Some time ago I was inspired to try to make kanzashi flowers after buying the book 'Kanzashi in Bloom' by Diane Gilleland. I tried making a few but was not very successful in finishing them off to my satisfaction. I could make the petals but when it came to joining them all up and forming the flower, I just couldn't get that bit to work. So the book was put away.
Last week at Melbourne's Craft and Quilt Fair, I came across a kanzashi flower maker tool and I was inspired all over again.
My first attempt was a disaster but I persisted. The picture above shows my progress. I tried with cotton fabric first before cutting into some kimono silk fabric.
It's a nifty little tool made by Clover, which makes the construction of the petals really easy but I still had trouble with joining them into a nice flower. After referring to some youtube clips and 'Kanzashi in Bloom' and further practise, I'm getting better at putting it all together.
The instructions call for the back to be finished with a glued circle of self fabric. My bottle of fabric glue refused to open, so I used a couple of layers of iron-on interfacing to finish the back.
I also added a brooch back. Don't look too carefully at the stitching!!! I like the way the flower folds at the back so in the future I think I'll make some with the back as the front.
Bit of showing off here, with two of my flowers making it to the front cover of Diane Gilleland's book.
They look beautiful! I love the book Kanzashi in Bloom, but also find that I didn't get a good join. Not meaning to spam, but there is a tutorial on my blog (link at the top of the blog) on how I do mine and what I teach in workshops. There's a lot more stitching, but I find the petals come together really well because of it. Oh, and a good interfacing is another big hint.
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