Wandering Wallcreeper
I have been lucky enough to visit the French Alps in summer on a few occasions, and I wanted to capture the majestic mountains and high skies in embroidery.
Looking at the finished piece always reminds me of the wonderful times I had there.
The wallcreeper is a shy, small bird that lives high in the Alps. I have never seen one in the wild, but when I saw photos of it, I knew, I had to embroider it. The bird’s soft grey head and back make it difficult to spot when it is sitting on the rockface, but when it takes flight, its wings reveal stunning scarlet against the blue sky.
You can read about my design journey and how I prepare my embroidery frame HERE.
The stylised mountainside is embroidered with silver metallic thread, couched in place with shaded silk. The solid areas are filled with seed beads for texture.
You don’t need any experience with metal thread embroidery, and if the thought of metal thread embroidery scares you, this piece is a good one to try.
The way I used metal threads here is very simple, and even if your lines end up a little wonky, remember they form a mountainside, so it will just add texture.
The Kit includes everything you need to complete the embroidery:
Slate blue silk fabric with the design hand-drawn, ready to stitch
Quilter’s muslin for backing
13 stranded silks
Silver metallic thread
Beads
Needle pack
The two birds are embroidered using stranded silks in shades of very dark blue, purple, grey and scarlet red with white highlights.
I set myself the challenge of using alternative stitches to silk shading (long & short stitch). Although I could not completely avoid it, the birds are stitched mostly using a variety of common surface embroidery stitches, and only a very limited amount of long & short stitch.
Find more about the stitching progress HERE.
STITCHES USED:
Beading | Blanket stitch | Colonial knot | Couching | Fishbone stitch | Fly stitch | Long & short stitch | Satin Stitch | Split stitch | Stem stitch | Straight stitch
The embroidery design measures 58cm x 19cm.
The colour and texture of the slate-blue silk is such an important part of this design. For that reason, this is a Limited-Edition kit available only until I run out of fabric.