Embroidered Chairs

Using embroidery samplers to add beauty and colour to chairs.

If you speak to any craft lover you will soon learn that they are all addicts, myself included. Yes they will have their favourite crafts but they also have their eyes peeled for the next high. Hand embroidery is one of my first loves. I love buying embroidery floss. I love playing with how I can alter stitches. I love that it is something that I can transport anywhere with me with ease.

Like a true craft junkie I became enthralled by new highs, I bought wire, I started to crochet, I made clothes so I wanted a project that would allow me to explore ALL of the stitches I loved and play with colour and allow me to ease back into hand embroidery again.

You may remember that I painted my mismatched chairs with one of my favourite paints for furniture, Sarah Jayne Chalk Paints. The chairs were so pretty in their green coats but the seat covers were a different matter. I had some raw silk in my stash and so much embroidery floss, so I could set to work.

I decided to make samplers using ALL of the stitches and ALL of the colours. Be fearless in your decor and your crafting I say, no one ever gets an award for dipping their toe in the water.

Responding to colour and form is my favourite way to create.

There is no right or wrong way to make an embroidery sampler you just have to work intuitively and react to to what is there. The hardest thing is committing to the first stitch and the first colour. After that you have something to respond to.

If you feel like exploring hand embroidery further and eating some of my legendary cake I will be teaching a course in Heptonstall at the lovely Whitehall Studio.