This design is for the needlelace category of our East Kingdom Embroidery Guild, Athena’s Thimble. Needlelace is worked on top of the fabric and then cut off to have a piece that is completely embroidery with no base fabric. The leaf design has an abstract fill pattern which I thought looked super cool, but the category requirements say stitches should be even, so I started this flower with some multicolor thread to play with something fun, try a few other stitches, and prove I can actually make something even. I actually hate the color variation here, because the thread changes color relatively quickly so you end up with something more like stripes, but it might work well for more leaves. This is one of the categories I left for nearly last because it seemed hard, but if you know buttonhole or blanket stitch, you will find this surprisingly easy to learn! There’s a good set of youtube videos for the flower design if you like learning from video. I didn’t follow those stitch choices exactly, but it’s a good start and you can always pick the one(s) you think look best if you want less variation in your petals.
Not shown, I also completed the smocking category at the same event by paneling a shirt made for Margreta Gyllensteirna (who is conveniently teaching people the smocking category so all her shirts get done by others who don’t care about having a smocked thing!) but I forgot to get any photos. If you want to learn smocking by making her something I’m sure she would be happy to help. With that I have 10/12 categories complete!
