Embroidering 3-D Rose Leaves

For the past few months I've been working on creating a palette of leaves for a climbing rose bower on my Mrs. Rose block.

First, I figured out a method for making velvet leaves.  I like those very much but I wanted to try my hand at embroidering a few as well.

This week I worked on a couple of approaches for embroidering three-dimensional leaves.  My first attempt was...just that...a first attempt.

In the second attempt, I sandwiched organza with the fabri-solvy...couching the wires to the underneath of the fabric sandwich and embroidering the leaves on the top side.

Once I finished the embroidery, I cut them each out and placed them in water to dissolve the stabilizer.



Over all, they turned out pretty well.  The more I did, the better I became.  A few minor adjustments and I think I have a good approach for going into production.

I had to order more Gloriana Tudor Silk since I only had it in one color, Olivine, and I'd like to have a palette of leaves to choose from when I'm making the final bower.  Luckily, Needle in a Haystack had a range of greens so those should be arriving in the next day or so.

Check out the difference between one strand of 12-strand Tudor Silk on the left and one strand of Gloriana 12-strand silk floss on the right...

The 120/2 twist of the Tudor Silk has a tighter twist than the silk floss, more of a sheen (IMHO), and doesn't "fuzz out" as much as the softer twist.  That's important because I am distressing the thread a bit by putting it into water.

I am loving how they are turning out.  The only down side is that they take about one hour per leaf stem to make, a bit longer than the plain velvet leaves.

I still need to figure out the calyx and the thorns but I am definitely getting closer...

Below you can see the scale of the leaves compared to a penny...

That's it for now.  I'll be working on Japanese embroidery for the next few days where I have tons and tons of goldwork to do.

Happy day!

Playing with Fabri-Solvy

Lately in my embroidery practice, I've been flipping back and forth between Japanese Embroidery and working on Mrs. Rose.

When last we left Mrs. Rose, I was trying to figure out how I was going to create leaves and leaf stems for the climbing roses.  So far, I had found one way, using silk velvet and water-soluble stabilizer that I liked.

Today, I wanted to play with another method of creating an embroidered leaf without the typical wire outline that goes on many versions of stumpwork leaves.

I thought I would try embroidering directly onto the fabri-solvy...trying a fly-stitch leaf and a modification of a fishbone leaf...

I just quickly couched wire onto the back of the solvy.  This was just an experiment so I didn't really care about the finished look of the wire, I just wanted to have it there to hold my leaves in place...

I thought that the two different leaves would behave a bit differently once I dropped them in water.

What I didn't expect was how loopy the stitches came out...regardless of the stitch type I used.

A good lesson learned but this loopy look was not what I was going for so it's back to the drawing board.  

Next time I'm adding some green silk organza so that the stitches have something to adhere to...

I'm also going to change my thread to a silk with a tighter twist.   

Back to more leafing...

Miniature Millinery

Scale is a marvelous teacher.  And roses don't grow overnight.

Back when I left off with Mrs. Rose, I had figured out a method for making miniature roses.

Before those roses can become rose boughs, I need to figure out how to craft the leaves.

My vision was to have three different types of leaves:  a stumpwork version (yet to be made), a beaded version (yet to be made) and a miniature velvet-ish/fabric-y version á la a millinery leaf spray like the ones below.

As you can see those haven't yet been made either but at least I'm further along than I was yesterday.



The smallest pre-manufactured millinery leaf I own is about 7/8".  My leaves need to be about 3/8" to 1/2" or 11mm-15mm.  I'm playing with all types of variables: wiring the leaves using super micro wire, managing the fraying of the fabric that I'm using, sewing on such tiny pieces, and holding the dag-blasted $@#!%! things in my fat fingers.

There was a lot of struggle today but I have at least discovered two ways I won't be making the leaves.

That being said, I can begin to see that I will figure it out and it's going to be lovely.  It's just not going to be quick.

Back to the drawl-ing board.

Happy weekend everyone!

Playing...

Painting...

Distressing...

Dusting...

Drying...

Transforming...

Choosing...

Smiling.

Waving...

Lady's Mantle Emerging

Over a year ago, crazy quilting teacher, friend and herbalist Betty Pillsbury published this post on her blog, Green Spiral Herbs...

Betty and I first met in Candace Kling's ribbon workshop and ever since, I have admired her skills not just as an award-winning crazy quilter but as a gardener, an herbalist and a healer.

During Hurricane Irene, Betty suffered significant flooding and damage to her property, her gardens and her home. Though she considered herself lucky compared to some of her neighbors who lost everything, it was still a significant blow to her business and livelihood. The Crazy Quilt International Group responded with the New Gardens for Betty project...where members each made hearts for Betty as a sign of their love and support.

When I thought of making a heart for Betty, I immediately thought of her anointing herself with magic in her garden last April...and of the picture of Lady's Mantle that I had "clipped" from her blog and had placed in my inspiration file...

The water droplets, the shapes of the leaves, and the idea of magic all made this post and this picture something I wanted to remember.

Named because the leaves resemble a lady's mantle, I was infatuated with this plant and went to Flickr to search for photos and to get a better understanding of all aspects of this plant.

