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“Embroideries From an English Garden” by Carol Andrews – Book Review

     Anne      Leave a Comment

Hello hello! My, but it’s been ages since I published a new blog post! I’m ever so sorry and hadn’t meant to neglect my poor blog for so long. Unfortunately, publishing posts just hadn’t been at the top of my to-do list these last few months, but today I really want to share one of my favourite embroidery books with you. Books are my favourite way to learn new craft skills, and especially embroidery. For some reason I seem to remember tips & tricks I read in books much better than anywhere else. I’ve already written a list of embroidery books I recommend, but in this book review we’ll be looking at the wonderful Embroideries From an English Garden by Carol Andrews.

copy of the book Embroideries from an English Garden by Carol Andrews, with an embroidery in progress, stork scissors, and a small posy of daisies

I’ll start by saying that this book features some of the most gorgeous embroidery I’ve ever seen, but it’s not for beginners. Previous knowledge and experience with embroidery is absolutely recommended, but you don’t need to be an expert either before approaching the projects in this book.

 

What’s in the book?

Realistic, textured, and dimensional, this book features a truly beautiful collection of botanical embroideries inspired by the changing seasons in a typical English garden. Actually, it’s not just any English garden, it’s a garden at what used to be Edith Holden’s home! If you’re not familiar with Edith Holden, she’s the author and illustrator of the posthumously famous Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady (which I’m sure you’ve seen here and there on Instagram, since the pages make for really beautiful backdrops!). Isn’t that amazing?!

The projects really showcase the beauty of the English flora in all their glory. By using different combinations of stitches, techniques, and thread types, this book really has a lot to teach you and is perfect if you’re interested in realistic floral embroidery. The projects sometimes combine the usual cotton floss with wool, silk, or another type of thread to achieve realistic and stunning effects. The techniques used also vary from long & short stitch needle-painting to stumpwork using padding and/or beads.

 

Structure of the book

The first part of the book includes the main projects and is further divided by seasons – a beautiful wreath (or half-wreath) is offered for each season, as well as a few other single subjects for each season. Some of these are bigger and more intricate, while others are smaller and seemingly less time-consuming. Each project includes a threads and materials list, detailed instructions, and lots of helpful diagrams to guide you along. Specific techniques are referenced but shown in the second part of the book.

 

Here’s a project I tried!

One of the projects is none other than this magnificent lilac branch, which I attempted back in 2020 and showed you in this post where I also discussed Jane Eyre. I hadn’t done a lot of needle-painting at that point, and only used threads and materials I had on hand. If I were to do it again, I would definitely like to try stitching the leaves with Appleton crewel wool as suggested, instead of the random greens I had. I also would not choose this project again without knowing how to properly work bullion knots! Even though my incompetence resulted in this handy-dandy hack 😉

close up view of embroidered lilac branch

Nevertheless I was very proud of the final result and absolutely loved adding beads at the end to really make the piece pop! I loved the beads so much that I was determined to use them in embroidery again. This eventually led to my Beaded Blackberry Branch pattern, inspired by the lovely blackberries also featured in the book.

I didn’t follow the same technique as what’s outlined in the book, but I had so much fun making that piece. I even turned it into a full pattern for you to stitch as well!

 

Stitches & Techniques

As I mentioned earlier, the book is divided into parts, and the second part explains all the stitches and techniques. It starts with a beautiful sampler featuring wheat, daisies, and poppy-seed heads, and then goes on to give you lots of important information on how to prep your work, transfer your pattern, and start your stitches.

One tip that really stood out this time around was the tissue-paper inside the hoop. To avoid finger marks or hoop stains, the author suggests cutting out a ring of tissue paper that you place between your fabric and outer hoop. Mine was a bit too thin (width-wise), and since I was working a design that went close around the sides of the hoop, there wasn’t enough room for it to really make a difference. It ended up slowly ripping apart, and it also discouraged me from removing the fabric from the hoop between each stitching session. Other than that I’d be willing to try it again with a different design!

You can find the finished wreath pattern here!

Stitches and techniques are very well-explained and easy to follow, and include yet more designs to embroider! This book really is a treasure trove of gorgeous botanical designs. The third and last part of the book includes all the pattern outlines to trace and transfer. The easiest way to do that is to copy them with tracing paper, since there are already to size. As I said before, some are quite big, while others are very small. They can easily be resized though, especially if you have access to a scanner.

 

Where to get this book?

