With the goldwork on the main rose on the Mission Rose project finished, I moved on to the curlicues on the side of the rose, and then onto the large leaves.

Before I delve into a deep explanation (there actually isn’t one) of why I did the leaves the way I did them, I should probably remind everyone again that this is a stylized design. That is, it’s not supposed to look real.

And. Uh. It doesn’t.

Here are the two curlicues finished. Again, these are worked in stretched pearl purl, with two strands of green Soie de Paris twisted around it, and then couched down with one strand. They look like they are different colors in the photo only because of the shoddy lighting. They’re definitely the same color green.

And then, on to the center of the large leaves. The center is outlined again in the stretched pearl purl, this time twisted with two strands of dark green Soie de Paris.

The inside is filled with goldwork chipping or chip work – little bits of bright check purl, cut into small lengths (about 1/8″ long), and sewn down like beads in random directions until the space is filled.

Here we are, stepping back a little way to see the whole thing so far.

Now, before you get too alarmed over the gold filling in the middle of the leaves (which echoes the gold filling in the middle of the rose), I should probably warn you that it’s going to get worse! But, in getting worse, it will look better. The leaves (in fact, every element in the design) will be outlined in gold. And that outline will tie the whole thing together.

As soon as I have my computer situation sorted out (yes, the blasted thing Died the Death, so I’m replacing it) and I have all my regular photo editing software and all my familiar tools, I’ll supply you with some better close-ups, I promise!

If you’d like to follow the Mission Rose Project from its beginning, feel free to visit the Mission Rose Project Index. There, you’ll find information on the design source, you’ll find the pattern (which you can print out for free and use to create your own Mission Rose), and articles that cover materials and techniques.