While needlelace, in the past, was found at the edges of bodice sleeve cuffs, at the front edges of dyed to black bodice jackets, at the upper edges of the waistbands of the white aprons, and at the collars, the cuffs, and the necks of men´s shirts, today it is used most often as decoration for small oval or circular doilies and narrow heart-shaped cushions.

An oval runner with needlelace is found in my post “One Schwalm design – Two Interpretations (1)”.

Here I want to show a circular doily with a diameter of 29 cm. Along the perimeter a 1 cm hem was worked. Above the hem seam, one row of Chain stitches was worked as additional decoration.
D_056_1The needlelace was made in a double row: two scallops were placed side by side. A third scallop was stitched on top of the two to connect them. A fourth scallop spans over the trio. This scallop was additionally decorated with picots.
D_056_2The doily was elaborately embroidered. Heart, carnation, and one other bloom provided areas for a number of filling patterns. Only Limet filling patterns were used. The hearts were outlined with Blanket stitch half-eyelet scallops. Small flowers of Blanket stitches, French Knots and Satin stitches, leaves of Satin stitches and tendrils fill the remaining areas between the large motifs.

It is apparent that no Coral Knot stitches were used. Stems and tendrils were made with Chain stitches, and the shapes were outlined with double rows of Chain stitches.
D_056_3The pattern of the first heart was established with Square Eyelets, pairs of Satin stitch bars and Rose stitches. The four petals of its carnation were mirrored on the longitudinal axis and filled with two different patterns. Rose stitches created the first pattern, whereas squares of Satin stitch bars, filled with diagonally running Satin stitches, established the second pattern.

The center of the circle flower was filled with Rose stitches. The six petals were decorated mirrored. Four-Sided stitches, Cable stitches and the 2-pattern of Satin stitches were worked.
D_056_4The second heart was filled with blocks of Satin stitch bars, with alternating single and double Satin stitch bars. The petals of the corresponding carnation were filled with Four-Sided stitches.
D_056_5The third heart was filled with a pattern of Satin stitch bars and Rose stitches. The petals of the corresponding carnation were filled with alternating rows of Four-Sided stitches and Satin stitch bars.
D_056_6The fourth heart was filled with a Rose stitches grid. Into the grid double Satin stitch bars were worked. The petals of the corresponding carnation were filled in the same way as the first carnation.

This wreath design includes many narrow shapes. They were filled with different patterns that mostly turned out well. So, this doily project is a good example of filling narrow shapes differently and successfully.

7 Comments
  1. Beautiful and crisp!

  2. This is just lovely!

  3. Merci beaucoup pour votre blog qui est si interessant,j’aime beaucoup cette broderie et essaie de faire certains de vos petits modèles.

  4. bom dia! Belíssimo trabalho, como sempre!

    gostaria de receber esquemas…gráficos…dos pontos por email.

    amaliabordado2008@hotmail.com

    Amália Broedel (Brasil)

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