Back in July, when I originally showed you this embroidered monogram in floche, I had a lot of requests for the tulip alphabet that I used for that particular letter.
This is the embroidered monogram, in case you haven’t seen it yet:
The design comes from an old publication – late 1800’s – and as usual, it was missing some letters (W and I are the letters normally missing from monogram alphabets of old) and the individual letters were not necessarily consistent, especially in the spacing and measurements of the center lines and in the placement of the tulips.
I finally got around to cleaning them up, and as I work my way through the alphabet, I’ll filter them out to you here on Needle ‘n Thread. You’ll be able to find the tulip monograms listed on this index of monograms patterns for hand embroidery, which is listed under Patterns in the main navigation at the top of the website.
So, the original monogram that I embroidered was worked with split stitch, primarily, except for the tulip, which is a combination of stem stitch (on the stem and leaves) and padded satin stitch.
In retrospect, I wish I had worked the leaves on this in padded satin stitch as well, and the next time I work up one of these monograms, I’ll do just that!
These particular monogram designs, though, will work with all kinds of stitches, and the letters don’t necessarily have to be filled.
You could outline the letter with a simple stem stitch and, for contrast, work the tulip in filled stitches. Closed herringbone stitch, cretan stitch, buttonhole stitch – all kinds of stitches would work well on the tulip leaves and petals.
Perhaps you want the letter to be filled, though not solidly filled. Seed stitching (tiny random straight stitches) would work well for that.
You could also work these letters in shadow work, which would be interesting, I think. In fact, I’d like to try the letters in shadow work, with the tulip worked solid, from the front, for a contrast. That might be fun!
Tulip Monograms A-D Printable
Although the letters look very large here, the designs on the PDF below print at 2.5″ high. You can enlarge or reduce them to fit your own personal needs. If you want them to print at 2.5″ high, choose “no scaling” or similar options in your printer settings before clicking the print button.
Tulip Monograms A – D (PDF)
Favorite Monograms – PDF Collection
You’ll find this complete alphabet – along with 15 other decorative alphabets – all in one place in Favorite Monograms, a downloadable PDF collection of 16 monogram alphabets perfect for hand embroidery and other crafts.
In the photo above, you can see samples of each alphabet available in Favorite Monograms.
Each letter in each alphabet in Favorite Monograms has been carefully traced into a clean line drawing that can be easily enlarged or reduced on a home printer or a photocopier.
The 16-alphabet collection is delivered as via a download link to your inbox shortly after purchase, so that you can begin creating right away! Priced at less than $1.00 per complete alphabet, monogram lovers can’t go wrong with this collection!
Favorite Monograms is available in my shop, here.
Interesting that you mention seed stitch…after finishing my letter R, I thought about doing another with a seed stitch fill.
And yes on the inconsistency of these particular letters. I also had to fiddle with them a bit after printing them off, and I’m not completely satisfied with my own renderings of the missing letters. Maybe I’ll wait for you to do all the work and use your monograms, Mary!
those are so beautiful. thanks.
Thank you so much! It is so generous of you to share these monogram alphabets with us, especially given the time cleaning them up, scaling them, etc. takes to do. The tulip one looks so versatile – neither too formal nor casual!
OMG I love these!! So simple and yet so elegant and perfect (IMHO) for pillowcases etc. Please keep them coming — I seem blessed (cursed?) with lots of friends named Sam…Paul…Tom… end of the alphabet letters!!
As always, your satin stitch is mind blowing.
Abbi
I think the stem stitch on the leaves looks just fine! Thank you for providing the patterns!
me encanta el bordado es tan relajante.Su página es muy hermosa.Gracias por compartir.
I am not usually big on monograms, b ut I like these. Thanks for providing them.
Thank you so very much for sharing these monograms. Since your post back in July, where you highlighted the letter “R”, I have been looking for something as close to this style as I could find. I have even tried adapting the “R” to the letter that I need. You have just saved the day! Huge thanks!
these letters are astounding! i told my mam about them and she was gobsmacked when she saw the R on this page. it makes me wonder how the leaves would look with a fishbone satin stitch. or better yet, a RAISED fishbone stitch. then again, it would depend on the letter scale.
Mary, would you mind looking at this Artist Facebook page. Her name is Chloe Giordano’s and she and embroider’s 3D animals. Could you explain to me how this could be done using the straight stitch.
Thank you,
Sandra
Dear Mary , I have been looking at your lovely needle work , so I have decided to have a go myself , my embroidery needles came this morning , they are very smal compared to the one you are using in your video , can you please let me know what size needle you use ,kind regards joan
Hi, Joan – the stitch videos are fairly close up so everything looks larger in them. Also, in the videos, I use a heavy perle cotton so that the stitches are clearly visible in the video. Regular embroidery needles that you would use with floss are fairly small, so you should be ok. A size 7 crewel needle is an all around good size for practically anything.
I have a question regarding floss! Years ago DMC sold a Flower Floss, and after using it, decided I liked it in my embroidery. Then, they stopped making it. Is the floche the same product with a different name? Thank you for all you do to further the craft of embroidery.
Hi, Marlys – Nope, it’s not the same thing as flower thread. You can google Danish flower thread and probably find it available in a different brand. It’s similar to floche because it is only one non-divisible strand of the thread straight off the skein that you stitch with, but that’s where the similarity ends. Danish flower thread is a little heavier, and it is matte – floche has a sheen to it, flower thread doesn’t.