currants, pink lily. It needed a splash of yellow so I added the daisies at the end. Originally I envisioned the lily orange, but Mom assures me that there never was an orange lily in my grandparents’ garden (I must have confused it with ours). So light pink it will be.

 

dmc embroidery thread in various shades of pink; stitching accessories - needles, snips, thimble

 

How to Begin Such a Project

The overall size of the bouquet isn’t very big, approx. 9 1/2″x 8″ and just fits in a 10 1/2″ hoop (the title is too close to the hoop edge, but that’s ok), but there are many elements fairly close together. As I mentioned earlier, I will use different techniques to embroider, so I think the best way to proceed is to break it down into sections. Ideally, it’s best to work back to front; you start with the elements the most in the background, and build onto it. That way, you achieve a more natural effect.

Since many of my flowers and leaves overlap each other, I’ve decided to work on it one species at a time instead. It will be less confusing to organize and keep track of threads, and I won’t have to switch techniques continuously.

 

Transferring the Pattern

Once I was happy with my sketch came the fun part of transferring the design onto my fabric. I chose a nice, thick off-white cotton with a broad enough weave to support some ribbonwork. Unfortunately it was rather hard to mark with the pencil! I normally make a copy of my pattern by tracing it with a fine Sharpie on a piece of tracing paper. Then I use a lightbox and a mechanical pencil to transfer the pattern onto the fabric.

 

garden bouquet embroidery design traced onto tracing paper

 

It did work and overall the markings should be satisfactory enough, but a heat-erasable or water-soluble pen might have been useful to go over some lines. Thankfully, the main outlines and positions of all the flowers and leaves are visible, so that’s all that really matters. It’s usually better to have fewer markings on the fabric than too many. If you look at my original sketch vs. what I transferred to the fabric, you’ll see that all the little details are missing.

garden bouquet sketch close-up
pattern transferred onto the fabric
This is a terrible photo, but it illustrates my point lol

That’s intentional, because not only is it really hard to get fine, precise lines transferred on fabric, but it’s also a bit of a waste of time, because all those details are added at the end usually on top of existing stitches. So I like to include details in my sketch for reference, but on the actual fabric, the needle and thread will do all the work 😉.

 

Up next: The Wild Rose

close-up of a pink wild rose

 

I will be starting with the branches of wild roses, since they will be the most time-consuming. I’ve pulled out as many shades of pink as I could find, and I’ll be working them in long & short stitch to achieve the art needlework effect.

 

close-up of garden bouquet sketch showing branch of wild roses

 

I’m really excited, and I can’t wait to show you the result! Stay tuned for the next instalment of this Garden Bouquet project, as the roses bloom and we can admire them together. Thank you so much for joining me on my needlework adventures!

 

Check out these other posts if you like floral embroidery with a vintage vibe:

ripening raspberries embroidery & pressed botanicals project
lilacs of love inspiration from jane eyre
wisteria embroidery inspired by The Enchanted April

 

And I’ve got a FREE embroidery PDF pattern for you as well if you haven’t grabbed it already: Wisteria PDF Embroidery Pattern, or check out my new Etsy shop!

 

Happy stitching and until next time!

Fondly,

Garden Bouquet Embroidery Part 1
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Ripening Raspberries: Embroidery & Pressed Leaves

     Anne      2 Comments

Let’s go berry-picking together, shall we? My embroidered raspberries are ripe and ready to be plucked! I had so much fun working on this week’s project. I’ve been playing with combinations of pressed botanicals and embroidery over the last few months, and I LOVE the results! I think they go so well together. It’s also much faster to finish a project since you save on embroidery time!

 

raspberry embroidery beads and pressed leaves

 

I don’t think a summer goes by where I don’t eat a copious amount of raspberries, even if it’s the store-bought ones. They’re one of my favourite fruits and it doesn’t feel like summer without them! Unfortunately this year, our red raspberry bushes only produced about five berries. ☹ They’re supposed to produce twice, so fingers crossed for the end of summer/beginning of fall. On the other hand, our black raspberry bushes were incredibly generous for their size! We didn’t have quite enough to bake desserts or make jam, but there was enough to stuff my face whenever I went out to pick them 😉. They’re smaller and firmer than red raspberries, but they’re really good, especially when picked under the warm sun.

 

black raspberries in nature

 

Ripening Raspberries

 

To fill the void left by the absence of red raspberries, naturally I had to embroider some. There’s an abundance of wild raspberry bushes at the edge of the woods on the way to the forest (which don’t produce much fruit either), and last spring I gathered a lot of leaves. Some were left to dry to make tea blends, and others were pressed with every intention of using them in such a project as this at some point. I really love the idea of combining embroidery and pressed botanicals in the same project!

