You voted for it so here it is! the Sunset Orca has been brought back from the halls of retired to designs to take up permanent residence as a free pattern right here

Thank you to all of my lovely Purple Rose Stitchers who cast their votes on which design to bring back via my newsletter last week, I couldn’t have decided without you!

First things first, if you’ve not tried any blackwork embroidery before then this YouTube tutorial from my channel on Basic Blackwork Stitching will help get you started

What you’ll need:

• A 5 inch embroidery hoop and 20 count Aida to fit, or equivalent (e.g. if using 18 count Aida you may need a bigger hoop to fit the design)

• DMC 310, B5200 and E3852

• A blunt or tapestry needle

• An erasable pen or pencil (I like to use pilot frixion pens that are heat erasable)

Method

Step one:

Using 3 strands of DMC 310, stitch the outline of the orca in backstitch using the chart below. It doesn’t matter where on the outline you start, just pick a point and get stitching!

Step two:

Using 1 strand of DMC 310, stitch the body and fins of the orca using pattern 3. Leave the stomach, tail, chin and eye areas blank for now

Step three:

Using 1 strand of DMC B5200, stitch the rest of the orca, that you left out in the previous step, in pattern 4

Step four:

Using the pattern transfer drawing below and an erasable pen/pencil, trace or freehand the wave and water droplet outlines on the your fabric. To trace your design I recommend screenshooting or downloading the image and printing or displaying it on a tablet screen so that the orca matches your stitching as closely as possible. If using a tablet screen, simply place your embroidery over the transfer with the screen on full brightness and trace. If using a print out, hold it against a bright light source like a window with your embroidery over it to trace so that the lines can be seen through the fabric

Step five:

Using 1 strand of DMC 310, stitch the left side of the hoop with the waves and floating water droplet in pattern 1/2 (its the same pattern just shown in both colours)

When your reach the border of the waves use the instructions below to switch to using 1 strand of DMC E3852 for the remainder of the background

How to change colour:

Across each border between sections when you need to change colour, first with DMC 310

• As you stitch along the border, if all of the stitch fits before the line then stitch it, if it doesn’t then don’t

• If you are stitching a long line for example 3 holes diagonally, you can break this line up across the border e.g. first two stitches in one colour and the third in a another

• If you are stitch a long stitch that can’t be broken down such as 3 up 1 across, you should stitch it if most of the stitch fits before the border (pictured in example overleaf)

Then fill in remaining stitches with DMC E3852

Happy stitching all!

Do send me picture on Instagram or TikTok and show me if you’re stitching my Sunset Orca (or any of my other designs) it really makes my day to see your embroideries, plus you’re all so blooming talented!

Talk soon

Lottie xxx