February is National Embroidery Month and Aurifil thought it would be appropriate to finish up the month with a free embroidery pattern by the very talented designer Aneela Hoey and a heavenly Aurifil floss GIVEAWAY!
If you have not tried Aurifil embroidery floss you are in for a real treat! Aurifloss is six strands of 30/2wt thread pre-wound on lovely wooden spools, no need to fuss with untangling and rewinding floss! The embroidery floss is available in all 270 delicious colours including a variety of variegated perfect for all of your projects.
Aneela Hoey is one of the best embroidery pattern designers in the industry today! Her designs can be found on her website and in her book Little Stitches. She has a style that is simple and sweet that appeals to everyone. She designed a free pdf pattern “blooms” for you to end this month of celebration in hand stitching style.
“Aneela Hoey studied printed textiles at Winchester School of Art and worked in design studios in London and New York before becoming a Moda designer in 2011. All her designs begin as doodles in her sketchbook mostly inspired by her two young daughters who also like to give her plenty of ideas for what she should draw! Aneela is author of the embroidery book Little Stitches published by Stash Books. She loves sew and tries to make as many quilts as she possibly can. You can catch up with Aneela on her blog comfortstitching or on Instagram as aneelahoey.”
If you are not sure what Aurifloss colours to try, Aneela has her suggestions based on what she has been reaching for in her stash!
“My favourite aurifloss colours – Right now my absolute favourite is 1133, its a rusty yellow sort of colour but looks so pretty with everything. Other favs include 1104, 2220, 2145, 1318 and 2240. I have a bit of a thing for yellow, orange and coral colours at the moment.’
To help with the best results with your embroidery, Aneela offers these tips:
1. For best results, use good fabric. You can’t go wrong with quilting cotton, either in a shade of white or a pale solid. Linen bases are also a good alternative.
2. Always use a hoop. Place your fabric in the hoop and tighten it without stretching the fabric.
3. Use embroidery needles – These are widely available from sewing shops and I find them especially useful as they have a longer eye which makes it a whole lot easier to thread your floss through.
4. One of the things I love most about embroidery is that you can make it as simple or complicated as you like. Always just go with how you feel – stick with just one stitch for a piece if that’s what you want to do. Or go to town and use a whole heap of different stitches. Learn some new ones or stick to what you know, it’s up to you!
The free Aneela Hoey PDF pattern Blooms is available through this link blooms embroidery pattern
To help get you started on this lovely stitching project we are giving away to one lucky winner two Aurifil embroidery floss collections one Lynn Krawczyk Inked and one Sara Lawson Fantasia. That is two collections making 20 wooden spools of Aurifil goodness for you to start off or add to your stash! This giveaway is open internationally and a random winner will be chosen and announced on or about 08 March 2015. There are many options to enter for your chance to win by visiting Rafflecopter