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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!

“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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Fern Stitch Embroidery Tutorial

     Anne      Leave a Comment

It’s been a little while since I updated the Stitch Library with a new stitch tutorial! While stitching my latest pattern, I decided to branch out a little from the usual stitches I love and try the fern stitch. It’s a lovely leafy stitch that is super simple to work and is the perfect addition to a bouquet or to create a gorgeous border.

 

 

Ready to try it? Let’s go!

 

For this tutorial, I’m using 3 strands of Anchor #365.

 

1. First, I suggest drawing 3 parallel vertical lines, making sure that they are at an even distance from each other.

 

2. Then, once you’ve secured your thread (see this post if you need), bring your needle up from the back at point A, right at the top of the middle line.

 

3. Go down at point B, the length of a stitch, and come back up at point C along the left line, just a little below point A.

4. Go back down at point B again (in the same hole), which will form the second stitch, and come back up on the right line at the same level as point B. This is point D.

 

5. Pull through to close the left stitch from C to B.

 

6. Then, go back down through B again and come up at point E along the middle line, the length of a stitch.

 

7. Pull through to close the right stitch from D to B.

 

8. Go down in point B one last time, to close the stitch from E to B along the middle line. To close this stitch, I prefer to pull through while my needle is on the wrong side, but you could come up at point F on the left line to start the new stitch in the same motion, as we did previously. I just find it easier not to for this middle stitch.

 

9. If you haven’t done so in the previous step, come up at point F along the left line, below point C.

 

10. Go back down through E and up again at G, on the right line below point D. Pull through to close the stitch.

 

11. Go down through E and back up at point H, along the middle line. Go down through E one last time, closing the next stitch.

 

12. Keep going in the same fashion to get one continuous line. Here I’m going in a straight line, but you can decide to curve it as you like. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you won’t need to draw the 3 guide lines, you’ll only need to trace the middle one (or none at all if you like to totally free-hand things!).

 

And that’s it! I find it such a satisfying stitch and should definitely use it more often.

 

Bonus:

You can easily add little beads as you stitch and it creates the loveliest effect!

A snippet from a current WIP, which will be available as a pattern in my Etsy shop soon!

 

I hope you’ll try this stitch too and enjoy it as much as I did!

 

Fondly,

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How to Turn Embroideries into EPP hexies

     Anne      2 Comments

I’ve written about the wonders of EPP (English Paper Piecing) before, but since we are now half-way through our lovely EPP Mini-Quilt Tea Party, I thought it would be a good time to give specific instructions for that project. So in this blog post, I’ll be sharing how I turned July’s Piece of Cake into a hexie for the mini-quilt. You’ll be able to refer to this tutorial to turn all your mini-embroideries into hexies.

 

If you’re new around here (hello! welcome!) and wondering what the mini-quilt project is all about, you can have a look at this post and subscribe to my newsletter. Each month, I send out a free mini-embroidery design to turn into hexies to make an EPP mini-quilt. So far, we’ve just been embroidering the designs each month, but now is a good time to start turning them into hexies.

embroidered piece of cake on an epp hexie

If you already know how to do that, then you can skip this entire post and just enjoy the July pattern. You will find it along with the updated hexie template in today’s newsletter, and the one thing you really want to pay attention to is the orientation of the hexie. One of the corners should be facing up, as illustrated in the template.

If you’re new to EPP, then I’ll walk you through creating your own hexies in this post. You can also have a look at my previous posts on the subject for more info on EPP:

stitching a hexie flower english paper piecing
english paper piecing: how to cut and baste shapes

Note: Obviously, turning your embroideries into hexies and making the mini-quilt is totally optional. If you prefer to use the embroidery patterns for something else, please do so (as long as it’s for personal use, of course)!

 

From Embroidery to EPP Hexie Tutorial:

First, the embroidery. If you’re a newsletter subscriber, then you’ve been getting a small embroidery pattern in your inbox each month. If you haven’t gotten them for some reason or you’re a new subscriber, please get in touch and I’ll happily send them to you.

