Chance Encounter

By on 6. February 2026   /   blog, historische Stücke, Konturenmuster   /   2 Comments

I occasionally browse through my extensive collection. And I made a delightful discovery.

My collection includes very old outline patterns, all from the same source. Unfortunately, they are not dated, but based on similar dated patterns illustrated in Gandert/Miehe, p. 123, it can be concluded that they originated in the 1820s.

The design shown below are also among the samples.

(That it is only a sketch and not a final drawing can be seen from the undamaged paper. The final drawing samples contain many perforations because they were pinned to linen during the transfer process.)

The sketch has a central circle surrounded by eight hearts. Opposite these horizontally arranged hearts are hearts of the same size, spaced a short distance apart. These, in turn, are connected by a small circle around which three large hearts are grouped.

What could have been embroidered with such an outline pattern more than 200 years ago?

With the image of the pattern still in mind, I looked at parts of my bodice collection a short time later. I noticed the similarity in one piece – a Schwalm bodice sleeve in the style of Dresden lace.

Upon closer inspection, I was able to determine that the border of the bodice sleeve is embroidered exactly according to the central part of the pattern.

I also found a match in a second piece – a blue bodice. Although the resemblance isn’t immediately obvious, it’s there nonetheless. Not only is the central border replicated, but the edge borders also show similarities.

What stages might the pieces have gone through in the past 200 years to now meet again at my place?

Now I will open the seam of each sleeve to capture the entire embroidery in a photograph. You can see this and examine it more closely in the next blog posts.

See also:
Traditional Schwalm Bodice (D) Embroidery
Schwalm Bodices (3)
Schwalm Bodices (2)
Schwalm Bodices (1)
The Filling Patterns of theTraditional Schwalm Bodice A
Traditional Schwalm Bodice (B) Embroidery
Traditional Schwalm Bodice (C) Embroidery

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Winter Tree with Berry Bowl

By on 19. December 2025   /   blog, Konturenmuster, embroideries   /   Leave a comment

The “Winter Tree with Berry Bowl” is a charming little seasonal motif. The design by artist Gudrun Hartwig leads from the bare autumn tree, through the fir branch-like arrangement with the star-shaped tip and other decorations, to the Christmas bird feeder.

All outlines were embroidered with slanting wide stem stitches (Early Schwalm Whitework, page 5). To emphasize the fir tree character, I chose a pattern from the book Limetrosen II (page 21).

In contrast to the dense and three-dimensional pattern, the star was first embroidered with the delicate rose stitch variant (see: Advent Calendar 2019 – No. 1 Images 3 – 5) and then covered with a spider web(Early Schwalm Whitework, page 61).

The little birds were decorated with chain and blanket stitches.

The titmouse ring was embroidered with individual chain stitches (= daisy stitches) (Early Schwalm Whitwork, page 79).

The apple was given a simple pattern with the “Close, 2-thread weaving” (Early Schwalm Whitework, page 19).

The berry bowl was filled in the lower section with “raised band stem stitch” (Early Schwalm Whitework, page 62). The edge was decorated with satin stitches.

The berries were embroidered as blanket stitch eyelets.

The “Winter Tree with Berry Bowl” also looks very appealing as a window decoration.

You can order the pattern as a PDF for €5. Slightly modified versions are also available, featuring a bird perched on the bowl instead of berries, a drawing showing only a feeding bowl, and a design showing a pecking bird instead of a berry bowl.

You can find more Christmas embroideries, designed by the artist Gudrun Hartwig, here:

Advent Calendar 2016 – No. 23 – “Tiny Fir Wreath”
Advent Calendar 2016 – No. 22 last image- „Hellebores and Star“
Fabulous Pictures in Whitework – “Mother Holle”
Adventskalender 2019 – “Christmas Wreath”
Advent Calendar 2019 – No. 24
Advent Calendar 2018 – No 6 “Garden Angel”
Advent Wreath with Balls

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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Small Schwalm Design (1)

By on 31. May 2025   /   blog, Konturenmuster   /   Leave a comment

In the article Handwoven linen (F I) in the Test I embroidered a small Schwalm motif.

The heart was filled with pattern No. 554.

The tulip has been decorated with Honeycomb Darning stitches.

The bird’s wing was embroidered with wrapped Chain stitches and Straight stitches, and the bird’s belly was embroidered with interlaced Herringbone stitches.

I am providing you with the outline design as a hand drawing for download.

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Tulip Motifs

By on 25. April 2025   /   blog, Konturenmuster   /   2 Comments

In previous posts, I’ve chronicled the evolution of tulip motifs over the centuries.
Now, as luck would have it, hundreds of different tulips have bloomed in my garden.

Pointed in the bud,

star-shaped,

large and small,

filled

more rounded, or

with pointed petals.

The splendor gave me the idea to create a tulip sampler. Unfortunately, I have no talent for designing. But perhaps you’d enjoy such a task. To make it easier, I’ve compiled various tulip outlines. You can pick the ones you like best from the selection and create a pattern with some accessories like small leaves, spirals, etc.

I look forward to seeing such designs someday.

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Poppy

By on 27. June 2024   /   blog, Konturenmuster   /   Leave a comment

Poppy motifs as a wreath design

In our region the poppy has just started to bloom. The beautifully lit fields, visible from afar, attract thousands of visitors every year. There is something magical about poppy flowers. Maybe it’s the impressive play of colors, but probably the entire interesting plant that provides insects with plenty of food.

I am also fascinated by poppy flowers. The orange-red appearing poppy fields,

the scarlet flowers of the Turkish poppy, the pink ones of the opium poppy or the tones of the new varieties – they all have something special.

Poppy is one of the oldest cultivated plants in Europe. However, it has not yet played a role as a motif in Schwalm whitework.

To change that, I commissioned the designer Christa Waldmann to design a wreath motif with poppies. She has succeeded in doing this exceptionally well: be it the massive outflow of the petals that are “wrinkled” together when the buds burst open.

Be it the delicate and ever-so-perishable petals of the opened flower,

the numerous fine stamens with their threads and sacs, which are grouped around the pistil

or the majestic appearing seed capsules.

She skilfully put everything on paper with sweeping lines and recorded it as an outline drawing. The delicate leaves are also present.

The wreath has a diameter of approximately 54 centimeters. It will be my next larger embroidery project. With its rather playful motifs, it is a completely different design than the Schwalm Band pattern.
As with all designs for which you don’t yet have a template, embroidering them will be a nice little challenge. Sometime later I will share the results with you.

Delicate Poppy and Noble Linen
Tablecloth for all Seasons – June: Poppy Flower

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