Blackberries and Heather-bells Embroidery Pattern

This past fall I read, for the first time in my life, the book The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It is one of those books that you've heard about forever, probably seen the movie version of, and just think you "know," somehow. But I didn't, and reading it as an adult was strangely moving, and inspired me to design a flurry of craft projects and bath products inspired by the lovely places, characters, and events that take place within its enchanting pages. You can read more about my inspiration in this blog post.

To do this embroidery, you will trace the pattern onto 100% cotton fabric and embroider with only one ply of DMC cotton floss. Using one ply of floss gives you such amazing control over how your stitches appear, and will allow great detail. If you've never done it before, you should try it. It's really so much easier than it looks.

Finished size of design area: About 4" (10cm) in diameter

This pattern contains:

• Stitching instructions and color chart
• Illustrated stitch tutorial for special stitches
• Black and white line drawing for tracing

You will need:

• One 9" x 9" (23cm x 23cm) piece of Kona Cotton (100% cotton) fabric by Robert Kaufman in color Pickle
• One 6" (15cm) faux-wood Flexi-hoop for (very easy!) framing
• One 6" (15cm) piece of wool-rayon felt for backing
• (34) 24" (61cm) lengths of various colors of DMC 6-ply cotton embroidery floss
• #5 sharp needle(s) for embroidery
• Embroidery scissors
• 4" (10cm) embroidery hoop (for stitching)
• One piece of chipboard for creating a floss organizer