Laurie Latour of Future Christian Homemakers is quite an enthusiast when it comes to hand embroidery on gingham. If you have not seen her Gingham Museum on her website, it is worth taking a look at, especially if you are interested in elaborate "chicken scratch" embroidery that is unique and really beautiful. She has quite a collection of embroidered aprons, and they're all detailed with close-up photos and commentary.
Laurie's been experimenting with gingham lately, coming up with several Christmas designs that are really attractive. I especially like this series of Christmas trees she's been working on, so I was very happy when she said I could share them with you.
Traditionally, embroidery on gingham is worked in white or in the color of the darkest square on the fabric. Laurie played a little with this, but found that contrasting colors worked best on this series of trees.
The trees are embroidered on 1/8" homespun fabric (available online through Jubilee Fabric), and their finished size is approximately 3.25" tall by 2.75" wide - the perfect size for an ornament or a Christmas card.
This first tree is worked with a combination of dark green and sparkly white thread - although I like it, I have to admit I like the trees worked in colors that contrast with the fabric better. Laurie used two strands of DMC 890 (green) for the tree, and two strands of Treasure Braid Petit High Gloss (P410) for the circles and x's.
I like this tree a better, with the green stitched on the red homespun. She used the same color green as on the tree above, but instead of the white braid, she used Treasure Braid Petite (PB68), a multi-colored sparkly thread. It's hard to capture the sparkle in the picture, but you can imagine how nice it looks if you're familiar at all with Rainbow Gallery's Treasure Braids (pictured down below).
This tree, I really like. I like the kelly green floss on the red, with the gold braid! It's very pretty, and oh-so-Christmassy.
This tree, however, is my absolute fave. I love the contrast of the bold red stitches, and I like the dark geen with the gold braid.
Which is your favorite, of the four trees above?
Although this isn't a full tutorial, if you are interested in working up some similar trees, in the photo above, you can see the "skeleton" pattern for the design. For further directions on gingham embroidery, you can check out some tips for embroidering on gingham at the Future Christian Homemakers website.
This, by the way, is Treasure Braid. You can find it at most local needlework shops that carry cross stitch or needlepointing supplies.
While wandering through Laurie's website, I came across this little book that Laurie publishes, Classic Prayers for Children. It is a sweet book of prayers and poems for children, beautifully illustrated. It struck me as a perfect stocking stuffer or First Communion treasure for little kids.
I love the work of preservation that Laurie is doing with gingham embroidery. She is building quite a collection of vintage gingham embroidery and documenting them so that we can see the unique designs and stitch combinations used in the technique. If yuou get a chance, make sure you check out her website!
Have a terrific weekend!
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