Orchid Embroidered Brooch

Description

Three layers, one flower

Every brooch we make is machine embroidered. On this one, three separate layers of petals are then hand-stitched together over the centre, which is what lifts the flower off the fabric and gives it depth. It is also why it costs more than our flat designs: hand labour, not precious materials. A real petal has thickness and a slight curl at the edge, and layered thread is the only way to get near that.

The disappearing background

The whole flower is embroidered onto a fabric that dissolves in water. Once the stitching is done the piece goes for a rinse, the backing vanishes, and what is left is petals held together by thread and nothing else. That is why it drapes instead of sitting flat. There is a short film of it on the video tab of this page, and it is worth the thirty seconds.

Where to put it

Slide the butterfly clutch off the back, push the pin through the fabric, click the clutch back on. A jacket lapel, a linen shirt, a tote bag, the brim of a hat, the strap of a bag. Because it stays soft rather than stiff, it shifts and folds with whatever it is pinned to.

The orchid you cannot kill

Here is the thing about a real Phalaenopsis: it drops its flowers and then sits there looking finished for months, when it is only resting. So healthy plants get thrown out every day by people who assume they have killed them. This one keeps its flowers. No watering, no waiting for a rebloom that may never come, and no guilt.

Over a stain, if needed

Tomato sauce down a white shirt? A moth (a real one, considerably less welcome) through your best wool jumper? A white orchid pinned over the evidence makes the damage look like a decision. We won’t tell if you don’t.

Keeping it in one piece

Take it off before washing or dry cleaning. Go gently on fine knits and silk. Keep it in its box between wearings and the layers stay where they should.

Others built the same way

The Tiger Moth is graphic black and white with a hidden flash of pink. The Rosy Maple Moth is yellow and pink like a sunset. The Luna Moth is pale green with trailing tails. All three are layered and hand-assembled like this one. The rest of the collection runs to ferns, olive branches, eucalyptus flowers and mimosa.