Christening Gown - Dogwood Begins

The dogwood petals are done in split stitch...white. I'm also thinking of putting some lines of white inside the petals...but have not yet "made my mind up about that". So, what do you think...more split stitch lines? Maybe 2 or 3 per petal...from the center outwards, but not all the way to the edge of the leaf...that's what I'm leaning towards.   The outer little part of the leaves are done in a medium light rose color. This is not a perfect match to the true color, which is much darker...but for this delicate gown, a darker color would not be good at all. So, I'm taking some "creative license" and changing what Mother Nature really produces.

 Here is the flower center, and it pretty close to the correct color of the blooms as they first come on the tree. Later in life, it turns a much darker golden and brown mustard color...with green speckled in too. But, for now...four shades of thread are used...cream, light golden yellow, pale green, and pale yellow. The French knots are done as two types of color sets...beige/light golden yellow and pale green/yellow. Each set is a single ply of each color...combined to create a one-wrap and 4-ply (doubling the threads) knot. I often combine single threads to get a good variegated blend...try that if you never have, it is a good way to introduce other colors without having an object look "splotchy". At present, the center appears to over-power the flower...and that's the reason I'm wondering about adding those extra "white lines". But, I'm also wondering if the center will be sufficiently balanced by the color on the leaves when they are stitched...so, I'll hold off on the addition of more white until I get those leaves done.