Shorleyker Moth

                                   A little Sunday embroidery....I find so relaxing.
 I ,m stitching another moth from " A Schole-house for the Needle " published in 1624 by Richard Shorleyker .

                 I,m using buttonhole stitch around the edge of the moth's wings .

I just did  backstiches for the moth's body , I ,m going to whip those green back stitches over and over for a nicer and ever so slightly raised finish .

The sun came out and I took my needlework out into the garden . I have been delighted by the appearance of some wild strawberries , I suppose a bird must have brought in .
I thought I would put these photos on here, useful I thought , to use in another Elizabethan embroidery ..sometimes I think that the patterns in modern embroidery books have become too stylised . I want my strawberries to be more botanically correct  .
 I put them on here that you too can look closer !
  Strawberries were a much loved subject of embroidery all through the medieval  times , especially loved by the Elizabethans  as a symbol of love and righteousness , the three leaves , symbolising the Holy Trinity .

                        ...and the tiny fruits much loved by the Cornish Piskies  !

       I stitched the tiny whipping stitches , over and over , around his green body  .

  Then begin the wings by putting in some directional guide line stitches , which will be worked in to my long and short shading , from the outside edge to the centre .
 This is not a tutorial ...you do not have to do your butterfly wings like this...you can stitch them..upwards , downwards , in french knots , however makes you smile ..for that is the most important thing and also not worry about the mess on the back if you are a beginner.......just relax and enjoy being creative .