1. Each embroidery is designed to fit nicely around a 1 3/8″ hexagon, and fits inside a 3” hoop. I’ve been stitching each of mine on a 4” x 4” piece of cotton muslin, using a 3” hoop. Follow the instructions provided with your pattern to embroider the design.

embroidered piece of cake in pale blue hoop

2. When you’re done stitching, pop the embroidery out of the hoop, and give it a light press with the iron. It doesn’t need to be perfect, just flatten the big hoop mark to work comfortably.

embroidered piece of cake

3. Next, you’ll need to download and print the “Hexie Template” I’ve provided in today’s newsletter. If your printer allows, print directly on cardstock paper. If not, print on normal paper and then trace over on cardstock. Cut out your hexagons, making sure they are all the same size. The sides should be 1 3/8″ long, but feel free to make them bigger or smaller to fit around your embroideries as you prefer.

hexie template page and single cut hexie from cardstock

4. Punch a hole into each of them, to make it easier to remove them from the fabric later on.

hole puncher beside cardstock hexie

5. Then, place your embroidery on the wrong side, and place the hexie shape on top. Make sure that it is oriented correctly, with one of the corners facing up. I like to use a small piece of tape or a pin to hold the hexie in place. I don’t recommend glue basting because of the embroidery!

hexie shape placed over embroidery on wrong side
piece of tape placed over hexie shape

6. Hold up the embroidery to the light to make sure it is nice and centered over the hexie.

embroidery held against a window to see hexie shape through it

7. When you’re satisfied with the position, turn the embroidery on the wrong side again, and mark a ¼” seam allowance all around the hexagon shape.

seam allowance drawn on fabric wrong side around the hexie shape

8. Cut along your seam allowance line, and you should end up with this!

seam allowance cut aroun hexie shape

9. Now, let’s baste the fabric around the shape. To do this, fold one side of the seam allowance down along one of the edges, holding it in place at the corner.

one side seam allowance folded down

10. Fold the next side down, allowing the SA to fold over the previous one at the corner. Hold in place.

seam allowance folded down in place at corner

11. With a hand-sewing needle and matching thread (I’m using a contrasting thread for the photos), take a stitch through all the fabric layers, but not the cardstock. If you didn’t knot your thread, leave a little tail. Make 2 or 3 stitches, securing the fold down.

needle going through fabric at seam allowance fold
a few stitches made to secure fold down

12. Moving to the next corner, fold the seam allowances the same way as before, and drag your thread over the side to reach the corner. Again, make 2-3 stitches to secure the fold down.

13. Repeat these steps to secure the remaining seam allowances, until your hexie looks like this:

hexie fully basted

Don’t pull the paper out yet, but you can remove the pin or piece of tape. If the tape is too hard to remove without messing up the hexie, just leave it in for now and it will be removed later.

14. Flip the hexie to the good side and admire your lovely work!

finished hexie from the good side, showing embroidered cake

You can follow this tutorial to turn all your mini Tea Party embroideries into hexies, and by the end of the year you will have a total of 12.

That’s all there is to it for now, until we start sewing them together! I will have another tutorial post with instructions for that at a later time. I hope this one was helpful and that you have a fun time turning the embroideries into little hexies. It’s such a fun part of the process!

Thank you again so much for your participation in this project, and I can’t wait to see all your lovely hexies! Be sure to tag me on Instagram (@northernbelle.atelier) and use the hashtag #northernbellesal to see everyone else’s too!

And if you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter so you can join the Tea Party and never miss an update. Happy stitching!

Fondly,

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Stumpwork Robin Eggs: Easy Embroidery Tutorial

     Anne      Leave a Comment

Today on the blog, I have a really fun tutorial to share with you: how to make stumpwork robin eggs! I shared a glimpse of the making process a few weeks ago on Instagram, and some of you were interested in seeing the full tutorial so I’m happy to oblige. One day, I hope to be able to film things properly, but for now I hope you’ll enjoy this step-by-step photo tutorial.

