Feather Stitch Rounds on a Flower Loom

Feather stitch embroidery on loomed flowers is a happy accident created in the Hana-Ami loom books of the 1990’s/early 2000’s. Whilst the illustrations for working knot stitch in the books are correct, the photos are not and the result is pretty sun-like rounds of feather stitch.

	Begin by making a flower of your choice.
	Take the piece of yarn that you want to use for your chain stitch and thread it into a blunt needle. Pass the needle under the centre of your flower. This will give you a loose end to hold onto while you stitch so that your first stitch remains neat.
	Pull the needle through, leaving the tail on one side to hold onto.
	Put the needle under the first set of petal threads and wind the yarn around the needle.
	Pull through. This forms your first feather stitch.
	Put the needle under the next set of petal threads and wind the yarn around the needle. Pull the yarn through to form the next feather stitch.
	Continue working feather stitches around each set of petal threads until only one is left unworked.
	Take the needle under the left hand thread of the first stitch.
	Pull through
	and take the needle under the last set of petal threads.
	This completes your round of feather stitch.
	When you take the flower off the loom you will see that the last set of petal threads are not encased by the yarn. Tie the ends in a knot to enclose the last petal and darn all the loose ends into the back of your flower.
	If you work the feather stitch close to the centre of your flower it will hold in place by itself. If you work it closer to the tips of the petals you will need to crochet a border around the edge to stop it slipping off the ends.