Rust Red Iris - Fix 'Em

Kit, my friend who is also a graphics designer, had a look at the iris with an objective eye the other day. I've stared at the pattern and the embroidery for so many hours now I can no longer see it objectively and pick up these sorts of mistakes.

She discovered the following issues :

(following the circles up from the bottom)

• The bottom needed a "horizon line" to average out the bottom end of the embroidery to be straight. This is to stop the poppy looking as though it was leaning over, especially since it has the big stem coming out at a 60 degree or so angle above it.

• The stem emerging from the bud needed just a few more stitches, so it emerged from the bottom of the bud, not 2 mm or so above the bottom.
  

• The width of the stem needed to be even (I knew that one, just hadn't gotten around to it)

• I'd re-done the fold over at the top of that back leaf just before I spoke to Kit.
  

I wanted it to look like my other fold overs, which look much nicer (eg the one just to the left of it, in browny-gold).
My fix didn't look good. (What is shown is the old version, before the fix. I haven't got an image with the fix).

I've re-done it since, but I'm still not happy with it. However, the material is stretching, after being a bit abused, so I'm going to leave it be.

I originally mixed the colours on that foldover by going over and over, doing lots of layers in that small space. Trish talks about leaving gaps in the book, but I didn't understand what she meant at the time. I do now.

You literally leave gaps inbetween each stitch, and then come back and fill in with the other colour/s later on.
It does get a bit eye twisting when you are doing it in long and short stitch, because you are alternating both the stitch length, and the horizontal gaps between the stitches, but it's easy on a fold over when you are using satin stitch.

Here's a pic where the lower fold over has mid-orange mixed with dark orange :

The fold over isn't 'built up' to get that colour mix, because I left space for the second colour.

I have a number of other areas I'm not happy with

• the small leaf down the bottom. Kit couldn't recognise it as a small leaf until I told her what it was.

• the bottom half of the right petal - with that mix of green, pink and cream. It just ain't right.

• the 'line of light' running down the stem just wasn't bright enough
  

• I realised a big ooopsy. Looking at the back leaf - it's right side should proceed right down into the middle of the iris, down to the base of the iris centre, from which all petals should emerge - not stop at the TOP of the iris centre. (That's my mistake, remembering that I changed the design)
  

Re-doing it would be an absolute nightmare, as the colours would have to be re-done. I'm just going to leave it be.

To balance the bad, I love

• that left bud, which kind of looks like a seashell

• the petal I've just done, in brown/golds (although the change-over to the darker colours at it's bottom right isn't *quite* right
  

• the petal I'm doing at the moment

I think the 'line of light' running down the stem is now TOO light (even lighter in the scan).
*sigh*
But all the other problems are fixed.

The final leaf mixes the brown/gold with the reds, to pull it all together.