Nasturtium roundel – flowers
The last bit of embroidery on this project: the flowers.
With the leaves, I used the lightest shade on the outside of the leaf and got darker towards the centre; here I’m doing the opposite, starting with the darkest shade and getting lighter further in.
The darkest shade is Madeira stranded cotton no. 0204, and here are the flowers with a row of stitching in that around the edge of each petal:
Then introducing some shading, with one strand of 204 and one of 0203:
Then with two strands of 0203:
And finally, in the very centre, one strand of 0203 and one of 0202:
Almost but not quite finished: the last little bit is to add some French knots in the centre of some of the flowers in a darker orange thread, 0208:
And that’s it! Here’s a close-up of a flower, so you can see the shading in more detail:
That’s the end of the embroidery but not quite the project – I now need to cut it out and apply it to a background fabric. That’s next!
Beautiful, Ruth!!!!
I have to tell you I have been reading your blog for a week or so and love all the embroidery. Your step by step pictures are wonderful and so informative together with the text. I also like the neatness of the blog and the little extra things you post at times, links included. I am in nursing school and have embroidered since I was a child, also, but do not have much time for it at this stage in my life. Thank you for this blog; it is a relaxing ‘time out’ for me, away from the pressures of school.
The shading of the leaves and flowers is very subtle, yet beautifully done. They really look lifelike. Well done.
Thanks everyone, much appreciated. Alana – I’m so pleased you like the blog, and I hope you’ll keep reading!
Fabulous shading – the whole design looks really three-dimensional already!