The Sharp Needler: Burr-gundy Rosebuds

Trish Burr has some lovely beginner projects including this one: Burgundy Rosebuds. It's included in her book Needle Painting Embroidery: Fresh Ideas for Beginners which is my go-to book when I need a quick, relaxing embroidery project.

Burgundy Rosebuds (by Trish Burr): Project threads

I purchased this design as a kit several years ago before the book was published (back in the days when I was pattern-tracing-resistant). I recently found the kit when I was organising some embroidery items and decided it was time to work on it.


Burgundy Rosebuds (Trish Burr's original)

This tiny little gem of a design is very easy to stitch in its original form. I don't know if it's still available as a kit, but, if not, it would be simple to trace onto fabric.

Rosebuds is a nice introductory thread painting project. Trish has kept it simple enough so that it's not intimidating, but the design is sufficiently sophisticated which keeps things interesting.

These rosebuds don't have the typically extensive Trish Burr colour palette, but it's still gorgeous. I am endlessly fascinated by Trish's colour choices. In this project she employs 'greens' that look almost golden before you start stitching with them. Although the leaf/stem threads have a green overcast they simply don't seem like they will appear green when applied to fabric.

You can see some of the greens on the right in this photo:

Burgundy Rosebuds (by Trish Burr): Main thread painted rosebud completed

I started with the upper bud because it's behind the sepals. I work from background to foreground elements. Next came the sepals and then down the main stem. Following those elements were the big leaf on the left, the thorn, and the smaller bud's stem.

The stems and leaf turned green!

Burgundy Rosebuds (by Trish Burr): Thread painted leaves and stems in progress

Now it was time to challenge myself and make some changes. First, I added a second thorn and then I worked the smaller rosebud.

Since this was a pre-printed design I had to cover up elements that I wanted to change such as the lines coming out of the top of the little bud. I decided to add extra sepals and treat the small rosebud as if it was mostly closed.