At Winter’s Door

part 2

This week, we begin embroidering the wreath itself.

Before bringing the flowers and ribbons to life, you need to lay the foundations: the fir branches and poinsettia leaves that set the rhythm. They support and structure the whole piece, giving the motif its circular, balanced shape.

As you embroider them, you can already see the composition taking shape: the pine needles add a light texture, while the large poinsettia leaves create a denser volume that will soon welcome the flowers.

It is by playing on the lightness of the pine needles and the density of the poinsettia leaves that we obtain the relief and depth essential to the balance of the wreath.

These initial embroideries establish the plant structure: the pine needles provide a soft, light texture, while the large poinsettia leaves visually anchor the volumes that will soon be filled with flowers and ribbons.

I will now explain how I went about tackling this challenge, bringing to life the fir branches and poinsettia leaves that support the entire composition.

Fir branches

I used the colors suggested last week in the introductory article.

To create the fir branches and their needles, I worked with large lazy daisy stitches, embroidered with two strands of thread. Some of these stitches are doubled to give the whole piece more density and volume.

Once these foundations were in place, I added a few straight stitches with a metallic thread to intensify its shine and evoke the light falling on the branches.

It is important to vary the length and orientation of the pine needles, as this will give the embroidery its natural character, marked by the spontaneity and unpredictability of the nature.

Poinsettia leaves

The largest poinsettia leaves are embroidered using close fly stitch, with two strands of thread, to give them a density that counterbalances the lightness of the fir branches.

For smaller leaves, I chose a lighter approach, where a few straight stitches are enough to fill in the partial volumes that appear between the branches, while maintaining the fluidity and transparency of the whole.

Here are some images to illustrate these first steps in embroidery. 

Left side of the wreath

Right side of the wreath

Next week, we will discuss embroidering poinsettias.

I hope that these first steps in the creation of this work will inspire you to continue this journey with me, step by step, until we see the full variety of elements that make up this wreath come to fruition.