This collection not only expanded on my work last year with Leaf Bug Studio for our Summer Solstice Collection, but it also challenged my abilities in new ways. The embroidered fox t-shirt required me to learn a multitude of new skills. For one I learned how to up-cycle t-shirts and tea-dye them with black tea leaves. This new process took a bit of trial and error, but the end result was worth the effort. I even took a leap with machine embroidery in 2026. While I have dabbled in hand embroidery over the years as a means to create unique garments - the world of sewing machines is completely foreign to me. The process of learning this new craft certainly tested my patience, and I snapped several needles along the way. (I started by using a sewing foot on an embroidery piece, because well I had no clue). After weeks of learning through you-tube and asking my seamstress friends I was able to create what I set out to do - beautiful tea-dyed embroidered fox shirts. I think this is only the beginning in my machine embroidery journey, and hope to keep improving along the way.