Embroidered Book Cover - The Start of the Back Flap

I'm going to call it the "Back Flap" rather than "the extension of the back that half covers the front" or else I'll be here forever.

It looks a bit of a mess atm but I'm not worried at all.

The one thing I *will* have before doing another design is some transfer paper, however.

I had a lovely hand drawn and carefully corrected pattern for the back flap, and then I simply copied it onto the fabric -firstly using pencil to put down a few placement lines and then using a 0.05 mm marker, because that's the only thing I can get to make a discernable line on the fabric.

And I've stuffed up in a few details of the design. Nothing that can't be fixed - but it's an avoidable problem.
Arrive! Prayer to the postal service! Latest order of needlework supplies! There's transfer paper (in multiple colours too) in there.

* I was silly, and on the middle left, drew the strawberry bunch, and what I'll call the "lotus flower" - not leaving enough room for the carnation in between them. I drew the carnation the size it needed to be, but it was all squashed up against the lotus flower on one side. Did I mention the pen I used was waterproof?

It's not at all clear from the markup in red pen, but I'm changing the lotus flower into another carnation which will sit at a slightly different angle to the existing carnation, covering all of the lotus flower design.

I'll do it in reverse colours (but the same colours) for a bit of interest.
Nothing like cheating.



* There is something weird about this piece of the material. It is an edge - there was a selvedge one one side. I'm not getting the coverage with the single strand of thread that I got with the other piece.

I've gone over the mid colour (the pink) and the palest colour (the cream) of the carnation twice. I'm contemplating going over the pink again.

As for the carnation bud, I've gone over the base three times (and about to go over the flower part again) It's so patchy! (not to mention me leaving a small gap). I'm going to swop to two threads for the rest of the piece.

I wonder if it's a warp/weft thing (tho I'm sewing at all angles so you wouldn't think it'd make a difference

I've been re-shaping the carnation bud while I've been at it to make it a bit fatter.

Strawberries

Those leaves I've used are strawberry leaves taken from Jane Nichols' Stumpwork book. The Elizabethan examples have trefoil leaves near the strawberries.

I have to change the shape of the ones I've drawn a little as well. The 'points' of the leaves extend a bit too far into the body of the leaf. There needs to be plenty of inner body for the leaf to look correct. They look a bit like octupii at the moment.
(what do strawberry leaves look like, anyway?)

I've been looking in the English Bookbinding BL site for examples of strawberries. I've found them done in several different ways, and I intend to have a go at each of them, having all different types of strawberries on the piece.
I'll do a post showing the different ways.
Jane Nichols has her way of doing them as well. (what historical accuracy?

What I wanted to do, before doing the carnation, was to have a close look at the direction of the satin stitching in various examples at the Book Binding site. Especially for the base of the flower, where it has those three points, two at a 45 degree angle and then curving down, upon which the flower petals sit. However, I'm on dial up speeds at the moment and it would have driven me mad, so I'll have a bit of an investigate next time I do a carnation.

I'd like to do that for each element, so I can see how they were done - just satin stitch. Looking at the stitch direction and anything else I can pick up. And collect variations on each element (carnations, poppies, hellebores etc)

I'm going to collect some colour combinations and colour placement on leaves as well. That'll be fun. I could do it just using my imagination. I think I'm just making an excuse to have a bit of a look around and a play!