Welcome to the ‘Escape to Africa’ Stitch A Long
This Stitch A Long is taking place for 12 weeks on the Stitchdoodles blog – Starting Wednesday 31st May 2023 and finishing on Wednesday 16th August 2023.
Each Wednesday during the SAL – a new tutorial will be published on the blog with all the information you need to complete a part of the Escape to Africa Pattern.
If you are not familiar with a Stitchdoodles SAL and this is all new to you and you would like to join in, please go to this page to get all the information.
Do you need help with any of the stitches?
A Stitch A Long doesn’t provide you with the step by step instructions for the stitches themselves – it is a tutorial on how to stitch the pattern design – colours, techniques and stitches used etc. I will link to a ‘How to’ for certain stitches where I can, if you need further guidance, please take a look here …
How to Teach Yourself Hand Embroidery Stitches
Stitching Week 2
Here’s the blocks we will be stitching…
For the main pattern block you will need the following colours…
#976, #632, #725, #347
Use 2 strands throughout unless stated otherwise.
Stitching the Pattern Block…
Start by Satin stitching the stripes on the top curve and then the diamond shapes in the colours shown in this photo…
Next fill in the remaining vertical stripes in sequence in the 2 other colours… #976 and then #725.
Using the following photo as a guide, stitch as follows…
The 2 red stripes above and below the vertical stripe section are stitched with #347: Stem Stitch.
Below the Diamonds…
#725: Stem Stitch to fill the first curve section.
#347: Stem stitch 2 rows
#347: Stem stitch the curved line just above the pointed ovals (shields) and stitch a second row above this first one.
#632: Stem stitch the space that is left inbetween the 2 red stripes.
You should now just have the shields and smaller corner section left to stitch.
The Shields:
- #347: Split stitch outer edge of each shield.
- #976: Satin stitch each centre.
- #632: Straight stitch a central line up each shield about half way in length.
The remaining lines and curves are stitched in a variety of the colours in split stitch or straight stitch. Use the photo above right to copy the same colour sequence or you can switch it around a bit as it will still look amazing!
Stitching the Bird Block…
You will need the following colours… #718, #725, #905, #312, #946, #310, #3827
The Bird…
#718: Long & Short stitch the body
#725 (misprint 743 on photo): Satin stitch the head
#905: Long chain stitch the 3 upper feathers on the lower wing and the bottom feather on the upper wing.
#905: Chain stitch the ends of the tail feathers about halfway in length.
#946: Long chain stitch the remaining feathers on the upper wing.
#312: Long chain stitch the lower feathers on the lower wing and straight stitch from the body extending into the green wing sections to fill the remaining space on the wing.
#312: Chain stitch the tail feathers between the green and the body.
To finish the Bird, #310 (1 strand): Straight stitch the eye, feet and back stitch the beak.
The Flower…
#905: Stem stitch the stem
#718: Satin stitch the centre oval
#3827: Satin stitch the Main flower colour
#725: Back stitch around the edge
Week 2 is complete…
Make sure you show off your colourful stitching in the Happy Stitching FB Group or on Instagram with #stitchdoodlesembroidery.
If you need help along the way just ask in the FB group as there are lots of lovely people stitching along with you who can offer lots of advice and support if needed.
Week 3 is on the blog Wednesday 14th June… See you then!
Happy Stitching!
