Embroidered Pictures

Red rose appliqué and embroidered with love

Red rose appliqué and embroidered with love

I just love daisies!

I just love daisies! The detail of the yellow centre, the white petals and the tiny tinges of pink at the tips add to the gentle charm of daisies.

A little Gallery of my embroideries, all originally designed by me and sewn by hand to give a fresh, naive, charming quality.  I use all types of linen as the base for the embroideries. The finer modern linens give a professional style finish to the piece, while the vintage linens and grain cloths are softer and give the project a gentler, sort of faded grandeur. Sometimes I add hand or machine appliqué and mix these with my favourite faded florals from Cabbages & Roses, Caroline Zoob, Kate Forman, as well as from my stash of vintage fabrics, which I have collected over the years.

The bird below is a naive bird shape sewn in blues and greys onto slubby vintage linen

The embroidery bird

The embroidery bird

Beach huts by the sea

Beach huts by the sea

Fabric appliqué onto natural fine linen. Stitching, pictures and ‘writing’ embroidered by hand.  The sun is made with a chain stitch.

Sea and sun and sand, castles and buckets and spades

Sea and sun and sand, castles and buckets and spades

Embroidered boat on vintage linen

Embroidered boat on vintage linen

Blossoms float ...

Blossoms float

I made this embroidery into a cushion filled with feathers.  The blossoms are sewn as French and colonial knots. The trunk and branches are either stem stitch or back stitch and I ‘write’ the words freehand in a simple back stitch

Lavender in a pot embroidery sewn into a heart and filled with fragrant lavender to match the picture

Lavender in a pot embroidery sewn into a heart and filled with fragrant lavender to match the picture

I usually use two strands of embroidery silk and keep the stitching simple. I used a fern stitch and back stitch

Scandinavian style heart in red and blue on vintage linen

Scandinavian style heart in red and blue on vintage linen

A little bit of love…

I made this for a friend

Welcome to my new blog.  Follow my ideas and creations in future posts and on Twitter @Embroidery_Bird!

This is for lovers of all-things fabric and for those like me who are always coming up with new ideas and also seeking inspiration and beautiful things to look at and to make. 

Add to this a never ending pleasure in finding trimmings of ribbons, lace, crochet edgings, buttons, beads etc etc planning the perfect placing of each of them. I love making lovely things with fabrics; i can’t resist the feel of linen in particular and especially love vintage items or those evocative of a time and style. I love french linen embroidered sheets and towels and hungarian grain sacks; items which have been personalised and lovingly made and adorned by hand. I like to embroider linen and use trimmings from beautiful old fabrics and patch them together. I love to go searching for these and of course to find a bargain.

Having accumulated all these lovely notions, a few of the thousands of ideas in my head actually become a reality and I sew embroidered pictures, cushions and quilts.  Some of these commemorate a birth or a new home so there is an endless way in which they can be put together to suit the recipient.  I use the fabrics that I love, which are often vintage, made of natural fibres of linen and cotton, with printed and woven designs of faded flowers, jolly florals to jaunty stripes and spots.  These go on their own or mixed together, depending on the project.  Whatever the mix and special project they are all created with a bit of love.  I don’t sew if the mood is wrong, as these special gifts and creations demand my best feelings and attention