Flower girl
COMBINE MACHINE EMBROIDERY AND HAND STITCHING TO WORK THIS BEGUILING PORTRAIT FEATURING A COLOURFUL TATTOO
Louisa Burtonshaw
MATERIALS
Cotton fabric: 30x30cm, ivory Embroidery hoop: 18cm diameter Stranded cotton: 1 skein each of black, green, mustard, light peach, dark peach, pink
Sewing machine thread: black Basic embroidery kit
STITCHES USED
Backstitch, Couching Stitch, French Knots, Long and Short Stitch, Satin Stitch, Straight Stitch
NOTES
Find the templates on p62. RS = right side(s).
Mount your fabric in the hoop the opposite way round to usual with the inner hoop uppermost. This will not only keep the fabric taut and flat while you work, but gives you a better grip of the work, too, making it easier to control as you stitch.
Transfer the design from the template on the centre of the RS of the fabric using your preferred method. Leave the hoop this way up as you will want the fabric to sit flat onto the sewing machine when you start to embroider. Thread your machine with black sewing cotton. Ease your hoop under the needle of your sewing machine and free machine embroider the hair, neck, shoulders and vest top outlines. Use the lines on the pattern as a guide, sewing in one continuous movement and moving the hoop to control where the stitches land. Do not include the outlines of the tattoo design as these will be hand embroidered onto the design later.
Remove the hoop from the machine, undo the clasp and turn the fabric over so that the RS is now sitting at the top of the hoop. Retighten your embroidery, ensuring it’s in the middle of the hoop.
You are now going to switch to hand embroidery, starting with the large flower and
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03 buds. Using one strand of dark peach thread, work Long and Short Stitch outwards from the base of the petals to about halfway up each one. Use one strand of light peach thread to fill in the remaining half of each petal, again using Long and Short Stitch, making sure the two colours blend seamlessly.
Stitch the stems and leaves using two strands of green. Work the stems first in Backstitch. Fill in the leaves with Straight Stitches worked close together. Work outwards from the centre line of each leaf to create the shape and movement of the leaves. Using one strand of mustard, fill in the small buds and yellow flowers with
Satin Stitch, slanting the stitches slightly to cover the area. Using two strands of green and yellow thread, fill in the centres of all the flowers with small French Knots packed tightly together to create texture. Use one strand of pink thread to fill in the final flower with Straight Stitch.
Using one strand of black, outline the flowers and leaves of the tattoo using Couching Stitch. Work outwards from the base of the petals, creating the lines you see on the pattern to give definition to the petals and the leaves.
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