Lush, leafy greenery in a free design for #WorldEmbroideryDay

The idea for a lush, tropical design had been knocking about for a while. So when I was flipping through the file of my gran’s old needlework transfers, photocopies and tear-outs, looking for an idea for this year's free design, this one jumped out at me.

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Like Blue Bird and Minikin Garden previously, I’ve taken a vintage design and reworked it into a modern embroidery pattern, filled with different stitches to encourage you to get embroidering in July – the month that culminates in World Embroidery Day on the 30th.

Unlike Blue Bird and Minikin Garden, which started out as vintage iron-on transfers, Leafy Tropics is based on a photocopy of what looks a bit like one of those old colour-by-number designs as it’s carefully numbered. Who knows where my gran found it originally, but the elements are so beautifully retro and well suited to embroidery that it makes a great design, one I've stitched using deep greens with touches of vibrant red, orange, yellow and blue.

I used rows of tightly packed blanket stitch in my Wild Pods pattern and loved the way it turned out. The upper leaves lent themselves to a repeat of this stitch idea, although I graded the colour this time from yellow through light to dark green as it made up quite a large part of the overall design. It's a really effective and lovely looking way to fill an area with embroidery.

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The pattern is available to download for free and you can share your work with me on social media @kfneedlework or using the hashtag #kfneedlework. Remember to use the tag #worldembroideryday as well if you decide to embroider Leafy Tropics in July.

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