This episode of the Stitch Safari Podcast is a nature lover’s dream because it celebrates nature’s motifs and the art of stitching directly onto one of the most ably renewed natural resources, leaves.

Who knew?  Until recently, I certainly didn’t.

As incredible as it sounds, this inspiring form of embroidery offers a deep dive into how easily obtained natural elements, such as leaves, can be transformed through embroidery.

Is it simple?  I don’t think so, but the outcomes are utterly incredible.

To help round out this episode, I’ll explore how natural design motifs such as leaves have been used in traditional and modern design, and delve into historical practices and the cultural significance of leaf motifs.

There will be a few tips on working with delicate leaves, including collecting, pressing and treating leaves to help make them suitable for stitching.

I’ll cover what I believe to be best practices for choosing threads and adhesives and explore the creative processes, challenges and inspiration of contemporary textile artists working within this genre.

This is garden-to-gallery embroidery, from concept to preservation and display. By understanding and mixing technical insights, personal stories, and creative inspiration, this episode will inspire the seasoned embroiderer and the curious beginner to merge art and nature through the art of the needle.

Leaf motifs in design are nothing new. They’ve been a recurring and significant design element in art for millennia. Evidence of their use dates back to ancient civilisations as a versatile motif used in various art forms and cultures.

But first, to better understand the usage and importance of the leaf motif, let’s set it into a brief historical context.

I’ll begin with the fig leaf, which is of cultural significance in Western painting and sculpture because it was used to obscure genitalia, stemming from the biblical story of Adam and Eve.

From around the 5th century BC, the acanthus leaf has appeared extensively in early Greek and Roman architecture, used in friezes and other decorated areas.

It was also frequently seen in illuminated manuscripts along with vine leaves as a common decorative element in borders and miniature paintings, or simply to fill spaces, often incorporating gold leaf for a sense of richness and spirituality, highlighting the shapes and textures when combined with the rich and vibrant pigments.

Viking art incorporated highly stylised leaf motifs, especially in the later Mammen and Ringerike styles that emerged around the 10th century, featuring acanthus and interlacing tendrils of vines serving as framing devices or background elements.

As the Viking Age progressed, naturalistic plant forms gradually replaced more abstract designs, but significantly, the leaf motif played an important role in the development of Viking art, creating intricate, dynamic designs.

Leaf motifs used during the Medieval period included holly and ivy imbued with Christian symbolism, the red holly berries representing the Virgin Mary’s and Christ’s blood while also retaining older, pagan associations of protection and renewal.

Of note during this period are the Unicorn Tapestries, 1495-1505, a series of seven tapestries depicting a group of noblemen and hunters in pursuit of a unicorn through the French forest abounding with woven leaf motifs.  The earlier Bayeaux Tapestry is notable for the use of highly stylised tree motifs along with natural plant dyes to produce the coloured threads for this amazing medieval embroidery.

The leaf motif in Renaissance art represented both a decorative element and a source of symbolism, representing fertility, growth and nature’s bounty with a revival of interest in classical art and nature, leading to the incorporation of naturalistic and stylised leaf designs into various artistic media.

Think of Botticelli’s painting, Primavera, used, I believe, as inspiration for the embroidery on Queen Elizabeth II’s wedding dress.  This is also the time of ‘the Green Man’, a foliate head or mask with leaves or leafy shoots growing from the face.

Renaissance embroiderers often strived for realism, depicting leaves with intricate details and varied shapes, sometimes mimicking specific plant species. Leaf motifs were frequently embroidered onto luxury fabrics such as silk, brocade and velvet, enhancing the richness and status of these textiles.

It was also a prominent feature of Elizabethan embroidery used to embellish clothing, household items and other textiles with vibrant colours and intricate stitches, and as this was a time of exploration, great interest was ignited in all things botanical, quickly filtering into Elizabethan embroidery design.

These designs featured myriad foliage motifs employing a variety of stitches such as stem stitch, satin stitch, double plait stitch, French knots and couching to create different textures.  These were worked in vibrant colours, often incorporating gold or silver threads for added richness.

The popularity of oriental printed and painted cottons, particularly those from India, influenced motifs such as The Tree of Life, a recurring theme in Jacobean embroidery, symbolising creation and the connection of all things, rendered with highly stylised branches and foliage.

Chinese embroidery used the leaf motif, particularly the lotus and bamboo, as a significant element representing deep cultural and spiritual themes of nature, purity, longevity, happiness, and good fortune, worked in strikingly intricate silk embroidery.

In traditional Japanese embroidery, the leaf motif appeared in sashiko featuring the hemp leaf, often used for their geometric patterns, and as a symbolic representation of nature and growth.  But this geometric motif could also represent resilience and endurance, reflecting the practical and enduring nature of sashiko embroidery itself.  While the hemp leaf is prominent, other leaves, such as ginkgo, were also used.

The Victorian era was known for its use of symbolism, such as ivy and laurel representing love and fidelity, symbolising hope, renewal and growth, with designs heavily influenced by Indian textiles, characterised by bright and exotic patterns of highly stylised flora and fauna.

Ayrshire, Mountmellick, Whitework, Blackwork, Patchwork, and Kantha embroidery styles all feature stylised leaf patterns.

This was also the time of the Art Deco and Art Nouveau movements, where inspiration from nature was used very differently.  Art Nouveau was heavily influenced by natural forms, including sinuous curves of plants and flowers, where sweeping and swirling lines create dynamic movement.  Art Deco, while still drawing from nature, focused on modernity and technological progress with a preference for geometric shapes and strong lines.

