Sewing Appliqué Daffodil Leaves

Here are the stems and leaves of the daffodil before I added the flower and bud.  The leaves are worked in exactly the same way as the stems.

For the stems, I cut a bias strip half an inch from the fold and kept the width consistent all the way to the top.  The tops of the stems can be left with raw edges because they are later covered by the flower or bud. 

The leaves are slightly wider.  They are three quarters of an inch at the base and taper gently to about half an inch at the top.  The fun and games come when rounding the top of the leaves.

To do this I put in tiny gathering stitches with tacking thread at the top to set in a curve.  

A teaspoon handle was just the right size for the next job, pulling the tacking thread to make the end of the leaf fold under in a gathered curved edge.  

Once the raw edges were aimed in the right direction, I put a tiny drop of water at the end of the leaf and pulled the gathering thread again to tuck the edges underneath.

All it needed then was a good pressing with a hot iron from the back, and the folded edge of the leaf was ready to be hand sewn into place.  The  gathering threads don't need to be pulled out - they can be tucked out of sight underneath the leaf when it is stitched down.

Linking up today with Lee's blog Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday,
and Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday.