In this blog post I'm going to share part the process of creating the "Heralds of Autumn" collection. This is a series of hand embroideries featuring British Wildlife whom we might associate with the time when summer turns to autumn. It might be they do something of note in this period, for example the drama of the Red Deer rut, or maybe they are quietly going about the business of collecting autumns bounty, like the Eurasian Jay with their predilection for acorns.
For this collection I ventured into the world of mammals, creating a slightly different challenge to my work with birds. I still have a couple of birds included, the Jay as mentioned already and a Bewick's Swan coming in to land following their migratory flight, a bird which is sadly conservation red listed.
The mammals are represented by the Red Deer plus some Grey Seal pups, as autumn signifies the start of their birthing season, with females returning to shore to have their little ones and who doesn't love a cute seal pup!
As always I try to start with some sketching to form the basis of my embroideries, testing out different subjects, stances and compositions.
A quick fineliner and watercolour sketch of Red Deer Stags rutting.
I chose this composition of clashing heads, hoping to capture some of the drama of the rut. At this stage I was feeling unsure if my normal techniques and materials were going to work in representing animals, should I include heavier, fluffy fabrics like velvet? How densely should I stitch into it? How much texture was needed to replicate fur? It's these thoughts and questions and the uncertainty they generate that can cause me to procrastinate and not get started on a piece. So I decided to apply the same stitch and fabric selection principles I apply to the birds and see if that worked. I felt I should try and maintain a light, delicate touch, hopefully consistent with my previous work.
So the first step is selecting the background fabric, for this I usually use a light or mid weight, white silk habotai.
Printing out my design image to size and starting to stretch the silk background over a wooden frame.
I stretch the silk tightly over a wooden frame, placing the image underneath then loosely paint some marks onto the fabric. I am guided by the image rather than following it exactly. I use black silk paint, you have to be careful not to overload your brush with ink or let it sit on the fabric for too long otherwise it bleeds and you just end up with large splodges without any real form.
Tightly stretched fabric ready for painting.
The completed underpainting.
Once the underpainting is done, I can fix it with the iron and then start selecting the fabrics. I'll usually go through my stash and create a shortlist pile of fabrics I think might work, whilst referring back to my sketch. The background fabric is transferred to an embroidery hoop and I begin placing and pinning fabrics.
Selecting fabrics and pinning them onto the background.
I aim to create areas of light and shade with maybe some textural or metallic highlights. I then start to stitch the fabrics into place with a fine, black, silk thread (No. 6). I try to use the thread like I might a pen, mixing solid lines of backstitch with a running stitch or seed stitch where a lighter line or area of shading is needed. I have recently decided to add some heavier lines by using a thicker thread (No.18) which I hope creates extra depth. I might also add some lighter coloured stitch for highlights.
The final bit of stitching - my signature.
The final step of the embroidery is adding my signature in red thread.
But it's not all over yet, I need to mount it ready for framing - deep joy! This involves stretching calico over mountboard, gluing down the edges then stretching and pinning the silk over the top, I then stitch the silk to the calico using herringbone stitch.
Then, behold, the finished embroidery!
Heralds of Autumn: Red Deer Rut
This series of work will be making it's debut at "Crafted Futures" during the London Design Festival alongside 34 other Design Nation makers. The exhibition will take place at the Oxo Gallery from 9th until the 20th September 2026.