Anthea’s Garden

Presentation of the project

A few years ago in 2017, I published a project called “The Discovery Garden”. The idea behind this work was to reveal the content only gradually in order to keep the surprise of its evolution with each new article publication.

I wanted to do the same for the current project because I remember very positive feedback about it.

So, unlike usual, we will work from a simple drawing without any color proposal or graphic representation. You will see it come to life as you go along with the proposed creations to end up in a magnificent flowerbed of multicolored flowers.

You can download it HERE and next week I’ll post the numbered drawing that will make it easy to follow the explanations.

For my part, I made the choice to embroider it with Soie d’Alger (Au Ver à Soie, Paris) because this thread is available in an incredible palette of colors and the use of this material gives the flowers a very special shimmer.

However, don’t worry, I am well aware that this yarn is not widely available on the market so I will obviously post a list of DMC colors that match Soie d’Alger as closely as possible. I also used two hand-dyed silk yarns from Stef Francis (UK) to make the leaves and thus complement the range of solid greens chosen for these patterns. The supply of versicolored yarns has become so vast that you will certainly be able to get them easily to embellish your work.

I remind you that in this kind of creative work, it is not necessary to follow my proposal to the letter, I am sure that your own choice of colors will bring you additional pleasure.

I will also try to publish detailed explanations of each part of the work so that you can follow its evolution until its conclusion.

To begin, you will find below the explanations to embroider the two smallest flowers of this first group and 2 different leaves. The largest flower will be explained in great detail and with many pictures next week. You will find the numbering of these patterns in the document I will publish next week.

To make the work easier, the explanations are given with DMC colors.

Leaf 1

Colors used to embroider this leaf

Soie d’Alger – DMC                    

136 – 3808

131 – 747

2114 – 470

3845 – 640

Stef Francis  n° 18

Fill in the remaining empty part of the leaf with SF 18 thread. Outline the top edge of the design with 1 row of stem stitch 470  and with 2 rows using color 131. 

Leaf 2

Colors used to embroider this leaf

Soie d’Alger – DMC                    

3713 – 3348

2141 – 165

2114 – 470

3845 – 640

Stef Francis  n° 16

Flower A

Colors used to embroider this flower

Soie d’Alger – DMC                    

4096 – B5200

5114 – 3835

2931 – 3689

2932  – 3733

636 – 606

2936 – 498

3713 – 3348

2114 – 470

3845 – 640

Unfortunately, this is the first pattern I’ve embroidered, and caught up in my momentum, I forgot to take a detailed photo so here’s how to embroider.

For the petals, embroider in long and short stitch, starting with the outer part of the design, and shade the colors B5200, 3689, and 3733 starting with B5200. Add a few backstitches between the petals with color 3835 to separate them. Embroider the heart with satin stitch and colors 606 and 498. Finish with large French knots using the whole strand (6 threads) and alternating colors 3348 and 470.

Flower B

Colors used to embroider this flower

Soie d’Alger – DMC                    

636 – 606

4636 – 814

914 – 608

916  – 666

743  –  726