Easy Repeat Pattern: Create daisies with french knots and lazy daisy stitches

Preparation

Place your embroidery fabric in your  hoop. Make sure the fabric is tight, like a drum skin, and the fabric is secured by tightening the screw fully.

If you're not sure how to set up your hoop you can find a full guide here.

Next use your pen to mark 6 dots on the fabric. Each daisy will need a dot in the middle and five surrounding it in a pentagon shape, as shown in the photo.

Step one:

To begin cut roughly 25cm of yellow thread and separate 4 of the six strands by untwisting the thread (if you are new to embroidery and have not done this before you will find full instructions in our beginner's guide).

Thread your needle with the 4 strands and tie a knot in the other end.

First, we will be creating the french knot at the centre of the daisy.

Bring your needle up through the middle dot and pull your thread all the way through. Next, hold your needle in front of the thread and wrap the thread around the needle twice. Bring the thread towards you to wrap it over the needle, as shown in the photo.

Step two:

Next, keeping tension on the thread you have wound around your needle, push the needle back though the fabric. 

It is important to push the needle through a hole next to the place the thread comes up, do not use the same hole.

Keep the tension on the thread the whole time you are pushing the needle though. 

As you pull to keep the tension, gently slide the wound thread down to towards the fabric. This takes a little bit of practising to get right.

Step three:

Keep the tension on the loop of thread, as shown, until all the excess thread has been pulled to the back of the fabric.

Step four:

Once you have pulled the excess thread to the back of the hoop, trim your thread, split the ends and tie in a knot behind the hoop.

Your finished french knot should look like this.

Step five:

Now move on to the petals, each one is made with a single lazy daisy stitch using 4 strands of white thread.

To begin, cut around 25cm of white thread and separate 4 of the six strands by untwisting the thread.

Thread your needle with the 4 strands and tie a knot in the other end.

Bring your needle up through the fabric very close to the french knot you have just made, pull the thread all the way though to the front and then begin push your needle back though the fabric right next to the hole you came up though.

Step six:

Place your thumb in the loop you have made to stop it being pulled flat to the fabric.

Step seven:

Now push your needle back up through the fabric and an outer black dot, ensuring that your needle is inside the loop of white thread. Once the needle has come through you can remove your thumb from the loop.

Step eight:

Pull the thread through to the front of the hoop.

Step nine:

Push your needle back down through the black dot to secure the loop in the shape of a petal.

Step ten:

Now move on to stitch the next petals and stitch it in the same way. Continue until you have stitched all five petals that make up the daisy.

Then repeat from steps 1 - 10 to stitch move flowers on your fabric.