Leaves on Linen Project Bag

A scattering of embroidered leaves, stitched upon soft and worn linen, becomes a sweet drawstring project bag. 

A handmade project bag.

This is the first project bag I have made after admiring for so long those stitched and sewn by the very talented Melissa Wastney of tiny happy.  While my stitches are nowhere near as fine or as tiny as Melissa's, I am happy all the same with my simple leaves on linen. 

 Pieces ready to be sewn up into a project bag.

The pattern for my project bag came from Melissa's book, Sweet and Simple Handmade, which I borrowed from my local library. The fabric came from my stash: with the leaves embroidered on the aging linen of a very old tea towel; the lining is a very soft cotton printed with tiny fruits; the casing made from scraps of silk that I dyed in a workshop on natural plant dyes. I used a sheer gold ribbon I had here too for the drawstring though I think I will replace this with a much narrower, silk ribbon to make the bag close more readily.

A handmade linen bag lined with a soft printed cotton.

This project bag is large enough to hold a small knitting or craft project, a gift for a dear friend or a good novel and one's reading glasses (if, like me, you need them). I plan to make several more, just like this one, but instead of leaves I want to stitch feathers and flowers, berries and butterflies, maybe even mushrooms!

Meg

New Growth

While we turn the pages on a calendar to herald a new month, and sometimes a change in season, it is the first leaves, emerging on bare branches, that are a Plane Tree's way of signalling the warming temperatures and lengthening days of early Spring.

A new leaf unfurling on a Plane Tree.

As the Spring days unfold, so too will more and more of these bright green leaves. Soon, the tree's silvery branches will be covered in a mass of fresh, maple-like leaves.  

This new growth, to me, is this tree's own celebration of the coming of Spring. A time, in one of nature's intriguing cycles, for renewal.

Meg

 

 

Terrific Tuscan Kale

I grow dark and leafy Tuscan Kale, not because it is a trendy "superfood", but because it is an easy-to-grow and productive plant to have in a vegetable garden (and I don't want to pay "superfood" prices for a bunch of it at the shops either ;)

 Tuscan Kale growing in my veggie patch.

This distinctive member of the Brassica family, with crinkled and very dark green (almost black) leaves, is believed to have originated in Tuscany. Hence the Italian translation of its other commonly recognised name, Cavolo Nero, as "black cabbage".

Tiny seedlings of Tuscan Kale grow into tall, sculptural plants. I grow this kale towards the back of my veggie garden as it needs space to be tall and for its long, crinkled leaves, to arch outwards. It provides some shade too, as the weather warms up, for plants growing nearby.

 Tuscan Kale needs room to grow.

The white cabbage butterfly do like to lay their eggs on Tuscan Kale as they do many other Brassicas. I simply check underneath the leaves for caterpillars and remove them if I find them. The magpies that visit our garden love a free caterpillar or two!

Tuscan Kale is very nutritious and delicious. It's easy to pick just a few leaves, as you would a pick-again lettuce, and use them in cooking. I favour the smaller, tender leaves. You just have to make sure you cut out the tough, central vein from each leaf before chopping or shredding.  I like to add Tuscan Kale to salads, omelettes and quiches. I mix chopped kale into fresh ricotta, as I would spinach, to make a filling for puff pastry triangles. Kale chips and green smoothies are pretty trendy too.

 Delicious leaves.

If you don't already grow Tuscan Kale, I hope you will give it a try. It's very easy to grow, very versatile to cook with and very delicious to eat. 

Meg

 

Stitching Greens

In a small and beckoning antique shop, I found a little basket of old embroidery threads. As I looked through the spectrum of colourful cottons, I was drawn to the greens; mossy and bright and muted greens. Onto a piece of soft and light linen, from an old and well-worn tea towel, I have been stitching leaves. Simple, scattered green leaves. 

Leaves on linen.

When I've finished scattering leaves all over the linen, I want to use it to make a project bag, like this one made by Melissa Wastney of the blog, Tiny Happy. Her tiny and happy stitches have enchanted and inspired me for a long time. 

I usually store a knitting project in this beautiful handmade bag by Melissa Wastney.

So, when I found a pattern for a project bag in her book, Sweet and Simple Handmade, that I borrowed from the library recently, I felt it time I made one. Such a bag would be perfect for holding the knitted organic washcloths, like this one, that I am making for a friend whose baby will arrive later in the year.

A little project like this one is easy to pick up every now and again if one isn't in a hurry.  I store mine tucked into a basket on my crafting shelf and have embroidered a leaf or two whenever a moment for sitting quietly and stitching has presented itself.

I hope to have a few more such moments over the coming weekend to finish off the leaves. I hope you get some time too to finish off, or make progress on, your own project.

Have a lovely weekend.
Meg

p.s. I am using very simple backstitch to create my leaves. The tutorial at this link shows you how to use fishbone stitch to embroider a leaf.

Autumn's Turn

I have been waiting for the subtle signs of Autumn. Waiting impatiently! And then, this morning, I noticed this leaf, among others, on the deciduous trees that border our fenceline. Its margin now defined by a rusty brown and its summery bright green changing to yellow, this leaf is a sure signal that Autumn has come. At last!

A beautiful Autumnal leaf.

I am so ready for Autumn for it is my favourite season of the year.  I love its clear blue skies, crisp mornings, cooler temperatures, changing leaves and warming foods. And, I love that it's time to fill my main veggie bed with the seedlings I've been hesitant to plant before now. For, while the calendar signalled Autumn's arrival a couple of weeks ago, daytime temperatures here (above 30degrees C) suggested Summer was lingering on.

Some seedlings for Autumn planting.

My main veggie bed has been ready for a few weeks. I enriched the soil with compost, worm castings and cow manure before covering it all with a blanket of newspaper and lucerne mulch. I've watered it regularly so it has retained its moisture. Under its top layer, it is rich and moist and waiting for seedlings to nourish. 

Waiting for seedlings!

Later today, in the fading light of an Autumnal afternoon, I will make little "pockets" in the mulch, break the newspaper layer, and carefully plant each seedling with a handful of compost for good measure. I'll water them in with seaweed solution and wait for them to grow. 

More seedlings for our garden.

That wait will be well worth it. There is nothing more fresh and tasty than homegrown veggies from your own backyard.  I am looking forward to our Autumn harvests very much indeed. It seems too that there will be some sweet and juicy fruit ready soon too. Just as those beautiful leaves are changing their colours, so too are the mandarins which are gradually ripening to what will be a vibrant orange.

Ripening mandarins on our tree.

Yes, I love Autumn. There is so much to look forward to! I hope you have much to look forward to from your Autumn days too.

Meg

Stitching Sunshine in a Leaf

Along one of our side boundaries, our neighbour has grown two majestic plane trees.  These stunning deciduous trees mark the seasons with leaves that are gloriously green in Summer, yellow and brown in Autumn and scattered all over the ground in Winter. Budding leaves, on bare branches early in Spring, are awaited here by all of us as a sign that warmer days are on their way.

The leaves of the plane tree are reminiscent of the shape of maple leaves.  I love their intricate, pointing edges and their branching veins. On a warm day I chose one and, inspired by the beautiful embroidered leaves of Hillary Fayle, I began stitching some sunshine.

Sunshine in a leaf.

Around and around, under and over, until a round "sun" formed in the centre of its anchoring "rays".  When it was done, I tacked it up on a window that catches the morning light. Whenever I see it, I always think of the sun and its central role in all of our lives. It is light. It is warmth. It is energy. 

I hope you enjoy the warm touch of the sun today.

Meg

Lovely Lemon Verbena

Brushing up against the bright green leaves of the Lemon Verbena releases a subtle, lemon scent as I walk by.  Picking a few of those leaves and gently crushing them in my hands releases, much more emphatically, its lemony perfume. 

The lemon scented leaves of the Lemon Verbena.

My Lemon Verbena is a fairly recent addition to our garden. I have planted it in a sunny, well-drained but protected space and it's thriving there. It did get straggly at one stage, after flowering, but a light prune has resulted in a burst of new and thicker growth. More lemony leaves!

These leaves have many uses. You can steep them to make a revitalising herbal tea, like the one resulting from this recipe where its flavour is combined with mint.  You can make a lemon-scented sugar or infuse syrups or vinegar with the lemon of the leaves too. With my abundant supply though, I am most looking forward to making Martha Stewart's Lemon Verbena Lemonade. 

I can envisage pouring myself a glass of this icy, refreshing lemonade. I imagine that I'll cradle my glass sitting on the deck, gumboots still on, overlooking the garden where my Lemon Verbena grows. I think I'll have to do this at least once before this Summer ends, starting this weekend.

Meg

Clay Leaves

While flowers often enchant me with their colourful blooms, heady scents and amazing forms, I find leaves, in all their amazing shapes and shades of green, just as captivating.  

So, a little while ago, when asked to work on an Art project with a beautiful class of children who were learning about all of the different leaf shapes, I was rather excited to share my enthusiasm for leaves with them. 

Inspired by the beautiful clay leaf garland I found here, the children collected different leaves from around their school. (Passionfruit vine leaves were very popular!) After identifying the different shapes of their leaves, uisng this chart, they pressed them into the air drying clay they had rolled out. Very delicately then, they lifted each leaf out of the clay to reveal the intricate prints left behind. With great care, they cut around the margins of their leaves and left them to dry. A few days later, using various shades of green and brown watercolours, they painted their dry clay leaves and watched with fascination as the watercolour spread out following the impressions left by the veins of the leaves. Once dry, each leaf was given a protective coat of a sealant I made with a mixture of PVA glue and water. This made their colours darken and shine. When dry, each leaf was then strung onto a garland and secured with two tiny wooden beads I reclaimed from an op-shop necklace.

Lovely leaves in an old cane basket.

The children were so excited to be part of this project and became so much more aware of the very simple beauty and diversity in the leaves that surround them.  They were so proud of their individual leaves and delighted by their collaborative garland when it was put up in their environment. It's rather beautiful, don't you think?