Progress report: Mint Tea pattern stitched

Summer is coming, but the new bag is still not ready! GASP. But there is good news – at least the embroidery for it is done. The design was inspired by the mint tea – one of my favorite drinks :)

Green tea leaves are worked in chain stitch. You might recognize them from this post where I shared some tips for better chain stitch. The leaves have a linear design, so there was a LOT of chain stitching. Great for practice!

The other leaves, with a rounder shape, are the mint. I was mulling over ideas on how to fill in the shapes for a while before deciding to stop at seed stitch. The seed stitches are very tiny, I grabbed only one thread of fabric when I made them. And as my back stitch tends to be tiny also, I thought it would fit for the outlining of the shape and the veins inside of the leaves.

I really liked the effect, it looks as if the leaves are pricked on fabric with a green pen. 

The thread I used is DMC cotton floss of two colors: 503 (chain stitches leaves) and 522 (seed stitched leaves). I used almost the whole skein for the tea leaves. Chain stitch is done with two strands of thread, while the seed stitch is worked with one thread. It creates two "levels" of height: a slight variety in dimension because the chain stitched leaves are more raised. 

Guess some sewing is waiting for me this weekend. I really hope to finish the bag by the time June starts :)

Happy stitching weekend, everyone!