Flannel Flower tote

My apologies for a font variation in this post which I have been unable to resolve. 

Ink and Spindle recently released a new linen, printed this time with flannel flowers. 

Actinotus helianthi, for readers outside Australia, are native to our East Coast, particularly around the Sydney area. The flowers are usually 5-8 cm across and have a furry texture - a bit like flannel. The centres appear greenish from a distance and the leaves grey. On close inspection they have blue, yellow, grey and beige elements. They were very much part of my childhood and I have always loved them.

Ink and Spindle have produced this linen in several colour ways and I bought two of them with a view to making tote bags. 

I wanted to add a little embroidery, but not much, to keep the beauty of the linen print to the fore. I thought I would just embroider one flower centre on each side and checked lots of photos of flannel flowers online first to decide what threads to use. 

To my surprise, I discovered there is a pink flannel flower, Actinotus forsythii, which I have never seen. It is less common, but germinates in strength after fire, and has been prolific in the Blue Mountains since the 2020 fires.

I decided to use this as my colour way for the Spice linen piece and the conventional greeny colours for the other piece. 

French knots were a no-brainer, so I used various shades of pink perle 5 cotton to embroider one centre. I began in a very literal manner, using the printed pattern and working from a dark centre to lighter in the background.  While I was pleased with the result, a closer look at photographs suggested the colours weren't as ordered as that, so I varied the arrangement when I tackled the other side.

This got closer to the photographs but it still misses the hazy effect. The dark centres are also still too regulated. Variegated thread might work if I found the right range. This doesn't need to be realistic but it's satisfying to keep experimenting.

I did most of this stitching at night, and found the directional light I recently bought at Aptos Cruz was very helpful in this detailed colour work.

I stuck with my notion of only embroidering one centre on each side of the bag. I found some plain linen to both line and create handles, sides and base.  Construction was straightforward, particularly as I was able to use a single strip for the sides and base.  

I'm delighted with this result. I think the colours work well and the single centre embroidery feels right to me.

This bag is also squarer than I usually make - cut a little shorter in length to accommodate the fabric cut. I really like the shape. It is still practical and certainly fits this design. I have enough linen to make two bags this size in each colour. It might even become my default.

I'm now turning my attention to the other colour way, what Ink and Spindle call 'Flannel flower in Fennel and Saltbush'.