Traditional Wheat Like You See On Old Bread Cloths...

This lovely design came from ...er...ah... I can't think of her name...sorry! The book was/is called 'In Stitches' and was written by an English comedian who used to do her embroidery during breaks on set. Great book. I learnt a bit from her attitude and dedication to beautiful work, and to 'going for it'. She did a few pictures, one of her son lounging on the couch, a pig and something else that I liked a lot.

Please tell me if you know who I mean so I can give credit where it's due.

I chose my own stitches for the design, using... Padded Closed Buttonhole (all the heavy sections of the stems), Closed Herringbone (for the small sticky-out-bit coming off the left-to-centre wheat head, it's called Plait stitch in link but it's really Closed Herringbone), Whipped Stem stitch (for the skinny sections of stems), Satin Stitch (for all of the wheat heads) and Straight stitches (from the wheat heads).

Easy Peasy! Simple stitches. Closed Buttonhole, or Broderie Perse (no-one's told me if that's the right name yet)... is such an easy way to get the fullness of Satin stitch without the need for such finess. It's very pretty and effective. The 'spine' of the Buttonhole gives a strong, graphic edge to any design, so it can be better than Satin, often. I love Satin stitch though. I want you to know that.

You can see one of the butterflies I worked out for the 'Butterflies In The Meadow' kit, just above the wheat.