 

flat lay view of raspberry embroidery finished piece, pressed raspberry leaves and teacup filled with black raspberries

 

The vision in my head was that of a branch laden with juicy berries and beautifully pressed leaves. I knew I wanted to use beads to make the raspberries sparkle. So I got my herbarium and my sketchbook out and began to design…

 

finished raspberry embroidery piece with red thread

 

Embroidered Raspberries ~ My Creative Process

 

1. Designing the Pattern

rough sketch for raspberry embroidery pattern

 

Confession: I don’t like designing. The sketching of what I want is my absolute least favourite part of the whole process. I’ve never been very good at drawing, so I find it frustrating not to be able to reproduce the wonderful idea in my head on paper. I’m working on it and trying to sketch more to get better, but it can be a real struggle sometimes.

Fortunately, you don’t need a great sketch to produce a beautiful piece of embroidery. The needle and thread do all the work. In fact, you really just need a rough outline of what you want to stitch. And I didn’t even have to worry about the leaves since I wasn’t going to embroider them. All I had to plan was their placement (which ended up changing anyways!). So anyways, step 1 is to sketch/plan where you want each element to go. As you can see this is a super rough sketch, but it’s all I needed for this project, thankfully.

 

2. Transferring Pattern on Fabric

raspberry pattern transferred on muslin fabric

 

I chose a piece of muslin for this project, because it’s a bit thicker and sturdier than my usual go-to factory cotton or linen. I knew the berries would end up being a little heavy with all the knots and beads, so I chose something more suitable than thin cotton. The off-white colour was also perfect for the colour scheme I had in mind. I used my lightbox and a mechanical pencil to transfer my design from my sketchbook to the fabric. Again, all I really needed was the main branch, a few stems and peduncles, and I just drew circles where I wanted the berries to be. The fewer markings on the fabric, the less you have to cover with thread later if you change your mind about something. I made the berry outlines smaller than their intended sizes to ensure they would be fully covered.

 

3. Choosing Thread Colours (and other materials)

embroidery threads and seed beads chosen to embroider the project

 

I had already picked some pressed raspberry leaves and played with them in Step 1 to determine where they would go on the finished piece, but there were still the threads to be chosen and the beads to find. I didn’t go out of my way to get anything specific and just used what I already had on hand. Consequently, I dug around in my floss box for thread that looked raspberry-coloured and found some slightly darker than what I envisioned, but still suitable. They’re from an unknown source (I have a lot of random thread bits in my box!) but their closest DMC matches could be #304 (Christmas red medium), and #777 (very dark raspberry). For the branch, peduncles, and sepals I used #937 and #3347. And finally, I located the perfect beads, a tiny bag hidden away with just enough for my project!!

 

4. The Stitching: Branch & Peduncles

embroidery in progress: main branch and stems

 

The first thing to embroider was the main branch and the little peduncles, since they are the elements the most in the background. I stitched a short stem where I knew I wanted to place a pressed leaf that didn’t have a stem. Near the bottom of the branch I left my pencil marks, since the leaves going there did have a stem already. I didn’t embroider the little thorns at this point, just the main outline. I used a split stitch and DMC #937, and made certain areas look “thicker” by doing two rows. This was to make the branch look more natural and less uniform. I stitched everything using two strands of thread, unless otherwise noted.

 

5. Embroidering the Raspberries

first embroidered raspberry with french knots
embroidered raspberries in french knots

 

Normally, the leaves would be next, but since they’re not embroidered, they will be placed at the very last, otherwise they will certainly break as I manhandle the hoop to get the berries done. So berries it is instead! I used French knots first, starting with #304 and ending with #777. I didn’t completely fill the areas to leave a bit of space for the beads. Once I was satisfied with that and each berry was filled with French Knots, I added a few more details to my branch.

 

6. Branch Details

straight stitches along the main branch for thorns

I did a few straight stitches using only 1 strand of thread along the main branch to represent the thorns (still in DMC #937). I also stitched the little sepals on top of the raspberries in lazy-daisy stitches using DMC #3347.

 

7. Adding Beads

embroidered raspberries close-up showing the beads used to add detail

 

Once that was done, I went back to my berries to add the beads! This was definitely the most exciting part of the project!! I used seed beads; some red, and others in this iridescent pink and red with touches of yellow. I’m so happy with the result of this!! I used silk sewing thread (not necessary, but the colour was the closest match to the berries). The seed beads are pretty small, so I needed a beading needle to be able to stitch them on. They’re long and have a very thin shaft so that the beads slide through no problem!

