The Birth of a Project

Some projects take shape very clearly right from the first sketches. Others develop more slowly, gradually finding their balance through trial and error, experimentation with colors, and the first stitches.

The design I’m introducing to you today falls into this second category.

Designed for the upcoming book A Passion for Needlework, it now occupies a large part of my creative world. Even before it is finished, it is already beginning to reveal its atmosphere: an intertwining of flowers and foliage where each element must find its rightful place to form a vibrant and harmonious whole.

This time, I wanted to bring you along on this creative journey from the very beginning and share with you the early stages of its creation.

This project is primarily based on a search for balance and movement.

I wanted to create a design that gives the impression of growing freely across the fabric, almost like vegetation spreading naturally, without any stiffness or overly pronounced symmetry.

The three large flowers featured today play a key role here.
They serve as the focal points of the design and set the overall rhythm of the composition. Each has its own personality, its own light, and its own nuances, while still needing to harmonize with the whole.

Around them, the foliage acts as a link between the different areas of the design. It adds lightness and movement, gradually helping the whole composition find its balance.

As is often the case with this type of project, the initial sketch is merely a starting point. Some ideas evolve as the embroidery progresses, depending on the colors, materials, and effects that gradually emerge under the needle.

Since this project is particularly intricate and features a large number of patterns, I chose to keep the color palette deliberately subdued.

For each of the large flowers, I worked with a palette of six main colors, enhanced by the use of variegated thread to add more depth and vibrancy to the overall design.

The entire piece is embroidered using “Soie d’Alger”  from Au Ver à Soie, combined with a gradient-dyed raw silk from House of Embroidery. This combination creates vibrant effects, with light and shades shifting subtly with each stitch.

I also wanted to focus on simple, accessible basic elements. In this project, my intention is not to showcase technical virtuosity, but rather to emphasize movement, rich colors, and the sense of life that gradually emerges from the composition.

I want to create a vibrant work, free in its expression and resolutely contemporary, in which embroidery sometimes resembles a painterly gesture more than a technical exercise.

This first floral design is built around shades of dusty peach and faded pink, enhanced by the shifting hues of variegated silk. 

For this second flower, I chose a palette of richer, deeper pinks to give the entire arrangement more presence. The variations in the gradient silk bring the petals to life with subtle shifts in light.

With this third flower, the intensity of the colors gradually reaches its full potential. The deep, warm reds lend strength and character to the composition, while the gradient threads further enhance the interplay of light and texture that brings the petals to life.