Jacobean design in Stumpwork…

I’ve been planning on this for a long time, but haven’t managed to stitch on it to continue the series. So. Here’s the plan.

I’m going to start this today, and post the instructions as a stitch-a-long. You can stitch it with me, or wait for the end when I’ll post all the directions along with the crewel work instructions for the same design.

Supplies

  1. Tightly woven fabric of your choice, 9X9 inches square.
  2. DMC or silk embroidery floss in the following colors:
    • red
    • blue
    • green
    • yellow/gold
  3. 6 inch embroidery hoop
  4. 9X9 inch square of muslin
  5. One package or spool of wrapped floral wire in 32 gauge. You’ll want white. That way if it shows, you can use a permanent pen to color it into the right color – I often use green for the leaves, but we’ll be wiring the smaller petals on this piece as well.
  6. Embroidery needle – crewel or embroidery #9.
  7. Tapestry needle – #26
  8. OLD scissors or wire cutters to cut the wire Do NOT use your good embroidery scissors for this. Or even your not-so good ones!
  9. Edited to add:

  10. 2 small pieces of yellow felt to match your yellow floss – about 1 inch square each.

Pattern - click for full-sized printable version
Pattern - click for full-sized printable version

Step One:

Print out the design. Note: the image to the left may be HUGE. If it prints at a full 8.5X11 sheet of paper, you will want to reduce it to 40%. OR, Click FlowerPattern for a pdf version that you can open with Adobe Reader.

Transfer it to a tightly-woven fabric of your choice, with the following exceptions:

DO NOT transfer:

The leaves.

The four small petals

My flower drawn on my chosen fabric. It's centered on the 9" piece of sateen.
My flower drawn on my chosen fabric. It's centered on the 9" piece of sateen.

I’m transferring it by tracing it onto a piece of polyester/cotton blend sateen that I have in my box (I collect scraps from interior designer friends who are getting rid of them for just this sort of purpose) with a permanent micron pen. You can also use the blue pens ones that wash out with cold water, but they sometimes feather into the fabric. Once it’s on my fabric, it doesn’t look like much, but this will show you what to leave out in more detail. Click the image for a larger version, if you really want the details!

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4 Responses to Jacobean design in Stumpwork…

  1. Hello, I look forward to this tutorial. your stitching is lovely. I love stumpwork. Please have a look on my blog on information on The Winter Wonderland Exhibition. Enjoy Hugs Judy

  2. Thank you so much for posting this tutorial. I want to learn how to do stumpwork, and there are very few resources available for beginners. Your detailed instructions and video will be so helpful. Thanks again!

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