Embroidery, take 2

A while back I posted a picture of a sample button for this suit. I’d selected an embroidery file I liked, and have been working with it on and off to create designs I wanted to use on this project. I haven’t really been happy with any of the combinations I’ve worked up.

I was originally very excited about this embroidery file in particular because it was all in chain stitch, like the inspiration photo, and it had both pink roses and a blue flower. It seemed to have some interesting possibilities for using pink on the suit and blue on the waistcoat.

I’ve finally had to accept a couple things about this file. First.. it’s just horribly complicated to find a pleasing arrangement that uses pink on the blue suit, but pink AND blue on the cream waistcoat. If I don’t use pink on the waistcoat it feels like two disconnected pieces, and the blue flowers disappear on the blue silk. So I’m going to only use the pink roses.

Which brings me to the next issue. I think the pink roses I am using look sort of mushy and shapeless much of the time. I keep stitching them out in different color combinations and sizes and I haven’t really fallen in love with them yet. I do love that they are in chain stich, but I think that is also the root of the problem.

So back to the drawing board, as they say. My choices of embroidery files are slim. Of the handful that are suitable for waistcoats, a couple just don’t appeal to me aesthetically. One of them is quite nice as far as layout, but I was unhappy with the stitch quality. I thought I had stitched out all of the files, but couldn’t find a stitch out of one last pattern. So I stitched out a sample and I love it!

I’ll be using bits and pieces from multiple files and patterns, but the main design elements will be a chain stitch loopy braid pattern and satin stitch roses. Now back to editing and combining files on the computer.