Embroidery flowers

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Flowers are one of the most appreciated aspects of nature and it is no surprise that they are a perfect subject for delicate embroidery flowers. Wildflowers, garden flowers, a bouquet of flowers or a little beauty picked especially for you can all be transferred onto an embroidery canvas of your choice.

How do you choose the perfect stitch to represent your embroidery flowers? There are so many creative stitches, but often, keeping it simple by choosing basic embroidery stitches can yield the best results.

If you are new to embroidery, read my article on how to embroider for tips on tools, basic stitches and starting and ending.

Further Reading:

Shop Sewing Patterns by Treasurie

Embroidery Flowers – Tools

HOOP – Embroidery flowers are easiest to sew when the fabric is held tight in a hoop. This prevents pulling and puckering of the fabric. Hoops can be small or large and can be moved around on larger pieces of fabric.

THREAD – Embroidery flowers can be sewn with embroidery floss which is normally divided into 1 to 6 strands. 1 strand will give really fine delicate flowers and 6 strands will give a slightly thicker chunkier look. I always use 6 strands but you may have more patience and prefer a finer look.

NEEDLE – Choose an embroidery needle suitable for the thickness of your thread and the type of fabric you are stitching. Embroidery needles have a large eye to make threading easier. A needle threader may also help you thread tricky needles.

PATTERNS – Flower designs can be hand-drawn on your fabric or traced using a lightbox or brightly lit window.

FABRIC – Embroidery is often best done on fabric with an open weave so the needle and thread can easily pass through. Linen, calico and Aida are commonly used fabrics for embroidery. For my samples, I used an unbleached calico.

Embroidery Flowers – Stitches

Here are 14 stitches you can use for embroidery flowers. Some can be used by themselves and many can be combined to give unique looks.

Backstitch

Backstitch is an easy way to outline flowers and create simple designs. It can be combined with backstitched leaves and stems.

Backstitch is a strong stitch and due to its short stitch length, the threads are unlikely to catch making it more durable than some other stitches.

backstitch embroidery leaves — Backstitch Embroidery Leaves

Use this stitch in combinations with other stitches like the satin stitch to outline and define flower edges.

Full Article: How to do Backstitch

Blanket Stitch

Blanket stitch will always be a hit for covering petals and at the same time proving an edge or outline for the flower petal.

Stitch close together or far apart as you see what is going to produce the best effect for your embroidered flower.

Full Article: How to do Blanket Stitch

Buttonhole stitch

This stitch gives flowers a very nice defined edge. Work the buttonhole stitch around a circle to make wheel flowers. The center can be closed up or left open to add French knots. My sample flowers have a gap between each stitch but you can join them together for a solid look.

The difference between blanket stitch and buttonhole stitch is that the buttonhole gives a more defined and knotted edge.

Draw a donut shape and work your way around the edge.

When wrapping the embroidery thread around the needle, remember to pull outwards to form the knotted edge.

Full Article: How to do Buttonhole Stitch

Chain Stitch

Chain stitch can be used for embroidery flowers to outline designs or to create stems and long petals.

For a closed chain stitch make points 1 and 2 as close together as you can. For a more open stitch these points can be further apart.

Full Article: How to do Chain Stitch

Couching

Couching is not a common stitch for embroidery flowers but can be used to sew chunky, textured outlines.

Use several strands of embroidery floss or yarn for the surface thread. (green in the sample below)

Full Article: How to do Couching Stitch

Cross Stitch

Cross stitch can be used to create embroidery flowers. It looks best when done in multiple thread colors rather than block colors. You can purchase floral cross stitch patterns or create your own.

Open weave fabrics such as linen or Aida are used for cross stitch making it easier to count the threads across. In my cross stitch article l also show you a quick method that can be used when larger areas need to be covered.

Full Article: How to do Cross Stitch

Lazy Daisy

Lazy daisy or detached chain stitch is an obvious choice for embroidery flowers. The name gives it a floral connection before you even start. This versatile stitch can be used to depict a round flower shape or spread along a stem for a spray of petals.

For fuller petals, don’t pull the loop too tight. The length of the petal is determined by the length from point (2) to (3).

Full Article: How to do a Lazy Daisy

Long and Short Stitch

Short and long stitch (also called brick stitch) is done with alternating long and short stitches interlocked in the same way bricks are laid. The advantage of this stitch over satin stitch is that it produces finer looking work with threads that are less likely to catch.

The stitches look similar to those produced by an embroidery sewing machine.

French Knots

Bullion knots and French knots are useful for filling in small spaces, creating rosebuds or putting the central spot to a flower such as a daisy.

They are often used for flowers with small petals or clusters of flowers like lavender.

The size of the knot is determined by the number of twists of the thread around the needle. Remember to always twist away from your body.

Full Article: How to do French Knots

Running Stitch

Running stitch is really effective for quick and easy flowers and suits larger less detailed designs.

Running stitch is done in a simple up and down motion and for most people, it is stitched right to left.

Embroidery flowers can be done in running stitch with or without a hoop. For sewing without a hoop it is possible to take several stitches at once, cutting down the time taken.

Full Article: How to do Running Stitch

Satin Stitch

Satin stitch is probably one of the most popular stitches for flower embroidery. It is a great filler stitch and will mold itself to the shape of the flower. A variation, padded satin stitch, will give more fullness to the flower.

Here I used satin stitch for the center of the flower but you can use it for petals too.

Always start in the center and work out towards the edges. This makes it easier to maintain a nice shape. If you wish to have more definition to the edges, use a backstitch around the outline.

Full Article: How to do Satin Stitch

Seed Stitch

Seed stitch flowers can be done in conjunction with a backstitch border. This simple up and down stitch is done in a random fashion and is used to fill larger areas. It can also be used underneath satin stitch to create a padded or raised look.

Seed stitch is essentially a running stitch done in singular random positions.

Full Article: How to do Seed Stitch

Straight Stitch

Straight stitch flowers are one of the easiest flowers you can do. Just start in the center and sew radiating spokes out. You can have as many or as few petals as you wish. In my sample here I left a gap in the center but you can close this up if you wish.

Full Article: How to do Straight Stitch

Web Stitch

Whipped spider web or wagon wheel stitches turn into beautiful flowers instantly. These delicate rounds make great fillers in a garden scene or bouquet of flowers.

To create pretty roses, weave the second color all the way to the edge and make sure the weaving is dense. These flowers look great in variegated thread colors to give a more realistic look. In my sample, I combined the web stitch rose with chain stitch embroidery leaves.

Full Article: How to do Web Stitch

Embroidery Flowers – In Conclusion

There is no end to the beautiful combinations you can create with embroidery flowers. With names like stem stitch, lazy daisy, spider web stitch and fly stitch you are bound to find something to suit your floral embroidered art.

Now you know how to stitch embroidery flowers, you will need some leaves to match. Read all about embroidery leaves.

Embroidery flowers | The 14 Easiest for Beginners