Vintage Flower Embroidery

I love the idea of including some pretty vintage embroidery in my quilting projects. I can't quite bring myself to snip old items inherited from my family, even though they are a bit stained and worn so I've tried my luck bidding for traycloths on eBay. However, I don't think I'm a very clever eBay-er as I keep loosing the bid at the last moment!

It is much easier to bid for vintage patterns and silks! I 'won' this sheet of vintage flowers which I'm hoping should be fairly quick to stitch. I also 'won' lots of DMC and Anchor silks, some vintage, some new, to replenish my thread collection.



A trip to my local haberdashery for some lovely cotton satin and a transfer pencil and I'm ready to start tracing.

Here's a scan of one of these bunches, please feel free to copy and use it. It measures about 3" so it will make up very quickly.


Use tracing paper or greaseproof paper carefully outline the image with the (really sharp) transfer pencil. Using an iron and with the image against the fabric carefully transfer the pattern. Don't wiggle the iron otherwise it will blur, just hold it still for as long as you need to. This will make a permanent image.

Try satin stitch for the central flowers, back stitch for the bluebells and ribbon and French knots for the little dotty flowers around the edge of the bouquet.

Happy stitching!
Ros


PS I have had quite a bit of trouble uploading this so that it prints off the exact size. Can anyone suggest another method I could try?

I can probably email you a clearer image - just let me know.