MooshieStitch Monday: Goldwork Daisy Part 2

In case you missed it, check out Part One of my Goldwork Daisy series.

Next up will be couching the flower stem with gold Japanese thread and leaves with silver Rococco thread.

Todays' post will be what I learned from the following video:

Part 4: Couching Gold Threads

Here is a photo of the Japanese thread that was included in the daisy kit and the sewing thread I used to couch it.

The Japanese thread has a main thread core with a metal foil wrapped around it - which will unwrap at the ends if you are not too careful! Click here for more information on Japanese threads.

To stitch the stem of the flower, you couch down two gold Jap threads at a time. You want to cut them longer than the length you need because to finish off the ends, you will be "plunging" the thread through the fabric to the back....

See the photo below - I left a lot of length on my ends, which Sarah explains in the video is good for beginners until you get used to it.

Let me just say as a goldwork newbie, plunging the threads is so intimidating at first! I watched the video over and over again before I attempted it. Sarah shows the lasso technique on how to plunge the threads through the fabric - and I highly suggest watching the video to see it done if you are unfamiliar (skip to minute 12:30 to jump right to the plunging!)

Here are my first few threads of the stem after plunging on the front side...

My first thread I accidentally pulled through too far and it came out of the couching on the other end! After a mild panic attack - I very gently pulled it back through to the front - but it was no longer couched at the bottom. So when I eventually added my next rows of Jap threads, I added a couple couching stitches to fix the mistake.

Once you pull them through to the back of the fabric, you need to then stitch down the ends and trim them up. Here is so far what the back looked like.

I then needed to repeat those steps of couching down additional threads to fill the entire stem. You will see below I left very long end tails to plunge to the back.

Here is the stem complete and the ends plunged and finished!

Next was couching silver plated Rococco thread with a silver colored sewing thread for the leaves.

The Rococco thread is very different from the Japanese thread. It is like a thin metal wire wrapped around a main thread core, has a wavy appearance, and is more stiff. (More on Rococco threads here)

Again, I left long ends of thread for plunging. I found Rococco to be more difficult to plunge also - I am guessing since it is thicker and stiffer?? I actually used a larger crewel needle to poke a hole in the fabric to make it easier to plunge the Rococco thread through.

Here is the back of the fabric after all my ends have been sewn down. I will admit this is my least favorite part of goldwork so far! I thought it would be the plunging - it does get easier each time you do it - but then having to finish off the ends on the back of the fabric - it is very time consuming! I can't imagine doing this step on large goldwork pieces ... but I understand that it needs to be done.

There you have it - my golden daisy with my first couched gold threads!

To be continued.....see you next time for Part Three ... but before you go...

This goldwork kit is the Golden Daisy by Sarah Homfray.

Be sure to check out Sarah's Instagram , subscribe to her YouTube Channel for lots of video tutorials, and go to her website where you can shop all things embroidery, including kits and supplies.

Thanks for following along!