Denim Flowers: sustainable to make and fun to wear!Β
At PresentPerfect Creations studio experiments never stop. I try and test different fabrics, colours, shaping and assembly methods to create unusual yet wearable designs.
One of the less traditional fabrics for flower making that has always attracted me (and my customers!) is cotton denim.
Robust enough for everyday wear, so familiar and loved by many it lends itself well to a variety of flower shapes, simplistic and more intricate alike. Add skilful shaping with tools, backing with metallic fabrics and you will receive a beautiful flower accessory perfectly suitable for casual wear and beyond.
Feel free to upcycle your old garments for making any of these designs.
πππΒ Β For all my textile creations I use stiffened fabrics. You can stiffen your own fabrics easily following some basic process. I am explaining how to do it in this post and video
Perhaps, knowing my love for this material you are not surprised to learn that I have a whole 7 day step-by-step video course devoted to a denim rosebud (pictured above) which is recommended as your beginner fabric rose course.
The denim rosebud can make a perfect groom’s buttonhole. Complemented with other flowers it effortlessly becomes a more sophisticated corsage or a hat trim. Small hydrangea flowers work particularly well here together with the rose. They can also be used on their own and turned into a casual yet sweet everyday brooch. Use the step-by-step Fabric Hydrangea Tutorial when making your own denim hydrangea flowers.
However more elaborate roses can be easily achieved with denim. The rose pictured on the right is based on my popularΒ Silk Cropped Petal Rose Tutorial.
The contemporary design of straight cropped petals together with the recognisable look of classic blue denim make this rose unusually modern and visually attractive.
The tutorial onΒ Silk Cropped Petal RoseΒ is aimed at artists with previous experience in flower making. You will deepen your knowledge further and learn to
Β use a soft pad for shaping petals, learn to make complex rose leaves and an unusual beaded centre for your roses.
The denim theme in weddings has been going on for a while now. Over the years I have created groom’s boutonnieres, bridal hair pieces and corsages using a range of different flower templates.
Because of the nature of denim and its thickness flowers with a smaller number of petals work best. Camellias are one of those flowers that can be easily recreated with denim.
You can simply follow myVelvet Camellia Tutorialto make your own denim version of this classic Chanel inspired flower.
Some of my tutorials on leather flowers can be adapted to be used with denim. Both dahlias and gerberas are a good example.
DENIM POPPY FLOWER
Poppies have always been a very popular flower. Made of leather, velvet, silk, cotton, organza or other medium, they always look attractive and often carry a special meaning as well (think Remembrance poppies).
Guess what, these flowers can also be made out of denim. In my live online demonstration on the Wild Velvet Poppies I have explained the process of creating a simple (not so simple π ) wild poppy with only 4 petals using backed petals that are sculpted in an attractive way. Plus you learn how to make a very recognisable seed box for the centre of your poppy. To learn more about this video demo and purchase you access to it visit the Wild Velvet Poppies Online Demonstration page.
Use some upcycled denim from your favourite (or not so favourite) garments and create one of these upcycled denim sunflower brooches.
The instructions can be found inside my Fabric Sunflower demonstration recording which you can find here. You will need a couple of tools for shaping your petals. Luckily, the Essential Leaf Shaping Set is all the tools you need here.
Denim Lily Flower
To make sure the shape stays sharp and the flowers and butterflies are wearable, I do back denim flower parts with another fabric (as it is shown in the
For this job you are free to use either some plain silks like pongee, organza, lightweight habutai. Or you can throw in a touch of sparkle withΒ metallic fabrics if you fancy it.
BothΒ lightweightΒ andΒ medium weight metallic fabricsΒ work well with denim. Furthermore you can dye them in the right shade of blue to match your denim completely should you wish.
Recently I have added another denim flower to my collection, this time a flower that can be made without specialist tools. Meet my denim lily, a perfect project for a beginner in flower making.
You can learn how to make this flower by purchasing the access to a recording of the live demonstration I held last winterΒ For more information click HERE.
One more flower perfect for those students who have not got any flower shaping tools is the No Tool Chrysanthemum. This type of Chrysanthemum has originally been featured during one of my live demostrations where I has shown how to make it out of genuine leather. Denim works for this design just as well. Feel free to try it out and create your own edgy denim chrysanthemum without the use of any specialst tools. You can find the recording of the No Tool Leather Chrysanthemum here
A rose that I have revisited lately is my Velvet Sweet Briar Rose (here pictured in black denim version).
A striking design, theΒ velvet Sweet Briar RoseΒ with its plush hand sculpted petals is stunning and indeed very sweet.
DENIM LUNA MOTH
Do not underestimate this misleadingly simple rose. With so few petals, there is nowhere to hide imperfections. You will learn how to create impeccable velvet petals that look so live and moving when in fact they are rock solid hard and very sturdy. The tutorial is aimed at brave beginner and improver flower makers with a set of flower tools.
Denim is a popular and affordable fabric. I am quite sure you probably have some of it in your stash right now. Why not use it to create something beautiful to give as a little gift, to wear yourself or to offer to your customers?
COTTON DENIM DANDELION
I have even made my signature butterflies and dandelionΒ in denim!
As well as their Mummies little girls love to get dressed in new pretty outfits for special occasions. And what can be the best compliment to that outfit if not a cute designer custom-made hair accessory?
I have made floral accessories in silk and other fabrics as well as fascinators in sinamay for young ladies.
One of my long-standing favourites is this original silk and lace butterfly headband in sugar pink. I painted all the fabrics by hand using colours for silk. This allows me to create the accessory in an array of colours to perfectly match a little girl’s dress. The butterfly is decorated with ostrich feathers and Japanese seed beads.
This is an example of a delicate floral headpiece accented with pearl beads in a matching colour. I used pure silk fabrics of several types and painted them by hand. A headdress like this one is ideal for little bridesmaids at weddings. Other colours are available to order.
This alice headband decorated with a distressed denim camellia flower is a versatile hair accessory for the coming summer. Not only will it complete little princess’ denim outfits, but it will also complement her light romantic dresses and skirts with floral prints. I would recommend it for everyday wear. To get your own complete set of denim accessories you can order a brooch and hair clips made with the same fabric.
My latest creation for young ladies is this elegant triple bow of sinamay and birdcage veil on a headband. I embroidered the centre of the bow with Japanese seed beads and covered the headband in Indian dupioni sik in a matching colour.
This fascinator is perfect for special occasions and can be made to order in other colours to complement an chosen outfit and to complete the look.
I have more ideas to add to the collection of little princess’ accessories so keep your eyes peeled for them :-)))
Fall into colourful autumn with our new and bestselling seasonal pieces. Visit shop to take your pick Dismiss
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Use some upcycled denim from your favourite (or not so favourite) garments and create one of these upcycled denim sunflower brooches.
