Monday Project - Embroidered Marigolds

 This past spring, like usual, I planted quite a few pots of marigolds.  My favorites are the two toned darker flowers with a lighter orange shot through!  It's usually a pretty good flower for our summer heat, as long as it gets shade for part of the day and I keep it well watered, and most summers most of my pots make it.  But not this year ...  I've been missing those bright orange spots in my yard, so when I dyed one of my thrift store white shirts a nice turquoise and was trying to think of what to embroider across the bodice, I decided on marigolds.  Plus, orange looks so nice on turquoise - being a complementary color really makes it stand out!

Materials:
*something to embroider on!  I dyed the white, cotton knit shirt I had with Procion turquoise.  If you're new to using this, see this past post here.  I didn't want as vibrant a turquoise as this usually gives, so I used about 3/4 of the called for dye.
*embroidery thread - dark rusty orange, a lighter rusty orange, deep yellow, cream, green

1.  First, I embroidered basic flowers across the bodice using a daisy stitch, 2 strands of thread, and the lighter orange.  I tried not to space them evenly - just sort of haphazardly.

2.  Next, I went back and added additional flower petals using the darker orange.  I then embroidered additional flowers scattered among the ones already there.  This time I used the darker orange ...

3. ... and went back and added additional flower petals using the lighter orange.

4.  Using the cream and 1 strand of thread, I added airborne flower seeds by making two daisy stitches and putting a stem at the bottom with one running stitch.

5.  I added leaves, using the green, daisy stitches, and two strands of thread.

6.  Last, I put 1 to 3 french knots in the center of each flower, using the yellow and two strands of thread with three wraps.

And tada!  I'm ready to face the rest of summer's heat with my new marigold shirt!

Happy Creating!  Deborah