| Fig.83 - The stem curves naturally. | Fig.84 - Under side of the small leaf in the design. |
The curve of the stem of [Fig. 83] is a natural one for it to take, and you can probably find a leaf with its stem curved very much like it, but it is another thing to come across one of the same size which has a stem curved in the opposite direction, and such a stem is necessary for a design like [Fig. 82].
Very well! Since the stem does not naturally curve the way we want it, we will make it do so. All we have to do is to draw it through our fingers several times and, by pressure, gently persuade it to turn as we wish.
[Fig. 84] is the under-side of the small leaf at the bottom of the design ([Fig. 82]), and shows how the stem loop above the leaf was made.
Fig.85 - This is the way the curling Ground-Pine grows.
First a violet-leaf with stem curved like the one in [Fig. 83] was laid down on a sheet of paper, then another leaf of the same size, with stem made to curve in the opposite direction, was placed beside but not touching the first leaf, and with its stem crossing the other stem. The two stems meeting at the bottom formed a pear-shaped loop. The small leaf, after its stem had been formed into a loop and the end tucked in at the back, was fitted on top of the stems of the large leaves, as you see it in [Fig. 82].