Stitch Flowers: Blanket Stitch

Stitch flowers using the Blanket Stitch.

Blanket Stitch works great for small flowers. In fact, this stitch can be any beginner’s delight to use over a flower. This pattern is inspired by the lovely Forget-me-not flowers. These flowers are not a native of the Asian tropics, and so, it fascinated me even more to stitch this small bunch. I really love the name! The scientific name of this flower is Myositis, which means ‘ mouse’s ears’ in Greek, owing to the petals’ shape and size. But, the common name ‘Forget-me-not‘ is derived from the German word Vergissmeinnicht, which means the same. The five petals are separate and not attached to each other. A blue variegated thread has been used on the flower, which I enjoyed working with. It is pretty easy and quick to fill in the petals with this stitch. I also kept the petals a little less ‘perfect’ just to add some interest to the pattern. So, let’s begin.

Fig 1: Get your fabric, hoop, and threads ready. I have marked the center of the flowers with the petals. I am using a 4″ hoop.	Fig 2: The Blanket Stitch can start with a Lazy Daisy Stitch as shown. This keeps the petal edges smoother. Then, work the Blanket Stitch over the entire petal area.
Fig 3: Once you finish one petal, finish off the stitch by anchoring down the last loop, as shown. If you have a continuous series of petals, no need to do that.	Fig 4: Then, you begin the next petal with the Lazy Daisy Stitch. You can continue with the same working thread.
Fig 5: A finished flower will be like this. I noted that if the petals rounded off better on the edges if I take the stitches a bit more below on the stitch line than on the exact edges.	Fig 6: I filled in the center with Satin Stitches.
Fig 7: The finished flowers look like this.	Fig 8: A bunch of finished flowers in variegated thread.
Fig 9: I added the thin stems using the Stem Stitch.

TIPS to make your flowers beautiful:

1. Begin each petal with a loop or a Lazy Daisy. That is, start the stitching from the bottom stitch line, rather than the top one.
2. Make the edges of the petals softer by taking the stitch a little beyond the exact edge.