Chicken scratch embroidery
I bought this gingham fabric when I was on holiday earlier in the year, intending to do something craft-y with it. Then I remembered Chicken Scratch embroidery which I saw on Mary Corbet’s website. I found this free design on Nordic Needle’s website. It was fun to do, with just three different stitches. I also have another piece of fabric of the same colour which I bought to go with it, so it will be a cushion cover.
This kind of embroidery has other, more pleasant, names. It is also known as Amish embroidery or Snowflake Lace.
It wasn’t until I had decided to use the fabric that I realised that the check design is not woven, but printed. It made things a little more challenging. That’s another mistake I can learn from!
Butterfly
This butterfly, which is a blackwork design by Tanja Berlin, appeared in ‘Classic Inspirations’ magazine. I have wanted to do it for some time. My original thoughts were to do it in white on Midnight Blue. When I got round to looking at the fabric I had bought it was not the colour I had expected, so I had to have a rethink. My next thought was pastel shades. Then I decided to read the instructions, and realised that two colours was probably the maximum I could use without making it look messy.
The effect I was trying to get is a butterfly at dusk. I decided on a soft lemon shade, and the swirl is a very pale blue/grey.
I have also omitted a wing, as I really didn’t like it, and I am pleased with the end result. It is probably going into a matt silver frame. The next project also has an animal theme….