And there you have it, my book review for the wonderfully lovely Embroideries From an English Garden: Projects & Techniques in Surface Embroidery by Carol Andrews! Unfortunately, I do believe the book is now out of print, so if you happen across a copy in a thrift store, or on eBay, don’t pass it up! I was able to get mine via Amazon, but I believe there’s only one copy left and it’s quite pricey.

It’s a real shame because it’s truly an amazing book. May it be in print once again!

I hope you enjoyed this book review! Don’t hesitate to let me know if there’s another embroidery book you’d like me to review! Do you like this kind of blog post?  Drop a comment below!!

Hope you’re enjoying the last few golden days of August,

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2023 Free Yearly Stitch-Along + Mini Needle-Painting Tutorial

     Anne      8 Comments

Hello! It feels like a while since I posted anything here, and now it’s already 2023! Happy New Year to you and I hope you are having a lovely January so far. I’m thrilled to announce a new stitch-along again for this year, free to all my email subscribers.

If you’re new around here (warmest welcome!), last year I ran the Tea Party Mini-Quilt stitch-along, which consisted of 12 mini-embroidered hexies turned into a mini-quilt. The project combined embroidery, EPP and hand-quilting, and was tons of fun! Each month, I sent out a small embroidery pattern to my email subscribers, and at the end of the year I put together instructions for making the hexies into a mini-quilt. (You can find more info about it in the post linked above)

This year, my theme will be “Floral Garden” and instead of a mini-quilt, we will be making a nice string of bunting. It’s something I’ve been meaning to try for a while now and this project will be the perfect opportunity. Of course, if you prefer to make a mini-quilt again, or anything else you fancy, feel free to do so!

(By the way, if you missed the Tea Party project and it sounds up your alley, you’ll be able to purchase the pattern from my shop shortly. Sign-up to the email list to get notified!)

 

The January Anemone

For January, I’m starting off with a fanciful version of a white anemone, after having been inspired amongst other things by this beautiful wreath from Stitch Floral. I knew I wanted a blue flower for January, and after much Pinterest scrolling and deliberation over the palest DMC shades, I finally settled on two beautiful blues and the palest purple and sat down to stitch.

Of course, I had to do a little needle-painting to get the effect I was looking for, and I wasn’t disappointed! Since it’s a mini-pattern, it doesn’t take too long to stitch and yet it yields a very satisfying result. If you’re new to needle-painting, fear not! Not every pattern in this stitch-along will feature needle-painting, and to make things easier I’ve put together a little tutorial for you, specifically for this flower.

I already have a tutorial for the long & short stitch here, which is the technique most often used and referred to as “needle-painting”, but I wanted to simplify it a bit for this project. Since the pattern is so small, you don’t need to work many rows and the shape is quite forgiving. The addition of the grey-blue thread around the center will also hide any imperfections 😉

You could decide to use the satin stitch if you prefer, but personally I find the long & short easier to get a better definition and control of each stitch.

 

Easy Long & Short Stitch Tutorial

1. So, to begin, you want to be using only 1 strand of floss in your needle. This is one of those stitches that is much harder to lay smoothly if you use many strands. (I’m using a darker blue for this tutorial than I did in the original pattern, for the sake of the photos.)

Start by outlining the shape with split stitch. This will give you a nice edge to work with.

Then, start your first “long” or “short” stitch in the middle of the petal, outside the split stitch edge. We want to be covering this edge by using it as our guide to start stitches evenly.

 

2. Work more stitches on either side of that first stitch, spaced out, in the direction you want your stitches to go. For this project, you want to angle them towards the center as much as possible, to create definition along the edges.

 

3. Begin filling in-between those guiding stitches by working “long” and “short” stitches. Since this is a small area, it doesn’t matter if most of your stitches are about the same length. It will end up looking a bit like satin stitch, but gives you more flexibility to work around the curved edges.

Keep your stitches nice and tight against each other – you don’t want any gaps! You can use the tip your needle to smooth out and “comb” through the stitches before making the next one.

4. You don’t need to stitch all the way to the bottom of the petal, since we will add the darker blue there. Stop when you have just a little bit left.

 

5. Add stitches with the grey-blue colour by starting through the previous row and ending right along the center edge. You will only need to add a few stitches with this colour, just to give it that extra pop and really make the petals come out. Vary the lengths of the stitches so you have visibly long and shorter ones.

And there you go! You’ll notice that the petals will sort of melt into each other, but that’s ok! The more you keep your stitches angled, the more definition they’ll have.

I hope this was helpful and I can’t wait to see your beautiful anemones! Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram and use the hashtag #northernbellesal if you share your creations. Happy stitching!

