Five-sided box 3: acorn and gillyflower motif

The second panel of my five-sided box is to have the Acorn and Gillyflower motif on it, taken from the book ‘Embroidered Flowers for Elizabeth’, by Susan O’Connor. After working the stems in stem stitch, and filling in the gillyflower leaves with rows of split back stitch, I then started on the flowers themselves. These needed outlining with split back stitch first, being careful to keep the stitches very small, so that the outline of each petal kept its ‘jagged’ look.

After filling in the petals with rows of long and short stitch, I completed the sepals by working satin stitch padding, and then satin stitch over the top. Each sepal was then outlined with a couched line of very dark olive green using just one strand of Anchor cotton.

The acorn leaves were done in satin stitch padding (one strand of Anchor, worked straight across the leaf) , and then satin stitch was worked along the vein, up around the top of the leaf and down the other side. Design-wise, this worked, but I think the shade I chose was too dark. This picture also shows the full-face gillyflower completed, which I am happier with.

Now, I’m ready to start on the tiny acorns……

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