Serendipity Sunday–The Last Flowers

An appropriate title for early December, don’t you think?  We may be having unusually warm weather, but the flowers have definitely packed up for the winter!

Last time I worked with the Kanzashi folding, I said I wanted to try some different fabrics.  So today I pulled a variety and cut squares.

There’s denim, a tricot scarf, felt, home dec canvas, and a linen (or linen-type).  Some of the felt was Kunin and some a cheap acrylic.  I started with a cooler setting on the iron and turned up the heat as I changed fabrics, so I started with the felt and ended with the denim.

An unexpected benefit of starting with felt (after all, that’s why I’m calling this Serendipity!) was that working with the other fabrics was much easier by comparison!

I made three sizes of petals in the felt, thinking perhaps I could make a poinsettia style flower, but the felt is so bulky that it wasn’t a practical option.  The middle size came out the best, although it took quite a bit of fiddling to get there!  In fact, the felt was a lot of work and took extra stitching to hold together.  It does pair up nicely with lighter weight fabrics, though.

The scarf fabric created a completely different style of petal.  It was possible to do the extra folds quite easily, but you can see that it doesn’t have a lot of shape.  It does make a nice flower, though, just in a different category.

The linen was my favorite for handling and folding.  It was easy to fold, staying in place without springing apart on me, and plumped up to make nice pleated petals.  It almost made me think I’m getting the hang of this Kanzashi stuff!  But, then there was the denim . . . . .

I had quite a time keeping these petals together and getting my little needle through the layers.  It might have been easier if I hadn’t chosen such a heavy weight denim!  I have to admit, though, this makes a very nice, crisp rounded petal!  I just need to look for a lighter weight if I do this again!

So, there’s today’s bouquet.  I think this is about all I want to do from this particular book.  For now, anyway.  I’ve learned the basic folding techniques, and have an idea of what fabrics are easiest to work with as well as what makes the prettiest flower – not necessarily the same thing!

Next week, I’ll pick another book.  It’s time to make different kinds of flowers, I think.  See you then.

Serendipity Sunday–Flowers Yet Again

I’m determined to get the hang of folding Kanzashi and I might have made some progress today.

I did some checking on the ‘net and some of the tutorials I found say to stitch the ends that are folded to the center.  So, I tried that and although it makes things more fiddly, it sure did seem to help.

Now, this is more like it!  The red petals are 2.5-inch and the white-on-white is 2.75-inch.  The white is a stiffer cotton and this rounded petal worked very nicely.

I wanted to try some different fabrics, like these kimono silks.  The pieces I have are very small, so this is made with 1.5-inch squares.  Oh my!  What a chore this was!  This fabric is prone to slipping and sliding, yet has a definite grain line that must be respected.  In the end, though, it makes a charming little flower, and I’m happy with the result.

I wonder how chiffon works.  One drawback to this particular fabric is that it has a very low melting point.  That means none of the folds could be pressed.  But the 3-inch size wasn’t too difficult.  I’m not sure what possessed me to try this at 1.5-inch!!  It was a struggle, believe me!  In the end, I poured out a little puddle of glue and dipped the blunt ends into it as I folded each petal.  I had to keep shaping them as the glue dried and then it was a bit on the stiff side to string then together.  But there it is . . . and likely to be the only one I ever make!  Especially since my typical glue process involves getting it all over myself and the work surface! 

And here are today’s flowers all together.  There are still some other fabrics I want to try . . . a different weight silk, some sateen, maybe a knit.  The book also has projects using denim and leather (or vinyl).  I think the denim is workable, but I’m not sure about leather.  We’ll have to see how brave I am next week!

One thing I know.  After working with those tiny pieces of chiffon, regular cotton is going to be a breeze!

Serendipity Sunday–More Flowers

There was still one type of Kanzashi flower that I did not try last week, so I started with it today.

It’s a pleated petal, but without a pointed tip.  It was actually a bit harder to fold than the other two.

So, of course, that means I like this version the best!  I think it presents a nice crisp petal, but with enough softness – at least on this side – to look more natural.

I’m feeling more comfortable with the basic folds, however.  So I tried another pointed petal.

And I raided the button box for embellishing the centers. 

Also tried another sample of the rounded petals.  I have really struggled with this fold.  The corners that fold to the center just don’t stay put for me.  In this instance I resorted to gluing beads to keep the corners in place.  There has to be something I’m missing.  I will just have to keep trying.  Practice, practice, practice!

I’ve been gradually reducing the size of my flowers, too.  Started with 3.5 inches, then 3 inches, then 2.5 inches.  The book has a project using 1 inch squares.  It may take me awhile to work down to that!

Now I just need to figure out what to do with all these flowers!

Sunday Serendipity–Flowers

Well, since I finished (mostly) the first book last week, I spent some time deciding which book to explore next.  How about a change of pace?  We are still folding fabric, but the results will be somewhat different.

I actually got this book when it first came out and making Kanzashi flowers was all the rage.  Now that the popularity is beginning to drop off, I think it’s time for me to take a stab at it.  The projects in this book are sure gorgeous!

After a bit of history, the author takes you through the steps to make three basic styles of flowers.  I made it through two today!

My first attempt wasn’t quite what I was looking for!  I started out with 3 1/2 inch squares – because I had some squares already cut from a previous project – but soon discovered that eight petals weren’t enough.  Back to the drawing board!

Ah, that’s better.  These are the rounded petals.  The light fabric wasn’t as firm as the darker so the rounded shape did not hold as well.  Those two over at the side are turned the other side up and flattened, but they still aren’t very round!  I had some trouble getting the petals to sit straight and space evenly.  Turns out it’s harder than it looks! 

Moving on to the pointed petals, I started with 3 inch squares this time.  On one side, these petals make a nice, clean lined flower. 

But the other side is sooo much more interesting!  It’s like veins in each petal.  I’m still struggling to get an evenly spaced flower, but this one is a bit better at least.  Obviously it takes some practice.

And here they are.  Not a huge output for the afternoon, but I’m getting the hang of this.  There is one other style of petal and then lots of variations.  Hopefully each flower will look better and be easier to put together.

I guess we will have to wait and see, won’t we?