Wildflower Panel, Ribbon Stumpwork Tutorial–Panel 10 An Orange tree

Panel 10 - An Orange Tree.

Threads -  DMC 51 (variegated) 420 / 470 / Anchor 300.

Ribbons - GB sage green / GB cornflower blue.

Scrap fabric

Bird Charm.

Cake Wire.

Wooden beads

Starting with the basket of the Orange tree, draw the basket shape on the spare fabric and couch the cake wire around the top, then over stitch like this with DMC 420

Next stem stitch the sides, and then make long straight stitches down the basket.

Next weave over and under the straight stitches like this

To make a woven basket ending with this

make seed stitches in the top of the basket like this

then make a running stitch around the outline of the basket.

Cut the basket out, make sure you don't cut in to the running stitch as it will be gathered up.

gather the threads and then stitch the top and sides of the basket to the ground fabric but leave the bottom open for stuffing.

Push the sides of the basket in as you stitch to hide the cut edges, then stuff from the bottom and when happy with the shape stitch the bottom of the basket closed.

next cut your cake wire in to 8cm  lengths

Twist them together to make a tree.

make a small cut in the top of the basket and insert the wire.

Now its time to wrap the wires, so that the branches are free floating, no couching to the ground fabby

using the long tail threads, secure the tips of the branches where you want them to be

Next, making the oranges, using small wooden beads and varigated thread 51, cutting the lengths with the colour variations I wanted, I wrapped the bead with the thread.

ending with this

Make 12 or 13 of these oranges, I liked the variegated thread as opposed to bright orange. As I think it looks like the oranges are ripening on the tree and at various colour stages.

using 470, make a knot in one end then thread it through the orange, then stitch the orange to the ground fabric
continue this using all the oranges but leave one to stitch to the ground by the basket.

Next using the sage green ribbon and detached chain stitch, fill up the spaces between the oranges to make leaves in the tree, make a few leaves around the orange on the ground and scatter below the basket. Using the cornflower blue ribbon, make the forget me knots using flat ribbon stitch filling the center with a 4 wrap French knot using anchor 300 yellow.

Make straight stitches, with a couple of couching stitches in 420 to denote the ground tiles.

Ending with this

Lastly add the bird charm and so we end with this

So ends panel 10, we only have 2 more panels to do, next time Pansies. Tulips and a butterfly.

Wild Flower Panel–Ribbon work / Stumpwork tutorial–Panel 9 Fox gloves.

Panel 9 - Fox gloves.

DMC - 955 / 470 /793 /3717 / 3341
Anchor 300

Cake wire / Netting or Organza scrap / Yellow seed bead.

Ribbon: GB Pink / purple / sage / dark olive green.

The first job is to make the foxgloves, starting with Sage ribbon I made made a long straight stitch on both foxgloves to make the stems. Then I used the purple and pink ribbon to make ribbon stitch flowers, changing back to sage green to make 2 detached chain stitches for the big leaves at the bottom of each fox glove ending with this

Some of the ribbon stitches were a little bit more poufy than I would have liked but with synthetic ribbon its a pain the in neck to get the ribbon to stitch through its self, with pure silk ribbons they are softer and you don't have this problem. The problem you have is that if your in the UK, silk ribbon is expensive and hard to get hold of and in these current climes you have to use what you can easily source. Well that's my excuse anyway.

So the next part is to work the dragonfly. Tracing the wings on to netting I mounted it in the hoop and then couched wire to the shape of the wings and then overcast the wire like this

As you can see, I drew the wings on grease proof (makes cheap excellent tracing paper) and then laid the netting over the top and mounted both the grease proof and the netting in to the hoop. This gave me the outline of the wings which you can't trace on netting. I do have some organza scraps but couldn't find them so had to use netting. Now this looks scrappy to me but can be tidied up later. The next job was to cut the wings out just like in the previous panel when doing wired stump work, cutting close to the stitching angling the blades of the scissors so that the thread is not cut. I then picked out with a needle the little bit of grease proof still left in the wings and so we end with this.

I cut the 2nd from the top wing slightly too short but once this is fixed to the ground fabric I can secure it better.

The next job is to poke the wing tails through the ground fabric and secure the tails on the back, then faff about with the wings till they are right. I then used 3713 to stitch 3 long stitches for the body between the wings and overcast them to form the body, 3 French knots for the head in 3713 and 2 short straight stitches for the antenna ending with this

Now this looks a bit to scrappy for my liking and really needed organza for the wings, I may in the future go back and redo this dragonfly. You can also in this picture see the start of the rain daises which we'll get to in a while.

The next job is the wild dagga, I made a long straight stitch in dark olive ribbon, and made a few French knots in the middle and near the top of the stalk with the same olive ribbon, and this was a total nause as the ribbon was tough but I got there. I then changed to fiery orange ribbon and made pistil stitch leaves, which basically is French knots on a stalk. As we have covered these stitches before I never photo'd them.

Next came the small plant, so I used 955 (6 strands) and made straight stitches for the stems and couched them down, I then changed to 3341 and made short stab stitches ending with this.

You see both the wild dagga here and the start of the small plant.

rain daises are just bullions with a detached chain stitch edging

10 wrap bullions we covered before as well as detached chain.

next came rock roses, now we have done these before as well, I used purple ribbon to make 4 flat ribbon stitches for each flower then filled the center with Anchor 300 and French knots. I then used some brown thread to scatter seed stitches around the base of all the flowers, and then used 793 to scatter French knots around the base, rock roses and rain daises.

the rain daises called for a bead in the center, I first tried one of my small gold ones,

but it looked too big to me so i changed it for small yellow seed beads. I then put some small green ribbon stitches in to denote leaves.

i thought these looked better so we now end with this.

