leather camellia brooch

JANUARY’19 Flower of the Month: CAMELLIA

Welcome to 2019's new monthly section devoted to the Flower of the Month.
In here, taking into account the seasonality and other factors I will be presenting you with some of my best flower making tutorials and tutorial bundles at ... the best prices. silk camellia
For the month of January I have picked out for you the Camellia flower. And, since camellias come in different shapes and sizes TWO Camellia tutorials are awaiting you this month (the offer is valid till 31 January 2019)

If there are any seasonal fabric flowers, this metallic fabric backed velvet version must be one of them.

The detailed step-by-step tutorial reveals the secret behind smoothly shaped petals arranged in a near perfect geometric flower shape.

Rumors have it that Chanel's camellias have 26 petals. My version features 33 of them. It is a little stylised version of the camellia flower with its near perfect geometric shape and a flat back, which makes it ideal in many projects ranging from jewellery to millinery. You can make it oversized like I did with the black one in the photo collage below and turn it into a hairpiece. Small camellias will look great as shoe clips, small stick pins or corsages. This flower can be made with a wide number of fabrics (think heavy satin, denim, linen, cotton, tweed etc) as well as LEATHER . In the tutorial you will learn how to work with velvet, which can be challenging if you have not tackled it before.

 

As the flower of the month you can now purchase the tutorial and the tutorial+kit bundle with a discount (-15% and -20% respectively). All discounts have already been applied on the website. Please click on the images below to find out more and purchase.

Velvet Camellia Tutorial + DIY kit

Velvet Camellia Tutorial

fabric camellia tutorial
In case if you are after a more realistic delicate looking camellia flower, my detailed VIDEO tutorial on camellia japonica might be what you need

silk camellias

Camellia flowers are beautiful but very short lived. Now you can create your own camellia corsage, hairpiece or a hat trim with these striking blooms in the colour of your choice to enjoy throughout the year.
For realistic colour combinations visit a garden with flowering camellias, go online or browse through a gardening book.
The video tutorial will guide you through the process of dyeing the fabrics, shaping all the parts with millinery tools and assembling your flowers together.
To make your delicate camellia japonica flowers use silk or rayon satin with its smooth slightly shiny surface that so much resembles the real camellia petals.
As the flower of the month you can now purchase the VIDEO tutorial and the tutorial+kit bundle with a discount (-15% and -20% respectively). All discounts have already been applied on the website. Please use the buttons below to find out more and purchase.

Fabric Camellia VIDEO tutorial + DIY kit

Fabric Camellia VIDEO Tutorial

I hope you will enjoy making your fabric (and leather!) camellias this January!

Spring in leather bloom

tAs the days become warmer Eva and I spend more and more time wandering pedestrian paths and little streets of our city enjoying spring and the blooms it has brought.
One of the classic spring flowers is a noble camellia. Often hidden in the back gardens it is in full bloom at the moment. More often than not camellia flower has clean lines and a regular shape which is perfect for recreating this flower in leather. I have gone slightly mad and made a whole load of smaller and larger camellias in differently coloured genuine leather and suede.

Leather camellia

Camellias can be finished with a brooch pin or a hair clip.

During our expeditions along footpaths we come across much more humble flowers too. Like tiny wild violets scattered among the grass here and there. They are very fragile and will not survive for much longer once they are picked. To make them I chose soft suede of an appropriate colour. Now you can enjoy this sweet brooch of wild violets for as long as you wish!

Wild violets brooch

What are  you creating this spring?

Oversized flowers: to dare or not to dare

It seems that I create my flowers faster than I write about them 🙂 Which is probably not bad!
I have noticed that there are quite a lot of oversized flowers found in bridal and fashion collections. They can be worn as hair accessories, as waist line decoration or an arm corsage. Pinterest is full of ideas and photos.
So I have decided to try and make one myself. In fact I have another thought about an oversized flower which is more fluffy and airy but this version is all noble, regular and smooth.
The flower is a large fantasy camellia about 15 cm in diameter which looks like a small hat in itself.
I painted it in shades of blush pink and mounted it on a headband.
The flower is made of silk satin, the leaves are made of lace and doubled with silk organza.
The headband (as always) is wrapped with thin silk.
All the fabrics and the lace used have been painted by hand.
I believe that this hat is a unique and delicate accessory to complete a bridal image and does look very nice when worn.
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE OVERSIZED SILK CAMELLIA HEADPIECE.

silk camellia

Please share your opinion on this new design of mine in the comments below.