Remembrance Poppies

I'm beginning somewhere near the end, because the photo shows some up flaws, but still, I think, looks good.

I bought the kit for this project from Inspirations 109. My first problem was the colour of the poppy. I should have picked up from the magazine photo that there was a great deal of orange in the colour of the poppy. When the kit arrived, both the fabric and the thread were decidedly orange.  As the article points out, the red of remembrance poppies represents the blood of the fallen. I couldn't live with orange. Just before I set out to buy replacement thread, I checked my stash and found an excellent red silk that would do the job. It is  Soie Cristale, by Caron, part, I think, of a monthly thread pack that Katherine gave me for my birthday a couple of years ago. It is lovely to work with and the perfect colour.

I was not so worried about the fabric, as it was to be covered with stitching. As a background on which to work red it was OK.  I also wanted to make two poppies. There was enough fabric to do this if I placed the petals carefully.

I read the instructions several times but couldn't find anything telling me how many strands of thread to use. Eventually I experimented and settled for two strands for couching and three for the long and short fill. Eventually I found the instruction, right at the very beginning of the article, in the "Before you begin" section! I should have used 1 strand throughout, but by then I had finished the embroidery. I must be getting old!

The leaves were a somewhat tricky shape to cover, and the small hoop meant holding it in my hand, never good for RSI,  but the fabric was good to work with and it wasn't a lengthy task.

The centre is a bead, covered with thread. I was still working with several strands of silk when I did the first one and getting the needle through was tricky. By the time I did the second one, I had found the 1 strand instruction. This made it easier, but gave problems with coverage. There is also a tiny piece of felt, glued over the top of the bead and stitched down. Even more tricky.

The first one is a bit wonky. The second one is better.

Cutting out and assembling took time and patience, but worked.

As you can tell from these photos, the edges of the petals show white threads. This is because the background fabric has quite a lot of white in it.  The green background thread is dyed all the way through, so doesn't present the same problem.  There was no way of avoiding the white threads in the petals as I cut away the excess fabric against the wires, no matter how closely I cut.    

The pin on the back is mounted on felt, pin stitched to help hold the whole thing in place ( I can't get the colour right on this photo - pink=red!)

I resolved the white thread issue in the end with the help of a Porcelain felt pen, just gently touching up the white threads around the edge of the petals.

This is the improvement from the photo with which I began this post. 

There have been quite a few trials in making these, but I think they are fit for purpose - a lapel pin for wearing on Anzac Day or Remembrance Day. One for me, one as a gift.