Fake Spring

The piles of snow we got last week are nearly all gone now.  The sun shone brightly, and by comparison, it felt like spring.  Of course, it is not.  This is fake spring.  I needed this little boost, though, and I took the opportunity to dig through my stash for some springy floral fabrics. Stitching on a floral can be tricky.  Here are a few of our favorite ways to stitch on floral prints.  

When I am looking at floral prints for stitching, I tend to consider three options: emphasize it, put a grid on it, or put it in the background.

Here are just a few of the floral prints in my stash.

Option One is to emphasize it.  Look for large, bold prints with options for adding hand stitched details.  Can you use an outline to make a tone on tone floral stand out?  Can you fill in the petals?  Or does your fabric have little dashed lines made for stitching?  I’m surprised when I look back through my photos to see so many little dashed lines on florals!

Adding some simple straight stitches was a great choice for this fabric.

This subtle tone on tone print really pops with some dark outlines.

Those dashed lines were perfect for adding some Running Stitch.

Option Two is to add one of the many plaid stitches to create a trellis effect.  Look for a small floral print and on a grid is even better.  I love a piece like this for adding interest to a wall of hoops - especially between hand stitching that looks like a picture.  This technique would make a beautiful and interesting patch for mending, too.

Even though this floral print is scattered, it still looks great behind a trellis grid.

Trellis and Cross Filling Stitch

This print had a lot of space between the flowers, so I added a simple grid.

Option Three is to use a subtle floral print or one with a lot of spacing between the flowers to stitch whatever you want!  These prints are a good background for lettering.  Or you could add even more flowers.  Or really anything - an owl or a silhouette or a potted plant.  You name it and I think a subtle floral can only add to the finished piece.

Stitching some beads onto these flowers is adding a lot of texture and interest.

Using the floral print as a background made this project super fast.

Using the subtle leafy print as a background, I added some French Knot flowers.

Do you like stitching on florals?  Tag us on Instagram and show us your work.  We’ll keep stitching our way until it is finally REAL spring.

These dashed lines are perfect for adding some texture to this print.

The white lines around the leaves and flowers are great for following along. You can really change the look by playing with the colors.

This fun floral print is perfect for adding lot of colorful details.