The bottom sepal was padded with 2 strands of #5 perle cotton. Maybe overpadded.
Some of the stitches on the bottom sepal was done with Edmar thread, plus a couple of strands of blending filament - it does not have the effect that I want.
The next petal, the one on top of the bottom sepal was stitched with white floss plus a blending filament - also not what I want - and the padding is showing through.
The second sepal from the top was stitched with Kreinik serica in white, not padded. The serica silk was separated into the 3 component strands and straightened with my handy hair straightener. I think this is it!
The lily petal at 12 o'clock was done with the Kreinik serica also. The one at 8 o'clock was padded with 2 strands of cotton floss, with the serica on top. The padding is showing through. So I use felt padding instead on the petal at 10 o'clock, with serica. I think this is the way to do it for the petals.
Reminder for the piece: 1. Pad the center of the lily. 2. Add some shading on the petals.
I have done enough prototyping - I think I'm ready to tackle the real thing! On looking at the piece the paddings are all ok; especially since the petals are to be felt-padded. The only dial-back will be the stem paddings. The stems may need to be greener as well.
