Embroidered Flowers With French Knot Centers

I've always liked the look of woven spider wheel flowers with French knots in the middle, but until a few days ago I had failed consistently at making them. Trying to add French knots to the center of the flowers after weaving always seemed to result in me ruining the flower. :P

However, I figured out that you can do it easily in stages!

In this instructable, I'll show you how to make lovely embroidered flowers with French knot centers. :D

Step 1: Tools + Materials

If you've never worked woven spider wheel flowers or French knots, please check out my FREE Embroidery Class first! I cover how to make both (with video and photos!) in the Floral Sampler lesson. :)

You will also need:

fabric (linen, muslin or quilting cotton is great)
water soluble transfer pen
embroidery needle
embroidery hoop
embroidery scissors
two colors of floss - I'm using the full six strands!

If you're unfamiliar with any of these things, see Tools & Materials for Embroidery for full explanations.

Step 2: Draw Out the Pattern

This is similar to the spoked wheels drawn for regular woven spider wheel flowers, but with a smaller circle drawn in the middle.

Drawing it this way means we can fill in the French knots first and then add the spokes and weave the flower after. :)

You can do this any size you want - but make sure to use an odd number of spokes. (3, 5, or 7 spokes work for 98% of flowers. 3 spokes for small flowers, 7 spokes for large ones.)

Step 3: Fill the Center With French Knots

Fill the inner circle completely with French knots. I wrapped the floss around the needle twice for bigger French knots.

Step 4: Stitch the Weaving Spokes

Add the stitching lines around the French knots. Try to start them under the knots if you can - you want to be able to weave really close to the center!

Step 5: Weave the Rest of the Flower

Bring the needle back to the front of the fabric near the bottom of one of the spokes.

Start weaving in an over-under pattern and continue until you get near the end of the spokes. You may need to pull the floss pretty tight at first to get it close around the knots.