Four Roses
I'm going to share four different ways to stitch roses! Using a variety of different stitches brings lots of interest to your embroidery art, and these stitches also have a lot of dimension. Definitely try a couple of them out (if not all) I think you'll love them!
This Wolf and Roses fabric sampler or printable pattern download are available in the shop. Here are the colors I'm using: DMC 351, 352, 353, 844, 645, 647, 3072, 435, 801
Before we get to the roses, I'll also mention that I used the Stem Stitch for the vines, Lazy Daisies for the vine leaves, Satin Stitch for the lighter leaves, paw prints and rose buds, and French Knots for the dots. Use 2 threads for Stem and Lazy Daisies, and 3 threads for Satin and French Knots. At the end, we'll look at some tips and techniques for the wolf's face as well.
You can click on any of these photos to view them large and up close!
The first rose I'm going to show you is the Woven Wheel, or Woven Spider's Wheel. This makes an impressive looking flower, and it's actually really easy to do. Use all 6 threads of floss for this stitch.
1. Start by making an odd number of Straight Stitches, creating a star shape out from a center point.
2. Bring your needle and floss up at the center between two spokes and slide them over one stitch and under the next on the surface of the fabric, not through it.
3. Weave the floss around and around the circle until you reach the outer ends of the spokes. You can use fewer rounds for a flatter circle, or pack in many rounds for a puffy flower.
Finish off your Woven Rose with some big French Knots in the center.
Next up, Bullion Knot Roses! Use all 6 threads for this stitch.
1. Bring the needle and floss out of the fabric, then make a stitch back to the floss about 1/4 inch wide. Don't pull your needle all the way through, keep the tip sticking out of the fabric.
2. Wrap floss around the tip of the needle 5-7 times.
3. Hold the wraps loosely between your thumb and forefinger.
4. Slowly pull the needle and floss through the wraps as you hold onto them.
5. Reinsert the needle at the end of the row, pulling the coil of wraps flat to the fabric.
6. Continue making Bullion knots in a circular shape. It's fine if they overlap each other, pack in as many as you like for a big, fat rose.
Finish your rose with a French Knot in the center.
I call this one the Criss Cross Rose, and I just made it up. :) Actually I can't say for sure that no one else has done this, but I've never seen it before, so who knows? This rose has a similar finished look to the Woven Wheel, but it is stitched through the fabric.
Use all 6 threads of floss for this rose.
1. Start with 2 short Straight Stitches side by side.
2. Cross them over at the top and bottom with 2 more.
3-4. Now cross the corners of your little square diagonally.
5-6. Keep Criss-Crossing around the circle until your rose is the size you want it to be.
For our last rose, here is a sweet little Satin Stitched one. Use 3 threads of floss for this rose.
1. Start making stitches from the outer edge of the circle to the center point.
2. Your stitches will be a little farther apart at the outside edge than they are at the center. As you go around the circle, your stitches will start to overlap each other at the middle, forming a raised sort of swirl.
3. This stitch works great for tiny circular flowers, I think it looks like they are getting ready to bloom! You could try it for larger ones, use more threads of floss for larger flowers to get the same effect.
Our wolf is all that's left! You can create a lovely "thread painted" look by using the Long and Short Stitch and angling your stitches in the direction of fur growing. Use 2 threads of floss for the wolf.
1. Use the lightest grey to stitch the inner ear shapes with the Satin Stitch, starting at the long bottom edge and ending them all at the upper point.
Stitch the cheek sections with Long and Short Stitches. These do not have to be super straight or uniform! Overlap them as they change angles and add extra stitches here and there as needed.
2. Use the medium grey to fill in the main face area.
3. Angle the stitches outward on either side of the nose. You can alternate longer stitches overlapping at the edge of the light and dark areas to simulate fur.
Last, stitch the nose and eyes in the darkest grey. Add a little light stitch for each eye shine. I also used 1 thread of dark grey floss to outline the inner ears and the cheek areas, to separate them a little more.
I hope you'll try out this pattern (you can find it in the little dear shop) and that these tutorials help you out as you stitch this design, and for any other embroidery projects you want to try them on! Let me know if you have any questions below and have fun stitching.
