This past decade has seen a revival in the art of embroidery. No longer a pastime reserved to nannies, embroidery is now where the cool kids are at. But if embroidery is cool than Olga Prinku’s flower embroideries are next-level cool.
Relying on her own special technique (which she now teaches in designated workshops), Prinku arranges dried flowers on tulle – the flowers providing an apt replacement for a needle and thread. While some flowers she dries herself, others she buys dried. She also forages for seed pods at the end of the season and picks them when they are dry already.
According to Prinku, some flowers are better than others for particular purposes. For floral embroidery hoops, for example, she looks for dry small poppies or flowers with thin stalks and no particularly big heads. Whereas for wreaths, she likes to use things like eucalyptus and olive, as well as hydrangeas and peonies.
“A lot of my ideas come from going for walks in the countryside near where I live, or things I grow in the garden,” she shared with The Italian Rêve, noting her sources of inspiration. “I love working with the seasons, so whatever is in season is my favorite at that moment!”
With spring just outside our reach, her embroidered pieces provide the perfect substitute. Take a look for yourself:
