Welcome to Material Mondays, I recently tried my hand at embroidery on leaves and it turned out to be quite an addictive activity.
I saw an artist - Susanna Bauer and her work - which is amazing, and thought I'd give it a go.
The leaf I used for this particular project is from a sea grape plant. The plant is normally found by the sea and has edible grapes. The plant acts as a good windbreak and when it dries out, it feels quite sturdy and turns a beautiful reddish color. If you would like to know more about sea grapes you can check out my Gardening Channel HERE.
I also experimented with another leaf from a trumpet tree, which has pretty trumpet-like flowers.
To begin, I harvested the leaves from trees that had been trimmed or had fallen naturally. It's important to handle the leaves delicately as they are quite fragile. After picking them up, I soaked them in some olive oil - You can use whatever oil you have to hand to give them a nice sheen. While the leaf will eventually degrade over time, you can preserve it by varnishing or using a gel mat or gloss medium.
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For the actual stitching, I used embroidery thread and doubled up two strands and then created a spiral effect on the leaf. I'm still experimenting with different designs, but I'd love to try some crochet designs on leaves as well - check back next week on Material Mondays to see the results.
The finished product can be framed or used as an outdoor hanging mobile. Overall, this has been a fun and creative way to use leaves from my surroundings. I'm excited to keep experimenting and sharing my projects. Check out the video to see the process, and also the supplies below.
Supplies:
You can collect dried leaves from your garden or park, or you can purchase dried leaves below:
I hope you get to try them yourself and look forward to seeing what you come up with.
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