Stitching on Leaves
Circular Stitched Leaf construct
Leaves are more robust than you may think, especially those that are of thicker construction. If you sandwich them between two layers of net/organza and stitch through the three layers you can create some magical results. The colours stay pretty much to the original colours - much like pressed leaves.
You can see in the example above the softer (Japanese anemone) leaves have shattered slightly in stitching but the organza still holds the shape of them together. I think the leaves may have dried out a bit before I stitched them. Using fresh leaves or hydrating them in water and patting dry with a paper towel before starting helps to prevent this. This round has been made for several years now and is still quite vibrant.
Leaves used in this construct are from the outside: Japanese anemone (green) flowering cherry (Autumn with burgundy organza - red) Autumn gingko (yellow) small leafed maple (red) and a blue/grey hydrangea flower in the centre. Once the leaves had been made and I had decided on the arrangement I just hot glue gunned them to a round form.
I often stitch leaves in the sandwich form during the Autumn months and store them in an airtight container for later art work. I have incorporated them quite a bit in various places - eg. Going Green Denpasar in the teabag section. Stitching the leaves is a very relaxing and in the moment activity. I usually stich along the vein lines by hand with a simple running stitch and then outline stitch the leaves on the sewing machine. To avoid having to stop and start I often stitch along the perimeter of the leaf to the next vein. You could hand stitch the outside edges as well. I have done this and it worked OK. The machine edge is more regular and closer together which is why that is my preference. I have tried burning off the organza around the edges of the leaves with a soldering iron (rather than cutting them out) but I didn’t like the effect of the burnt edges but. That is also a possibility for a different effect.