Thank You Flower

Long time readers will have seen this flower, or ones like it, lots before.  It is somewhat of a signature motif.

With the other half of the world hurtling towards the end of the school year, I thought it would be a perfect time to offer the design as a free pdf download.  It makes a nice little gift for a teacher, coach, carer or similar special person.  Much of it is worked in back-stitch, which is pretty easy for kids to attempt, so perhaps your child can do some themselves, (you can see my childrens’ early sewing endeavors here).

To download the pdf of the design, click on this link…. ThankYouFlower.

It is designed to fit within a frame for a standard 4″ x 6″ photo, with or without the glass.

To create one for yourself you will need:

  • Thanks You Flower.pdf.
  • Approx. 7″x9″ of Background fabric – Quilters cotton, Homespun or Calico (known as Muslin in the US).
  • 4 – 6 colours of stranded embroidery floss (the specific ones I have used are listed on the pdf.  You can work the background french-knots in 1 or 3 colours).
  • Embroidery needle
  • Marking pen (I use a very fine Pigma or Zig Millennium in brown, which is fine enough to cover with the 2 strands of thread)
  • 4″ x 6″ photo frame
  • Embroidery hoop (optional)
  • Approx. 4 1/2″ x  6 1/2″ of thin, iron on Pellon, or  woven iron-on interfacing (optional),
  • Slightly waxy pencils, or twist up style crayons (optional – I use Derwent Artists or Crayola “Twistables” Crayons).
  • Iron
  • Paper Towel (optional)

Trace the design onto fabric, using your favorite marking pen and a light box (or window, glass table, etc.).  If you are going to colour the flower, place it on top of a pad of paper, so the surface under it is slightly soft, otherwise your colouring lines will be too sharp and defined.  I also add little blobs of colour around the background spots surrounding the flower.

Heat-set the colour with a hot, dry iron, and a sheet of paper-towel between the iron and the stitchery.  This removes the wax in the crayon or pencil (the Artist Derwents or crayons I use are a little waxy). The colouring is set fast enough to handle hanging on a wall, but not on an item that requires repeat laundering.

At this point, I also like to adhere thin, iron-on Pellon to the back of my stitchery to hide the threads, and create a slight loft, because I like the look it gives to the finished work.  A stabilizer with no loft (such as Weaveline) is an alternative, but you don’t need to use anything if you don’t want to.  All stitching is done with 2 strands of floss.

After stitching the design, press it (from the wrong side) and trim the backing to 4″ x 6″.  Slip it into the frame, and stand back to admire your work.  I like to leave the glass in, so the stitchery does not get dusty.  You may prefer to be able to see the texture more closely, and leave the glass out of the frame.  If you decide to remove the glass, take care to dispose of it carefully.

I would love to see a photo of your finished “Thank You Flower”, so drop me a line, if you have finished one…claire(at)matchingpegs(dot)com.

Please use this for personal use only, and do not reproduce it for sale.  Please seek my permission before using this design in any way, other than as a hand-sewn stitchery.

*Note there are two different versions of this stitchery in the photos.  The close-up image (2nd in the post) shows the exact thread colours specified on the pdf.

Happy Stitching.

6 thoughts on “Thank You Flower

  1. What a gorgeous and thoughtful gift- I love it! I just clicked over from WhipUp where it caught my eye. I would love to link to this if you didn’t mind.

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