 

 

The eggs and nest are part of a larger pattern, which is available as a PDF download in my Etsy shop here!

embroidered robin bird on a blossoming branch with its nest of blue stumpwork eggs

So if you fancy a bit of needle-painting, a bit of stumpwork, and a bit of French knot magic, you’ll love “The Robin’s Nest”!

The stumpwork was actually the easiest and most fun part of the whole project, so I’m excited to share more about it with you today.

 

What is Stumpwork?

“Stumpwork” is, quite simply, a fancy word for 3D embroidery. It refers to the various techniques used to “raise” embroidery, from 3D stitches to padding, stuffing, and the use of any other material to create three-dimensional scenes or elements. I’ve shared a bit about stumpwork here on the blog before, in these two projects:

flat lay close-up on beaded blackberries project and plate of blackberries with embroidery notions and dried flowers
Beaded Blackberries: Inspired by Regency Fiction
finished embroidered currant berry branch on garden bouquet project
Garden Bouquet Embroidery Part 3: Beautiful Berries

There are pretty much no limits when it comes to stumpwork, and a million ways to get creative and make your embroidery pop. Bird eggs seemed to me the perfect subject to try a little felt padding, and I absolutely love it!

 

Materials:

To make these stumpwork blue eggs, you’ll need:

  • Scrap of blue felt big enough to cut 3 little eggs from. My eggs were about ½” each, so you really only need a tiny scrap.
  • Sewing thread (use a matching blue, or anything pale) and a hand-sewing needle
  • Snips
  • Embroidery floss DMC #3811 or other lovely robin egg blue shade you have
  • Hand-embroidery needle

 

Stumpwork Eggs Tutorial:

1. Start by cutting 3 little eggs from the blue felt. The felt is used as padding and will be entirely covered with stitching, so don’t worry if it’s not exactly the right shade of blue. You can use white felt too, if you don’t have blue.

3 eggs cut out of blue felt

 

2. I’m stitching these eggs inside a nest here, so I’ve arranged them how I want to determine which to stitch first. I like them to overlap, especially with the angle my nest is seen from, but they could be beside each other and not touching if you prefer.

felt eggs arranged in nest

 

3. Once you’ve decided how to arrange your eggs, stitch the first one in place with sewing thread and a simple backstitch. This is to prevent the shape from shifting when we embroider.

first egg stitched down

 

4. When it’s stitched in place, thread your hand-embroidery needle with 2 strands of #3811 and cover the egg with satin stitch, vertically (top to bottom or vice versa).

egg embroidered with satin stitch

 

5. Arrange the second egg, and sew it down in place like you did the first one. If they are overlapping, stitch right through the other egg. Again, cover with satin stitch in the same way as the first.

felt egg being covered with satin stitch
two eggs fully covered with satin stitch

6. Finally, place the last egg and stitch it down in place over the previous two. Cover with satin stitch, always following the direction the egg is laying in.

third egg overlapping the other two

 

And now you have the cutest, bluest little 3D robin eggs!!

3 stumpwork eggs finished

 

Felt is truly amazing for stumpwork, and really easy to work with. I even considered stuffing the felt, but didn’t need to since it turned out dimensional enough. You can use bits of felt like this to raise any embroidered element that you like.

stumpwork eggs in their embroidered nest surrounded by blossoming flowers

 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and small glimpse into “The Robin’s Nest”! The full pattern is available for purchase here if you’d like to stitch the whole thing. Suitable for enthusiastic beginners of the needle-painting technique and more advanced stitchers. If you’re just starting out with needle-painting, it’s not too difficult as the robin is pretty straightforward. If you’re a complete beginner to hand embroidery, I do suggest practicing basic stitches and needle-painting first.

 

You can visit my Stitch Library for full tutorials on basic embroidery stitches and more!

 

As always, thank you for reading my blog and happy stitching!

Fondly,

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