Embroidery that tells a story: Pulenaz, Mia Maples and Bernadette Banner

Pulenaz: a moment before anything happens

Pulenaz begins with a person waiting at a window as rain crosses the glass. She tries two positions for the figure, then turns the head toward the window and leaves a broad empty space beside her. The choice makes the wait legible before a single word is added.

In the video, she sketches the frame directly onto fabric, outlines it in dark thread and builds the rain with short, slanting stitches. She keeps the figure small, using close stitches for the hair and a few folds to show the shoulders. As she works, she tests whether the rain should cross the person's silhouette; keeping it outside the frame makes the viewer read it as something she is watching.

Start with Pulenaz for the pleasure of seeing an ordinary scene invented in stages. Her choices are easy to follow even if you do not embroider: where to place a person, how much space to leave and which detail tells you what she is looking at.

Mia Maples: a garden changes through the day

Mia's stitched garden starts with a path and a closed gate. Instead of filling the whole hoop with flowers at once, she divides it into morning and evening: pale buds and a long shadow on one side, open flowers and a lantern on the other. A tiny figure has moved along the path between them, so the change in light also suggests that time has passed.

Her process is worth watching for the revisions. She lays out scraps to test the two halves, draws the path in chalk, then layers small leaves over the stems and knots into the flower heads. When the lantern gets lost among the blossoms, she removes a cluster and leaves a clear patch around it. Those details make the image intricate while keeping the little journey readable.

Bernadette Banner: a pocket with a secret

Bernadette Banner's YouTube work includes historical garment reconstruction and adapting historical dress for modern wear. Her interest in how clothing is constructed gives viewers another way into a stitched design: the decoration can belong to an object with a purpose.

References: Bernadette Banner

For an embroidered pocket, Bernadette plans a small story about a hidden key and a trail leading to it from a potted plant. The key sits near the pocket opening, while a trail of stitched leaves leads down to the pot. She moves the key away from the seam so it will remain visible when the pocket is worn, then uses fine outlines for the pot and denser stitches for the leaves. The different textures help the eye find the clue before following the trail.

The design develops as she works: she samples a leaf in two greens, chooses the darker one for the shadowed side and repeats the lighter thread where the stem turns toward the key. The story fits into a small space, but the decisions about placement, density and color give the video more to follow than a finished motif.

For a historical embroidery project, Banner's own newsletter links her video about an embroidered late-18th-century waistcoat made with Hand & Lock.

References: Bernadette Banner

Where to start

Choose Pulenaz for a quiet scene that grows from a figure and a glance. Mia makes the passage of time visible in one hoop, while Bernadette builds a small clue into something wearable. In each case the rewarding part is watching the design change: a head turns, a patch is cleared around a lantern or a key moves away from a seam.

Sources and attribution

1. Bernadette Banner

   Bernadette Banner: dress history and historical sewingPublication date not listed · Recorded Oct 30, 2026

2. Bernadette Banner

   18th century embroidery is no jokePublished Jul 6, 2024 · Recorded Oct 30, 2026