This week's block is one of my favorites—mainly because it has the cast-on stitch as the center focal point. The cast-on stitch can be a little tricky, but once you get the hang of it, you can do so many things with it. It is a cousin to the bullion stitch and is often used in Brazilian embroidery. The leaves in this block are also a favorite, because we have taken a basic stitch and amped it up by using two colors and two different types of thread. So without further ado, let's get started!
Block 4: Rose Flower
As in the previous blocks, we marked our stems using a light box or window and then hooped our block when doing the stitches for the stems.
Stitches used:
Cast-on, Hungarian braided chain, fly, and stem stitch
The cast-on stitch is, as I said, similar to the bullion stitch. It is helpful to use a milliners needle for this stitch, as the eye has the same width as the shaft of the needle, allowing for the wraps to pass the eye more easily.
We will set the groundwork for our cast-on stitches by surrounding the center with blanket stitches in varying lengths forming an arc for each petal as shown below.
If you are a knitter, then the "cast-on" action might not be a problem for you. It is probably a little hard to show in pictures, so take a look at the videos we have linked for this stitch as well.
Come up on a small blanket stitch. |
Bring your needle down on the other small blanket stitch and back out where you came up. |
I hold my needle straight up and take my working thread and make my first loop/wrap. |
The working thread needs to be underneath the loop. |
Make enough wraps to curve over the blanket stitch arc. Each stitch on the large flower has 25 wraps, 20 for the medium, and 16 for the small. That may vary depending on what thread you use. |
When you have all your wraps on your needle, hold on to the wraps and pull the needle through. |
Lay your wraps over the arc. You will need to bring your needle underneath the wraps as shown so that the stitch lays flat and that the ridges are on top. |
Bring the needle down in the same spot that you came out before. |
We are going to anchor our cast-on stitch by coming up underneath it at the top of our longest blanket stitch. |
Bring your needle down in the cast-on stitch just below the ridge. |
The finished cast-on stitch. |
As we did in the heavy chain stitch, make a small stitch at the top of the line, and then back up on the line below the stitch. |
Bring the back of your needle through the stitch. |
Come back up a little below the stitch again. |
Bring your needle to the back leaving two loops on either side of the chain as shown. |
Bring the back of your needle through the little stitch at the top, but don't pull it all the way through. |
Bring the needle up on the line below the stitch. |
Bring the back of the needle under the inner chain and over the outer chain. |
Pull the working thread snugly against the needle. |
Bring the needle through leaving a loop on the right. |
Complete the chain and leave a loop on the left. |
Come up below the stitches on the line. |
Bring the back of the needle under the inner chain and over the outer chain. |
Pull the working thread snugly against the needle. Continue on down the stem repeating the same steps. |