A Basic Silk Shading Tutorial . . . .

Split stitch

First stitch, up and over split stitch at the very top tip

Long and short at tip, which is swivelled at the base

Long and short edge, or rather longer and shorter

First row of long and short (longer and shorter). When taking the needle down over the split stitch, keep the stitches very close and tight together.  This keeps a sharp clean edge.

First row, over split stitch with the angle of stitch moving around the leaf shape.  Whilst working the first row, be mindful of maintaining the angle of stitch.

Shading - bringing the needle up within the first row, and shading towards the middle

Bring the needle up in various positions within the first row for a softer shaded effect

Needle or stitch position of second row, or shading

Shading towards the centre of the leaf

Shading with more colour - keep the blends compatible

Showing various needle position for shading

More shading and needle positioning

More needle positioning of shading, illustrating the various positions the stitches can be placed for effective shading

Third row, or further shading

First half of leaf shaded

Second half of leaf, long and short first row

Shading from first row

More shading

Almost complete

Centre vein.  The whole leaf is roughly an inch square.

Crathorne Bug - so far

Long & short edging, block shading, trailing, satin stitch dots . . .

Crathorne Bug - long and short applying silk fabric

design transferred onto silk fabric and adhered to a cotton (calico-UK; muslin- USA) base

long and short stitch to secure

Here we go - 

1. Transfer the design to the background fabric of your choice.  I am using an off-white silk dupion

2. I adhered the silk fabric to the base backing fabric using a fusible interfacing or Bondaweb

3. Then, long and short stitch the silk fabric to the base fabric using 'long and short' stitch.  The stitch maybe a feature of the whole design, so try to work as evenly as possible.  I used DMC stranded cotton Col. 644, a pale grey colour.