But the hallmark of the leaf motif, along with natural imagery, would have to be the Arts and Crafts Movement.

With the rejection of industrial production in favour of handcrafted organic designs, artists celebrated the beauty of nature and the natural world.

William Morris sought to reconnect nature with traditional craftsmanship in various forms of art and craft, including wallpapers, tapestries, textiles, stained glass, furniture, metalwork and embroideries.

Well-used motifs included oak, ginkgo and vine leaves, with the Arts and Crafts aesthetic becoming a philosophy of how to live in harmony with nature.

So if I had to give a very brief overview of artists who use the leaf motif successfully, it would include the Australian Aboriginal artist Gloria Petyarre, whose bush medicine leaf style features densely painted leaves, often from the Kurrajong tree, capturing the ethereal essence of the Dreamtime while paying homage to the natural world.

It would also include the work of Andy Goldsworthy, who creates striking geometric shapes and magical contrasts of colour in his well-known land art, often featuring myriad leaves. Georgia O’Keeffe, explored the leaf motif, magnifying and isolating leaves, transforming them into abstract, almost surreal forms, emphasizing colour, shape, and line, capturing the essence of nature, and Frida Kahlo, who frequently incorporated leaf motifs as part of a larger symbolic landscape reflecting her Mexican heritage and personal experiences including pain and resilience.

If inspiration is needed for the leaf motif to be used in design, there are myriad historical and artistic references.

So, how do modern embroiderers celebrate nature’s canvas?

Two embroiderers create intricate and detailed embroidered designs directly onto real leaves.

Conflicting advice abounds on how this should be done, from soaking them in a glycerine solution to backing them with an iron-on stabiliser.  Unfortunately, the results seem unreliable, so I think this is the time to sample and observe results for yourself.

American embroiderer Hillary Waters Fayle studied embroidery at Manchester University in the UK. Upon her return to America, Hillary said in an interview with TextileArtist that she had always been interested in using textiles to add beauty to the world.

A love of nature, along with a passion for drawing and patternmaking, led Hillary to consider stitching directly onto leaves, so this is a person whose process I would take notice of.

She begins by collecting leaves, respectfully not taking too many from any one plant.  Back in her studio, consideration is given as to how she will work with them, either fresh or dried for later use, depending on the species and her intention for the work.

Now I think this knowledge is key.  Hillary’s process centres around observation, sampling and evaluation.

In a YouTube video offered by Arnolds Attic, Hillary goes over her process, stating that sometimes she does use an archival PVA glue on the backs of some of the leaves to help stabilise the movement of the needle and thread through such a delicate material.  I believe she presses some leaves for a couple of days, as well as pressing again after the embroidery is finished.

Hillary contemplates each leaf design, drawing out designs for that specific leaf shape, enabling her to work to a plan.

Of note here is Hillary’s use of different embroidery stitches.  She fell in love with the intricacy and elaborate functionality of insertion stitches and used these at the beginning of working with leaves.  Now, however, Hillary mostly uses couching as it produces crisp designs with fewer puncture holes in the leaf.

So if this style of embroidery excites your interest, Hillary has been very gracious in sharing her process.  Both the interview and video links are available in my show notes on the Stitch Safari website.

Both her delicacy and lightness of touch working with this fragile material are incredible.

Spanish artist Laura Dalla Vecchia offers something completely different, creating hand-embroidered birds stitched onto dried leaves using incredible accuracy to showcase a variety of different species, including orange-beaked toucans, fluorescent green parrots and ruby-throated hummingbirds.

The reason Laura began stitching onto leaves was that fabrics were hard to obtain where she lives in Brazil.  The vibrancy and detail captured in these embroideries showcase her love of Brazilian birds.

So, what are the best practices for techniques and materials when working on leaves?

I’m no expert, but common sense would suggest that threads and needles should be fine so as not to drag through the leaf on each pull-through of the stitch, which is why I believe Hillary’s use of couching is clever.  Thicker threads laid down gently on the surface, then couched down by a finer, visible or invisible thread.

Pressing leaves flat for a couple of days or until they’re completely dried seems to depend on the style of embroidery, the leaf itself and the intricacy of the design the artist has in mind.

My research uncovered a variety of suggestions, some may work, some may not.  I think this is one time where learning as you go is the order of the day.

Hillary and Laura’s embroideries are exquisite and all the more appreciated because of the delicacy of the substrate they can stitch into.  I don’t think I would have their patience.

For those of us who continue to work on cloth, there are several leaf stitches available for embroiderers to use, including satin stitch, fishbone stitch, leaf stitch, and fern stitch, all of which offer unique textures for creating realistic or stylised leaf motifs.

Sarah Homfray Embroidery also offers a video on YouTube for 10 Ways to Stitch Leaves.

Thank you for joining me on this journey into the leaf motif and the delicate art of embroidering directly onto leaves. It’s truly inspiring to see how nature’s fleeting beauty can be preserved and enhanced through the meticulous craft of embroidery by these two inspiring embroiderers.​

If today’s episode sparked your curiosity or creativity, I’d love to hear about it!

Share your thoughts, experiences, or even your own leaf embroidery projects with us on Instagram or Facebook. Your stories not only enrich our community but also inspire fellow listeners to explore this unique art form.​​

Keep stitching, keep exploring, and remember, every leaf could just hold a story waiting to be told through your needle and thread.