Embroidered neck design

This is a paisley neck design I embroidered on a tunic recently.



I chain stitched the outlines of the paisley design and used green and cream color sequins and mirrors to decorate the design.



Completed design:



These are the materials I used.

Applique work

Hi friends,

I missed you all for quite some time. I was busy with my office work during last month. Could not find time to update my blog.

I would like to share some images of my first ever hand applique embroidery on a cushion cover.

Applique is very easy to do and is not time consuming.

I did not plan beforehand to take step-by-step photos when I did this project. I will try to explain applique work with step-by-step photos and instructions in my next applique project.

I used the needle turn method to stitch this appliqued flower.

Another free embroidery pattern

One more fun flower pattern to stitch. The thread colors and stitches are your own choice. You can applique this pattern if you wish.

Larger version:



Smaller version:

Free embroidery pattern

Here is a free flower pattern:



Click on the image for a larger version. The outlines are easy to trace although this is a watercolor painting. So I did not create a line drawing for this pattern.

Here is the smaller version:



This will look great on household linens, hankies, napkins, etc.

Stitch suggestion: You can do redwork using this design by stitching only the outlines or you can use any of the filling stitches (long and short, chain stitch filling, stem stitch filling, etc.) of surface embroidery.

Color choice: Choice of colors can be your own according to the color of the ground fabric. Using different shades of a same color will make this design look great.

Some interesting embroidery Web sites

The following are some of the interesting Web sites I found on the Internet today:

You will find beautiful, free applique and redwork patterns here provided by Anne Sutton, designer and owner of this site. Very pretty patterns. I love her Web site:
http://bunnyhilldesigns.com/dynamic/?page=Free%20Patterns

Here is a sample:



Please visit her Web site if you want to buy or download her patterns.

If you want to learn Indian embroidery techniques, Bhavani Harikrishnan teaches you a step-by-step kutchwork and kasuti embroidery tutorials. An useful one:
http://kutchwork-tutorial.blogspot.com/2006/05/kutchwork-introduction.html
http://kasuti.blogspot.com/

This URL discusses of the history of crewel embroidery and shows images of antique textile designs. An interesting one:
http://www.meg-andrews.com/articles/crewel-woolwork.php

You will find a lot of embroidery projects and stitching techniques here:
http://www.embroiderersguild.com/stitch/projects/crewel/crewel.html

This Web site is owned by Phillipa Turnbull. She displays her kits on this Web site. You will admire at her wonderful collection of needlepoint and crewel kits:
http://www.crewelwork.com/
http://www.crewelwork.com/CrewelKits.asp

An interesting blog run by Cathelina and Constance about medieval embroidery.
http://borninthewrongage.blogspot.com/

Redwork lovers will surely love this blog:
http://redwork-in-germany.blogspot.com/2007/05/liebst-du-der-rose-pracht-habauf-die_06.html


You will find patterns and projects on all sorts of embroidery:
http://www.embroidery-methods.com/The_Embroidery_Sampler-backissues.html

Hope you have a nice time browsing these links!

Embroidered handkerchief

After learning the long and short techniques from Trish Burr's book, I was very enthusiastic to try it out.

I found a small design from a pattern book and decided to embroider it using long and short stitch on a cotton handkerchief. I would have selected a pattern from Trish's book, however, I was not able to go out and purchase the threads as it was raining heavily. So I decided to use that small design and the threads I had in stock.

It was nice sitting by the window on a chilly, rainy afternoon and doing embroidery. I always like watching rain whilst embroidering or drawing. I continued embroidering till midnight taking breaks in between. The below photographs show the progress on the first day.





I thought I could complete the project the next day, however, I was not able to as I had to concentrate on my office works. The images below show the recent progress of my little project.

I am hoping to finish it as early as possible but i am not able to.

Long and short stitch embroidery by Trish Burr---It's not just a book, it's a treasure!

Recently, my sister gifted me the embroidery book "Long and short stitch embroidery: A collection of flowers" by Trish Burr. It is a must-have for any embroiderer interested in this type of embroidery. After reading this book I was able to understand what mistakes I have been making in my previous long and short embroidery projects.

This book is very useful and you can improve your long and short embroidery skills by carefully following the tips and techniques given by Trish.


The long and short flower photos are lovely. They look like real flowers. What a talent the author has! Trish is really a great embroiderer! Her perspicuous way of teaching the long and short embroidery techniques is to be appreciated! There are lots of small to large flower projects with clear instructions for beginners to advanced-level embroiderers.





Out of these, my favorites are the hibiscus and red bearded iris.








Thanks Trish for this well-written and beautifully compiled book. I love this book and am totally addicted to it. I highly recommend this book to any embroidery enthusiast who wants to improve their embroidery skills.

You can buy this awesome book at this link.

Braided Rug

Yesterday I decided to try something different than my usual embroidery projects. So I thought of making a braided rug. I collected some scrap materials I found at our home. I forgot to take pictures of the progress. However I am planning to post a tutorial on how to make a braided rug next time I create new one.

Here is the picture of the final product:

I think overall the final product is good though it is not a perfect one, and I am quite happy with the color combination.

Autumn rose---progress

I have completed the center monogram design in my autumn rose project. I have used satin stitch (two strands of Anchor threads) for the roses that surround the monogram S. However, after I found out that one strand will be better for satin stitch than two strands I switched over to one. The leaves are stitched with one strand of floss and I think they look smooth than the flower petals stitched with two strands.

Thanks to Mary Corbet of http://www.NeedlenThread.com for her suggestion in one of her posts on using one strand for satin stitch instead of two.

Pictures:

Bunch of flowers project completed

I completed the bunch of flowers embroidery on a pillow cover. Now with the fall rose project on hand I am planning for my next embroidery project.

Here are the images of the completed project:

Autumn rose---Progress

Here are some images that show the progress of the autumn rose project:





Here is a close-up image:

Just to enjoy!

The photographs below were taken by my hubby. He is very artistic in taking photographs. Hope you will enjoy looking at these images!!!

One more work in progress

Currently, I am working on one more project other than the fall rose project.

You could see the progress in the image below:



I am using six stitches for this pattern. Satin stitch, herring bone stitch, French knot, chain stitch, stem stitch, and my favorite long and short stitch.

Autumn Rose Project--Long and short stitch--Step 3

We can add one more shade to this flower petal--- a dark pink.

Stitch the same way as you did for the second row. However the stitches need not be close to each other since we are just going to add depth to the shading of the petal.





The long and short stitch petal is done with three shades of color.

Autumn Rose Project--Long and short stitch--Step 3

This is the important step in the long and short stitch. We are going to fill up the second row using one strand of thread. In the basic long and short embroidery, the second row of stitches start at the points where the first row stitches end. However to get a smooth blending effect, we should bring up the needle through the first row of stitches by spliting up the thread of the first row of stitches, not at the endpoints of the stitches in the previous row. Look at the image below:



Because the petal is small, I decided to limit the long and short stitch to only two rows. Since the second row is also the last row, the stitches should be directed toward and end at the inner edge of the petal.



Continue to place the stitches close to each other as you did for first row.