New Project in my hoop - Stems

I know, I should try and finish one thing at a time and I would like to finish my Merry Jester - but as I mentioned last week, I have a new piece of raised embroidery in my hoop.

I had a request was for: A piece of stumpwork, not too difficult with a cute animal.
It has takena bit of thinking and doodling on my part, but it finally came together and I am really looking forward to seeing it take shape.

I played with the idea of trying something different for the stems, but in the end decided to embroider them in whipped stems stitch, as I often do. I like the look of these stems - I think they are one of my favorite stems.

They lay round and raised on top of the fabric, like trailing, but so much easier to do.
I start with two rows of stem stitch, worked closely side by side. I don't align the stitches in each row - in fact you get a better finish, if they are off-set.

Then I whip the two rows together, placing the whipping stitches, closely side-by-side so they completely cover the stem stitch. The whipping pulls the two rows together, making the stem skinnier, higher and rounder.
There are much more detailed pictures HERE if you want to have a go.

For this design the stem cross over and under one another, so I completed one stem at a time to make sure I got it right.

I usually work my raised embroidery pieces on silk, but for this one, I wanted a print cotton in a light-ish shade of green. I was looking for something fresh and clean, not too heavy and overpowering, with a small, delicate, tone-on-tone kind of print. That should be easy to find, right?
Well, I think I found what I was looking for and bought the whole bolt to make sure I have plenty for kits later.

This is as far as I got, before realizing it was going to be way too much work for a two say workshop... So, a new, smaller version for the class is now in another hoop LOL.

I hope everyone is enjoying a good week.
Best Stitches,
Anna