Back to Where it All Began, Episode 2

This is the second in a series of posts about my history as an embroiderer.  You can read the first post here.


My third embroidery was the skirt pictured below.  It is a full circle mid thigh skirt with side pockets and an elasticised waist and is made from rami.  The daffodil motif is embroidered in DMC Perle cotton (not sure if no. 5 or no. 8 - whichever is the thinner one, that's what I used).   The threads were a gift from my mother who was given a huge pile of threads.  She is not an embroiderer and so passed them on to me.

Here you see the skirt laid out flat.  There are 6 repeats of the daffodil motif distributed evenly around the circle.

The design (as with all my embroideries) is my own  It is worked entirely in stem stitch and satin stitch.

In the closer views of the daffodils you can see that the petals are probably a bit too large to work in satin stitch on an item intended to be work and so there is some slight sagging of some of the longer stitches.

I love the combination of the 3 greens and those little circular warm pink flowers (worked in button hole stitch in the round) really enliven the cool pinks and mauves of the flowers around them.

This is how the skirt hung when worn.  I was in my mid 20s when I made this skirt and I think the design speaks to youthful optimism.   I loved wearing it, although I wore it infrequently as I didn't want the embroidery to wear.  I always got admiring comments whenever I wore it.  It is still in as good condition as it was when it was made and I will always treasure it.