Two of My Unfinished Projects

I was down with fever yesterday, so I was not able to do anything related to embroidery or sewing yesterday and today. However, I thought of sharing with you the photos of my unfinished embroideries on two satin doilies---the first is a basket of flowers (I don't remember from where I got this design) and the second is a decorative pattern (I got this design from the book "The Embroidery of Roses" by Ondori publishers and modified the round border according to the size of the doily; In the book, this pattern is titled "Decorative pattern from India and Persia")

I started embroidering these doilies five years ago. When we shifted to a new house, I thought I almost lost them. But one day when I was cleaning the closets I found the doilies in good condition. You know how happy I was then. However, as I was busy working on some custom orders, I was not able to concentrate on these doilies. I didn't forget to pack these doilies with my other embroidery materials when I came to my hubby's home two years before.


At the start of this new year I decided to complete all my UFOs, and the first items that struck my mind were these doilies.


Five years before, I used to draw designs directly on the fabric with a pencil or pen.  Also at that time I didn't use long-and-short stitch as I use now to fill in large areas such as flower petals. My choice at that time was either chain stitch or stem stitch. So now I think I can use long-and short stitch for the remaining parts of the designs.


However, I am not quite happy with the embroidery on the first doily. The satin fabric looks shrunk, as the stitches in the border around as well as in the center design are too tight. This is what I learned after stitching this piece: "You should be extra careful when you embroider on silk and satin. Do not pull your stitches too tight. It will not be easy to unpick the stitches from these fabrics." Now I have decided not to continue embroidering this doily, because I feel even if I did use other stitches and make sure that the stitches are not taut, the doily won't look any better. The second doily looks fine, so I think I can start progressing.


Can I get suggestions from you all as to whether I should continue to embroider the first doily?