Long and short leaf 2

In my previous post, I’d already shown you on how I embroidered a leaf following the long and short stitch direction   rules.Today, I would like to show you another leaf that I’d embroidered using the same rules.

      

The shape of this leaf is different compared to the previous one.As usual, the directional lines were drawn from the outline towards point O.

      

This time, I’m not going to draw directional lines on the leaf.As I’d revealed in my previous post, it’s easier to hold the thread towards point O and stitch into that direction.The leaf was outlined with outline stitch.Work long and short stitch from the tip of the leaf to the base.

      

Work the same on the right side.

      

Continue in the same manner for the remaining rows.

      

I’d left some gaps for the veins.

      

Stem stitch was my first choice for the veins but when worked with this stitch, they didn’t look realistic.So, I decided to try this method.I’d always wanted to try it but kept putting it off because I felt it was time consuming.But in the end, the time spent was worth it because the veins look real (though I need to practice this stitch more to get a smooth line!).

Long and short leaf

In my previous post, I’d written on stitch direction of long and short stitches.To see whether the method really works, I decided to embroider a leaf.To those of you who wants to learn the right way of embroidering a long and short leaf, please click here.  For this leaf, I’d used one strand of stranded cotton and 2 strands for the veins.

  

Draw a leaf and also lines from the outline pointing towards O.I’d outline the leaf with outline stitch.Work long stitches on the lines.

  

Work long and short stitches on the left from the middle to the base and from the middle to the tip.

  

The same was done on the right side.

  

This is the result after 2 or 3 rows.

  

A darker shade was used here.

  

Embroider the vein using stem stitch.

  

Decided to add more veins (straight stitches), though they should be embroidered before working the mid-vein.

Although the directional lines are there, more than once I ‘lost’ my way.In the process, I found a simpler method – just point your thread towards point O each time and stitch.My work became easier and faster.Next, I’ll show you how I’m going to embroider a long and short leaf without drawing the directional lines.

Long and short stitch direction

My long and short stitch is far from perfect.So, in order to improve on this stitch and to learn more on needle painting, I did some research on the internet and found an exciting article on stitch direction for flowers and leaves.Please click here   to read the article.

  

Although it stated the need to draw circles, that’s not necessary.Just find the point of attachment between the flower/leaf and its stem (point O) and draw straight lines from this point to the outline of the petal/leaf.These are the directional lines when working the long and short stitch.

  

After reading the article, I knew I had to experiment and find out myself if it really works.My first attempt was to embroider a simple leaf and the result is what you see in the picture above.I’ll show you the step by step pictures of this leaf in my next post.

 I found some more great tips from the same website :

*Parallel veined vegetation is the largest exception.(I’m not really sure what it means but I think for leaves with parallel veins, you can’t follow the stitch direction rules and the stitch has to be worked parallel to the veins)

*For turn-over leaf – slant the stitch from the edge in the direction which would reach the center IF THE LEAF WERE LAID OUT SMOOTH.

Well, I’ll love to hear from you.How do you work your long and short stitch?