How to Embroider a Daisy

Daisies are easy to draw. The flowers have bright round yellow centers surrounded by oval petals. They are quite easy to embroider and make a great first project for people who are beginning to design their own patterns. The time it takes to embroider a daisy will vary according to how large you draw your flower. Here is a step by step guide that you can use whether you are embroidering one large daisy on a hand towel or making a bunch of small daisies to decorate the hem of a pillow case.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Cotton or linen fabric
• Wooden or metal embroidery hoop
• Needle
• Yellow embroidery floss
• White embroidery floss (or pink or blue for "painted" daisies)
• Light green embroidery floss
• Dark green embroidery floss
• Scissors
• Masking tape
• Iron
• ironing board
• ballpoint pen

1. Cut the cotton or linen fabric to the size that you want plus enough more to create a one inch margin. Iron the fabric and allow it to cool. Then, attach masking tape along the top, bottom, and side edges of the fabric on the front of the fabric. Turn it over. Put more masking tap along the top, bottom, and side edges of the back of the fabric. The masking tape acts to stabilize the fabric and to prevent it from fraying while you are embroidering. It should look like a frame.

2. Use a ballpoint pen to draw the daisy. The center should be a circle. Fill the center with several dots that are each as big as when you dot your letter "i" in the middle of the circle. Make each dot about 1/16th inch away from the next. Surround the center with the petals. These should be ovals whose outer tips are triangular instead of round. Separate each petal with a gap that is about a third the width of one of the petals. Draw a line for the stem. The line should be about three times the length of the flower. Place one leaf on each side of the step. The leaves can be larger versions of the petals- ovals with the outer tip pointed like the top of a triangle. Draw a center line with a few veins radiating out from that line going from the base of each leaf to the pointed tip.

3. Place the round side of the embroidery hoop under the fabric. Place the adjustible side of the embroidery hoop on top of the family. Squeeze the two sides of the hoop together and tighten it until the fabric is like the top of a tambourine. This gives you the tension that you need to embroider neatly without creating wrinkles in the fabric.

4. Embroider the petals using white, blue or pink embroidery floss. The floss is sold in skeins that are six threads thick. Cut a length of floss that is about 18 inches long. Then, pull the threads apart so that you have three pieces of floss that each is made up of two threads. Thread the needle. Fold the thread over the needle so you can embroider using a piece that is two threads thick. Knot the other end. Insert your needle from the wrong side of the fabric so that the knot remains on the back. Bring it through to the left side of the bottom of one of the petals. Pull the thread straight across the width of the petal and push the needle back through the fabric at the opposite side of the petal. Pull the thread across the back side of the fabric so that the needle comes up on the same side as it did at first. Do not pull too tight or the fabric will curl up between the stitches. Repeat crossing the thread on the top of the fabric and then back on the back of the fabric going in little horizontal stitches until the whole petal is filled. This is called the satin stitch. Repeat until each petal is completely filled with stitches.

5. Fill the center of the daisy with yellow French knots. Use embroidery floss that is two threads thick for fat knots and one thread thick for more delicate knots. Push the needle up from the bottom of the fabric so that it comes up in one of the dots. Wind two or three loops of thread around the shaft of the needle. Then, reinsert it right next to where it emerged. Come back up in the next dot. Continue until all of the dots are covered with French knots.

6. Stitch the stem using dark green embroidery floss that is two threads thick. The stitch will be similar to the kind you use to hem a skirt by hand. Pull the needle up from the back of the fabric at the bottom of the stem. Push it back down about 1/8th inch, away at a slight angle that crosses the stem. Wrap the stem with short diagonal stitches so that each new stitch starts on the same side of the stem and goes back down through the fabric on the other side of the stem. Use the same technique to stitch the outside edges of the leaves. Use the same stitch with the lighter green floss to work the veins inside the leaves.

7. Remove the embroidery hoop. Tuck all the thread ends into stitches on the back side of the picture. Hand wash the piece. Iron it on the back side of the picture before framing it or sewing it into a larger quilt.