More Stitching On Leaves

A Large Plane leaf with Hydrangea flowers and embroidery embellishment

In the park next to my house there are lots of Plane trees which have large leaves and I often use these as inspiration for art work. In the Autumn they litter the ground in great masses and are fun to crunch through when I take my dog of a walk.

The plane leaves are quite brittle when dry so I would have stitched this when it was green ( or maybe I soaked it in some water to increase flexibility before I started). If you do this make sure you pat the leaf dry with paper towel before you start. as I have not use organza or net as a supporting basis. I have stitched directly onto black felt using blanket stitch in an appropriate colour.

I have added two hydrangea flowers which were pre-made using the organza sandwich method and then applied to the base of the leaf using very small blanket stitches. In the middle I have embroidered the word Resilience. In hind sight maybe I should have used a more contrasting thread but I did not want the text to overpower the leaf.

Amanda Bauer is an artist who does some amazing work with stitched natural materials. If you are interested you might like to look up her work.