I am currently stitching the Carolyn Pearce Strawberry Fayre heart etui as a stitchalong project. This week I’m focussing on the small pink flowers and leaves at the top of the front heart panel. See the end of this post for all the information you’ll need to join in!
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HOW TO STITCH THE SMALL PINK FLOWERS
This week I’ve actually been stitching with a thread shade that isn’t green! I was getting a bit bored with that!
These little pink flowers are on either side of the front panel, at the top. The instructions in the magazine say to use a variegated thread, and cut out just the lighter parts to use for this flower, but I’ve substituted with Anchor 73 solid pale pink for them instead.
I started each petal with one strand, making one Lazy daisy stitch on the far left hand edge of a petal to make a nicely rounded left hand curve, then I filled in all the rest of the petal with Blanket stitches. At the right hand edge I took the thread to the back, then started the next petal with a Lazy daisy stitch again, as that makes for a neater outline all the way round the flower.
Then I stitched an outer line with Coral stitch in a slightly darker shade of pink (Anchor 50 substitute). The shades I’ve used for these two pinks on this flower are reversed from what I listed in the original Threads list, as I found that the colour I’d chosen for the centre of the flower was too dark, so I swopped it round with the outlining colour.
The instructions say to fill the centre area with both Colonial knots and French knots, but I can never see the difference, so I just did French knots, in two shades (House of Embroidery Pale Lemon from my stash, so I don’t know what the shade number is (sorry!), and Gentle Art 0460 Grecian Gold substitute), using one strand of the HoE and two strands of the GA thread, with two wraps of the needle each time. Knots need a sharp needle to be successful – I used a #9 Sharp for these.
HOW TO STITCH THE LEAVES NEAR THE SMALL PINK FLOWERS
The three leaves near each of the pink flowers have centre fillings where two are the same, and one is different, on each side. These leaves are tiny anyway, so it does seem a bit of a waste to do tiddly little filling stitches that can hardly be seen, but here we go anyway…..
The centre leaf is in Vandyke stitch (previously used as a filling on the lily flower) with one strand of Anchor 267 substitute, and the leaves either side are stitched in Chained feather stitch with one strand of Anchor 268 substitute. Chained feather stitch is like a cross between Lazy daisy stitch and Fly stitch. It’s easy to do, and makes a nice alternative filling for leaves – I just found it too small to be seen properly once the leaf had been outlined, which all three leaves are, eventually.
Sew and So has a short video on how to do this stitch.
The outlining was done in a deep olive green thread from Oliver Twists (no. 004 substitute) using Stem stitch , which is a variegated thread, so my leaves had more visual interest than the original suggested thread. Each of these leaves is barely 1/2 an inch long, so although cute, I do think there’s too much detail in there.
If you don’t want to do all this tiny stitching, you might choose to just fill them in with Satin stitch, or French knots used as a filling, or even Seed stitch filling, and then outline them with the Stem stitch – it would definitely be quicker!
So, although I haven’t had much time for stitching this week, I’m pleased that I’ve been able to do some stitching that isn’t using green, at least for part of the time! And the panel is starting to fill up now, which is good. Next week, I’m hoping to get the primrose at the base of the heart done, which should be good, as I love stitching with yellow.
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~~~INFORMATION~~~
The Strawberry Fayre design, plus the complete list of materials, appears in Inspirations magazine number 95. The publishers do sell a full materials pack (not including the mother of pearl ruler though!), but it’s rather expensive, so if you can use your stash, and just fill in with bits and pieces, then so much the better! The magazine is published in Australia – if you live in the UK, as I do, it is cheaper to buy a back copy from Manor House Magazines, and save a lot on the shipping.
To read about this project stitchalong from the beginning, start here. The post about which FABRIC to use is here. The post about the THREAD SUBSTITUTIONS that I made, plus WHERE TO BUY the threads and beads, etc., is here.
To look up all the posts in this series in the sidebar, see under the CATEGORIES list, under: Embroidery / Full size (others’ designs) / Strawberry Fayre heart etui, or use the SEARCH BOX at the top of the blog, and search for ‘Strawberry Fayre’ to get a list of all the posts (but it’s in reverse order, sorry!).
