The centre of the daisy may be satin-stitch or a cluster of French knots. If the dot is worked from the centre to left and from the centre to right you are more apt to get a perfect outline than when starting from one side and working to the other.
As a usual thing the lightest shade is on the outer edge of most flowers, but there are a few exceptions, like wild roses and some species of pansies in which the deepest shade is on the edge and toward the centre it is lightest.
The stems may be worked in satin-stitch or Kensington in wood shades or deep greens, whichever give the more realistic effect to the flower.
It is a great mistake to use white for the background of flower work. Cream or pale gray make a very much softer and more pleasing effect.
Sometimes a little of the stem brown can be worked into the leaves.
Have you ever seen a lace spread or centre piece with flowers embroidered on it? You might think that the worker was more than ordinarily clever, but really any one who can embroider flowers can do this. Baste a piece of fine lawn on the section you desire to embroider and stamp it with a spray. Embroider in the usual way and when the spray is finished neatly cut away any of the lawn that extends beyond the flower without cutting the lace. The result is that the piece has the effect of a natural flower resting upon it.
The finer the silk used the more delicate shading can be accomplished.
There is another way to represent flowers that is particularly beautiful. It is known as ribbon work or rococo embroidery. The ribbons especially made for this work vary from slightly less than one quarter of an inch to a little more than a half inch in width. The colours do not range in such long lines as the silks. In fact it is rare to find a shop that carries more than ten colours. Sometimes the ribbons are shaded. They are soft and do not crease quite as readily as an ordinary ribbon.
A No. 6 crewel needle is about the right size for the narrow ribbon, while the half inch ribbons need a No. 3.