A Miniature Petit-Point Bird

The Tree-of-Life design is versatile—motifs from this pattern can be used to create cushions, seat covers, bookmarks, pincushions, bell pulls, and more, ranging from medium to tiny sizes depending on the thread count of the ground fabric or canvas used. For this project, I chose forty-eight-count silk gauze and cotton embroidery floss.

Both are easier to work with than the fifty-six-count silk gauze and silk thread that I used in my Tree-of-Life Carpet featured in “A Miniature Petit-Point Tree-of-Life Carpet,” in the Fall 2018 issue of PieceWork.

The word “gauze” is somewhat of a misnomer; it’s actually a form of needlepoint canvas—a tiny grid with open squares that are called “holes.” The fewer the count number, the larger the holes; as the count number increases, the size of the holes shrinks. I hope you will enjoy this introduction to miniatures, silk gauze, and petit point.

Forty-count silk gauze and a skein of cotton embroidery floss. Natalia Frank used slightly smaller silk gauze—forty-eight count—as the ground for her stitched bird.

Materials
• DMC Embroidery Floss, 100% cotton thread, 8 meters (8.7 yd)/skein, 1 skein of each of the colors listed in the Color Key in the printed pattern
• Silk gauze, 48-count, 100% filament silk canvas, Beige or Antique White, mounted on a mat-board frame with an opening that is 4 x 4 inches (10.2 x 10.2 cm)
• John James Needle, tapestry size 28 or crewel size 10

Finished size: 1-7/8 x 1-13/16 inches (4.8 x 4.6 cm)
Stitches: 79 x 77

Interested in learning more about petit point? This project and its companion article can be found the Fall 2018 issue of PieceWork.

Also, remember that if you are an active subscriber to PieceWork magazine, you have unlimited access to previous issues, including Fall 2018. See our help center for the step-by-step process on how to access them.

Natalia Frank, an Artisan Member of the International Miniature Artisans Guild, specializes in petit point in miniature and works with silk gauze (from fifty-six to ninety-count) and fine silk floss. Her petit-point portrait of a dog on seventy-two count silk gauze won second-place in PieceWork’s 2016 Miniatures Contest.

Originally published January 16, 2019; updated October 7, 2024.