Burnt Teabag Leaves

A delicate 3 D bowl made from stitching and then charring leaves stitched onto teabags

To create this bowl the individual teabag leaves were stitched onto water soluble fabric using a cotton thread as polyester thread will melt during the burning process. I drew the leaf shapes with veins onto the water soluble and then placed the teabags as I sewed. You could draw the leaves onto paper and then tack the teabags to the paper and remove the paper once the basic stitching is completed, I used a sewing machine and a small zigzag stitch to enhance the vein lines but hand stitch would also work for this stage. The pattern can be quite simple. Once the leaves are completely stitched, (carefully tear off the paper if you used this method) place them in warm water to dissolve the water soluble material. Spread out and allow to dry. Now you can burn the edges with either a soldering iron or a joss stick. Make some holes in between the veins as well to get lacey leaves.

I placed some plastic over a bowl (upside down) and then painted the leaves with gel medium (diluted PVA would also work). The leaves were laid out over the bowl, on top of the plastic and allowed to dry. Viola, the plastic allows easy removal from the bowl and there you have a lacey 3D construct