Raised Embroidery - Partridge

Some time ago a raised embroidery piece 'Partridge in a Pear Tree' of mine was published in Inspirations magazine.

It was a great project to design and stitch and I later made a much smaller version as a gift. (Which of course I never thought to photograph... Anyway, what I am getting at is that I am about to recreate the small version of this project. Not a Partridge in a Pear Tree, but a Partridge in a Pear shaped ornament.

It will have pretty much the same elements as the large piece - just imagine the image above in the shape of a pear complete with hanging loop and a little tassel below.

First up was the 're-jig the large pattern (of course, I hadn't saved the one I used last time that would just make too much sense...).

If you are not familiar with raised embroidery (also stumpwork - I just don't like the term much) you might wonder why the design is spread all over the place like that. Only the stem, pear and one leaf will be embroidered onto the main fabric. The other three pieces; the partridge, the wing and the second leaf will be stitched separately before attached. 

Because this will be used for an ornament, I need the outline marked but only temporarily. To do this, I mark it onto the backing fabric. I have placed it to one side so that I will have room for the second half (the back) later.

I then place the backing over the silk and tack the layers together along the marked line - and bingo, the outline is on the front and no permanent marks...!

(Note, I have been a bit naughty and only pinked the edge of the silk instead of over-locking them properly. This is a little project so should be done quickly but I might still regret. - Read: always neaten the edges of silk)

To transfer the design I have used what I refer to as 'Trace and re-trace'. I have put the steps as s simple tutorial in the post below so that it easier to find if anyone want to refer to it later.

I will be teaching this little project in November in Adelaide, but  thought you might like to follow along and see it come together.

Now to the stitching...

Anna x