Inspired by the work of Susanna Bauer I began my hunt for the perfect magnolia leaf. I found it in the shape of a heart on my mini magnolia we planted this spring on our patio. My craftsmanship needs work, my holes I punched are a bit shaky, but I really enjoyed working this out.
I pressed the leaf under pressure for a couple of days then used an awl to poke my holes. I've been saving some cotton string that I indigo dyed in our Glennis Dolce workshop last school year, found my grandmother's smallest metal crochet hook and crocheted around the leaf. Then I looked for another string that would compliment the piece and did a bit of edging. You are looking at the back above and the front side below.
I also tried working on a rubber tree leaf. I pressed it flat as well but after I hung the finished piece on our Xmas tree at school it really started to dry up and wrap. I actually really liked the effect.
I tried one more leaf since, using another small magnolia leaf and actually cut this one into the shape of a heart, so that I had a crocheted heart ornament for each of my children this Christmas.
Thank you Susanna for your inspiration!
your leaves turned out beautifully. i did something similar just a year ago. the leaves are easier to work with if you soak them in a glycerin solution first. more about it on my blog post here:
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