I stitched my beads on very randomly, switching between the two kinds and adding them where I had left space in between my French knots and in other little spots where it looked like one was needed. I absolutely love how ripe and juicy they look!! Beads really make such a difference in embroidery, I love it!

 

8. Adding the Leaves

pressed raspberry leaves glued on with elmer's glue and paintbrush

 

And now for the finishing touch – the leaves!! I ended up adding more than I originally planned and slightly changed the placement of some, but I’m SO happy with the result!! I added another little 3-leaf cluster at the very top and love the effect. Its leaves weren’t pressed completely flat, but that small detail adds a bit of dimension to the piece. I’m so glad I pressed a few of those! I had many larger leaves, but only two smaller clusters. I used Elmer’s transparent school glue and a paintbrush to glue the leaves to the fabric. I’ve tried this before with other pressed florals and it seemed to work, but if anyone knows of a better way (or better glue) to do this, please let me know!

 

close-up of finished piece
close-up of embroidered raspberries and pressed leaves

 

Finishing the Piece 

Now I just need to find a good way to frame/display the piece that will protect the dried flowers! Again, suggestions welcome. It’s a bit tricky because the leaves are flat but my berries are pretty 3D. I fear a glass frame would crush them. A shadow box might work? I shall have to experiment a bit and figure something out :). There has to be a good solution to this.

 

full view of finished piece
side view of finished piece
finished embroidery work with black raspberries
I managed to find TWO red raspberries for my photos LOL!

 

I hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at how I embroidered my raspberries! What do you think of the embroidery/pressed leaves combination? I’m hoping to make more of this sort of thing in the future – maybe next time I’ll use pressed flowers and embroider the leaves. I know I’ll most definitely be using beads again, they add so much charm and life! I fell in love with beads and embroidery when I worked on my Loving Lilacs Inspired from Jane Eyre, and I knew I had to try it again. My next project involving beads will probably feature blackberries…the time for picking them is fast approaching and those bushes are looking much more generous than the raspberries! 😉

 

Thank you so much for reading my blog and I wish you a lovely day! You can also find me on Instagram and Etsy!

Fondly,

ripening raspberries: an embroidery project
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Introduction to Floriography

     Anne      4 Comments

Introduction to floriography

Floriography is the study of the wonderful Language of Flowers. A quick look at my blog will tell you right away that I love flowers. They are probably my number one source of inspiration and I never tire of them. And if you follow me on Instagram (@northernbelle.atelier), you might have noticed that I like to share flower inspiration and meanings in my stories.

 

Although I’ve always loved flowers, I haven’t always been interested in them. I’m pretty useless when it comes to biology, and I don’t have the greatest memory when it comes to plant identification. But the one thing I find really fascinating about flowers is their significance within the Language of Flowers.

 

What is the Language of Flowers?

 

flat lay view of Language of Flowers dictionary, embroidery floss, dried flowers

 

The Language of Flowers – or “floriography” – is a symbolic language where meanings are attributed to flowers and plants. These meanings were gathered from folklore, literature, mythology, art, and horticulture. Each flower has a unique significance. The term “floriography” was coined during the Victorian era, at a time where everything floral became extremely popular. The Language of Flowers has earlier origins, however. During the 1760s, the wife of an English diplomat named Lady Mary Wortley Montagu spent some time in Turkey. Her letters home to England contained references to a mysterious and secret language using flowers to communicate. This idea became very popular during the Victorian period, and evolved into a secret language used mainly to communicate forbidden emotions in love and romance.*

 

close up of flower dictionary featuring lady in period dress

The Language of Flowers really caught on at that time, since courtship rules were strict and so many things were socially unacceptable to say out loud when it came to love and romance. This was the perfect solution! What better way to arrange a secret meeting with your admirer without your chaperone knowing? Or refusing a suitor who has been especially encroaching? By arranging bouquets and carefully selecting colours, flowers combined to send messages; some subtle, some symbolic, some very direct.

 

european vintage garden and dried cow vetch bouquet

 

Floriography was “the thing” among men and women alike of the middle and upper classes. Very soon, language of flower dictionaries were published and people actively studied flower meaning. These books became the new favoured “coffee table ” book. It was trendy to study and know and “talk” flower. Flowers were everywhere; in ladies’ hair and gentlemen’s buttonholes, displayed on tables and in paintings, music and art – and most definitely hand embroidery.

