Embroidered Book Cover - Spirals

As I've been couching, I've been revising some of the spiral shapes.

I originally had to draw the design in pen, freehand - because of the nubbiness of the background material. I wish I'd known about the "drawing the design on tissue paper, stitching through, then tearing away the paper" method then. I tried everything else I knew.

Anyway, as I've looked at more Elizabethan work over time I decided that I needed to do a few adjustments and re-did much of the couching I'd done the day before.

It does mean that there are a few pen marks showing, but I was reading somewhere recently (and I wish I remember where) that this was quite acceptable historically. And there are a couple of avante-garde spirals in there that cross each other. It's a fix-it job.

I re-did the leaf in the middle in plain dark olive green satin stitch. It had been multi-coloured and it just wasn't working. There was too much colour going on, what with the carnations right next to it.

I am only going to use 2 threads of the DMC around the edges, not 3 like I did with the other thread on the frontspiece, because it's thicker. I've just laid them down - I haven't started couching yet.
I'm awfully awfully close to the edge - I only had a scrap of the brocade left to work with. Playing danger mouse! The couching will re-place the thread slightly, and squish them together, so it won't end up sitting on top of the elements on the side as it is currently. The thread isn't secured at the end yet - it's just pierced through the material at the corners.
I hope doing three sides at once doesn't end up being a bad idea. I should start at the bottom corner, so I don't end up with thread with loose tension 'backing up'.

I've been experimenting with using 1, 3 or all 6 strands of the thread as I've outlined various elements. The outline of the beaded strawberry is hard to see in the scan - but I think if I made it's outlining thread any thicker, it'll dominate the piece.

Traditionally a mellor (metal tool) was used to shape and manipulate the gold thread, because it tarnished from sweat. Since this is imitation gold, I can use my fingernails, and found I have found it necessary to do some shaping, helping the thread go around corners and edges.

I think the prettiest part is the lower right with the 'lily' (that's what I call it), the two small leaves and the beaded strawberry.

After finishing with the gold, I need to spangle, and then go back to finish the gold on the front piece. Then make the actual base book cover in black satin velvet. I am surely weary of struggling with the gold thread atm!