Finally gave my friend her maternity gift. You can see it in the featured image completed. I started with getting the inspiration on February 15th. So this was a present a long time in the making.
I took pictures as I went to help keep me motivated, especially on the large blocks of color. I made the design and then worked my way through it in my free time. First, I designed the pieces on paper, went over my pencil marks with sharpie, and then cutout the circles. I traced the pattern onto the cotton fabric with pencil. Originally the three pieces were going to be on a single piece of fabric. However, when I had gone to tighten the fabric for the second section, it ripped. Thankfully the rip was far enough away from the first section that I could salvage it. However, I did have to redo the tree trunk. Regardless, I worked my way through the design with almost entirely backstitches.
With this project, I found my way back to embroidery after many years of hiatus, which I should mention was a result of my naive use of regular sewing thread for embroidery purposes. If you wish to get into embroidery, I highly recommend using actual embroidery floss. It will take you far less time and you will be less likely to give up in impatience. At least, that seems to be the case for me. I have gotten better about making quicker work of the design. I will say though that I need to work harder on choosing the right length for the design so that I don’t waste thread in the future. Regardless, I was able to get this gift done for my friend and she loves so that is all that I can ask.
unknownclimate 