"Wild Lace" . . . planted.

These two cream Victorian lace flowers were hand embroidered 130 years ago . . how wild is that ! They are the main elements in this embroidery piece.

I choose as a background some silk I eco dyed with petals, leaves and a little rust.

I liked the soft pinks from the roses and the dark deep browns and purples from the rust.

I also like to ‘anchor’ my embroidery onto 3mm natural felt as a neutral base - it is also a dream to embroider into. I made a fabric collage on the silk with Victorian cream flowers, a little strip of Edwardian lace and some small script cotton print.

I ‘grew’ extra elements from the lace flowers with stem stitch and couching.

A few seed beads, lots of French knots and more stitched tall flowers to make a wild meadow. I added some Victorian black netting to link the dark and the light areas.

.  .  .  and so the two old lace flowers have a new wild home.

The finished embroidery is stitched to a deep 20cm x 20cm grey canvas.