 

close up of embroidery floss and antique thimble

 

Floriography & Embroidery

 

I wrote an entire Honours thesis on this very subject: the importance and influence of floriography in hand embroidery during that time. It was endlessly fascinating, and I got to research embroidery patterns and flower meanings at length. I discovered that the Language of Flowers added a whole new layer of significance in women’s embroidery work. More than a pastime or a hobby, hand embroidery was a purpose.

 

Young girls learned to embroider from a young age. Hand embroidery was a virtuous activity, conducive to patience and discipline. The subject of the embroideries also reflected virtue by representing something religious or connected to nature. The Victorians’ deep appreciation for nature’s beauty was most definitely reflected in embroidery. It was no surprise then, that flowers were so often depicted in embroidery.

 

victorian needlework patterns from 1874 and spools of pink silk thread
Young Ladies Journal, 1874. Various needlework and craft patterns.
embroidered azaleas
Embroidered azaleas in needlepainting ~ this was the project that accompanied my Honours thesis. Based on the azalea flower pattern shown in picture above.

 I could expand at length on the role and importance of needlework in women’s lives, but that will be another a whole other post’s topic 😉. In this post, I just want to give you a brief (or not so brief) introduction to floriography.

 

You can find many of the A-Z type of Language of Flowers dictionaries for free online. The Internet Archive is truly a wonderful resource for that. Below is a short compilation of some I’ve come across that I really liked.

 

floriography dictionary and vintage garden diary surrounded by dried flowers

 

Floriography Book List

  • The Language of Flowers: Adapted From the Language and Sentiment of Flowers, published in 1868 by Frederick Warne & Co.
  • The Illustrated Language of Flowers. George Routledge & Sons, 1865. This one has beautiful black and white flower illustrations before each letter of the alphabet.
  • The Language of Flowers, with Illustrative Poetry. Saunders & Otley, Conduit St. London. 1841. This one isn’t so much a dictionary, but actually goes in depth about specific flowers and plants! I haven’t read all but it’s really interesting.
  • Le langage des fleurs. by Mme Charlotte de Latour. Published in Paris in 1800. It was the first Language of Flowers dictionary! It’s in French, but has gorgeous colour illustrations and poetry. The book is divided into seasons, and then goes into detail about specific flowers.
  • The Language of Flowers. Illustrated by Kate Greenaway, and published in 1884 by Routledge & sons in London. This edition is a 1992 reproductions by Dover publications in New York. As you can see if you click the link, you can buy this one in small paperback format on Amazon.

 

close-up Language of flowers dictionary and dried cow vetch bouquet
language of flowers dictionary and dried lavender

 

I love this little book and bring it with me everywhere 😊. It’s formatted like many of the A-Z dictionaries aimed at providing a concise list of flowers and their associated meanings, without going into details. This one features a list of over 200 flowers and plants and their meaning in alphabetical order.

 

opened floriography dictionary showing list of flowers and their meaning

 

There is also a section where you can “reverse search” and look up a meaning instead to find which flower it corresponds to.

 

list showing various meanings in floriography

 

The last few pages are dedicated to beautiful poetry celebrating flowers.

 

The sensitive plant poem with dried leaf on the page

 

And of course, the book is full of Kate Greenaway’s charming illustrations.

 

kate greenaway illustration in floriography dictionary
kate greenaway illustration in floriography dictionary

 

I highly recommend it if you want something small and sweet. It’s perfect for looking a flower’s symbolic meaning on a whim!

 

Discovering Flower Meanings

 

Most of us know that a rose is a universal symbol of love and romance, but with so many different types and colours of roses, they surely can’t all mean the same thing?

A cabbage rose is an ambassador of love, but a Carolina rose warns you that love is dangerous. A white rose boldly declares I am worthy of you, but a deep red rose may mean bashful shame.

 

rose bush

 

Some of these flowers meanings can be obvious (forget-me-not = forget me not). Others are beautiful (honey flower = love sweet and secret). Sometimes they send a direct message (iris = message, or jonquil = I desire a return of affection). Some are downright sassy (Japan rose = beauty is your only attraction). Some are a bit shocking (basil = hatred). And some have very…interesting multiple meanings (lupine = voraciousness and imagination). LOL.

 

blooming blue irises
Iris = message

 

Some modern books written on the topic go more in depth, discussing how the meaning was assigned and how they appear in music and literature, for instance. I really liked A Victorian Flower Dictionary: The Language of Flowers Companion by Mandy Kirkby, which I briefly mentioned in my Loving Lilacs post about Jane Eyre.

