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Mary Corbet

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I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

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Happy Easter – and a Free Pattern!

 

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Happy Easter, everyone!

I wanted to show you a nice display of my embroidered eggs this morning, but in fact, I didn’t finish them after all. Life is sometimes like that!

Instead, I’ll share with you (again) this beautiful example of Pysanky (Ukrainian dyed Easter eggs), with an embroidered Ukrainian cloth in cross stitch, along with a pattern for my version of the cloth.

Ukrainian Easter Eggs

I worked up my own chart version for a square, fully bordered version of this cloth, with some minor adjustments. You can find it here:

Square Ukrainian Cloth border – counted cross stitch (PDF)

It prints a four page chart. How large it will work up depends on the thread count of your linen, and whether you stitch over one or two threads. You can figure out the repeat pattern of the center area, too, and enlarge or elongate the design in any way you wish. Or, you could just work a corner, and chop off the pattern. Or you can play with all kinds of repeats on the design and work up a different look to it altogether.

Embroidery on Eggs

Finally, I’ll leave you with a glimpse of the egg embroidery that stopped me in my tracks. That purple accordion thing is not exactly what I had in mind! I have to take that out before I move forward again.

Sometimes, a little mistake can become a huge obstacle to moving forward, can’t it?

Well, I ran out of time. Before I knew it, this morning had come, and the Purple Accordion Slug was still clinging to the side of the egg.

But that’s not going to keep me from enjoying the day! I’m spending Easter Sunday with my sister’s family, where I will surreptitiously dispense mountains of jelly beans to the little kids before heading home.

Happy Easter!

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(10) Comments

  1. Dear Mary

    A very happy Easter to you and your family and may you enjoy yourself at your sisters, the jelly beans sound yummy! I love the basket I’ve just completed one but it certainly is not as nice as yours, I quite like the purple ribboned accordion. Thanks for the Pysanky pattern it is lovely. Enjoy your Easter.

    Regards Anita Simmance

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  2. You might not like the purple ruffle, but I think it looks nice. Anyway, the rest of the egg is lovely. Thanks for the delight of watching you create the embroidered eggs.

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  3. What a nice surprise to see you here today. Usually you take Sunday off. Thank you for the great pattern. It looks interesting and fun. I wonder how it would look in other colors? And the purple tutu on your egg is a bit. . . . different looking. I hope it wasn’t too much work to put it on. But you’re right, it doesn’t quite fit the design. Made me smile though. 🙂

    A blessed Easter to you.

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  4. Aww, I like the purple! It looks like an iris. Maybe if it was just the top half, with the bottom being a stem, you could totally make it work. Happy Easter to you!

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  5. Mary,
    Nothing is better than the anticipation of the Aunt who comes to do nothing but love and spoil. What a noble position to have in the family. Hope you had a wonderful Easter. My mistakes or missteps or just “this is awful” cause me to go down a hole, as my 3 year old granddaughter says …it is ruined forever…. Thanks for letting the pupils see your humor. Your beautiful eggs have been a great tutorial.

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  6. Happy Easter, Mary!

    that’s no slug! 😀 accordion maybe… (you’re too funny) It’s sure no reason not to enjoy the day.

    A very good observation about unexpected obstacle… I know the feeling!

    Thank you for the pattern you’ve prepared for us. Here’s a fun fact you’d never expect to hear from me… I’m Ukrainian 🙂 Glad our pysanky please so many creative people. But I wouldn’t describe them as “dyed”, they are painted, in ideal – hand-painted.

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  7. Beautiful! My mother is a pysanka artist. If you’re interested, you can see some of her work on her new website – It’s still a work in progress, so it’s just the tip of the iceberg of what she has created.

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