Four Seasons - Spring Doodle Flower

Spring Doodle Flower

Spring of the four seasons challenge was your choice - I had already planned that this would be soutache - given the time involved in the medium - a brooch it was.

One of my first soutache designs - Soutache in Bloom - a beginners pattern - was inspired by flowers.  Soutache in bloom was created on one layer - so Spring Doodle Flower is a step up - created on two layers.  

The design was inspired by the dagger beads - I was struggling to see these within the flower focal - so they became the leaf at the base of the flower.  Do doodles of flowers have one leaf or two?  The doodle shaped the use of the lilac facets - individually enclosed in two warps of cord.  These petals were placed irregularly around the focal to depict a quick sketch.  

The secret to the design is two layers of ultrasuede - behind the focal.  First layer added the decorative edging around the chessboard focal.  The brooch back and doodle petals were then stitched/glued to this first layer.  The decorative edge was then used to attach a second layer of ultrasuede behind the focal.  With irregular structures it is best to cut the ultrasuede to the correct shape as you edge the design - this accommodates the curvature and thickness created at the back from the warps.