Lemon | Botanica by Julie Kniedl

It is hard to believe that it has been three years since we lost the extraordinarily talented Julie Kniedl. Julie is missed as acutely today as ever, but her unrivalled skills live on in the range of exquisite projects which she designed, so many of which have been preserved in her book ‘Botanica’.

After releasing Botanica in 2019, it has continued to be one of our most popular publications. We never tire of seeing the many pictures of finished projects from this book worked so lovingly by our community, who embrace Julie’s amazing three-dimensional pieces with a passion.

Each project is so lifelike, with the tiny details rendered so perfectly, it is little wonder that the book has remained a constant favourite.

Take the elegant Lemon for instance. This project consists not just of the ripe fruit itself, but includes a glossy leaf, a delicate lemon blossom and several bursting floral buds to complete the piece.

The lemon element is constructed on a felt base, stitched over using long and short stitch to achieve the perfect texture. One can almost smell the tangy citrus scent arising from the skin.

The detached leaf is worked in a perfect shade of deep green, and the blossom is replete with stamens laden with pollen just waiting for a visiting bee.

The fruit, leaf and blossom are then attached to a twig to complete the illusion of reality, resulting in a piece which looks for all the world like it’s just been plucked from a nearby tree.

The Lemon is just one of several fruits which feature in Botanica, allowing the embroiderer to recreate the abundance of nature with perfect verisimilitude, but without any chance of the fruit withering, rotting or being eaten! These projects really are the ideal way of celebrating and preserving the miracle of nature.

Three-dimensional embroidery is the technique which marries real life and art in a way unlike any other. This lemon isn’t just an image of real life, it is real life, simply rendered in a way that makes it everlasting and endlessly beautiful.

We will always be in awe of Julie Kniedl’s imagination and ability to create reality with a needle. Now, every flower or fruit stitched from one of her patterns, carries just a little bit of Julie wrapped up in the love and care of the stitcher who lovingly created it.

Make Your Own Lemon

Step 1 – Purchase Project Instructions

Delicate, waxy flowers contrast with the ripe, yellow citrus fruit in this stunning Lemon by Julie Kniedl from Botanica.

Step 2 – Purchase Ready-To-Stitch Kit

The Inspirations Ready-To-Stitch kit for Lemon includes everything* you need to re-create this life-like fruit: Fabrics (unprinted), wool felt, wire, beads, crimper, embroidery threads and needles.