First mend, then start stitching..

The first thing to do was to darn the holes. This isn’t something I’ve ever done, and it was a bit of a wild adventure. I didn’t manage to replicate the woven structure, which is I think a 2-over-1 twill. I pulled lengths of the thread out of offcuts of the fabric piece, so at least the darning uses exactly what was used in the fabric. But even with my magnifiers, reproducing the structure was a bridge too far!

Once that was done, I could get started on the embroidery. We are back to rows upon rows here, to give the front some of the impact of the back.

I decided that the bud would be very pale creamy greens, and slightly more silky threads than everywhere else, and I’ve left the enclosing calyx open. The thread for that actually is silk, one I think I bought for the Nefertiti Shawl, all those years ago.

Everywhere else, as you can see in the close up here, is the same variety of wool threads I’ve used on the back. A couple are slightly variegated, a couple of them heavy enough that I need to use them with caution. And as I looked them over, I noticed two with a much more blue tinge than the others. I’m going to introduce them to the front leaf to change the “ambience” of its colour, because otherwise I’m afraid that the edge between the two leaves might not work cleanly. A different colour effect might be just enough.