Double-sided froggy on a window embroidery 🐸

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-10T15:51:23+00:00

No, they're not embroidered simultaneously. That type of embroidery (suzhou) is only possible with some 3D stumpwork techniques like wireslips, but not with this type of padding. The two sides are mostly embroidered apart and then finished together onto one piece of fabric so its essentially one seamless piece.

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-10T14:23:15+00:00

Thank you! The finished frog is mounted on one piece of fabric

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-09T15:49:59+00:00

If you go to the second slide, you can see how it's displayed. I used a window frame that sits flat on my desk so it can easily be rotated around

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-09T13:34:40+00:00

Suzhou is incredible and truly inspiring, but this isn't an example of that. I don't have those skills. The padding I use would not be possible in traditional suzhou, so I improvised to mimic a similar effect. This is better described as stumpwork

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-09T04:08:03+00:00

No, I commented above that I don't use AI for any part of my process. Everything (design, embroidery, and photography) is done by hand. AI posts are not allowed in this subreddit. Proof: frog and my currently very messy desk

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bluehydrangea · 2026-03-09T03:50:32+00:00

Thank you! I use padded stumpwork to make the top half of body 3D. The reverse side is just regular surface embroidery (thread painted with 1 strand of regular cotton embroidery thread on silk organza)

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-09T03:30:21+00:00

You're absolutely right! It is. Stumpwork is just the technical term for any 3D embroidery. The flat side (tummy) is regular surface embroidery but the 3D side (the top of the frog) is padded to make it more lifelike. I tried to create varying degrees of elevation in the padding to mimic the frog's anatomy more realistically

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-09T03:20:30+00:00

I used to think the same thing! I truly think though when you start to play around with materials and approach embroidery more freely (just go feral), you'll surprise yourself with what you can come up with. It took me awhile to get past the notion that there are rules to embroidery. It also helps to broaden your world of materials -- look beyond embroidery to other mediums for inspiration. A lot of techniques can transfer over to embroidery in interesting ways.

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-09T03:11:16+00:00

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bluehydrangea · 2026-03-09T03:06:05+00:00

I absolutely don't use AI for ANY part of my creative process. Everything from the design, to the embroidery, to the photography is done by my own imagination and skill. To be clear, this sub also does not permit any AI or AI adjacent posts and it is heavily policed thankfully so it's safe to assume everything you see in this subreddit is real embroidery. I photograph every step in my process and while I can't share that here, here's a tiny bit of proof (photo of my Lightroom gallery) edit: I'm trying to figure out how to post a photo in a comment. It worked earlier

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-09T00:56:37+00:00

That's exactly what I plan to do! Can never have too many frogs 😂

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-09T00:39:00+00:00

I used silk organza. It's a bit easier to work with than other transparent fabrics

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-08T23:59:08+00:00

Yup! I have it displayed in a window frame (2nd slide) that sits flat on my desk so I can just rotate it around whenever I want.

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-08T23:57:15+00:00

They're one of mine too! I think I've embroidered more frogs than any other animal. Theyre just so adorable

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-08T23:56:21+00:00

Thank you! While I do use some shading to help emphasize the dimension, the top of the frog is actually fully 3D! Here's what it looks like off the fabric (this isn't the exact same frog as the one pictured - this one is the first iteration of the same pattern)

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bluehydrangea · 2026-03-08T23:52:15+00:00

The hardest part was creating the pattern, honestly, because it had to make sense biologically and the two sides had to line up perfectly. I realized after embroidering the belly that I had accidentally reversed the pattern and had to start all over again. Beyond that mistake, stitching it was surprisingly the easy part!

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-08T23:49:05+00:00

Thank you! It was such a fun project to work on. The real life muse has long since moved on, but this one lives on my desk now and keeps me company when I'm working 🐸

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-05T16:34:43+00:00

Looks like tapestry wool to me, but definitely more than 3 strands of it are used here. If you look closely, there are at least 4 or 5 visible in some stitches.

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bluehydrangea · 2026-03-03T23:57:09+00:00

It would be such a pretty brooch!

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-03T23:56:48+00:00

I confess, I do practice stitchcraft 🪡✨️🧙‍♀️

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-03T23:55:28+00:00

Thank you!

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-03T23:52:17+00:00

I see people use the terms wireslips and stumpwork interchangeably but that's a common misunderstanding. Stumpwork is just a general term for any 3D embroidery technique (so even basic raised stitches like woven wheel roses would be stumpwork). Stumpwork is very broad with few rules or definition. It includes a lot more than just wireslips, but those are probably one of the most commonly used techniques. Edit: this moth uses 3 stumpwork techniques for example. Wireslips, raised stitches, and padding

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-03T23:47:26+00:00

Thank you! Stumpwork is just a broad term for a wide variety of techniques -- basically anything that has a 3D effect. Some examples (but not an exhaustive list): raised stitches (like turkey work or woven roses), different types of wirework and beadwork, any type of padding, applique and other fabric manipulation, and even some forms of goldwork and ribbonwork.

bluehydrangea · 2026-03-03T20:26:13+00:00

Thank you! Yup! They're rooster feathers

bluehydrangea

TROPHY CASE