Lilac: Elaine’s Botanicals

Dionne    Embroidery and Crewel, What's New     double running stitch, Elaine's botanicals, embroidery, french knots, stem stitch

These heady scented flowers are almost past their best at this time of year.  Their rich aroma fills the night air and the colours are those of romance and passion with soft pinks through to purples with a few lovely blues thrown in.  Stitching this little design means you can enjoy it all year round instead of just in early spring, or mid spring in the highlands.

With mostly stem stitch, double running stitch and a few french knots, Lilac is one of the easier embroidery designs amongst the range from Elaine’s Botanicals.

Lavender: Elaine’s Botanicals

Dionne    Embroidery and Crewel     back stitch, buillion, chain stitch, Elaine's botanicals, lavender

I love lavender, but I am a traditionalist.  Soooo not into all these varietals in every colour of pink under the sun, … there is even a white one!

… and don’t get me started on those crazy looking things with rabbit ears.  I just don’t get it.  Why?  The traditional lavender bush, lavendula augustafolia has the best aroma, the essential oil has amazing healing and anti-microbial properties.  Why mess with nature?  

We have a hedge of these outside our house, I planted them back in 2004, I like pruning them, … hard!  Very therapeutic.

Craig has planted alternating purple and pink out the front of Victoria House, I am not convinced but since the garden is his, I am keeping quiet.

If you had ever planned to perfect your bullion stitches, then this is the embroidery project for you, the rest of the design is completed in chain and back stitch.  Elaines Botanicals design is the traditional “Munsted” Lavender.  I love it, you will too.  We suggest you try using the hand over-dyed threads from either Weeks Dye Works or The Gentle Art Shaker Threads for subtle tonal variation.  We have both.

Iris: Elaine’s Botanicals

Dionne    Embroidery and Crewel     double running stitch, Elaine's botanicals, embroidery, french knots, iris, pistol stitch, stem stitch

This lovely flower has grown so prolifically in the raised garden beds at our house.  Craig is planning to divide (split, … whatever word you use …) them and put some in Victoria House gardens in Autumn.  It even looks like he has the same one Elaine’s Botanicals depicts here.  The stitches used are french knots, pistol stitch, double running stitch and stem stitch.  Iris is a very pretty embroidery design and good starting point for a novice stitcher.

Hydrangea: Elaine’s Botanicals

Dionne    Embroidery and Crewel     chain stitch, double running stitch, Elaine's botanicals, embroidery, french knots, stem stitch

Hydrangea is another of the more challenging of Elaine’s Botanicals.  There is a chain stitch that is distinctive in its minute size and requires a steady, even hand and eye for a uniform finish.  Other embroidery stitches include french knots, of course, and double running stitch and stem stitch.

Of all the colours that could have chosen to represent the Hydrangea, blue has the most significance to me.  My appearance as a bridesmaid at the wedding of my oldest friend saw me carrying these in a bouquet and wearing a dress about this exact colour.

Great thing about being the only bridesmaid is you get to have a bit of input into the style and exact shades of your outfit.  Lucky for me I liked both the colour and style, long fitted sleeveless sheath dress and a Chanel style jacket with self colour trim, and at the risk of sounding like a complete dork I did actually wear both pieces again!  Generally as separates.  So if anyone suspected it was a former bridesmaid outfit, they were far too polite to say.

Horse chestnut: Elaine’s Botanicals

Dionne    Embroidery and Crewel     double running stitch, Elaine's botanicals, embroidery, french knots, pistol stitch, stem stitch

Another of the more subtle designs from Elaine’s Botanicals, but also one of the designs more suited to the more experienced embroidery stitcher.  Stem stitch, french knots, double running stitch and pistol stitch are all featured in the Horse chestnut design.  There is a layering to the application of the stitches that looks deceptively easy.

Up until the purchase of Victoria House Needlecraft, my most enduring memory of the Horse chestnut tree was a saucy reference to its aroma in a passage of text from that notorious literary bad boy, The Marquis de Sade.

There is also, as I look at the green spikey casings, a very vague (maybe I was about 6 years old) recollection of making a swan (I think it was a swan) from the casing.  The spikey bi-valve casing formed the wings of the swan.  Does anyone else remember anything like that?

The garden at Victoria House has a very old tree that fruits prolifically every year.  Luckily it is a beautiful looking tree with lovely flowers.  Last year after watching Jamie Oliver cook chestnuts in a billy can over an open fire, Craig and I tried out his recipe.  It had orange peel, a bay leaf and a few other herbs and spices.  They were horrible!  They were also horrible when we tried roasting them in the oven.  Not sure what we are doing wrong, got any suggestions?