Historical Sampler – TriColoured Leaf, Detached Buttonhole Stitch with Return

I wanted to do a leaf in 3 colours, as shown in the sampler and on the cover of “Exploring Elizabethan Embroidery" by Dorothy Clarke :

 

These leaves were around a lot in the 16th and 17th centuries.

A famous example would be from the Laton Jacket (V&A T.228-1994)

and others can be seen

http://www.elizabethancostume.net/headwear/coifpics.html

- "Panel, possibly from a coif"

and

http://www.artsmia.org/viewer/detail.php?v=12&id=4797

This is mine :

There are no special blending techniques involved- just changing colours at the beginning of a new line of detached buttonhole stitches.

I think the light green and the yellow blend together much better than the dark green and the light green - and the attractiveness of the finished leaf depends on the selection of colours that blend well.

(Tho this leaf is now one of my favourite motifs, even if the dark green is a bit too dark)

I did the stem in stem stitch, and the veins in split stitch.

It has occurrred to me that all my detached buttonhole stitching so far has been "with return" because that's how the Plymouth/Thistle Thread instructions teach it.

However, it can be done without return, and I'll have to have a go at that. Meanwhile, a motif coming up soon will be with a metal thread return, which will be fun. :-)