i'm continuing my series of helping hands with this new design, and i've really been looking forward to stitching this one up.
💙
i got a little porch stitching time yesterday afternoon:

i'm using 3 strands and colonial knot for these flower clusters.
i've also done:

• chain stitch < 2 strands > for the hand outline

• fern stitch < 2 strands > for the ferns

• the yellow bits are done with back, satin, and lazy daisy stitches < 3 strands >

i'm still trying to decide how i want to stitch the leaves.
something i like to do when i can't decide which stitch to use is to make some samples!
i use some scrap fabric and floss, and stitch up a few variations. this way i can see exactly how it will look, and i can compare. (it's also a good way to practice and troubleshoot before embroidering a finished piece.)

so i drew 3 leaves and used 3 different stitches in the example below.
orange - 2 strands, back stitch and brick stitch. one side is filled with brick, one side is left as an outline only.
blue - 2 strands, chain stitch. again, one side is filled, one side is outline only.
mauve - 3 strands, satin (the stem is back stitched)

what do you think? while i really like them all, i'm leaning towards using the brick stitch fill. i really love that satin, but for this particular design, i think the satin fill might be just a bit too heavy in relation to the rest of the piece.

if you need a little refresher for some of these stitches, check out my 'basic stitches for hand embroidery'