found & sewn: capturing summer- A pressed flower project

I wish summers could last forever but they're always too short, so for my latest collaboration with Braintree Clothing I'll be capturing the essence of summer in a pressed flower project.

found & sewn

I was flicking through a book the other day and out fell pressed pink Rose petals, which instantly took me back to a beautiful garden that I visited a few summers ago. I must have put the petals in the pages of a book I was reading at the time and had forgotten about them, until now.

Pressing flowers is an age old tradition, they are little time capsules capturing summer, a day or a moment.

This is a really simple pressed flower project, creating little studies / memories of each flower. Framed, they make lovely gifts, cards or just hidden away to surprise you another day.

You will need:

Selection of flowers, grasses, leaves

Absorbent paper

Watercolour paper

Watercolour paints

Scissors

Pencil

Glue

Needle & thread

You can press a selection of flowers, petals, leaves, seed heads and grasses. Make sure they are clean, dry and free from bugs.

Carefully place a few chosen flowers in between absorbent lined pages of a book. Close the book and add extra weight by stacking more books on top. It takes about two weeks to press flowers.

I’ve used A5 water colour paper, but you can use any size you like. Give your paper a light wash of watercolour paint in a colour which will work with your chosen flower. You could also use a tea stain for a vintage look.

I like to stitch my flowers on to the paper rather than using glue. Lay your flowers on to each page and carefully stitch over the stems, just enough to attach it to the paper. Use a piece of tape on the back of each page to fasten off the stitches.

I’ve glued on little name tags including the Latin names and short descriptions , but you could also add the date and place where you picked the flowers.