 

Floriography & Literature

 

Ever since completing my Honours thesis (and graduating from Costume Studies), I’ve been paying a lot more attention to flower appearances in classic literature. Did the author purposefully include this or that flower in a specific scene? Were they aware of the flower’s meaning? Or are some just happy coincidences? It’s been tons of fun to analyse and speculate. And of course, to reproduce into embroidery…

 

So far on the blog, I’ve discussed the significance of the blooming lilac tree in Jane Eyre. I turned the lilac embroidery into a journal cover as a gift for my dear Mom.

 

lilacs of love inspiration from jane eyre

 

Then I also read and loved The Enchanted April, which was FULL of flowers. I chose the wisteria as my embroidery subject and detailed my project and its appearances in the novel in my post Wisteria Embroidery: Inspired by The Enchanted April.

 

wisteria embroidery inspired by The Enchanted April

 

I’ve been having roses on my mind a lot lately, so I think I might work on something with a rose next! Or maybe daisies, since they’re also very lovely and grow everywhere around here… I’ve also been reading a lot of Beatrix Potter lately – Queen of Cuteness and Nature – and feeling inspired by orderly garden rows and naughty little rabbits! So we’ll see. I promise to keep you updated. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter so you don’t miss any flower embroidery and literature inspiration 😊!! I am so thankful for your support and I can’t wait to share more of the many joys flowers + embroidery bring me. I hope you enjoyed this snippet on floriography, and do let me know – what’s your favourite flower? Do you know its meaning?

 

Fondly,

the language of flowers: an introduction
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* A Victorian Flower Dictionary by Mandy Kirkby. Intro written by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. (2011)

Loving Lilacs in “Jane Eyre”

     Anne      6 Comments

I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you.

Charlotte Brontë, JANE EYRE
lilacs in jane eyre embroidery project

 

Reader, I absolutely love Jane Eyre. I first saw it in the spring of 2011. My mom and I would periodically rent period drama DVDs from our local library, and we decided to give the 2006 mini-series a go over the Easter weekend. I don’t think either of us had ever been more mesmerized by a movie, ever. We were so caught up in the story that we watched all four hours of it with no sense of passing time at all. My, but was it captivating!

 

Watching Jane Eyre every spring is now tradition for us (and we’ve started watching it over Christmas too) and it seems to get better every time. I’ve since seen many other adaptations, but none is as good as this one. I read the book in the summer of 2012, and fell even more in love with it than ever. I remember there being lots of rain and thunderstorms nearly every evening I read the book, which suited itself so perfectly to the atmosphere.

 

Jane Eyre is now forever evocative of the late spring/early summer season, of blooming flowers, rain-soaked trees, and thunderstorms.

 

hardcover summer special edition of Jane Eyre surrounded by fresh lilacs

 

I love it to the moon and back.

 

There’s something I’ve always found irresistible about love stories between a governess and the master of the house. And while romance is certainly not this novel’s only merit, it is rather center stage and one of the greatest love stories in English literature (probably in all literature, lol).

 

While researching my Honours project on the relationship between the Language of Flowers and hand embroidery in the Victorian era, I came across several examples of its use in literature as well. The wonderful Language of Flowers companion, A Victorian Flower Dictionary by Mandy Kirkby discussed the significance of the lilac flower in Jane Eyre.

 

Lilac: First Emotions of Love

 

blooming lilac tree

 

It’s no surprise, then, that the lilac appears during the love declaration scene. (Spoiler alert if you haven’t read this book yet!!) When Jane and Rochester passionately declare their feelings for each other, they’re standing in front of a blooming lilac tree. This is the scene where you get the famous I AM NO BIRD AND I WILL NOT BE CAGED quote.

 

I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will; which I now exert to leave you.

Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

 

Ok, I was off, but it’s such an incredible moment in this story! (and one which so many of the film adaptations had trouble capturing, but don’t get me started!)

 

Although technically neither are experiencing the “first” emotions of love at that moment since their feelings built over time, the lilac is still significant. For Jane it’s the first time she’s ever been in love and is able to give in to her feelings. For Rochester it’s certainly the first time he’s known true love. (I make this sound like some sort of sappy fairytale, but I assure you it’s not!! :P)

 

And during that scene under the lilac tree, it’s the first time they finally confess their feelings. Even though you, dear reader, know they will fall in love from the moment they meet (again with the syrupy fairytale…).

