New Embroidery Pattern : Ski Days

As the colder weather encroaches it is lovely to sit by the fire with the some hand stitching and this little project has been so much fun. I know it has been quite a while since I posted a new pattern and this is in part because I have been thinking hard about what direction to take my work in. I often worry that I have such a mish-mash of stuff going on and perhaps it is time to focus things a little. I have always wanted to make embroidery modern and more fun and perhaps more enticing for young people. My daughter inspired this design with a sketch … new to skiing, she is totally smitten and it seems to me that for youngsters it is really a wonderful holiday. I had already decided to make a ‘skating days’ design (more about that to come) so skiing is a natural partner for a new pair of designs.

It is quite a quick little project to stitch and suitable for a beginner to stitching. You only need a few basic stitches: chain stitch, back stitch, and satin stitch to complete the design, but you could also use french knots and split stitch and well….there are so many wonderful embroidery stitches to choose from. It would look wonderful on a cushion or a bag and you can easily customise it with names, dates and places. You could use sequins, tiny buttons and seed beads (as I did) to embellish it and experiment with metallic threads and new stitches to challenge yourself. Whatever you do with it, I hope you enjoy this cute little pattern. It is available as a downloadable pdf in my Etsy shop and printed patterns and kits are on the way.

The design is stitched on Essex linen by Robert Kaufman fabrics and uses DMC perle cotton #8 threads. It is not a difficult pattern to sew and I have a free downloadable ‘Stitch Directory’ included with the pattern and on the tutorials sections of the website if you need some extra help. I think it looks pretty just displayed in the hoop, which seems to be very trendy at the moment but in the end, I stapled my finished design to an artists canvas board for display purposes.

You can buy the pattern here and I also have some gift boxes of threads available too in my Etsy shop.

‘Skating Days’ is on it’s way…. check back soon to see how it’s going.

Happy Stitching,

Ruby x