I am a huge fan of Amanda Bryde’s work, and the Brynn and Co LOVE embroidery hoop has to be my favourite.  I bought this pattern SO long ago, and decided to finally spend some time stitching it over Christmas (this is what prompted my goal for this year to have more time making just for me – you can read about that here if you fancy). It actually came as a free kit with Mollie Makes just before Christmas too, so it was really nice to see pictures of other people stitching it on Instagram! I decided to stitch one in the original colours to begin with, because I love the colour palette and I wanted to get the feel of the pattern. But I also decided to stitch a second hoop using the new DMC embroidery colours, which I received for Christmas. It was a good excuse to try them out!

 

 

Using the Brynn and Co LOVE embroidery hoop pattern

 

This pattern is really well-designed and it’s easy to follow if you have some embroidery experience already. For beginners, Amanda advises that you look on YouTube for some simple stitch tutorials to get going. You don’t actually need to know loads of stitched to do this – back stitch, satin stitch and French knots are all that is needed to stitch this hoop. So if you are a beginner, you can easily pick up how to do these stitches.

 

 

I decided to stitch this from left to right, adding the leaf details right at the end. As with all my projects, I used a permanent fabric marker and vellum to transfer the design. This meant that I could take my time and not worry about it disappearing! I don’t ever wash my projects afterwards (is that a bad thing?!) so I made sure that the stitches covered the lines. If you are a beginner, I would suggest using a more permanent method of transferring just so that you don’t keep having to draw it in again. I really love the French knots – they really set off the design! I made the yellow ones in the word LOVE slightly bigger, by wrapping the thread around the needle three times instead of two (like the ones around the edges). I finished the back of my hoop like this so that you can see the reverse:

 

 

 

This is my finished hoop! As you can see, I painted the bright pink for an extra pop of colour.

 

 

 

Brynn and Co LOVE embroidery hoop pattern with new DMC colours

 

For the next version of this hoop, I selected a palette from the new DMC colours (I got mine from Cloud Craft). There are some beautiful colours in the new selection, and I must admit that I’m particularly excited about some of the new greens! The selection of new colours made me use some colours that I’m not used to working with, but I’m pleased with how it turned out. This pattern is so versatile, so I’d definitely suggest making one in your own colour palette!

 

 

So these are the new colours I picked out:

 

Yellow = DMC 17

Pale green = DMC 14

Mid green = DMC 16

Coral = DMC 21

Bright purple = DMC 33

Pale lavender = DMC 30

Dark lavender = DMC 32

Grey = DMC 04

 

 

I think they compliment each other really well! If I were to stitch it in these colours again, I’d probably add an additional darker green for the leaf detail, as the light green doesn’t contrast hugely with the mid green.

 

 

 

 

What do you think of these new colours! I’d love to know – leave a comment below. Thanks to Amanda for designing such a wonderful pattern! I’ve got plans to stitch another one in some bright pastels… If you’d like to purchase this pattern, just head over to the Brynn and Co Etsy shop. It’s such a joy to stitch and you’ll have something beautiful to display in your home! Also, if you missed the Brynn and Co Mollie Makes takeover last weekend, you can find out more here.