 

real lilac branch overshadowing Jane Eyre book and embroidery

 

I knew when I came across that passage in Kirkby’s book that I would have to embroider lilacs in honour of Jane Eyre. I already had a project in mind, this insanely gorgeous branch from a pattern by Carol Andrews in her book Embroideries from an English Garden.

 

embroidered lilac branch surrounded by fresh lilac

 

It’s a bit ambitious, especially since I’d never tried the bullion knot before (and the instructions called for EIGHT per flower!), but I was determined to give it a go.

 

Lilac Embroidery

I can safely say that this is hands-down my favourite thing I’ve ever embroidered. It turned out so well, despite some insanely last-minute stitching that became pretty stressful. I wanted to turn the embroidery into a journal cover as a Christmas gift for my mom, but in classic me style I left most of the stitching until the last few days before Christmas and I was STRESSED. But I did it! And boy am I happy with it!

 

view of finished embroidery surrounded by fresh lilac

 

It’s really the beads that do it for me, they add so much charm and life to it, I just love it. I’m definitely using beads again in future embroideries!

 

The project is honestly not even that hard, it’s just really time-consuming because there are many layers to think of.

First, the leaves, stems, and branch. I used long & short stitch and whatever green threads I had on hand that matched the recommended ones as closely as possible (gotta do what you gotta do when the fabric store is closed). The instructions called for fancy Madeira silk threads and Appleton crewel threads, but unfortunately I had none of those. I made do with good ol’ DMC cotton floss for everything. I think I worked in 2 strands to make the process go a little bit faster.

 

close up of embroidered lilac leaf

 

Then, I continued with the flowers. Each petal has a layer of satin stitch underneath the bullion knots to ensure the fabric won’t show through. Again, I used whatever lilac-y mauves and purples I could find. Once I finished satin-stitching all the petal bases, it was time to attack those bullion knots.

 

By that point, I had tried to make a bullion knot ONCE and was only mildly successful. It was December 22nd at this point and I was tempted to just…not.

I tried the bullion knot again and failed miserably several times. There was no way I would finish on time unless I performed a miracle.

 

So I did.

 

close up of embroidered lilac flowers and beads

 

(If only I could do that with anything, hahaha!)

 

As you can see, the result is highly satisfying and looks just like an actual bullion knot. But of all the knots pictured here, only ONE was made using the actual bullion-knot way. The rest, I just magically willed into existence 😉

 

I came up with what I think is a GENIUS hack for those dreaded bullion knots. Doubtless others before me have thought of it, but I was pretty happy for coming up with a solution by myself.

 

I’ve prepared a lovely little tutorial for you all, in which I spill the beans on my genius hack so that you too can tackle bullion knots with no fear whatsoever.

 

See this post if you want to learn it: Awesome Bullion Knot Hack.

 

You’ll never be scared of bullion knots again, and no one will be the wiser.

 

close up view of embroidered lilac branch

 

All in all, I think I did one of my favourite books justice with Carol Andrews’ incredible pattern. This was totally worth it, but next time I’M STARTING IT AHEAD OF TIME. I say this every single time and never learn. *sigh*

 

Useful Links

 

  • If you’re interested in more of my fangirling over Jane Eyre, head on over to my Goodreads, where I reviewed the book in which I set the spooky atmosphere and tell you imagine Jane walking down a misty path and bewitching a man’s horse.
  • The absolutely gorgeous summer hardcover special edition was a gift from one of my dearest friends, and it’s from Chapters (or Barnes & Nobles, if you’re in the USA).
  • If you want to read Jane Eyre for free, you can download a free copy at Project Gutenberg or borrow it online at Open Library.
  • Carol Andrews’s Embroideries from an English Garden: Chapters or Amazon US.
  • A Victorian Flower Dictionary: The Language of Flowers Companion by Mandy Kirkby: Chapters or Barnes & Nobles.

 

And with all this, let’s end on this fabulous quote:

The soul, fortunately, has an interpreter – often an unconscious but still a faithful interpreter – in the eye.

Brontë, Jane Eyre

 

May it inspire you in turn to stitch some blooming flowers and read (or re-read) Jane Eyre. For the best film adaptations and which ones to avoid like the plague, don’t hesitate to get in touch any time. DM me on Insta @northernbellediary or leave a comment or send me an email (anne.marie@diaryofanorthernbelle.com)😊. Also be sure to subscribe to my newsletter so you don’t miss my awesome bullion knot hack!

 

Fondly,

Embroidery inspiration lilacs from Jane Eyre
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