So not the best of the panels I think, but I am learning this with you as we go along and some techniques I am better at than others.
next time we move on to panel 10 - An orange tree & forget me knots.

Wildflower Panel : Stumpwork Tutorial Panel 8–Fuchsias.

Panel 8 - Fuchsias.

Threads: DMC 470

Ribbons : Groves and banks Deep red / GB Deep red organza. / GB Sage Green.

Cake wire hoop, spare cotton scrap.

Headpins / red 10/0 seed beads.

Leaves.

I started working the leaves first, by stem stitching the outlines then filling with satin stitch.

When the leaves were complete it was time to do the stems. Using the cake wire measured to length on the design with extra to take through to the back it was a case of laying the stems in and couching them down then overcasting them to the fabric. There are a few loose floating stems too.

The loose floating stems are taken to the back and secured then using 2 strands I wound around the cake wire and secure the wrapped stem at the leaf.

Next came a stumpwork floating leaf. First I drew the leaf shape on the fabric and mounted in the hoop.

The taking the cake wire you have to couch it and bend the wire to shape as you go. Leave a long tail as this will blend in with the other stems later.

Using detached button hole stitch, work around the edge of the wire, then fill the leave with long and short stitch and finally wrap the long tail wire.

Next I cut the leaf out, as close to the edging as possible.

I put this to one side as I shall add this leaf last. Next was the ribbon work, taking the red organza ribbon I made narrow ribbon stitches for each bud and a wider ribbon stitch on each flower. Then did the same with the dark red for each bud and flower. Now these ribbons were my own choice of colour as I have some dark red fuchsias and prefer them to the sickly pink the design called for. Using some G&B sage green ribbon i stitch of the bottom of each flower and bud where the stems met the base of each bud and flower. Not only does this finish the flowers and bud it also covers where the stems meet the flower and hides exposed wire or wide holes on the fabric around the wires.

The design called for bells on the fuchsia but they looked like pink swan vesta’s to me, and I was looking for something a bit more ... well a bit more, so I decided to put a red bead on a head pin and wrap the pin, treating like cake wire stems.

I thought this gave a more delicate bell and there's always something in my stash to use and who says there's no need for bling of a sort.

This is the bells being added

The last job was to add the free floating leaf

and so we finish with this

Next time : Foxgloves, Rain Daisies, A Dragonfly, Wild Dagga and Rock Roses.

Wildflower Ribbon Stump Work Tutorial–Panel 7–Red hot pokers, Natal & Arum Lily

Panel 6 - Red Hot Pokers, Arum Lily & natal Lily.

Stitches used: Couching / Overcast Stitch / Loop Stitch / Straight stab stitch /Satin Stitch / Detached Blanket Stitch / Long and short Blanket Stitch / Detached Chain Stitch / Long Bullion Stitch.

Materials used: cake wire, DMC 368 / 760 White - yellow paint. / white felt / grease proof paper / hoop

Ribbon - Groves and banks - green / light orange / pale yellow / pink

Starting with the Red hot pokers, first I took the cake wire, measured it against my design on the fabric and cut 10 lengths of wire, I ran 2 lengths from the base up to the pokers, couched in place then overcast stitched to the ground fabric. Next I inserted the other wires (one at a time) and secured it on the back and wrapped the DMC (2 strands) around the wire till they were covered. leave long tail threads to secure the free floating stems once I had bent them in place with the design.

Next it was time to start working on the Poker its self, this is made up with the ribbon loops, to get the same sized loops, I laid a long doll needle on the design, brought the needle up below the doll needle and took it back down above it, so that a loop was created over the needle. I carried on doing this in rows, moving the doll needle up as I went to the next row, I started with pale yellow ribbon, changing to orange half way up, tapering the loops to fit the shape ending with 1 loop at the top of the poker.

I completed the 2nd poker in the same way and then bent to shape the wired stems and secure them, ending with this

The end of the leaves look tatty here but I went back after and tidied them up.

Next was the Arum Lily, this flower is stumpwork. So we start by drawing 2 leaves on greaseproof

these are cut out and then tacked to white felt.

The cut them out of the felt, remove the greaseproof, draw veins on the felt just to give you an outline and then tack them to the ground fabric, now these can be covered in satin stitch, the stem of the leaf and the main vein are done in detached blanket stitch. You do this by stitching long stitched to the shape of the vein then doing blanket stitch over the main vein and you end with this

Next is to work the lily, so once again, draw the shape on some scrap fabric, mount in the hoop and edge the outline with detached long and short blanket stitch like this

You then fill the middle with long and short stitch, to get a nice point I always use a fly stitch to start off to make that point crisp, do the same for the 2nd lily and you get with this

Now you need to cut these lily's out, so cut as close to the edge of the stitching as you can, I then took a piece of cake wire, and dipped the end in yellow paint to make a stamen,

when that had dried I put it in the lily and curled the bottom of the lily over the wire and secured with a few stitches.

I laid the lily in place on the ground fabric and made a few stitches in white thread to secure it, then changed to the green to couch the stem wire down.

i did the same with the 2nd lily then used the green to overcast the stem wires.

Next is the Natal Lilly, the stems are made with bullions ( we have covered this before) some of the bullions are 45 wraps, some are 50 wraps, you need to use a milliners needle for bullions because the needle does not taper so the wraps will slip nicely off the needle.

I then used the pink ribbon to make short flat stitches for the flowers, I then used DMC 760 to make small seed stitches and small French knots (2 wraps) around the base of the Natal Lilly.

I then changed to to DMC 368 and made some small seed stitches around the base of the pokers and went back and did some more securing of the free floating stems of the red hot pokers just to make sure.

So we end with this

So this concludes Panel 7.

Next Panel - Fuchsias - See you next time.