O.K. Bad Idea . . .

Remember this little flower - from the "Butterflies in My Heart" design  - Ruth Griffith's design for Millefiori?

I wrote about it here. It turned out that this wasn't the best idea I've ever had. For one thing, the red I used (#101) bled and bled and didn't want to stop AT ALL - and I didn't have two weeks of time to let it soak in cool water, as recommended. This was the center row of stitches and I had a bright idea that I could just snip it out and substitute a different color ...one that wouldn't bleed.

As I was working, somewhere in there my scissors managed to snip the Nymo nylon thread holding those little Swarki beads. Now, as a hobby beader, I really DO know that when you work with Swarovski crystals, it's a good idea to use a thread like Fireline. But the Nymo was handy, so . . .

Now I have TWO things to fix - two times, once on each side of the embroidery.

So I substituted a round of size 11/o seed beads (pink matte that I'd used elsewhere on the embroidery), overlapping as I would when stitching a bullion rose. And I substituted a 4mm. Czech fire polish bead in the center. These beads have have smoother edges and almost as much sparkle as a Swarovski.

I actually like this flower MUCH better:

Speaking of Nymo (nylon beading thread), this little butterfly bead had a hole which I used, but I wanted it attached more securely so stitched across the body a couple of times. The Nymo was white. So I pulled out my blue Sharpie pen and just colored it over:

This is a picture of the design's focal flower - Ruth's Art Nouveau Lily. Ruth stitches hers with Iris. I used a Kreinik Cord and the 1/8" light pink Kreinik ribbon (It's very relaxing to "lay" ribbon floss), and I added size 11/o beads for the stamens. This is mine:

And this is Ruth's original (instructions included with the design):

Ruth added a bit of padding beneath the lower petal. I liked using the Kreinik cord because it was stiff enough that it was easily shaped.







Here's a picture of the finished embroidery - my version of "Butterflies in My Heart," a Millefiori design by Ruth Griffith. If you'd like to order one and start stitching yourself, just contact me here.

I hope you will also try different stitches, different fibers, and other creative ideas to your Brazilian dimensional embroidery stitching projects. Always be willing to try something new and make the project truly your own.

Rosalie