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Finishing the back of the Lotus Flower Coat

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2026/05/19/finishing-the-back-of-the-lotus-flower-coat/

Published: May 19, 2026 08:06

I did rather wonder about how densely to stitch the calyxes for the half-open flowers. I was bothered about stitch direction and stitch choice, and I was full of anxieties about making them work. And then, lo and behold, I am surprised! I don’t think I…

Starting on the Calyxes

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2026/05/12/starting-on-the-calyxes/

Published: May 12, 2026 08:07

Once I had my flowers in, I scattered every green thread I had over the pattern piece, and performed a triage. I ended up with this. It’s not terribly informative, now I look at it, if you aren’t me, but it gives you a sense, perhaps, of a variety of tones…

Stella’s Birds Finished

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2026/05/05/stellas-birds-finished/

Published: May 5, 2026 08:07

Once I got the design settled for Stella’s Birds, the principle elements remained pretty much unchanged when I got the stitching done. The details, not so much. The drawing shows where I intended to put most of the raised sections and the patterning. Note:…

The half-open flowers

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2026/04/28/the-half-open-flowers/

Published: April 28, 2026 08:06

Having got over that momentary wobble about the half open flowers on the Lotus Flower Coat, it was just a matter of carrying on, rows and rows of stitches in a variety of shades and thicknesses of thread. I’ve kept to the same feather stitch and chain…

Stella’s Birds – Shouty Bird

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2026/04/21/shouty-bird/

Published: April 21, 2026 08:08

Shouty started off with basic herringbone stitch in the variegated thread. I do like the way the colours are shading here, but to be honest, I really didn’t think hard enough about the next few stages! That’s been a bit of a theme with Stella’s Birds,…

Lotus Flower Coat – Reassured!

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2026/04/14/lotus-flower-coat-reassured/

Published: April 14, 2026 08:03

You may recall that I had a crisis of confidence over the lotus flower. Having decided I actively disliked my second thought, I persevered with version one, and I am Very Happy Indeed with how it has turned out. So much so that I offer closer photographs…

Aethelflaed’s Border – much to consider

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2026/04/07/aethelflaeds-border-much-to-consider/

Published: April 7, 2026 08:07

Well now. There’s quite a lot going on here! When I worked on William, I did large gouaches of the design elements and then printed them small and played around with them to make them fit in. I’ve already done some gouache explorations of the design…

Trellis Couching Complete

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2026/03/31/trellis-couching-complete/

Published: March 31, 2026 08:07

I am going to have to develop more careful and crafty ways to keep my trellis couching even. I’ve enhanced the contrast in the picture at left so you can see that there’s a section where I had to insert extra couching lines, which ended up radiating from…

Stella’s Birds – Stabby Bird (part 2)

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2026/03/24/stellas-birds-stabby-bird-part-2/

Published: March 24, 2026 09:07

I wanted to play with some really raised stitches.. The little woven picots on the crest are worked with one end off the fabric, around a pin, which meant that I could give them a twist before stitching them down. It was a bit fiddly – the pearl cotton I…

Aethelflaed’s Border Progresses

https://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2026/03/17/aethelflaeds-border-progresses/

Published: March 17, 2026 09:06

The border for the Medieval Movers And Shakers takes quite a lot of doing. The first layer is the broad “colouring in” – surface satin stitch, using the three colours of silk straight from the reels. I don’t enjoy this very much, because every time I sit…