I enjoy making slow stitched flowers (like these ones) but I’ve not been making any lately because it is hand stitching and I have to reduce how much hand stitching I do. it really is annoying that I can’t just sit in front of the telly in the evening and do some stitching. But the health of my hand comes first!
But then it occurred to me that I could try making some of the flowers using my sewing machine. Although it does feel a bit like cheating to be sewing on the machine.
Obviously, I can’t use the machine in front of the telly. There’s nowhere to put it and I think Tony would get fed up with the noise real quick-like! :-D
Luckily I can use my fabric scissors without any problems so in the evening I am cutting scraps of fabric while watching tv and arranging them into flower shapes. And then when I have a half hour somewhere I can go and sew the flower on the machine.
I did this flower as a test to see if I like the result. And I do! So far I have been using a narrow zig zag stitch and I like how it affects the edges of the shapes. Roughs them up a little so they are less neat. I like that. I want to try some other stitches too, or experiment with the stitch lengths.
This is a bit different from what I normally would make but it scratches the creative itch and I am actually genuinely excited to experiment with these flowers. Hopefully I’ll have more to share soon. :-)
Oh and take a look at the reverse of that flower. I love the ‘shadow’ shape. Something else to experiment with maybe.
This is fun. The back side of this reminds me of bobbin-stitching, where you choose the backing fabric and bobbin thread specifically with the goal of that being the “right side” or “the other right side” when you’re done. It’s also a great way to sew with a thick or metallic or other thread that isn’t suitable for threading through the top of the machine but works when used in the bobbin (although sometimes it needs to be hand-wrapped). Where there’s a will there’s a way. :-)
Author
Oohhh, I’d not heard of bobbin stitching. That sounds very interesting. I’ll have to look into that. Thank you! :-)
The zig zag is a great look. Sometimes rolled edge applique can look monotonously uniform.
Author
Thank you! :-)