Pressed flower craft

Pressed flower craft consists of pressing flower petals and leaves in a flower press to exclude light and moisture, then using the pressed items in a variety of designs.

Pressing flowers makes them appear larger, and often there is a change in colour, ranging from faded colours to greater intensity of colour.

The pressed flowers and leaves are often mounted on special paper, such as hand-made paper, Ingres paper, Japanese paper, or paper decorated by marbling.

Watercolour washes ar sometimes applied to the backing paper before the material is applied to it.

It is also possible to mount pressed material on fabrics, such as velvet, silk, linen or cotton.

Petals and leaves can also be applied to wood furnishings by the technique of Decoupage.

The craft was very popular in Victorian times and has experienced a revival in the last 20 years or so. Many new, attractive books have been published on the subject by authors such as Penny Black.

The image below shows a modern interpretation of a Victorian pressed flower sampler. Leaves and petals are used to construct items such as butterflies, animals or floral arrangements which one would find on traditional embroidery samplers.