I removed the head of the lavender shown in the previous post and used felt to pad the new heads.  I used less thread and made less French Knots but I’m still not pleased with the result.

Also I haven’t done the top petals the way they were meant to be.

I personally find if I’m not happy with my work, it’s best to give it a rest as it won’t improve, so…..

this is done for now but when I complete all flowers/herbs in the book, I will begin again with this particular flower. There is an easier and more common lavender to yet make.

Another warts and all day and previous night.  This is just to show I Have been working between visitors etc.,   So far the flowers I’ve done may have looked hard to do but were not- the Lavender looked easy and is NOT.  I have to re-do the head as it’s too small to fit the oval that was drawn to scale.    You probably can’t see the gap at the flower top but it is there.

The base, on spare cloth, had rows of Wheatear, then different colour straight stitches over the upper part of wheatear, Then 6 strands of DMC, 2 wrap French Knots in 2 diagonal lines. and a 2 strand, 1 wrap on both sides.  Tomorrow I begin again.  I still have a wired leaf and small leaves to complete this.

 

There have been lots of interruptions while working this flower but I finally finished the Viola.

Top petals,  Split stitch edging.  Petal filling, Long and short and Straight stitches with single DMC threads.

The three wired petals were worked the same way with single threads, then edges were buttonholed.

The wired and padded leaves at the base were stitched with Satin, Stem and Straight stitches using 2 strands of DMC.      The central French knot was done with 4 strands of thread.

The bud method and stems were blogged in an earlier post.

This is the 10th flower so far from Sachiko Morimoto’s Stumpwork book.  I’m still enjoying the embroideries.  Nine to go.

Just a quick post so I can get back to the last petal.  These are the side petals of the viola. A little tricky with the wire as it overlaps, a wee bit, to this shape.   Not the usual method of poking two ends through a hole and securing to the back.

Here is where I’m at today.  Petals –  Long and short, Straight, Stem and Stab stitches were used.  The bud had a central Detached Chain stitch with two Basque stitches beside this and a little green one at the top.

My 3 petals are wired and ready to work on.

A beginning of the viola.  4 DMC strands Chain stitched and  whipped on the main stem and 2 threads on the smaller stem . The bud was built up with Split stitch and Satin stitch.  The lower leaves are Stem stitched.  The second photo shows the bud with Satin stitches on the outer sides.  I’ve a family task to do now so I’ll be back with more of this stumpwork soon.

Chilli Peppers are my 9th project from Sachiko Morimoto’s Stumpwork book.

The lovely thick stem was made with Whipped Stem stitch  – which was done with 4 DMC strands.

The flat leaf used Stem and Straight stitches.     The flower was Satin stitched over padding and the sepals were Detached Chain-or Lazy Daisy- and Straight stitches.  Stalks were also Whipped Stem but only 2 threads were needed.

The pepper sepals were Backstitch Wheel over padding.  another time I would use double the padding to raise it to the level of the red section.

I then made the applique for the peppers, using Corded Detached Buttonhole stitch.  this was then Stab stitched over the felt padded peppers. Uhhm! I didn’t use the 2 strands of DMC to do the peppers, instead I used Finca perle 8…perle 5 would have been even better.

Next up will be the Viola as I had already made, and shown,  the wired leaves.

Very little time to embroider lately but I finally completed the Watercress.

Though I’m quite happy with the end result things just didn’t go as simply as the earlier projects.

The 2 lower leaves were meant to be Needle-woven, I just could Not get the 3 DMC threads to lay nicely – they pushed against each other as I drew them through the fabric.  It wasn’t for lack of trying or patience on my part.   Slow and easy didn’t work.  I made just one Fly stitched leaf instead.

I’ve made lots of needle-woven leaves but always with the single strand cotton perle which worked well.

The stumpwork leaf is the top right one with the shadow.

On a happier note, I added an extra layer of white thread to the smaller flowers and am pleased with the result.

Next in line are the Chilli Peppers.

Watercress

I completed the pair of Viola leaves and the light green Watercress leaf.

Stitches used for the viola leaves are Satin, Stem and Straight and the pale leaf= Fly stitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not much stitching time this week though I hope to finish this flower in the next few days.  I have only 4 leaves to add.   The dark leaf in the hoop will sit below the large leaf of the herb – then I Fly-stitch the top leaf and Needleweave the lower pair over the felt pieces…that’ll be very interesting.

I found the hardest part of this embroidery was to  keep the Satin stitching very neat over the padded/ threaded base of the main flower.   It did help to place the needle between the two threads when I satin stitched, rather than beside both….but.. just checking the enlarged version here, I may stitch another layer on the smaller flowers as they are looking a bit ragged.

Under the pod there are brown French Knot seeds.  The pod itself was made with Detached Buttonhole stitch.

I found at Wikipedia that Watercress is an aquatic plant species – it’s botanical name is Nasturtium officinale but  should not be confused with the quite different group of plants commonly called nasturtium, for which the botanical name is Tropaeolum.

I do know from personal experience, seeds, leaves and flowers of the nasturtium are edible.

Watercress is  one of the oldest known leaf vegetables eaten by humans.

That’s it for today, I’m off to search out some Christmas patterns and then read.

Today I’m working on several types of leaf.  It is easier to make several in the hoop and then cut them out, rather than waste fabric.   Also once one is cut out the tension is not good.

 

The 2 wired only leaves are for the Viola, the pale green for Watercress, the dark leaf is for the Chilli and the last is one that didn’t work out for the clover.

The hoop I’m using is a comfortable 4″ size and threads are DMC- 2 strands.    Each leaf is Satin stitched.

From top to bottom..  centres are =Back stitched;   Chain stitched and the lowest was Stem stitched.

Time for a cuppa and then back to the needle and threads.