Tablecloth for all Seasons

Since my garden is in full bloom, I can watch many butterflies everyday. They dance from flower to flower in the sunlight. So, for July I decided to feature the butterfly. There are so many different butterfly shapes – I have chosen a very simple one.

My shape measures 16 cm in the width and 11 cm in the height, but one could use a smaller shape if the linen has a higher thread count.

The vertical and the horizontal axes are marked on the linen so that the design outline can be transferred precisely.

Using Coton à broder No. 16, on Weddigen linen, 13.5/cm thread count, Coral Knot stitches are worked along the inner lines of the wings.

Using Coton à broder No. 25 Chain stitches are worked a small distance outside the Coral Knot stitches along the outside edges of the wings. And Chain stitches are also worked just inside the outline of the body. The Chain stitches are covered with densely worked Blanket stitches along the outside edges of the wings, and around the body using Coton à broder No. 20.
Chain stitches are worked along the inner areas of the wings using Coton à broder No. 25.

A grid is made by cutting 1, leaving 3. Please proceed carefully: both the horizontally and the vertically withdrawn thread lines should match in the adjacent and mirrored areas.

Using Coton à broder No. 20 Diagonal Cross stitch (Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework, pages 39 – 40) is worked mirrored in the top part of the wings.

Using Coton à broder No.20 a variation of the “Röserich” is worked diagonally in the bottom part of the wings. The areas remaining outside the “Röserich” (the upper part of the lower wing sections) are filled with Rose stitches using Coton à broder No. 25.

Soon, a downloadable booklet will be available showing one of the most prominent filling patterns of Schwalm – the “Röserich”. I found so many beautiful and , until now, undocumented variations, that I decided to publish a booklet with a description in great detail and illustrated with step-by-step instructions.
Please look forward to it!

The inside remaining areas are filled with Satin stitches using Coton à broder No. 20.

After finishing, the embroidered piece is washed (boiled), starched and ironed. Then, the butterfly is cut. If needed, such closely trimmed embroidery can be washed and ironed – quick and easy – at any time, but never spun in a washing machine!

For the antennae, a thicker cotton thread is passed through some Blanket stitches of the head, cut to the right length, knotted at the ends and covered with starch (or hair gel) to achieve the right form.

Doesn’t the butterfly look as though it will fly away any moment?

In June the opium poppy in the fields of the Meißner-Germerode region begins to bloom. The visit to the poppy fields inspired me to abstract the shape of a poppy flower to make it usable for drawn thread embroidery.


Originally my shape had a diameter of 12.4 cm, but one could use a smaller shape if the linen has a higher thread count.

I marked the vertical and the horizontal axis on the linen to be able to transfer the outline precisely.

Using Coton à broder No. 16, on Weddigen linen, 13.5/cm thread count, Coral Knot stitches are worked along all lines except the lines in the center circle.

Using Coton à broder No. 30 Chain stitches are worked directly inside the Coral Knot stitches. Using Coton à broder No. 20 Chain stitches are worked a small distance outside the outermost Coral Knot stitches. The outside Chain stitches are covered with densely worked Blanket stitches, also using Coton à broder No. 20.

Using Coton à broder No. 16 Straight stitches are worked on the lines in the center circle, and the circle is filled with a spider web of reverse Raised Band Stem stitches. The ring around the spider web is filled with French Knots with two wraps also using Coton à broder No. 16 (Early Schwalm Whitework, pages 61 and 65). In the larger petal shapes, make a grid by cutting 1, leaving 3; in the smaller shapes the grid is made by cutting 1, leaving 2. Using Coton à broder No. 25 both shapes are filled – the larger one with Rose stitches (Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework, pages 50 – 52), the smaller one with Single Faggot (Openwork Pattern Sampler, page 62).

After finishing, the embroidered piece is washed (boiled), starched and ironed. Then, the poppy flower is cut. If needed, such closely trimmed embroidery can be washed and ironed – quick and easy – at any time, but never spun in a washing machine!

With a number of such poppy blooms one can establish a nice wreath.

„Der Mai ist gekommen, die Bäume schlagen aus…“ (-May is here, the trees bud)
this German folk song sings about the freshness and the catharic effect of the awakening nature.
Although the shoot took place earlier this year, so it’s usually in May, in which the first green leaves are visible on the trees. Therefore, I have chosen for this month a fresh “green” leaf.

The original measures 10 cm wide and 17 cm in the high.

On Weddigen linen, 13.5/cm thread count, I used the following threads:
Coton à broder No. 16 for the Coral Knot stitches
Coton à broder No. 20 for the Chain stitches worked as underlay for the Blanket stiotches
Coton à broder No. 20 for the Blanket stitches
Coton à broder No. 30 for the Chain stitches worked around all the areas to be filled with drawn thread patterns.
Coton à broder No. 25 for the filling pattern
As simple drawn thread pattern „Wave stitch“ was chosen (Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework, pages 34-36), because of its even and unspectacular appearance.

After finishing, the embroidered piece was washed (boiled), starched and ironed. Then, the Easter egg was cut. If needed, such closely trimmed embroidery can be washed and ironed – quick and easy – at any time, but never spun in a washing machine!

The soberly leaves are perfect alone, however one can combine them very well with flowers. This possibility I will show in August.

A spring-fresh tulip wreath!

When I got the idea for this tulip wreath, I had a romantic and nostalgic picture before my eyes. It showed young ladies in a spring meadow dancing hand-in-hand in a circle. So, I chose the tulip shape whose tips, sprawled out wide, remind me of the dancing young ladies in the meadow.

Because I needed a double line, I measured in from the outline 0.5 cm and marked it with dots placed close together. I then connected the dots to make a line. In the end my shape measured 13.2 cm wide and 10 cm in the high.

I marked the vertical and the horizontal axis on the linen to be able to transfer the outline precisely.

On Weddigen linen, 13.5/cm thread count, Coral Knot stitches were worked along the inner line using Coton à broder No. 16. Using Coton à broder No. 20 Chain stitches were worked a small distance outside the Coral Knot stitches. The outside Chain stitches were covered with densely worked Blanket stitches between the outline and the Coral Knot line, also using Coton à broder No. 20. Using Coton à broder No. 30 Chain stitches were worked directly inside the Coral Knot stitches.
The shape was filled with pattern “448”. This pattern I will present in a later article.
After finishing, the embroidered piece was washed (boiled), starched and ironed. Then, the tulip was cut. If needed, such closely trimmed embroidery can be washed and ironed – quick and easy – at any time, but never spun in a washing machine!
Already with four such tulips one can establish a nice decoration.
Using six tulips one can get a small wreath.
I embroidered eight pieces. These can be arranged into two groups of 4
or made into a wreath of eight tulips. It looks beautiful, doesn´t it?

By the way, all those small projects are only the precursors of Schwalm whitework. If one wishes to have such a wreath as a Schwalm design, one must add at least one other shape with a filling pattern and also, tendrils, small leaves and perhaps some small flowers. The result could look so: