Felted Wool: Leaf Within a Leaf

Another leaf design and some felted wool have called me. Selecting the materials is always the first thing. I selected the perle cotton threads that I wanted to use first. I was tempted to go with a strong color background but ultimately chose the very soft green on the right, even though the difference between the background and the lightest cotton thread would be close.

I found this Kelly Fletcher pattern on-line here and modified it to suit my taste. I have used my fine line water-soluble ink pen to mark the pattern on the background. Again, this is a piece that will end up being 6″ x 6″. I started off with a simple chain stitch using all three size 8 perle cotton threads. I like the way they work together. And the lightest thread doesn’t look as shy as I first thought it might, thanks to the variegated nature of it. Click on an image for a larger view.

I was eager to begin defining the three inner leaves of the pattern. I repeated the chain stitch in two rows on the right side of the leaf, a stem stitch to define the stem and two rows of running stitch define the left side. The stitching on the right side of the leaf is called Trellis couching: the medium thread was laid down in horizontal rows, then the lightest thread was laid down in vertical rows. Lastly, I captured each intersection of the design with a very small stitch using the lightest thread.

Trellis couching is a new stitch for me. I’m quite happy with the look of it.

Next I defined the stem of the large leaf using a Palestrina Knot stitch.  If you’re not familiar with this stitch, click on the link (on the name) for some good, clear instructions. The stitch is a double knot that is linked closely together creating a very nice, bold line of stitch. This particular photo shows the true color of the felted wool best.

The 3 small inner leaves screamed for beading! What could I do? I really like the strength it gave to each leaf. I needed to follow that example for defining the right side of the large leaf. For this I fussed with quite a few options, stitching, then taking out. I think I tried at least four different possibilities that seemed quite good until they were stitched.

In the end I used a stem stitch using the lightest thread on the inner border followed by several rows of chain stitch using medium-color thread, then the darkest-color thread.

Simple Colonial Knots scattered on the background finished the design.

I hope that you are finding comfort with your work.

Be strong. Be patient. Be kind.