Free-Form Embroidery

This kind of embroidery is really enjoyable.  I have had the book by Judith Baker Montano for ages and meant to try this fun way of using simple stitches and finally I've got round to doing it.

This is something I'll be trying out again very soon because there are so many more tempting examples in her book.

I used Anchor Pearl Cotton No. 5 thread, some plain colours and some variegated.  They are a substantial weight and work really well with this sort of embroidery.


In the hoop I've layered plain organza on top of blue quilting cotton and this gives the surface a sheen as well as making it a firm foundation for the embroidery.

I decided my design would be an under-the-sea idea and one thing which would have improved the finished picture would have been to paint a background on to the cotton with some indications of under-the-sea life. There are many examples of this sort of thing in the book too.

The first stitches I used are called Back Stitch Star and very easy to do.  Then the long ones shown below are Back Stitch again threaded through with a silky rayon thread.

 Next I used some variations of Buttonhole Stitch - the circular three seen on the left of the hoop are embroidered in variegated threads.

Then some quarter circles of Buttonhole Stitch growing out from a couched stem.  The stem was made with DMC polyester metallic thread which splits into many really fine metallic strands.

I used one of these fine strands to couch the thread in place - not easy as this type of thread keeps splitting into its individual parts and has a mind of its own - but the shiny finish was worth it in the end.

Now the design is more or less finished and the fun part is that it has all been done with some well-known and familiar stitches but in an unusual way.  French Knots, Buttonhole Stitch, Couching, Backstitch, Fly Stitch and Pistil Stitch (which is a variation of French Knots).

What a delightful way to embroider something unusual without any stress.

My plan is to put this embroidered square back to back with the Rose Bullion Stitch square described here a couple of days ago, and to make a page for a Cloth Book.  This will be how I store and present my sample embroidery designs.

Of course there are many other ways that these try-outs could be used too but that is for another day.