Before moving onto the leaves on the Secret Garden embroidery project, I wanted to show you how I muted some of the vines on the project, by adding a little twiggy brown into the mix.
Working with a brown thread and green thread in the needle, I stem stitched some of the fine, single-line vines and curls towards the middle of the project, just above the hummingbirds.
In the photo above, my embroidery frame is actually upside-down (so I can reach the top of the design better), so the area I’m working is just below the large leaves at the very top of the design, and above the hummingbirds.
Mixing a brown in with the green looks might look a bit odd.
But the brown mutes the green – it settles it down. It adds a “twiggy” look to the vines.
If you decide to go with two colors in your needle (as opposed to two shades, as we did with the greens), don’t be too concerned about the twist always being perfect, so that the colors have equal exposure on the vine. Rather, let it work out however it works out. This will give a more “twiggy” look to the vine – it heathers the vine a bit.
This is the brown I’m using for these little bits of vine. It’s DMC #869, and I’m combining it in the needle with 907 sometimes, and 906 other times – the two middle, brighter greens in the green shades.
You certainly don’t have to combine the brown and green on any of the vines! You might not like the look.
In the photo above, you can how the brown-and-green vine looks when you step back a bit, in comparison to green vines. On the outside of the piece, I have some single lines of green vines (in the forefront of the photo above) and they’re quite bright and solid looking. The vine farther back, embroidered with a combination of brown and green, is much more subtle.
I’ll share a full shot of all the finished vine work as soon as I finish all the vine work. Every time I sit down to the piece, I notice another viney bit just waiting to be clothed, so I’m not quite finished with vines yet.
We’ll also look at little leaves soon. Shhhh – don’t tell anyone! – but I sneaked ahead and worked some leaves – and I find them really addicting and fun.
I’d love to tell you that I’m plowing ahead with more stitching on this today…but in fact, I’ll be spending the afternoon at the dentist.
Joy, bliss.
Enjoy your Monday!
If you’d like to follow along with the Secret Garden Hummingbirds project, which features a design from “Secret Garden: an Inky Treasure Hunt & Coloring Book” by Johanna Basford, you can find all the articles relating to this project arranged in chronological order in the Secret Garden Project Index. Among the articles, you’ll find plenty of tips and techniques that will help you with your own embroidery projects.
