Just so you know right off the bat, this isn’t one of my embroidery video tutorials. I was squizzing around the internet the other day looking at stumpwork, when I came across some nice sites and some tutorials.
The following video tutorial is for a gathered flower – the finished product is a flower made up of petals of gathered ribbon, with beads or French knots in the center. The teacher on the video is Di van Niekerk, who wrote the book Ribbon Embroidery and Stumpwork, which I’ve reviewed.
If you haven’t seen Di van Niekerk’s website, Crafts Unlimited, you should take a look at it. She’s got heaps of beautiful stuff on there. For example, there’s a whole page of royalty-free downloadable images perfect for all kinds of craft applications. They would make a great starting point for embroidery pieces, either with ribbon or thread or both. You can also print the designs on paper or on fabric and stitch over them, or use them for greeting cards and so forth. I think my favorite downloadable image is “Mother Goose.”
The images aren’t free – they are about US$13.08, according to today’s conversion rates. The investment would be worth it for a royalty free image that you can use over and over again in different applications, especially if you’re looking for a starting point for some ribbon embroidery or stumpwork!
Probably the most tempting thing on her site, for me, is her book A Perfect World, which is another panel embroidery featuring small motifs in stumpwork and ribbon work, much like the one featured in her previous book, Ribbon Embroidery and Stumpwork. The finished product looks fantastic, and each of the little motifs could be worked individually in smaller projects.
While you’re looking at the book, be sure to click on the “Glimpse of A Perfect World” underneath the book image, which will take you to a flash preview of the book that you can flip through. Nice! You can pick up the book through Amazon right now for just over $17 new, which is a good deal!
Here’s Di van Niekerk’s video tutorial for a gathered ribbon flower. Enjoy!
For more video tutorials of hand embroidery stitches, be sure to visit my Video Library of Hand Embroidery Stitches, where you’ll find video tutorials for about 46 stitches!
hello..my name is Faeze and from Iran..enjoy your works dear.
hi friend, im shakeela from sri lanka. nice works , i like it
Hello Mary, I love your website. It is a great help.
I think I subscribed last time I visited it.
Here’s my trouble, I am involved in a velvet crazy quilt project. There are many kinds of velvet pieces with various ‘naps’.
I tried to do some silk ribbon flowers and cannot get through the velvet! I’ve made pieces of silk ribbon embroidery on linen. Velvet is proving to be impossible.
Can you suggest a needle or technique to accomplish silk ribbon embroidery on velvet?