Yesterday, I showed you my “grab-and-go” embroidery project, a little Spring design for the corner of a towel that I’m going to use as a basket liner. Here’s the embroidery pattern for that piece.
This embroidery design comes from a stack of hand embroidery transfers that I got at a garage sale. Most of the designs were loose; the few that were in booklets came from the 1950′s, so I’m assuming this one is about the same time period. The original was a mess, so I scanned it and worked from the scanned image, cleaning it up into a vectorized image, which I’ve saved as a gif file (you can click on it to make it larger, then save it to your computer and resize it if you wish), and also as a PDF file, which you can also resize and print.
The design on my towel corner is about 8 inches wide – just wide enough to print on regular paper. The PDF should work out to about the same (hopefully!)
Here’s the PDF:
Spring Garden Corner Design for Hand Embroidery
If you are interested in using the same colors I’m using, here’s a list of DMC numbers:
Purples: 208 & 209
Green: 907
Yellow: 743
Bright Pink: 602
I have a blue, too (DMC 794) but so far, I haven’t used it, and I’m not sure if I will. It doesn’t seem “quite right” somehow.
Of course, you are more than welcomed to use any colors you want!
As I stitch, by the way, I’m just improvising. I’ll try to finish enough of the design tonight so that each element is stitched, and then I’ll explain which stitches I’m using.
In the meantime, if you want to stitch along, feel free. You can always get started with the leaves – they’re all worked in fishbone stitch, except for the largest open one, which is outlined in stem stitch – and the stems, which are worked in stem stitch. The center of the flowers are worked in buttonhole wheels, then filled with French knots. You can see these up close on the introduction to this little project.
For a flour sack towel, I suggest using a better quality one, if you can find one. Some of the flour sack towels out there are very flimsy and seem almost like cheesecloth.
hey mary
this i looking really cute, im glad you went with the bright coloras. love bright colors too< just haent had a project to use them in. i cant wait for you to work moreon this, i might folow along with.
i wanted o know how many thread did you use? im thinking you used two? am i right?
YAY! Thanks so much Mary, I can’t wait to get started tonight!!
Lisa
What a nice design! Thx for sharing!
Hi, All!
Glad you like the design! Lisa, you’ll have to let me know how it goes!
Yes, Jules – you are correct! 2 threads…. I just tried one area with one thread, but it didn’t look so good, so I picked it out and went back to two!
Best,
MC
Oooo I’m gonna have to stitch along! Maybe I’ll learn some new stitches
Now.. gotta go find a towel…
Thanks…another great design. I ended up with some of those cheesecloth towels – useful in the kitchen, but impossible to stitch. Anybody got a good source for better towels?
Hi, CJ – I like the premium towels from http://www.embroiderthis.com, and the “Plain Ole Dishtowels” from All About Blanks (they are not square – something like 20×28)
MC
Here’s the best gift I’ve ever gotten: I had been whining to my mother about hating to cook, and how much I dreaded making supper for 3 teenage boys and an athletic husband each night. The sheer quantity is daunting, my kitchen tiny, their schedules erratic, etc. I learned from my grandmother that when you don’t know what to make for supper, start by chopping up an onion and simmer it in a skillet with a little oil. While it’s simmering, then you rummage in your pantry, the cooking onion will be your inspiration, and a welcome reassurance to your family that supper’s coming and it’s gonna be good…. Still whining, I told her about how much my eyes are bothered by chopping up onions (better now that I sharpen my knife to perfection before I begin).
The next time my mother came to visit, she brought a huge freezer bag of onions she had chopped herself. Inside the freezer bag were little zipper bags of chopped onion, in 1/2-cup and 1-cup aliquots, all labelled and ready to freeze. I hugged her and hugged her, and you guessed it *cried*. For months, I wept every time I reached into the freezer to start cooking for my family. What love went into that gift! thoughtfulness, ingenuity….
Since then, I’ve noticed bags of chopped onions with the frozen vegetables, and even bought one once, but they were really large chunks, and my mother used better onions, it just couldn’t compare.
That’s my Gold Standard for giving…..
WendyBee
Thank you Garden Corner. I will use this for sure . I embroidery at less 60 dish towels a year for family and friends . My Grandmother, Rose, taught me to embroidery when I was 8 years old and I’m 65 this year. I’m a practical person and towels are so useful. I order from the American Chair Store [616-895-7370] . The towels are the best 30×30 all- cotton
Thank you, I look forward to reading you every morning.
Wow, it’s beautiful! I’ll be linking to this if you don’t mind. I am totally amazed an impressed that the pp does 60 towels a year-wow!
ce motif m’inspire ! merci beaucoup !
votre site est vraiment magnifique et c’est un réel plaisir d’y venir !
Thank you for this pattern… It’s very nice…
Mary
The comment from WendyBee really seemed to touch my heart and made me think of my mother who is gone and suddenly I began to bawl like a baby missing her so much. I wasn’t the greatest daughter and regret not appreciating her while she was here. She did her best.
Sorry – didn’t mean to rattle on.
I love your embroidery site and wanted to let you know you are the greatest!!
Betty Boop
Mary, this was exactly was I was looking for to add more punch to a project that just had embroidered words. Thanks so much! This is beautiful!
The old Aunt Martha’s pattern people are located in Kansas City, MO. They sell really nice quality flower sack towels and tea towels. I have used them and highly recommend. website is http://www.colonialpatterns.com