Reach for the stars - Elara Embroidery

I’m super excited to let you know that I’ve created another project for the latest issue of Stitch magazine. (You can check out my previous penguins project here)

My completed reach for the stars cushion embroidery along with the photo of it in Stitch magazine. — The cushion is now proudly sitting on my sofa!

The cover of Stitch magazine 123 featuring my reach for the stars embroidery design. — Issue 123 of Stitch magazine.

When the Stitch team got in touch, they let me know that theme of the issue would be International Women’s Day. So they were looking for designs that were either about or by women.

I started to think about how I could incorporate some of my interests into a design and kept coming back to space and dress making and designing. Not an obvious pairing!

I got sketching and had the idea to create a dress that also looked like a rocket taking off. By this point I was keen to create a design that would be empowering and loved the idea of a woman blasting off into space. However, when I showed it to a couple of friends it became clear that the rocket idea wasn’t quite working.

That’s when the phrase reach for the stars kept popping into my head. So I made a few tweaks and voila, my reach for the stars design was born!

Reach for the stars embroidery design. Stitches used include silk shading and french knots.

I used stranded cottons to help create a slight shimmer of starlight and a few different stitches for interest. The woman’s dress is worked in tapestry silk shading (all the stitches are worked vertically). I really enjoyed working the dress and creating the shading. It took a couple of goes to get the French knot cloud right and my fingers were quite sore by the end! But it was worth the effort as quite a few people have said is their favourite part.

A close up photo of the cloud, which was embroidered using French knots. Different shades and blends of thread were used to create the shading. — I stitched the cloud in French knots using different blends of threads to create the shading. Image courtesy of Stitch magazine.

At one point it looked like I might have to sew the cushion by hand as my machine decided to stop working just as I started sewing it up! Luckily I was able to fix it, but had a couple of interesting moments there!

I’m really happy with how this project turned out. And was of course very excited to see it on the cover of the magazine! It is now proudly sitting on my sofa and serves as a lovely bit of daily inspiration.

Close up of the woman and cloud in my reach for the stars embroidery to see the stitches and shading. — I worked the woman’s dress in tapestry silk shading and the cloud in French knots.

This issue of Stitch is in craft shops and WH Smith until the end of March. As well all the lovely projects, I’ve enjoyed reading about May Morris and why we are drawn to making with our hands. Plus there’s an interview with Jenny Adin-Christie. If you haven’t seen her stunningly beautiful and functional embroideries yet, you are in for a treat!

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