Phase 2: Kikko (Hexagon) Pattern, Part 3

The next part of the pattern on this segment is technically not part of the kikko pattern. The kikko pattern is just the main hexagons, which I completed in my Part 2 post. But this particular fan segment has some added elements. The first of these was a series of inner hexagons in a few of the main hexagons. I created these by couching down a single strand of #1 silver metallic thread:

You can see my silver thread is being pulled out to the right, and my couching thread is going straight up, in preparation to stitch down the corner of the inner hexagon. At first, I used a pair of koma to hold the silver thread in the correct position:

I like koma for this, as they do keep things taut, but when I reached the last side of each hexagon, I had to unwind the silver thread from the koma so I could stitch it back down through the fabric. Then, as soon as the needle came back up for the next hexagon, I had to rewind it on the koma. Since each hexagon only took a minute or two to stitch, it quickly became a pain to unwind and rewind the koma. Eventually, I just gave it up and held the silver thread taut with one hand, while I placed the couching stitch with the other. Here are the finished hexagons:

They're not all perfectly geometrical because it was kind of tricky to just eyeball where to place the needle. I did my best, though, and when I looked at the original design picture, I noticed their inner hexagons weren't all perfect either. So I felt a bit better about it.

The last element of this segment was to add some blister effect flowers, like this one:

The first step to creating these was to make Japanese knots using 3-->1 silver silk thread in an s-twist. I made one in the center of the hexagon and four on the edges (two pairs opposite each other):

To make a blister effect stitch, I then took 3 strands of flat silk up through the foundation just above the knot I was going to cover:

Then I took the stitch down farther below the knot (in this case, right underneath the central knot):

As I started to pull the thread down, I inserted my tekobari under it and stroked it to get it smooth and full:

Once it was smooth, I gently lay it down over the knot, not pulling too tight, though. This created a slightly raised petal at one end:

Here is that entire flower completed:

I love how they look — almost like real petals, with a full curve at the outer edge and a narrower, indented area towards the inside of the petal. Plus, they're quite fun to make. I scattered them around the double hexagons wherever I felt like they fit:

And I have to say that I really love how this segment turned out. It was time-consuming, often frustrating and a huge pain to do, but in the end, it's one of my favorites. And it looks great with the fan as a whole:

The silver hexagons and flowers really brighten up that dark blue, just like I was hoping they would. It doesn't feel too dark anymore. And I think it goes really well with the other completed segments. But thank goodness it's over! 😂 It was a lot of work!