New Project --- Hungarian Matyo Embroidery

Happy Sunday to all!

I am currently embroidering on a lunch napkin for my elder daughter.  Recently, I have been drawn to Hungarian embroidery. I like it for the vibrant colors and simple stitches used in it. Here are some photos of my project.

 

Satin stitch is the main stitch used in Matyo embroidery. I will regularly post the progress pictures of this project. I am also making progress with my other projects: doily and kurta neck design. Will post these projects soon.

Note: Earlier I had posted that this is Kalocsa embroidery. Sorry for confusing you all. It is Matyo embroidery.

Embroidered Reversible Bag

I would like to share the images of the bag I embroidered a few weeks ago. I made it into a reversible bag and gifted it to a little girl. She was so happy to have received it. You can find the how-to-sew tutorial on my sewing blog.

 When you turn it inside out, it will look like this.

 

Here is a close-up of the embroidery.

I used fly stitch for the flowers, buttonhole stitch for the leaves, and outline stitch for the stems. I used variegated threads in shades of pink and yellow to embroider the flowers.

Happy stitching!

Spring Bouquet---Done

I have finished the spring bouquet project.

The stitches used in this project are: stem, fly, bullion and French knot.

The book has lot of simple yet elegant designs like this one.

Bullion Roses

I embroidered these bullion roses yesterday. I took the roses design from a pattern book and added the leaves on my own. I am going to sew this piece into a pocket on my little one's A-line dress which I am planning to sew next week or I will make this into a little purse. I will show you when it is done.

Long-and-Short Sweet Pea---Images

When I was digging out my closet today I found this piece which I embroidered in 2009. I did not post the images of the finished piece then. I thought of sharing some images with you all now.

 

Quick and Easy Embroidery

A few months ago, I stitched this simple little embroidery on a plain table napkin — just to add a bit of charm and color to an otherwise ordinary piece of fabric. It’s one of those projects you can start and finish in a short afternoon, yet it brings so much satisfaction when you see the delicate texture and cheerful design come to life.

The pattern is made using buttonhole circles and detached chain stitches, which many of you might also know as the lazy daisy stitch. Both stitches are beginner-friendly and can be completed in just a few minutes. The buttonhole circles form lovely, raised blossoms, while the lazy daisy stitches add graceful little leaves around them. Together, they create a simple floral motif that looks elegant on almost any fabric — from napkins and handkerchiefs to cushion covers and tote bags.

To make this piece, I chose a deep blue base fabric that contrasts beautifully with the white, pink, and green threads. The colors pop vibrantly against the background, making the embroidery look fresh and lively, even though it only uses a handful of stitches.

Now, I must admit something — I still haven’t used the napkin! The reason? I haven’t sewn the hem yet. Hemming is my least favorite part of any sewing project. I always find myself too impatient to start stitching right away. The excitement of seeing the embroidery unfold on the fabric is irresistible. I tell myself I’ll hem it later… and, well, “later” hasn’t quite arrived yet!

If you’re anything like me, you probably understand that feeling — that irresistible urge to skip the “boring” prep work and jump straight into the creative part. I hope there are many of you out there who feel the same way. After all, embroidery is supposed to be joyful and relaxing, not about rules and routines.

So, if you’re looking for something quick, easy, and satisfying to stitch this weekend, try this little floral design. A few buttonhole circles, a handful of lazy daisies, and a splash of color. That’s all it takes to brighten your linens and your mood.

Long-and-Short Red Anemone Finished

I finished the long-and-short red anemone two weeks before. 

 (design source: Trish Burr's Long and Short Embroidery: A Collection of Flowers)

Here are the images:

 

Close-up image:

   

 And here is the progress of the Long-and-short Chinese lotus design. Yesterday's progress:

   

 

Today's progress:

   

Tomorrow I will review the book "Traditional Chinese Designs" by Barbara Christopher. See you tomorrow.

Neck patterns

I am embroidering two different neck patterns at present.

The first is a V-shaped one.



I decided to use satin stitch for the flowers, however after completing the first flower now I am thinking it would be better to use buttonhole stitch which would be less time consuming than satin stitch. For the leaves, I am using lazy daisy stitch and for the stems, stem stitch.



The second neck design is an intricate one and contains lots of elements to embroider. Take a look at the images below. I kept this project aside a month ago as I was running out of threads. Now after buying the threads I have started the project again.

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.

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:

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.