Digital Handbook Secret Garden Embroidery Design Handbook
If you've ever dreamed about designing your own embroidery patterns, then this handbook is your invitation to start playing and creating!
For those who know some basic stitches and feel comfortable with a needle and thread, this handbook will help you move from following patterns to creating your own embroidery designs.
The Secret Garden Embroidery Design Handbook covers a range of design fundamentals including composition, balance, and colour theory. Beginning with three basic sample embroidery elements - a vine, leaf, and flower - the Handbook guides you through putting pencil to paper and playing with composition, encouraging you to create your very own designs.
You'll also learn how to resize embroidery patterns, create seamless, repeating embroidery designs, and incorporate parts of other patterns into your design.
The Secret Garden Handbook is a 51 page pdf eBook packed with illustrations and beautiful inspiration images.
Skill level: Adventurous beginner
What's included
- 51 page pdf eBook to read on your digital device
- Design principles like composition and balance
- Colour theory
- Putting pencil to paper and creating your own designs
- Making seamless, repeating patterns
- Incorporating parts of other embroidery patterns
- Resizing embroidery patterns
- Transferring patterns to fabric
- Instructions for stitching three basic components (vine, leaf, and flower) for you to practice combining into new designs
Learn to Embroider
New to embroidery? We offer a free Learn to Embroider Series, delivered directly to you via email.
It contains video lessons for 6 simple stitches, and a free design to practice with.
Printing Info
This is a PDF eBook that is designed to be viewed digitally, and can also be printed at home on a US Letter/A4 home printer.
share this
Customer Reviews
Twig + Tale’s patterns taught me to embroider, so it’s only fitting that they also helped bring my embroidery to the next level. I love the detail in the Secret Garden Embroidery Handbook. It really covers everything and can be applied to so much, even beyond embroidery. The included pattern helps you feel like your hand is being held, but the guide provides so much theory and technique that its easy to branch out and create your own designs.
Based on the photos and somewhat woolly description I expected this to contain much more in both information and actual patterns provided.
One pattern is provided, then some theory (such as pleasing overall design shapes, colours) is given and then a few stitches for elements are outlined (eg leaves)
I had expected patterns to be provided for at least what was pictured, and a more extensive stitch guide for the price. I generally love and recommend twig and tale patterns so this was perhaps more of a let down to me than it might otherwise have been. Video files were also listed when purchasing a bundle (with the epoch pocket) and aren’t in the downloads for the order which is annoying.
A lot of buyers remorse on this one, a new feeling for me buying patterns here. Please make sure the guide is what you will find useful before purchase!
Hello, and thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. We really value our customer's feedback, and are glad you have shared yours.
We endeavored to make it very clear in the description what was being included: that this was a guide for those looking to move beyond following patterns, into learning some of the theories of composition and design, with guides for creating one's own composition of leaves, vines, and flowers as a stepping-off point. While not all-inclusive, we've curated these design principles as a broad look at the planning behind a succcessful design (and even helpful well beyond 'just' embroidery as well). It's been a project near-and-dear to our hearts for some time now behind the scenes, aimed at those who are ready to spread their wings and be able to bring their own visions to life. Many of the designs shown are provided as an example of what other real-life stitchers have done with the information included in the handbook, who are at many different points in their own embroidery journeys. It can be such a challenge to communicate all that in just a few sentences in a listing, though! We will be sharing an additional look inside the Handbook in an upcoming email + social posts, as a helpful closer-look for others.
The mentioned video class is for Epoch specifically, as noted in the listings, and is linked inside your pattern tutorial. There's no separate download needed, which is why it doesn't show up in your Pattern Library...but I'm happy to reassure you that it is there and included. However, we have also linked our video Stitch Guides inside Secret Garden as well, for easy access to this bonus content, available to all.
I hope this has been helpful in navigating your Secret Garden + Epoch purchase, and that over time it will be something that you find helpful in your stitching journey. If you'd like to share any more thoughts with us about what other content you would've found more helpful inside Secret Garden, we would be happy to chat further - just send us an email at support@twigandtale.com. Wishing you all the best!
The Secret Garden Embroidery (SGE) tutorial is like a detailed design handbook. I particularly found the composition and incorporating other pattern elements fascinating and I now have skills to create my own embroidery patterns, beyond the bunches of flowers that I have been doing. I like that the SGE can be used on its own too- I cut out the piece I was wishing to embroider, marked seam allowance and projected the embroidery file. I simply chose elements that worked with my area. It’s a tutorial that I want to reflect and mull over, take time to think about a design and then create.
I've stuck previously to using ready-made embroidery designs because while I could recognise a lovely design, I couldn't understand how it actually comes together. This ebook really breaks down that process, and separating out the different elements mean that you can focus on learning one skill at a time. My first try was just in a single colour, and let me concentrate on finding the lines to make a beautiful overall shape. I'm excited to try out the other elements in future projects!
I have always stuck to ready made patterns when it comes to embroidery. My own designs usually look unbalanced, uneven or just ‘off’ in some way. All the fantastic tips in the eBook explained everything so clearly and made it all seem so simple! From picking colours to layout and shape, the eBook covers it all with so many great examples.
I’ve been a bit of a stitch doodler for years. I love picking up details in an accent fabric and reflecting it in my embroidery. However when it comes to my own designs they are really just stitch doodles at best. The embroidery handbook helped me better understand the process of design particularly in relation to colour and balance. I highly recommend.
I've always found it a little overwhelming to do custom embroidery, even though I have done a fair amoutn of embroidery! The guidebook provided a great start and it felt easy enough to 'translate' the Secret Garden elements into my own motifs - so pleased with the result, and I can't wait to try more!
This handbook was the push I needed to start my embroidery journey. I've always wanted to try, but most designs seemed intimidating to a beginner like me. The guide helped me create my own unique design using the templates as a starting point. I considered color, space, size, etc. and learned to makes leaves, simple flowers, colorful wheels, and french knots. Twig + Tale patterns are always thorough, straightforward and guarantee a beautiful result.
I embroider a lot. Everything is covered with embroidery in our house. But I never really dared to draw my own designs. This book really helped in so many ways! I really learned a lot. This book really gave me the boost I needed to start designing!
As I’m not new in doing embroidery, I was quite curious to see what I could learn from this handbook. Turns out it’s quite a lot! It’s very inspiring and makes you think about embroidery on a different level. I really like it!
Sign up here to receive your free Petal Dress pdf pattern
