Sake Boxes - Gold Centres

I had not intended to do any of the gold work on Sake Boxes until all of the silk embroidery was finished but when I had done all of the silk embroidery on the central flowers it stuck me that it would be better to do their gold centres before I did the surrounding flowers.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

I marked some guide lines to help me with the placement of the couching stitches. A pair of gold threads are couched in a spiral starting at the outer edge and finishing in the middle.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

The first flower that I worked is almost in the very centre of the fabric and beyond my comfortable reach. I took my time and tried to keep the threads close together. I thought that I had done quite well but when I stood up and looked straight down I could see that there was a small gap between the pairs of threads.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

The next flower (the red one in this picture) is just that little bit closer and I felt more comfortable stitching it. The white one is closer still but its irregular shape made it more difficult for me to stitch.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

And the next one has an even more irregular shape. I am not sure if I like the way I have stitched this one.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

By the time I stitched the last centre in this group of flowers I was starting to get a feel for working with gold threads again.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

The gold centres really finish these round chrysanthemums off nicely. I can begin to see how this piece is going to look when it is eventually finished.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Happy Stitching.