Sunday, July 5, 2009

Sewing on Leaves

The weirdest thing, I went outside to water our shade garden this morning and low and behold I couldn't believe my eyes! Did the fairies do some stitching in the moonlight?



Ok, so you know it wasn't the fairies. The Little Ladies and myself had something to do with this. I was inspired by resurrection fern's embroidered leaf post for this sewing activity. I knew the girls would love this so we picked some hosta leaves (or any thick skinned leaf), grabbed some pretty craft floss and the sewing needles.


The plan was to press the stitched leaves when we were done, in hopes of preserving our creations. I had pressed a hosta leaf about a month ago, so we were able to see the color our leaves would turn after being pressed. We had this in mind when selecting the colors of floss to stitch with.


Araina stitched inch worms of various colors on her leaf. I was so surprised with how gentle her sewing was, I put more holes in my leaf than she did!


Fauna free-handed our dog, Denali, onto her leaf. She poked holes in the leaf for Denali's eyes. She stitched in silence until she was done. Such concentration!


I love it that she stitched this without drawing it first. She is such a free spirit; my motherly influence over her must never inhibit that! Here is her finished product.


Araina told me that she used the hosta's natural veins to guide her stitches. Here is her finished product; that's a lot of inchworms inching on her leaf!


I made french knot polka-dots on my hosta leaf. The french knots were a tad challenging to do on the leaf's delicate surface. Here's my finished product.


We will press the leaves for about a month, then possibly frame them if they press well. We had to pull out the big press for this pressing!



This was really fun for us all! It's another way to get kids sewing and appreciate nature at the same time! We will be trying another leaf sewing activity later in the week. Enjoy!

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

I won't be surprised at all to learn that your garden fairies take up this art form ;-). So fun!

dongdong said...

oh, I love Fauna's dog and that picture of her concentrating! so cute. I like Rainy paying attention to the natural veins. SO wonderful!

pink and green mama MaryLea said...

Sew fun!! I can't wait to see what they look like after they dry. The hostas outside my window are now mocking me. ; ) xoxoMaryLea

Pussnae said...

That's so cool! I may just have to try this out.

Crescent Moon said...

That is such a cool project! I started smiling as soon as I saw your first picture. We don't have ant hostas around here, but I'm going to keep my eyes open for other thick leaves and try this someday.

Amber said...

Oh yet again such a beautiful idea. I would love a day in your home..xx

gardenmama said...

What a lovely idea, they came out beautifully!
I like that you are pressing them, I adore our pressed memories from the garden!

Juana said...

Lovely! As always!

Mona said...

So skillful your girls are! - We've been inspired by resurrection fern a couple of times ourselves :)

Rougeabricot said...

I discover and savor your blog, a miracle, I shall return!

Tara said...

A perfect blending of creativity and the natural world... well done girls!

Holly said...

WOW! That is so lovely. Holly

Ticia said...

Very fun of course first I need to teach my kids to sew. I'm looking into needles little ones can use today probably.

Anet said...

Leaves as material... very cool!
The girl's are become very talented at handcrafts. At such a young age too!
My daughter is 22 and just starting to learn embroidery.

Annie said...

Neat and unique. I love it but I love even more the what the girls chose to do and how they accomplished it!

dawn klinge said...

You have such great ideas! This looks like a lot of fun. I'm sure those leaves will look beautiful in a frame after they've been pressed.

Denise Felton said...

Lovely! I just put a link to this post on my blog. I hope it brings you a few extra clicks.

Denise
http://needlework.craftgossip.com

earthycrunchy said...

I would have never thought to do this. How cool! :) Kyndale

karen said...

Oh, but sweet, little fairies did create such magic. Charming!

Ruth said...

Beautiful, so beautiful! I'm always in awe at the beauty of your blog and the snippets of your creations with your darling girls. Thank you so much! Inspirational.

Ute said...

You do have the coolest ideas ever, you know. I think I'll just come and stay with you for a week... and well... just watch you do your thing. *sigh*

therese said...

ha, my daughter does that too, she sews on flowers!

Joy said...

That looks like a fun activity!

Toni said...

what a fun thing to do, what a great fine motor activity.

Palmer and Co said...

What a great and fun idea! Love it!

sunnymama said...

What a fantastic idea! They look great :)

Margie Oomen said...

i love your embroidered hosta leaves.
Your children look like they are having a great deal of fun doing that.

Nik said...

What a neat idea. Have put this one on my list of ideas.

Ruth O'Leary said...

That's such a fun idea! Have you seen Clyde Oliver's work? He stitches on - or rather through - stone. I think the leaves might be a bit easier to start with...

The Magic Onions said...

Oh, I LOVE this post! We are going camping this weekend and you have just reminded me to take my needle and embroidery thread for K to sew on some leaves! Thanks for posting on 'Friday's Nature Table'.
Blessings and magic.