Sophie Simpson (What Delilah Did) - Secret Garden Embroidery: 15 projects for your stitching pleasure

-BUD
{small projects for beginners}

-BLOSSOM
{mid-sized projects for improvers}

-BLOOM
{large projects for practised stitchers}

Throughout my life I have been lucky enough to spend time in a fair few magnificent gardens, but I can safely say that none of them holds a candle to the one at Thistledown Farmhouse. Magic abounds in the earth and in the air, permeating the senses and bewitching the soul.

Since far too few of us have access to beautiful outdoor spaces on a regular basis, I have attempted to inject as much of that horticultural enchantment as I possibly can into this fresh new collection of utterly modern embroidery projects. If you hanker for innovative designs bursting with colour and a large dollop of whimsicality, then this is definitely the book for you. With project chapters split into sections for beginner, improver and advanced stitching levels, you should have no trouble re-creating a little piece of natural magic for yourself.

As always, the charts and projects within these pages are chiefly intended as a launch pad, designed to be mixed and matched in order for you to create something truly unique. For example, just because I have stitched the Arbour Alphabet onto flags, it doesnt mean that you have to do the same. To get you started, you will find ideas for alternative projects in the tips that come with each design.

So are you sitting comfortably? Then turn the page and lets begin!

Delilah x

Counted Thread Fabric

Counted embroidery is most commonly worked on evenweave fabrics such as linen or cotton evenweave, or on blockweaves such as aida and waste canvas. Evenweaves and blockweaves are woven with the same number of threads in the warp and the weft, and this means that the holes between the woven threads form a grid of squares (like graph paper) that correspond to the pattern you are following.

Aida and waste canvas are woven in blocks that create very obvious squares to work on, making these fabrics perfect for beginners, whereas stitching over two threads at a time forms the squares on linen or cotton evenweave. Stitching on linen or cotton evenweave takes a little more thought, but the finish is far nicer.

The diagrams on this page show how the same stitches would be worked on different counted thread fabrics.

Aida blockweave.

Linen or cotton evenweave.

Waste canvas.

Evenweave fabrics come in different thread counts. The higher the count, the finer the fabric and the smaller your stitches will be. Evenweaves are counted by the number of individual threads per inch, whereas blockweaves are counted by the number of blocks per inch, so stitches worked on a 14-count aida will be the same size as those worked on a 28-count linen, because the linen is worked over two threads at a time. Each project specifies the type of fabric I have used, but feel free to substitute a different fabric of the same thread count if you prefer (unless specified otherwise), so, for example, a 32-count evenweave could be substituted for a 16-count aida.

Felt

Felt is available in a vast array of colours and it is a particularly versatile fabric to use for embroidery because its raw edges do not fray when cut, so it can be turned into small or fiddly shapes very easily. This makes it ideal for people who prefer the stitching part of a project to the making up, which is why you will find that I have used felt for a number of projects in this book. However, since felt is not woven, you will need to to count your stitches onto it.

IMPORTANT: I specify thick (and by that I mean 1mm/ in+) 100% wool felt in the lists of required supplies because it must be strong enough to support the stitches and withstand the strain of removing waste canvas. If you use a wool-viscose mix or acrylic felt, it will not hold your embroidery well and it is likely to shrink significantly and lose shape when the canvas is removed. It is easy to source 100% wool felt, especially online (see ).

Using waste canvas

Waste canvas can be used to work counted stitches on non-evenweave fabrics without a visible grid to stitch over. The stitch diagrams are shown being worked on waste canvas.

STEP 1 Cut the waste canvas to the same size as your felt and mark its centre with a pin.

STEP 1

STEP 2 Tack the waste canvas in place on top of the felt all around the edge, using a length of waste thread and a loose running stitch.

STEP 2

STEP 3 Work your embroidery stitches through both layers of fabric. When the design is finished, remove the tacking stitches and lightly spray the waste canvas with water to loosen the threads (over-wetting will soak the felt underneath and make the waste canvas difficult to remove; it is best to spray just a little to begin with, then re-spray as needed). While the waste canvas is damp, use tweezers or a small pair of pliers to pull out one thread at a time until it is all gone.

STEP 3

The majority of the projects in this book use stranded cotton embroidery thread. Its six strands are loosely twisted together so that they can be easily separated for stitching with different thicknesses. The chart notes and key that accompany each charted design list the specific thread colour/type, quantity and number of strands needed for the project; feel free to increase or reduce the number of strands, or to substitute other threads.