Embroidery Sucks! Fortunately, there's Twilight!

[Gentian]

I've gotta be honest, that is freaking cool.

HA! It turned out ok for a first-timer imho, but there's plenty of room for improvement. Also, it definitely wasn't cool to make. I started that thing back in November, I think. Slow and tedious don't begin to describe it.

Buuuuttt, thanks Kadae, you always come along with a cheery little burst of sunshine. I appreciate the warm-fuzzies, man!

A charming topic you've got here, as usual. And part of me is envious of anyone who knows what the hell they're doing with a needle and thread.

1. hand-drew the pattern with a pen
2. back-stitched the outline
3. fish bone-stitched the large ray on the right, and the 2 smaller rays next to it
4. satin-stitched the right halves of the large top and bottom rays
5. whip stitched around the remaining outlines to give them body
6. a rough fill stitch for the left half of the disk, and decided I liked it enough to leave it that way
7. centered the design, and traced the inside of my hoop with a pen
8. cut the patch from the cloth, cut out the darts, and back-stitched the border in place
9. whip-stitched the edging

Much of the above meant nothing to me. xD I understood... "Hand-drew" and "cut."

Thank you, too, Ziggy.

back stitch
This is the strongest single stitch, and I use it all the time for clothes. It also makes a nice even line, so it's good for borders. The split stitch is better still, but it's also more effort, and I was just going to sew over it anyway, so back stitch.

split stitch
In case you're wondering

fishbone stitch
That criss-cross pattern is gorgeous...when you do it right.

satin stitch
I couldn't find a decent whip stitch vid, but it's basically the same as the satin stitch. Just go around and around and around ad nauseam.

button
This vid is annoying, but it shows not only how to correctly attach a button, but how to start, and tie off a thread.