Woven wheel is a stitch most commonly used to add some floral textural detail to a piece.

• The base of the woven wheel is 5 straight stitches radiating out from a centre point to form spokes (A to E)

• Once the base stitches are in place bring the needle up through the fabric at the centre point and start weaving over and under the base spokes in turn.

• As there is an odd number of spokes each time you come back round you should be doing the opposite of what you did in the last round eg if last time was over that stitch, the next time round go under it

• Keep on going round and round. pulling the thread loosely but not so loose that the flower has no structure. Try experimenting to see how the tightness of the weaving affects the finished flower

• Keep on going until you cover up all the base spokes then pass the needle back through the fabric slightly underneath the last round

• If the thread runs out part way through, pass the needle back through the fabric, secure the thread and then start a new thread in the same place and continue the weaving pattern.

I love stitching this cluster of woven wheels as a sampler. I used yarn and thread of different textures and thicknesses to experiment with how this affected the flowers. Any gaps between the flowers I added a simple straight stitch of green yarn which really makes the flowers pop.

The second photo is a Mollie Makes free kit which shows how a single woven wheel can be used.

Depending on how you stitch your base stitches, you can leave a gap in the centre or not and one option is to then fill the centre with French knots or beads for added detail.

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