Blanche by Jenny McWhinney

Embroidering a portrait of your pet has become quite the thing in recent years. For any stitcher who’s also an animal lover, it’s the perfect marriage of two passions: needlework and a beloved furry, finned or feathered pet.

This week we're celebrating a bona fide barnyard icon: the chicken. But not just any chicken. We're talking about a silver-laced Wyandotte - one of the most striking birds in the coop, instantly recognisable by her sharp black-and-white ‘laced’ plumage, rose comb, and unmistakably regal bearing.

Bred in the United States in the 1870s as one of the first true dual-purpose chickens (good for both eggs and the table), the Wyandotte quickly became prized for her hardiness, her steady winter laying, and - let's be honest - her sheer showroom good looks.

She's a hen who knows how to make an entrance.

Our feature project today is Blanche by Jenny McWhinney, from Inspirations magazine issue #131. Jenny has managed to perfectly re-create a glorious surface embroidery portrait of this stunning bird, worked in stranded cotton, perlé and broder spécial onto a soft cotton ground.

As if that wasn't enough, Jenny then went the extra mile, finding the perfect chicken-print fabric and pulling it all together into a coordinated cushion, finished with fine black piping.

If you've ever wondered how Jenny manages to make her animal portraits so uncannily alive while somehow also full of personality and mischief, Blanche is the perfect case-study.

Look closely and you'll see the trick isn't realism for its own sake - it's the sly tilt of the head, the glint in that dark eye, the confident and commanding stance.

Jenny doesn't just stitch a chicken, she stitches a character.

Special mention to that striking red comb Jenny has re-created beautifully thanks to the use of some very vivid thread colours, including DMC 666, otherwise known as bright Christmas red, which well and truly lives up to its name and suits this application perfectly!

And speaking of character - if you were wondering where the name Blanche came from, we have it on good authority that Jenny named this hen after former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke's wife, Blanche. If you're ever lucky enough to snag a spot in one of Jenny's highly sought-after stitching classes, we'll let you ask her about that one yourself!

It's no wonder this is such a popular project. For anyone who has pet chickens, it's simply a must. If you're a newcomer to embroidery, it's a lovely design to immerse yourself in, with just the right number of different colours and foundational techniques to keep things interesting. And of course, it also makes for a delightful gift.

Ready-to-Stitch kits for Blanche are now available and come with all the materials you need to not only re-create Blanche herself, but also all the fabric to finish it as a cushion including that charming chicken print surround.

Thank you, Jenny, for creating Blanche - she is the perfect example of how fabulous immortalising our pets or favourite animals in stitch can be.