Tutorial: 'Love Without Reason' embroidery

I designed and made this embroidery for Mother's Day this year. A mother's love knows no bounds, it truly is 'love without reason'.  I am so pleased with how it came out, exactly what I had envisaged in my mind's eye. The design itself is very simple, with only four basic embroidery stitches, so even beginners should have little trouble with it.

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Love Without Reason embroidery
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MATERIALS:

You will need:
- The pattern (download it as a PDF and print it to A4)
- 20cm embroidery hoop
- 30cm square of fabric of your choice
- Pilot Frixion or other fabric tracing pen
- Embroidery thread in any colour you like
- Embroidery needle
- Two felt discs the same size as the inner hoop

STEPS:

1. Trace the pattern onto your fabric. You can refer to my tutorial 'Tracing an embroidery pattern' for this.
2. Stretch the fabric onto the hoop, making sure the tightening knob is on top.

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3. There is no particular order to the embroidery of the elements, you can do it in any order you wish. The only exception to this are the yellow buds - embroider those first before adding the green stalks.

Here is a quick guide for each element, with links to video tutorials for the stitches from Mary Corbet's Needle 'N Thread (my online embroidery bible). Seasoned embroiderers will know these all by heart. Beginners - have a go, all the stitches used here are beginner-friendly and while some (like the french knot and satin stitch) may take a little practice to get 'perfect', you will be surprised at how easy they are.

Yellow buds - 1 strand - satin stitch
Flowers - 2 strands - lazy daisy petals and french knot centre. I used four different colours for the flowers, a pale blush pink, a darker bricky pink, orange, and aqua.
Leaves & stalks - 2 strands for the outline, 1 strand for the central vein of leaves - back stitch
Text - 2 strands - back stitch (an extra row of back stitch for the thicker parts)

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4. To finish, you need to tidy up the back of the embroidery. Cut the fabric in a circle 4cm wider than the hoop. Put a felt disc inside the hoop. Cut a piece of thread 10cm longer than the circumference of the hoop. Knot at one end, then do regular stitches of the same length all the way around the hoop. Tighten the thread to achieve a 'yo-yo' effect with the fabric, and secure the loose end with a knot. Put the second piece of felt on top and stitch it onto the fabric all the way around with a blanket stitch.  (Or you can glue a piece of cardboard onto the back edge of the wooden frame. I have a mortal fear of using glue around fabric, as I tend to make a huge mess, but you may be braver than me!).

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5. If you have used a Pilot Frixion pen to trace the pattern, give the embroidery a quick blast with a hair drier or steam it with a steam iron (without touching the embroidery) to remove any pen marks still visible. And your embroidery is ready to hang!

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38 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Mel, I am so pleased with how well the fabric works with the embroidery! More interesting than just using a solid colour I think.

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  2. This is beauiful and it's very kind of you to share it. It reminds me a lot of Amy's style at nanacompany, I love the colours you used!

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    1. Thanks Irene, I am a huge fan of Amy's and it was definitely inspired by her embroideries :)

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  3. Thank you for the tutorial your stitching is beautiful - a lovely message that will last for ever x

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  4. Your stitching is absolutely beautiful. Your pattern and tutorial will make many a Mom (like me) very happy. Thank you for being so generous,

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  5. This is so pretty. You're really talented with embroidery. I just "liked" your Facebook page. :)

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  6. Sedef this is beautiful! I love the way you combine the stitches - delicate embroidery!

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    1. Sedef @ Down Grapevine Lane12 May 2013 21:19

      Thanks Margie :)

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  7. No reason, no limit... I love the way mothers can love and it is such a blessing to be a mother too. Your embroidery is very pretty by the way.

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  8. Sedef, this is beautiful .... thank you for sharing.

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  9. Thank you so much for this wonderful share! I am going to make this for my granddaughter who is a newlywed.

    Jane

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  10. Oh my, that is so beautiful!

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  11. Thanks you so much for sharing this beautiful project, I have to do this. This project can apply to any occasion it is so elegant.

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  12. This is lovely! Is the fabric used a quilting cotton type of fabric? also, do you think this could be made in to a pillow instead of left in the hoop? thanks!

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    1. Kalle, yes it is just quilting cotton, and absolutely you can use if for a pillow or the centre of a feature quilt.

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  13. es precioso!
    gracias por el tutorial!

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  14. Ficou maravilhoso, Sedef , parabéns!

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  15. This is so beautiful. Wonderful sentiment and thanks so much for sharing!

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  16. Beautiful pattern, thanks for sharing.

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  17. This is a a great design for a pillow. Thanks so much for sharring.

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  18. I like very much this design and the colours are very nice!

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  19. I love this design! Thank you so much for sharing. I did wonder what font you used, I want to stitch this, but would like it to say Charity Never Faileth. Thanks again so much!

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  20. Thank you so much. You are a very special person to be so giving.

    "A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will also be refreshed." Proverbs 11:25
    ~from The Living Bible (paraphrase)

    XOXO

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  21. Just beautiful. Perfect for a girls room.

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  22. Harika olmus, elinize saglik.

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  23. Beautiful! And I love the sentiment - don't question love, just feel it. I'm still a beginner but going to give this pattern a try!

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  24. The pattern is not available anymore.😕

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the heads up! I've updated the link, it should work now.

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  25. Thank you so much! Beautiful!

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