Revisiting the Mini Goldwork & Silk Rose

It was twelve years ago that we first explored this goldwork and silk rose together here on Needle ‘n Thread.

Twelve! That’s a dozen!

Imagine setting about to eat a dozen donuts. By the time you faced donut 2.5, you’d certainly realize that a dozen is a lot!

Continuing on my quest to highlight some favorite project and tutorial series from the past, I thought I’d offer up this goldwork & silk rose tutorial for those who haven’t seen it and for those who may have forgotten about it but might find it enticing and useful now.

I loved embroidering this first little goldwork and silk rose. It was a trial run for this piece of ecclesiastical embroidery that would include five of these roses.

One thing that I still love about this rose is that it’ll never really go out of style, design-wise.

Think about it: in 20 years, we will most likely look back on the wealth of designs popular for embroidery in the last few years, and we’ll notice how very dated those designs became. We’ll say, “Wow. That was so 2018-2023!” It’ll be a little like looking back now on design styles (were there any?) from the 80’s or 90’s.

Sure, styles morph in and out over time, each era adding its own adjustments and nuanced differences as they roll back in and back out of popularity, but it’s pretty easy to date most design elements that meander in and out of the public’s enthusiasm.

But this tudor-style rose? It’s been around for a long time. It is a classic design element that will withstand the test of time repeatedly. So if you’re looking for something to create that will hold up as a treasured heirloom, this little mite will do that!

And it is little! I ended up mounting this sample in the lid of a tiny cube box that had a 1.5″ square opening. It fit perfectly.

So if you’re looking for a small treasure to create – a little bit of embroidery that will withstand the test of time – have a look at this goldwork and silk Tudor-style rose from twelve years ago!

In the tutorial series, I took readers step-by-step through my process for embroidering the rose, with explanations of materials, techniques, and everything you need to know to re-create it yourself.

I hope you enjoy browsing the tutorial series!

In the Studio

Today – and probably tomorrow, too – we are shipping, shipping, and shipping! Sweet Marguerite is already on her way to many of you, and we’ll get the rest of the orders for this project out today and tomorrow. We’ll start the stitch-along on Friday!

If you haven’t purchased a kit yet, we still have a few available here. Hurray! We did our best to increase the quantity so that we would not run out of kits too quickly this time, and it seems to have worked. We got through the weekend! I don’t know for how long they’ll be available, as the numbers are running lower in the various colors. Just a heads-up: it is not likely that we can restock this kit this year, because the fabric we’re using is limited to special orders.

And yes, for those who have asked, we will be making more needle minders and more beeswax petites! Because they’re hand made, it will take a little time to get a number in stock again, but they are in progress. The beeswax petites are a bit tricky, because we have to convert the work area of the studio to wax production – laying tarps, covering tables, laying out equipment that’s not easy to put away each night, and making sure that no embroidery supplies are out while we’re splashing around in beeswax… but oooooooh, it smells sooooo gooood. I do love working with beeswax!

Happy Monday!