yonv2

Help! I'm trying to do flower applique on to a piece of leather. Actually it is a small purse. The flower is a (Cherokee Rose) it has 5 petals like a pansy. I have done center in yellow in a circle pattern, then the outline of all 5 petals in a color to contrast with the inside of the petals. My question is how do I do the inside of each petal? Do I follow the outer contour around, do I go straight out from the center, or go straight across and work my way out to the petal edge. HELP! I've done (peyote) gourd stsitch before an this is my try at Applique.

billyjoejimbob

i have only seen them done following the shape. more traditional. unless you want to be a rebel and go dontemporary.

__________________
There are 2 types of people in the world...
Really stupid people who think they are smart
and
Really smart people who think they are smart.

yonv2

Thanks. But do I start in the center of the petal and work out or follow the outside an end up with a odd figure of beads in the middle of the petal.

between2worlds

The only beadwork I'm really any good at is applique. How I work the flower depends on the flower.

Assuming the pansy shape (fat and kind of tall), I'd make lines of beads that fan out from the center (putting some lighter colored beads near the center end of the petal and darker colors towards the tip). I'd do a middle line (straight from center to edge). Next I'd start at the left edge of the petal and follow it out from center to edge (which would be kind of slanted). I'd lay the following rows at -almost- the same angle as the one next to it but tending more towards being straight.

Now if its wide and short, I'd make the line in the middle, but start from the middle and work out, slightly fanning my rows. Any "weirdness" I'd need to fill in I would do at the outside of each petal.

The great thing about applique is there is no wrong way to do it. The pattern you lay your beads in can be however it is easiest for you or it can be used to create an effect (like the lines in a petal or the veins on a leaf).

When you get done can you post a picture????

Blackbear

Very well said B2W!! Whichever is easier for you.. but if you do one petal one way, don't do the next a different way or it will look goofy... or maybe it's just me that feels it looks goofy. I don't know. One way you can also do it that looks nice though, is to combine the two by following the outline for a couple to three rows and then doing the straight line in the center to fill in the rest of the petal. Depending on how you draw the petals, it can sometimes give it a cleaned up appearance.

__________________
Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear... just sing, sing a song.

wyo_rose

I like to follow one edge of a petal, and then just lay the other lines next to it.

If they're larger petals, I like just straight lines, not going the same way on each petal though.

Right now at the top of my powwows.com page there's a partial banner of a beaded flower on a red background. It's a great example, showing how to follow one petal edge, how to do the contour and how to do a straight line.

It's also a great example of shading, but that's another thread..........

yonv2

Thanks I'll try to post a pic for you to see the petals.I will do the center circle of the flower in Yellow.In the pic I have did the outline in Brown, I will fill in all of each petal in White. That is what I'm asking How do I fill in each petal? Around the edges till I get to the inner beads of each petal, or do I go with straight lines from the Yellow out to edge of the petals in a V pattern. Thanks for all the HELP I've received so far.

Attached Images

DCP_7955 cherokee rose purse 4.jpg (41.1 KB, 18 views)

powwowbum49

yonv2

There is no right way as how to fill those petals, it is just the personal preference of the bead worker and has almost always been that way. I have many pics of prairie style beadwork which is done in applique and is a sort of an abstract floral work, plus most of my wife's tribal beadwork is floral and also done in applique. She tends to do more applique than I do. Normally in her floral work she does the petals in concentric rows working in from the outlining row, but on the leaves she does like mentioned before and puts a line up the center and the angled rows going out to meet the outlining row. I have attached several pics as examples for you.

The first 2 are my wifes work and the last is a historic piece...Oteo childs mocs in a prairie style design

Attached Images

	Praire Mocs1.JPG (23.8 KB, 19 views)
	MM hair pieces.JPG (38.4 KB, 25 views)
	Otoe childs mocs_1_a.jpg (34.3 KB, 17 views)

__________________
PB49

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." Pablo Picasso


My comments are based on what I have been taught and my experiences over the years I have been around the circle. They should in no way be taken as gospel truths and are merely my opinions or attempts at passing on what I have learned while still learning more.

between2worlds

It's a matter of personal taste. Unlike peyote or loom beading (where you work in a grid) applique is a lot more free form.

I found a picture of a cherokee rose blossom. If it were what I would do - I would opt for the V shape for the petals. I would also fill in the center by making little clusters of beads in a random star pattern and use varying sizes of beads to give it a more unruly look... mimicking the shagginess of the center of a real bloom.

It's just as proper to go around and around at the center of the flower and then around and around in each petal OR emphasize the heart shape of each flower petal by making heart shapes (one inside the next) OR you could make zigzags OR diamonds OR those nifty designs that the groundskeepers at the ball park do when they mow the grass!