Day 5 and 6

So I got this far and realised that I didn't like it at all. The leaves are all wrong and had the awful realisation that if I was going to be happy with it that I had to start again.

I have really appreciated everyones kind comments and that you have stuck with this as it isn't the most exciting of posts but I sort of feel I have to keep going now till its finished.

Anyway, I redrew the design on the silk, outlined the leaf and started again using a satin stitch on the leaf to make it look a lot more glossy. The leaf did look glossy but it was the wrong shape. Lily of the Valley have faintly stripey leaves which was the problem in the first piece. I got the leaves all wrong. I had an idea that I could use long thin sections of satin stitch to give the stripes. The first set of stripes is 2 strands of cotton in mid green . The second is one stand of mid and one strand of pale green. The 3rd set of stripes is 2 strands of pale green. This gives it shading. This photo is of the 2 leaves side by side to compare. Now I unpicked the first leaf and redid it in the striped satin stitch.

Then I added the stalks. I feel happier with it now. Happier with it than I did at this stage with the first one. I knew something was wrong with it but I couldn't put my finger on it. Hopefully I will get it right this time.