Trailing Begonia
In this case study, Margaret describes the stylization of flowers necessary in bobbin lace making. This piece was specifically designed for a linen tray cloth, in Torchon Lace.

Inspiration

The trigger for this pattern was a trailing begonia in a hanging basket.  The first stage was to make a quick study of the plant; this helps to understand the personality of the flower.

Stylization

Being a double begonia, simplification was necessary and, being Torchon bobbin lace, I had to think in terms of the fact that the grid for Torchon was at a 45 degree angle.  Bearing this in mind, I eventually came up with a flower which consisted of two outside petals, two inside petals and a bud shape, to signify the layers I saw.  Taking the final flower design and making two repeats of the full flower, followed by two repeats of the inside petals plus the bud, and lastly a single bud, I felt gave the feeling of the hanging plant.

The Pattern

The pattern was kept simple, with a half-stitch Torchon ground.  The top petals were worked in half-stitch, the second and third layers were worked in whole-stitch.  A natural Swedish linen 40/2 was used with coloured gimps in a slightly heavier Swedish line.  These two panels were set into a pure linen material, framing the two with pulled thread embroidery.