Today I bring you another lovely tutorial on how to stitch flowers. The Forget Me Not floral embroidery is a perfect example of raised embroidery. This pattern is free for you to download and use to embellish garments, table runners, handkerchiefs, or napkins, perfect to add that extra touch of cottagecore goodness to your stuff.
I used this pattern to create a lovely picnic basket cover, which we’ll explore in more detail in this tutorial. Enjoy and thank you to the lovely ladies who requested this tutorial.
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PROJECT SIZE: approx. 10x9cm (4×3.64in)
STITCHES USED: Looped Bullion Knot, French Knot, Outline Stitch, Fishbone Stitch, Straight Stitch
This design is using quite a few basic stitches, with the bullion knot stealing the show. We’ll be stitching the flowers using a looped variation of the bullion knot, which is a great choice for raised flowers and gorgeous textures.
If you’re not familiar with the basic stitches you can check the stitches videos section of the blog. As for the looped bullion knot, I suggest you practice the stitch a few times before working on this pattern.
Tools and Materials
Some of the materials we’ll be using during this tutorial are the usual ones, others depend a lot on the item you’ll be embroidering.
You can find gorgeous already-made garments, table runners, and napkins to embroider on. If you’re more adventurous, you can make them yourself.
- Forget me not pattern – free download from my Free Pattern Library
- Linen, linen blend, or cotton fabric
- Stranded cotton embroidery thread
- Embroidery needle – Milliner size 3
- Scissors
- (optional) Crochet lace ribbon
Download the Forget Me Not Design
Download the floral pattern from my Free Pattern Library.
To get access to the Free Pattern Library fill out the form below and I will send you an email with your password. You can read more about my Free Pattern Library here.
The pattern you have downloaded is full size, so when printed on the A4 paper will have the exact size to fit into a 7inch hoop. You just need to have the Fill Entire Paper option selected.
Note: If you do not own a printer, you can just trace the pattern on A4 paper, then trace it onto your fabric using your preferred tracing method.
Stitch Color Palette
For this pattern, we’ll be using a complementary color combination consisting of blue (DMC 3842), yellow-orange (DMC 444), and yellow-green (DMC 471 and DMC 936).
If you’re going to create your own color palette just remember that the complementary color of blue is orange. So for a harmonious result, you’ll want to use a yellow-orange and a yellowish-green.
For the leaves choose a light green, otherwise, the blue flowers will get lost and not properly stand out from the background.
Similar Color Palettes
- Romantic Landscape Stitch Color Palette
- Sakura Tree Stitch Color Palette
- Mystical Rose Stitch Color Palette
Stitching the Flowers
We’ll start by stitching the blue flowers using the looped bullion knot stitch. You’ll notice in the downloaded pattern that each flower is represented by a dot. Those dots will become our flowers. Around each dot, we’ll stitch 3 petals, more exactly 3 looped bullion knots.
The most important aspect when embroidering knotty stitches is to use the right needles, which are the Milliners needles.
Use all six strands of DMC 3842 and a Milliner needle size 3.
Bring your needle up where you want the bullion knot to start. This will be slightly next to the dot in the design. The dot will later become the yellow center of our flower.
If you’re right-handed, take the needle down slightly at the right of where you initially came up, and bring it back up, pinching just a bit of the fabric. Bring the needle partially back up.
If you’re left-handed, you’ll be taking the needle down slightly at the left of where you initially came up, and back up, pinching just a bit of the fabric in the same manner as above.
Hold the needle firmly and wrap the thread round the needle 20 times. When wrapping the thread around the needle work very gently. If you’re applying to much pressure and the thread is wrapped too tight, it will be very hard to pull out the needle.
Lightly pinch the wrapped thread between thumb and forefinger and gently draw the needle through until you feel resistance. Relax your pinching fingers to reveal the knot.
Take the needle back down very close to where you started the bullion knot and draw the thread through to complete your first petal.
With your first petal done, stitch another one right next to it, using the exact same method.
If you feel the need, take the time to practice a few bullion knots before you start stitching this pattern. Once you get used to it, you’ll absolutely love it and often use it in raised floral embroideries.
Now that we stitched 2 of our petals, it’s time to complete the first flower and stitch the third bullion knot. Let’s go through the process one more time.
Turn your hoop around, and bring your needle up where you want the third petal to start.
Take the needle down slightly at the right (or at the left if you are left-handed) of where you initially came up, and pinch just a bit of the fabric. Bring the needle partially back up.
Hold the needle firmly and gently wrap the thread around the needle 20 times.
Lightly pinch the wrapped thread between your thumb and forefinger and gently draw the needle through until you feel resistance. Relax your pinching fingers to reveal the knot.
Take the needle back down very close to where you started this third bullion knot and draw the thread through to complete the petal.
In the middle of the flower stitch a french knot using 6 strands of DMC 444, by wrapping the thread around the needle 2 times. We are still using the Milliner size 3 needle.
Repeat the same process and add in the center of each flower a small yellow french knot.
Before stitching the middle of our flowers, don’t be afraid to use your fingers and flat out or adjust a bit the bullion knots/petals. They will not break, and this will help you better see where to emerge and stitch the yellow french knots.
The idea for this pattern is to create a crowded floral bouquet with a lot of dimension and texture, thus there are a lot of dots placed very close to each other.
In some cases, you won’t have enough space for 3 petals, and that’s totally fine. Just stitch 2 bullion knots and a french knot in the middle. They’ll still look amazing and create that crowded effect we’re after.
Stitching the Leaves and Buds
Thread your needle with 6 strands of DMC 936 and stitch the stems using the outline stitch. I used the same Milliner needle size 3 for the rest of the work.
Stitch the leaves using the fishbone stitch and 6 strands of DMC 471 – the lighter green.
To fill the green section of the buds, I used the same light green and short straight stitches.
Lastly, switch back to the blue shade, and stitch the tiny blue buds using straight stitches and 6 strands of DMC 3842.
Same as the embroidered jar cover, once my embroidery was completed, I backstitched the lace ribbon to the margins of the fabric.
And this is how my picnic basket cover turned out.
Love it!!!
Remember that you can download the floral pattern from the Free Pattern Library. To access it just fill out the form below and I will send you an email with your password.
If you’re looking for more flower inspiration, don’t miss out on the flower coloring pages article. Even though they’re not exactly embroidery patterns, you can totally tweak them for cool hand embroidery projects and use the same techniques and stitches covered in this tutorial.
More Articles You’ll Love
- Embroidered French Knot Flower Bouquet
- 19 Cottagecore Styles and Subgenres
- Embroidered Strawberry Jar Cover
- Cottagecore 101: Beginner’s Guide to an Enchanting Lifestyle
Did you try this project? Come over to our Facebook Group and show everyone your magic!
SAVE THIS FOR LATER? ADD THIS FLORAL PATTERN TO YOUR FAVOURITE PINTEREST BOARD
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