Ribbons & Roses by Taetia McEwen

Creativity can be elusive. It often arrives in waves, sometimes staying for only a fleeting visit, other times taking up residency for a while. Even when it is present, our ability to fully harness and capture its true potential can be inconsistent at best.

Oh, but when we do manage to truly channel the formidable power of creativity into a tangible manifest, the results are always spectacular!

Whether you believe creativity is a learned skill, a natural talent, a combination of the two or perhaps something different entirely, hopefully we can all agree that there are some disciplines one can deploy to enhance the outcomes of our creative pursuits.

Ribbons & Roses from Inspirations issue #122 is a delicate wreath of softly coloured flowers designed and stitched by the very talented, and highly creative, Taetia McEwen.

If you take a moment to have a look at the collection of projects we’ve published by Taetia HERE you’ll immediately notice a certain whimsical and joyful quality to her designs. Whether Taetia is stitching a story told through her gorgeous characters or making a statement of beauty through a stitched floral arrangement, there is always something to catch your eye.

The creativity that Taetia brings to her designs, however, runs much deeper than solely the story telling or composition.

What you may not realise is just how creative Taetia is in her choice of materials and techniques.

On the surface, Ribbons & Roses is a dainty, circular floral wreath that would look equally stunning hanging finished in a hoop as it would sitting atop a hat box lid.

When you look closer, what you will discover is an inventive and curious mind at play with a huge array of different stitches and unusual techniques that Taetia has used to stitch this piece to life.

The floral arrangement includes roses, clematis, cotton blossoms and berries, gently tied with a blush pink ribbon.

The materials list comprises an eclectic collection such as knitting yarn, braided rayon, gimp, metallic mesh ribbon, silk taffeta, stranded silks, and a generous sprinkling of beads and sequins (such is the Taetia way!).

When it comes to the stitch list, there are a few usual suspects you’ll be familiar with, such as blanket stitch, long and short and stem stitch, but from there we quickly move into the exotics category.

In this department you’ll find fishbone stitch, two-colour fishbone stitch, needlewoven bar, double drizzle stitch, whipped stem stitch and Boutis variation, which is a method of padding shapes using wool thread.

When you put all this together, Taetia has perfectly straddled the line between realism and fantasy and delivered a textural wonderland.

We’re talking lace, padding, detached elements, raised elements, sequins, fuzzy tufts and a potpourri of everything in between.

What Taetia has taught us about creativity here, is that sometimes less is more, other times more is more and the trick is to have the skill and confidence to try a bit of both. You can’t be afraid to do something different and unusual.

You could say, creativity frequents the brave and those willing to try something new and different. In this case, Taetia has indeed harnessed the power of creativity, and the result is a design that is captivating to stitch.

Make Your Own Ribbons & Roses

We have all the materials you need to re-create this project yourself, from easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions to a Ready-to-Stitch kit with everything sourced for you.

*Instructions – As this kit does not include instructions, for step-by-step directions on how to create this project, please refer to Inspirations magazine issue 122 or the Ribbons & Roses digital pattern, both purchased separately.