Rust Red Iris - Half of the Right Petal  

Posted by MeganH in

The right petal can be divided distinctly into two halves - the colours and the stitch direction change (the stitch direction on the bottom half is more curved)

So here's the bottom half

and the flappy bit on the top petal, which I'd forgotten to do last time I posted. It looks lumpy on the scan - but that's the lighter colours 'coming forward'.

I felt like it was an exercise in geometry - look at the way the un-embroidered part of the petal is marked up.

It's hard work trying to get the blend of colours right in the petal. I've had to do a lot of over-sewing simply to get them mixed up enough. I hope, with experience, that I will be able to put down just one layer and end up with a completely random mix, but I can't do it yet. I need to add more stitches on top of the existing ones.

I keep thinking of Michael Cook's peony, where he seemed to achieve colour mix without too much oversewing (or any!)

I might extend the darkest green a bit. I'll see how it is when the whole petal is done, because the bit above is a small bit of cream then a lot of light pink, so the dark green might end up in proportion with that.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 12:45 AM and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

4 comments

It's looking great!

And you'd be AMAZED at how much over-stitching there is in that peony. Like, again and again. In some of the petals, I stitched in the base color on the edge, middle, and center portions, and then took LONG stitches (sometimes well over an inch) to blend them. You can see some of it in the detail shots. Some of the petals were starting to get visibly thick, as the layers of stitching and re-stitching added up like padding.

March 19, 2008 at 6:43 AM

Oh well thank the Gods for that - it's not just me.

I can visualize how you could do it in one layer. But 'padding' is the go. At least for now :-)

thanks

March 19, 2008 at 7:47 AM

Hi dear friend:

Really I know that it is hard, but you are coming out very well, looks very beautiful flower. Many luck! I will follow your embroidery

Maria del Valle
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alarttex/

March 21, 2008 at 3:20 PM

Thankyou Maria

I really love your "angel" !!

March 21, 2008 at 3:33 PM

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