I said that I’d have a go at the first layer of detached rose petals :

The first petal took me about 6 hours.

The second petal will take 2 hours. I’ve done the tension must more loosely and I haven’t had the problems with knots that I’ve had.

I hope that the enlarged photo will show the difference, and the nice row of loops on the bottom of the second petal, still in progress.

A couching stitch gave way at the top left corner of the second petal so I’m temporarily using a pin to keep the curve in place. (You can see the round pin head there)

I’m a bit concerned that the mid and dark colours match too closely.

This photo shows the second petal completed. It’s a bit out of focus :

When I’ve finished all of the petals I’ll do some more work in the centre to make it a bit rounder, or maybe I won’t. There’s lot of stretch at those two light pink bases – I may be able to ‘stretch’ to fit the centre circle. We’ll see.

I think I’ve got the hang of it now, and can move onto that other embroidery I need to do (the strawberries etc) and save the rest of the dusty pink rose for after Christmas.