Petals for the Spider Spoke
For the instructions on how to make a spider please click on the topic Spider Spoke .
Spider
The spider needs to be large enough to cover half the spokes at the North, South, East and West positions as you can see in the photo below called 'Spider Spoke Flower with diagonal spokes'. You can see in that photo that I did about six passes around the spokes to cover half the length of the spokes designated above. None of the spokes were wrapped before I began the spider.
The rest of the spokes are much longer because they are diagonals. The ends of those spokes will have to be wrapped after the petal is made on each of those spokes. This wrap will make a nice finish and not leave a bundle of unwrapped perle threads that will eventually weaken and possibly break. In other words the embroidery is washable if the spokes are wrapped or covered by the decorative stitches.
Spider Spoke Flower with diagonal spokes
Let me explain some of the terms I am using. The spider is the center whorl of this design I have it in a picture below to show you its details. The spokes are all sewn together in the spider and the sewing thread goes in a spiral around the spokes so that you can literally see the working thread or if you prefer the sewing thread looping from spoke to spoke. The petals are then added to the spokes and each one is made seperately to its completion on the spoke and on part of the spider. Each spoke that radiates out from the spider has a petal sewn on it above the spider.
How to make the Spider Spoke Flower
To make this flower you would make the spider first and then add the petals as explained above and below.
To begin the petals :
take a new length of #8 Perle Cotton and start on the back of your embroidery at any spoke. Try using a much longer thread and wrap half the extra length around a parked needle. Read about needle parking .
Spider Spoke Petal
The whorls of the spider are light yellow green. The spoke is a Spring Green and the petal is dark green. If you monitor is black and white, then these should show up as the spider being the lightest, the spoke the medium tone and the petals the darkest tone.
At 1 bring your working thread up between the two outer threads of the spider whorls,
and then take the working thread under then over the spoke at 2 in the diagram above,
At step 4 on the diagram, take the working thread under then over one of the outer thread loops of the spider whorl
Repeat these steps four times, this varies, and then take the working thread and either wrap out to the end of the petal or just slip the needle under the Satin stitches on the back of the embroidery and start another petal by doing a few wraps down the next spoke to get in position for step 1.
It is hard not to overlap the threads in this element, but try to make it neat and uniform. I have found that the less tension I used to make these wraps the better the petal looks. You can see in the photo that the wraps are not tight, and I let the spokes twist as the petal were formed.
To avoid making gaps in the spider at steps 1 and 4, I vary the insertion of the working thread into the thread loops of the Spider whorl. By varying the insertion point it is difficult to see any gaps as the next insertion covers the last insertion. You might want to follow some pattern like under one thread, under two threads, under one, under two as you work into the spider. Write down whatever you decide is best and stick to it as you make each petal. ©2002 Linda Fontenot, www. AmericanFolkArts.com