Depressing Lace

Well, I finished my lace panel on time but I failed to post in a timely fashion.  This was partly due to my Internet service provider not providing, partly due to my disappointment with the overall attempt.

Here's the panel, more or less.

First off, working on the tulle was not as difficult as I thought it would be.  In fact, after the first few minutes of stitching, I hardly noticed it at all.  I back-light the canvas to make the holes more obvious, so that probably helped obscure the surface tulle.  And as long as I did not have to rip any stitches, it was like working on the plain Aida cloth. 

However, I am unhappy with the panel for a number of reasons.  First, I didn't think through the design adequately.  I wanted the panel to look like the corner of a lace curtain.  But I kept trying different stitch variations so the piece doesn't hang together the way I wanted it to.

I am happiest with the top rows, which look most like the chicken scratch stitch.  I also think the large chicken scratch stitches along the right hand side best exemplify what I was trying to achieve with the piece - the look of lace.

The two flowers look out of place because I used only one-sixth of a chicken scratch stitch (or a half cross stitch).   I thought about doing these over immediately after I finished them, but I was afraid I might damage the tulle if I tried ripping them out, so I let them be.  And I thought that I could integrate them into the lower part of the panel better than I did. 

I really dislike the way the woven thread work turned out.  I have curtains of lace with a honeycomb weave, and that is the look I was trying for.  But I think the woven threads are too thick and the honeycomb does not integrate well with the rest of the motifs in the panel.

That said, here's the do over if I ever decide to make lace instead of going to the store and buying it (Ha! Not a chance):  Work the entire panel in one strand of floss using the woven (honeycomb) stitch.  Then, work the top motif along the top and the right hand side, over the base woven stitches.  Integrate the motif that appears on the right hand side throughout the rest of the panel.  Omit the flowers. I think by laying down the base of woven stitches, and then working the motifs over them, I would have gotten the lace look I was trying for.

For the moment, I am letting the panel "rest."  I am toying with the idea of somehow spiffing it up a bit with beads or maybe gussying up the flowers or ripping out the woven stitches... Sigh!  I just need some time to decide what level of fiber surgery is necessary to save the life of of this lace.  Readers suggestions are certainly welcome.