Quetzaltenango’s huipil patterns favor floral designs such as the violet design I have created below.  The floral designs ring the neckline of the huipil, and the three woven huipil panels are elaborately embroidered together with a matching floral pattern.  The below pattern mimics the side panels of a violet themed huipil.  This is the first of my Guatemalan inspired textile projects.

Materials:

• Printer and paper – to print out the embroidery pattern
• Heat Transfer pen or pencil – to transfer the embroidery pattern onto fabric (there are various ways to do this; pick your preferred method.)
• Fabric – I went with a french yellow, 100% cotton fabric.  I am planning on making a pillow out of the final product, and measured and cut my fabric with that in mind.
• Embroidery Needle
• Scissors
• Embroidery Hoop
• Embroidery Floss – I used the following colors
  • Light Purple
  • Purple
  • Burgundy
  • Light Yellow
  • Goldenrod Yellow
  • Light Green
  • Green
  • Dark Green

Instructions:

1. Print out the pattern – if for some reason you are not able to save or correctly resize the pattern send me a message, and I will email you the jpeg.
2. Transfer the pattern onto your cloth by outlining it with a heat transfer pen/pencil and ironing it onto your fabric.
3. Place the fabric in the embroidery hoop.
4. Embroider using the pattern as your guide.  For this particular pattern I used three different stitches: the satin stitch, the chain stitch, and the back stitch.
   1. Stem and leaves:
      1. I used a dark green chain stitch for the stems.
      2. For the leaves I used a satin stitch with green on one side and light green on the other.
      3. I used a dark green back stitch to create the folds in the leaves.
   2. Flower Petals:
      1. I used an elongated chain stitch and purple colored thread for the two top petals and the bottom petal.
      2. I used a twisted light yellow thread to create the lines in the top two petals.
      3. I used the same enelogated chain stitch for the side petals, only, for these I used the light purple thread, and fill the interior part with a burgundy colored satin stitch.
   3. Flower Center:
      1. I used a simple satin stitch in the golden yellow for the flower’s center.
      2. I alternated between a light and golden yellow satin stitch to finish filling in the bottom petal.