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Are you interested in doll’s houses and stitching? Then why not visit my website, where you can buy doll’s house needlepoint kits to make all kinds of soft furnishings for one-twelfth scale dollhouses. There are over 280 kits to choose from, plus chart packs, fabric project packs, tutorials, and lots of eye candy to inspire you! Kits are available on 18 and 22 count canvas, 28 and 32 count evenweave, and 32 and 40 count silk gauze, so there’s something for everyone – from beginners to experts.
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Janet Granger's Blog 
Ah some pretty pink shades at last! I can imagine that it must be a pleasant change after all the green scrolls. I like the mix of stitches and textures that are developing. 🙂
Yes, it’s getting some interesting textures now. And I like green, but not for a fortnight exclusively!!
Some beautiful shades! I do get bored of stitching green too, but it pops up everywhere! I love the subtle changes of colour.
I think when the stronger pinks and reds get stitched too, it will even out, but the green plus more green was really getting to me!
Those french knots really made a difference once you put them in.
Yes, it looked a bit insipid without them, didn’t it?
Thank you so much for your tip regarding the rounding of the petal edge. A small lazy daisy makes so much sense! Love your blog!!!
Thank you! It’s in the magazine instructions, but it’s taken me years to work that one out – it’s such a small detail, but it does make a difference 🙂
Hi Janet, I’m working on the Etui and trying to locate a substitute for (A). In the photo, it looks like There are 2 spools. I haven’t found Madeira in my area. Is the other spool Krenikk? Thank you for your instructions. I could never have gotten this far without you. Just getting up the Nerve to cut it all out was a challenge for me. I’ve been working on the Hungarian braided chain And love the look, although it isn’t as fine as yours. It is so fun to be creating something so amazing. Thank you for sharing. Amicalement XOK
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Glad the stitchalong is helping you! In the photo of the substitute materials that I am using, there is only one spool – that is Madeira Metallic 20 weight, shade copper 428, and I am finding that this is a lovely thread to work with. In the photo of substitute materials sent to me by Cynthia that I also put in the same blog post, her photo has two spools, and her substitute for (A) lists two shades – Bijoux Metallic G427 and Kreinik Metallic 215C. The smaller spool on the right of the picture is the Kreinik Very Fine Braid. Depending which part of the design you are stitching, the Kreinik would be a good substitute (it’s thicker than the Madeira that I am using). You can get the Madeira from here, and they ship worldwide: https://www.barnyarns.co.uk/madeira-metallic-20-560m/
I too was happy to do the little pink flowers and I enjoyed the three little leaves even with the tiny detail, I think it made them a bit special ! Onwards 😀
Onwards indeed!!! It’s nice to see it starting to come together, isn’t it?
Well I am so behind now. I finished the front but just for practice because I as wrote before I had a lot of puckering/stretching of my top fabric so I have started over. I am working my way out from the center and didn’t baste the two fabrics together. So far it seems to be working. I do like seeing your photo under the video which shows up the greens you used really well. I ended up using a more subtle shade of green for my stems. It isn’t as bright as yours and I do like yours better. Too late now.
I went ahead and bought the silk thread used for the strawberries and was surprised to see that it was almost an exact match for the no name thread I was using. I also have the correct beads for this but now wonder how to add the tiny bead to the thread as you are stitching, On my other puckered front I used a bigger bead. So I will wait until you are doing this.
I’m glad you’re getting your fabric problems sorted, even though it’s been a lot more work for you. I think the original greens in the materials pack that Inspirations sell are quite pale, from the photos I’ve seen by stitchalong participants. To add the tiny beads as you are doing the berries, you’ll need a very fine needle that will take your thread through its eye, but will also be slim enough to take a bead on as well – I use quilter’s/betweens number 10. They are short, thin needles with a sharp point.
Janet, I finally made it to the carnation. I’m not seeing any instructions on how to add the beads. Am I missing something or just supposed to know. Thanks again for all of your help and inspiration.
Hi Kathy, the instructions for Diamond Stitch (on page 60 of the magazine) explain when to thread the beads on – you do it at step 6 of the step-by-step instructions – it’s when you are about to loop the needle under the horizontal thread as you make a stitch from left to right across the fabric (it’s easier to see from the photos than from me explaining!).
Gorgeous work! I love how textured and delicate your stitching looks. There are so many details and get so colorful!
Thank you!