Fondly,

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The “Five-Petal Florals” Collection: From Nature to Embroidery Pattern

     Anne      Leave a Comment

As is the case with many embroidery artists, one of my biggest sources of inspiration for embroidery is nature, especially flowers. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that if you’ve been around for a while, haha! Today I thought I’d share with you how my latest pattern collection was inspired by the beautiful “five-petal flowers” I’ve been seeing around this summer, and a bit about the design process.

 

You’ll find these patterns in my Etsy shop, either as a bundle or available individually!

 

BROWSE THE SHOP

 

The Sulfur Cinquefoil

Ah, that such a lovely flower should be afflicted by such a name! Really, it doesn’t hint one bit of its charm. Considered and invasive species, the potentilla recta is nonetheless a really beautiful flower. With its creamy yellow petals and delicate jagged leaves, the tall plants border the path down to the river on my favourite walk. There are so many pretty yellow wildflowers, but this one really stands out with its soft shade of buttery yellow. I felt particularly inspired to capture it with my needle and thread, and knew it would make a lovely embroidery.

 

You can shop The Sulfur Cinquefoil pattern right here.

 

After taking a dozen photos (none of which were able to do it justice) and plucking a few specimens for the flower press, I got my sketchbook out to draw an initial pattern. Each embroidery pattern always begins with a hand-drawn sketch.

I’ve never been very good at sketching or drawing, but over the last few months I’ve definitely noticed an improvement since I’ve been sketching more often to create patterns.

 

The Wild Rose

A timeless and personal favourite, I knew I had to include the wild rose in this mini-collection. I simply love this flower, and had really enjoyed embroidering some last year for my Garden Bouquet project.

While wandering around a very peaceful and secluded public garden in my village, I came across a bush of the palest and most perfectly five-petaled wild roses. I do love the darker pink ones, but these pastel pinks were so soft and delicate I knew I had to stitch one!

I actually had many lovely photos of them, but unfortunately lost them recently during an SD card malfunction (note: let this serve as your reminder to back up your photos!!). Fortunately, they happily live in my memories and now on my embroidery table as well.

 

You can shop The Wild Rose pattern right here.

 

One of the things I love about sketching for embroidery is that you can keep the drawing very simple, because your needle and thread will take care of adding all the little magical details. In fact, the fewer markings you can get away with on your fabric, the better. And when it comes to florals, there are often a few elements that get stitched on top of other stitches, so they don’t always need to be included in the pattern outline. It makes for a clean, simple designing process that I’m starting to really enjoy!

Photo taken in June 2021, of a darker wild rose

 

The Common Mallow

Last but not least, the third addition to my “Five-Petal Florals” collection was the common mallow. I had never heard or seen this flower until this summer, and it’s quickly becoming a favourite. Its various shades of purple and well-defined veins are truly stunning. They’ve been growing all around the house for weeks now, with their purple heads enlivening the dreariest corners. The deep green leaves are so big, too, and have this lovely soft jagged edge that almost looks like a scallop.

 

You can shop The Common Mallow pattern right here.

 

In addition to photos (which I was able to save, since they are still growing abundantly), I actually sketched from the live plant. The flowers last an amazingly long time even after being plucked, so I was able to surround myself with them while I puttered about in my sketchbook.

Once the sketch is good enough for me to stitch, I make a copy on tracing paper. After going over it with a fine Sharpie, it’s ready to be transferred onto fabric. Lately I’ve been using a heat-erasable pen, and it’s definitely my favourite transfer method to date! I’ll definitely have to update my previous post on transferring methods!

 

SEE ALSO:

how to transfer an embroidery pattern
transferring on dark fabric: 3 methods

Creating the Embroidery Pattern

As I stitch, I often make little changes to the design, and I also take note of what didn’t work so well. I draw the final design on a plain sheet of white paper using the tracing paper copy I made earlier, and change or add to it depending on how the embroidery turned out. I go over the design with the fine Sharpie again, and then scan it and save it on my computer. Often, there will be little imperfections that I like to smooth out digitally, and I do that simply with Microsoft Paint and a tiny drawing pad. It’s not the best or most professional system, but it works fine for my current needs.

Once I’m satisfied with the pattern, I import it into Canva, which is the program I use to design all my PDF booklets. And finally, once the instructions are written and I’ve added all the photos, it’s time for the best part: listing on Etsy!

Northern Belle Atelier Shop

 

I’ve truly been enjoying designing and stitching these unique patterns for you, and I hope you find as much joy in embroidering them as I did! If you have any particular requests for something you’d like to see in the shop, I’d love to hear from you. I’m hoping to offer more than PDF patterns in the near future, so I’m always open to suggestions.

 

Fondly,

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