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Simple Embellished Tea-Towel Curtains

How to Machine-Embroider a 3-D Flower

September 27th, 2008 in embroidery

Jennifer Stern, contributor

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The center of the rose is made up of three individual buds.

Take time to carefully trim around all the individual petals and leaves.

Here's my "Make It Pink" Confederate Rose.

Photo: Jen Stern

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I first saw these amazing flowers at a Pfaff convention a few years ago. They were beautiful then, but they're even better now because Pam (the owner and designer of Pam's 3D Designs) has been busy refining her technique. When you try to push the envelop and think outside the machine-embroidery box, the results can sometimes be a little off. Happily, this is not the case with these flowers. It was a pleasure to embroider the petals and leaves and assemble the Confederate Rose. It's not often that I work on a project where I get to whip out my glue gun and wire-cutting scissor—I had a blast making this bloom. I hope you enjoy it too, plus it's a great way to Make It Pink! Here's the best part: You can try it for free. Click here to download a zipped folder containing the design files. Be sure to check out Pam's 3D Designs to see a full line of embroidered flowers, butterflies, and much more!

Here's what you'll need:

The Confederate Rose downloaded and transferred to your embroidery machine
A 5 x 7-inch hoop
Three pieces of poly mesh stabilizer
Two shades of pink for the petals
Two shades of green for the leaves
Fray Check
Sharp scissors to trim away the stabilizer
22- and 26-gauge wire
Wire cutters
Floral pearls (double sided)
Florist tape (I love it because it stays put without a sticky mess—I bet you could wrap it around your thread to help keep it from unraveling!)
Glue gun

This is a great project to work on while you're working on something else. Set your machine up and let it run, stitching out the petals and leaves. This take a little while, and since there is only one color change per hooping, you'll have plenty of time to accomplish something else at the same time! (I love multitasking!) Later, after the embroidery is done, you can relax on the couch and watch TV (or listen to TV) while you're trimming all the stabilizer away.

Before you start trimming, dot the edges of each section with Fray Check. That way you can get really close to the stitching without worrying about raveling or cutting the stitching and ruining the petal.

I started taking pictures early in the morning...I didn't realize that there was dew on my cutting mat that I left outside overnight!

Make three bunches of double-sided pearls. Cut three pieces of 22-gauge wire approximately 12 inches long. Fold each bunch of pearls in half and twist one end of a piece of wire through the fold.

Make three bunches of pearls for the centers of the buds

These double-sided pearls on a stem look like mini cotton swabs. I found them in the floral department of a craft store.

Wrap some florist tape around the base of the stems to secure them.

I love Floral Stem Tape. It doesn't have any adhesive on it—just stretch it as you wrap it around. It holds great!

The 9 petals that stitched out together are slightly smaller than the 12 that were stitched. These smaller petals are the ones that are used to make the bud centers.

Here are all the trimmed petals and leaves

I separated the petals into two groups so I wouldn't get them confused—they're very close in size!

Cut nine 12-inch pieces of 26-gauge wire. Make a small loop at one end by wrapping it around your finger. Use a glue gun to stick these loops to the base of each of the smaller petals.

When I started putting my rose together, I realized I should have made my loops a little smaller—about the size of a dime.

Cut six 12-inch pieces of 22-gauge wire. Use the glue gun to stick one end of the wire down the center of six of the larger petals, on the wrong side. The remaining six petals need a piece of 22-gauge wire glued down the center—with no stem. Trim the wire even with the base of each petal.

The wire tails at the base of each petal will be wrapped together to form the stem later.

Using three individual buds to form the center of the rose makes it nice and full.

Gather the nine smaller petals that have the wire loops glued to them. Arrange three petals around each pearl center.

Wrap a short piece of Florist Stem Tape around the base to secure it.

Arrange the three completed buds together to form the center of the rose.

Wrap another piece of tape around the base of the center to hold it together.

Arrange the six larger petals with the wire stems around the clustered bud center.

Use small dabs of hot glue between the petals if you need it to form a beautiful bloom.

Finally, place a dab of hot glue on the RIGHT SIDE of each of the remaining petals. Stick them around the outside of the rose to make it fuller.

Wait for the hot glue to cool before dabbing the next petal.

Add the leaves around the outer edge of the rose. The leaves also need a 12-inch piece of 22-gauge wire stuck to the backs of them first. I decided to use only two of the three leaves that I embroidered. Then all you have to do is wrap all the individual wires together to form the stem using the Floral Stem Tape. Trim the ends of the wire at the desired length of your stem before you wrap it with the tape (that way you can cover the sharp ends).

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JenniferStern writes: Hi Penny, I apologize for the delay, the design will be available in the post soon. If you can use .pes format, shoot me an email and I will sent it to you. info@jsterndesigns.com. Sorry for the inconvenience! Posted: 12:59 pm on September 27th