Golden Pomegranate

Here is the original of the Golden Pomegranate – from one of the gloves at
http://2-minute-website.com/site/trustfund.trial/Spence-Collection-at-Bath-23362-23389

That’s purling on the outside edges, so I decided to built it up in felt.
I did one layer for the centre of the fruit

and two layers for the leaves and the ovary at the bottom.
Note that one of the leaves hits against a wasp *headdesk*

I then outlined the leaves, ovary and the inner part of the fruit in chain stitch. I used 3 DMC threads, except for the inner part where I used 2, for textual variety.
I added sequins to the tips of the two leaves that I had tips for.

I discussed what the stitch right in the middle could be with Mary Corbet. She came down in favour of raised buttonhole stitch.

http://www.artsanddesigns.com/cgi-bin/makeGlossary.pl?category=embroidery&section=R

I tried passing thread for the buttonhole stitch, but it was far too stiff and I got ‘ovals’ going over each horizontal thread instead of the thread pulling down into the next stitch.
I tried using DMC thread as the base lines, but they snapped under the pressure.
I ended up using Lurex as both the base threads and the buttonhole stitch thread. I pushed the stitches tightly against each other with my fingernail. It was an easy stitch to do.
And here it is with the purling done. It’s messier on the right side, and I like it that way. It seems more ‘natural’.

The actual fruit is on a bit of a tilt, but I put the top sequin slightly to the left, making it look crooked. I just need to move it over a wincy bit. (You can see if you draw a straight line vertically up the pomegranate). The tip is wide enough to take it.
Why can I not spell pomegranate? Thankyou, spell checker!
I have been being very quiet because I’ve actually been working on another project! It’s a piece of calligraphy for a friend. The next few entries will be about it.