I made this for the marvellous mimiw in the Ongoing Wish Swap. She had a few stylised garden/flower designs on her wist, but rather than an exact copy, I got some inspiration, and came up with my own design. It was really enjoyable to stitch
(I made something similar for babalina too, will load a pic when I find it!)
This is a really fun project if you want to play around, and practice old stitches or try new ones. I started by ironing on the corduroy piece for the ground, and roughly marked a couple of circles with my disappearing purple marker. Then I got out my stitch dictionary and started playing around with a whole variety of stitches.
For the stitches in this hoop, I used some old classics (blanket, chain, herringbone, french knots), some fun favourites (checkered chain, cretan, whipped spider, coral, colonial knots, cable chain), and a couple of new-to-me stitches that I really like (pekinese, basque). All in 2 strands of DMC on cotton fabric.
It's a great way to work on your embroidery skills - a bit like an old-fashioned sampler, but you get a cute hoop at the end of it! Because it's a fun, casual style, you don't need to get too worried about everything lining up (just use disappearing marker if you want a guideline) - I deliberately made mine not symmetrical, so it didn't look too stiff.
If you like it, have a go at making your own version! I'd love to see it
(And if there's some interest, I'd be happy to do a tutorial or stitchalong sometime
)