And wow.

Having never seen this plant in person, I fell in love with the images of this herb.

It's beautiful. The curves, the peaks and the valleys, the creases, the way the leaves open and unfurl. Add water and this plant really puts on a show. Wow again.

What better plant to send to Betty than her own magical Lady's Mantle.

So I set about fusing painted interfacing to some Hanah silk ribbon and cutting out the leaf shapes which you saw last week. I used one of those Clover mini irons to press the creases into the leaves to get that pleated look.

In order to get the "dew drop", I sewed the beads onto the leaves with a water soluble stabilizer backing.

The stabilizer really does what it says...it stabilizes the fabric, threads and beads so the thread doesn't slip while helping the fabric manage the weight of the beads.

The stabilizer also gives the leaves a tiny bit of glue which helps the fabric to hold its shape and some sculpting of the leaves as they dry.

I wasn't sure if the creases would make it through the dip in the pool...

But they did.

Next up for me is a project for the Annual Christmas Ornament exchange with my Crazy Quilt group this Saturday. Betty's magic will have to simmer for a few days.

See you next time...

Turkey Pounces on Leaf Parade

Here I am trying to create woodsy goodness on my special heart.

I'm making leaves for that magical plant that I still need to tell you about...

I'm also making woodsy undergrowth from which my leaves will emerge in all their green glory.

To make that woodsy, leafy impression, I love to use this mesh ribbon stuff. It looks pretty tame right off the roll...

But I never use it that way. Instead, I like to distress it and color it with my Copic sketch markers (or any fabric paint nearby) to get the color I want...

And it starts to look like woodsy undergrowth to me. I used it to create my Underland undergrowth in my Alice in Wonderland piece. You can see it tucked into the woods in this in-progress pic at the top...

Maureen Greeson sells it in her Vintage Acquisitions shop here. And I also saw that she just added some beautiful fabric packs that includes the silk velvet I used in the mushrooms on my Alice piece too.

The woods-making and leaf parade is all coming to a halt for a few days since the turkey trounced into town...

I'll be back on Monday when our family celebrations are over. See you then!

It's a Moss Pile...in a Leaf Year

This pile is my morning's work. I know...you're saying, "That pile of *&%! is her morning's work?"

Hey, I hear you...


Sometimes I am seized with an idea and I head down a path and I have no idea if it will turn out or not.

I still don't know whether this idea is going to work or not. See, I was trying to create that hanging Spanish Moss that helps to give Tulgey Wood a little dark and sinister air. First I tried crocheting the little buggers...forget that, I would be here until next June. Then I thought I would hand embroider them on stablizer...and then the madness left me and I embraced my sewing machine.

I hope when I attach them to the block, they will have the desired effect.


I've found that if I use Ultra Water Soluble stabilizer (it's much thicker), I don't need to put it into a hoop for the free-motion embroidery.


Only problem is it takes much longer for the stabilizer to dissolve. The trick is to cut away absolutely as much stabilizer as possible and then be patient.

So while the little centipedes of thread were dissolving, I tried some practice stitching.


I've been trying to find the right technique to use to make fiddlehead ferns. Aren't they glorious shapes?


DMC makes Memory Thread, a rayon wrapped wire that holds it shape very well. I decided to coil it around a size 00 knitting needle and then couch the coil down. I threaded through some dark floss but that didn't show up enough so I'll have to use something else.


It's definitely a contender but I much preferred the palestrina stitch on the right. I had to practice starting and stopping my thread and making it look contiguous. See that one wonky thread? That's where I started and ended improperly.

OK. So the rest of today and most of tomorrow, I'll probably be working on creating the Mushroom Forest and filling out the Tulgey Wood. Here I am again, immersed in making foliage!


I think I'll call this year "Leaf Year" - By the end, I think I will have tried almost every method of making leaves that are known to man...

Best Regards,
The Leaf Maker

P.S. There's a thought to ponder in my sidebar today. I'd love to hear your responses...of course, assuming you have the time, and it's not to much trouble, and you'd like to play...

Waiting for the Flowers

I'm still making leaves today.



But I'm in good company...



All around me the world is making leaves too...

And though I grow weary of stockpiling leaves, I have fallen in love with green...

And know that green is the perfect background for showing off the colors of flowers.

I cannot wait to see them. And by the time they come, I am so ready for them...

And aren't we lucky that we are able to embroider them...

So we can have them with us all year long...

To make us smile and feel good inside when it's cold and rainy outside...

Until the sun comes out and the world blooms again.

Branching out...

One leaf at a time.


The foliage will be attached all around the top of the purse -- kind of like it's "trim" and I wanted the effect to be...well...very "leafy"... *giggle


What is it with me and leaves these past few months...first Abundance and now this.

Though one thing I noticed when working with all of this green is how many colors looks so beautiful against it. It really is a neutral of sorts....which is why, I suppose, that our great earth is covered in shades of green.


This red plaid fabric will be the lining.

Now, I have a lot of construction to do and then finishing touches. That may take me a few days. Until then, have a great weekend!