Backing of handmade flower petals and leaves

by | posted in: fascinators uk, flower iron, flower making iron, flower making tools uk, flower tutorial, hair accessory uk, hand made silk rose, hand painted flowers, hand painted rose, hand painted silk, handmade accessories | 0

silk camelliasTo back or not to back [ handmade flower petals and leaves with fabric ]? If you have not yet decided on this one, I hope this article will help you make up your mind.
So let’s see why, how and with what we back flower petals and leaves. If you have been following PresentPerfect Creations for a while and had a chance to see our tutorials you might have noticed that I always back foliage with a layer of fabric and quite often (depending on the project though) I do the same with flower petals.

On one hand, flower petals should look thin and delicate, but on the othcamellia japonica comp screen JPEGer hand since we make wearable flower pieces they need to be durable and robust enough to withstand wear, pressure and possible damage to some extent at least. Reinforcing handmade flower petals and leaves with another layer of fabric really helps achieve certain durability. Have a look at the camellia flowers above. Would you be able to guess that they are actually cardboard hard? They certainly do not look it and that’s the trick: whilst backing petals with another layer of fabric to give them a look of delicacy and fragility that we see in fresh flowers at the same time.

There are different ways of achieving this look and make your stiff durable flowers appear full of life. The techniqueoversized flower headpieces will vary from flower to flower but as a rule we use a flower iron and a pair of tweezers to shape parts. My SILK CAMELLIA JAPONICA CORSAGE video tutorial explains the process in detail.
If you happen to attend one of my workshops on an OVERSIZED ROSE HEADPIECE, you have experienced petal backing to full extent. Indeed this oversized rose is made of large satin petals that are all backed with a layer of thin silk. This job requires precision, speed, dexterity and neatness. The good news is, practice makes perfect. If you wish to join me for a workshop on this oversized silk rose please send your enquiry to enquiries@presentperfectcreations.comlace orchid headband 2

Although not all flower petals get backed, a certain range of materials would benefit from being backed on every occasion. Amongst those are lace, velvet, denimetc.
LACE ORCHID HAIR CIRCLET video tutorial teaches you how to work with lace and turn it into delicate ethereal flowers that are also robust. White lace flowers are perfect for bridal pieces but if you take coloured lace or dye white lace yourself you can make evening wear floral pieces and much more.
Another video course on a DENIM ROSE BUD shows how to work with denim.
So, leather rose spray corsagewhat fabric(s) to choose for backing?
The choice is more than you might think. For petals some thin fabrics like pongee or organza are used in most cases. But if your petals are made of heavier fabric (velvet, denim or similar), you can go for thin or thick satins, or decorative fabrics with metallic threads.
When backing leaves you can choose from an array of different fabrics ranging from very thin (think pongee, organza) to satins to decorative metallic fabrics to velvet should you blue silk hydrangeawish. There is no hard and fast rule about which fabric to use. Depending on your main fabric try to choose a backing fabric that will complement your design and give it a beautiful finish.

I personally love the durability and definition of backed flower parts be it petals, leaves or butterfly wings, that is why I use this method on a regular basis in my works. To learn more about how you can create handmade flower petals and leaves by backing them with a layer of fabric please have a look at some of the photo tutorials by PresentPerfect Creations studio below:

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A detailed BONUS photo tutorial on Leather Rose Brooch. Yes, you got it right, you can back leather petals and leaves with fabric too! And this bonus tutorial that comes as a freebie together with LEATHER ROSE BROOCH photo tutorial will teach you exactly how you can do that.

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fabric leaves tutorial

A step-by-step photo tutorial on how to create MILLINERY LEAVES that are just right for your project. Still looking for suitable leaves online and in shops? Look no further. A flower iron and this tutorial is everything you need to create any fabric leaves your project calls for.

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lace butterfly tutorial

A step-by-step photo tutorial on how to create our SIGNATURE SILK AND LACE BUTTERFLY ON A HEADBAND. As a bonus you will also get FREE tutorial on how to shape a velvet butterfly with a flower iron (details inside the main tutorial once you’ve got it)

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Should you wish to try and use some decorative fabric with metallic threads in your work (think Christmas ☺) please check this beautiful semitransparent rayon fabric with golden metallic thread. It will look great at the back of leaves as well as petals. The fabric comes prestiffened and is ready to be used in flower making.

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Happy Easter everyone!

by | posted in: bespoke fascinator, bespoke hairpiece uk, black fascinator, black rose, fascinators uk, hairpiece, hand made silk rose, handmade in the uk, headpiece, tilda | 0
I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend. We spent Sunday doing very little, in fact nothing apart from hot cross bun baking (with stem ginger and dark chocolate chips) and little soft sheep toy sewing. The sheep turned out to be really sweet. Just look at her:

I am really becoming addicted to these soft tilda toys! I just have to make sure I do not sew too many to clutter the house 🙂
Earlier this week I finished a hairpiece with a black rose. It is a evening fascinator completed with French veiling and decorated with a  large silk rose set amidst lace and velvet leaves.

The hairpiece is finished with a thin metal headband.

As with most of my creations I can offer this fascinator to be made to order in other colours to perfectly match your outfit. Please head to my Etsy store to check this fascinator out or alternatively place your order for a bespoke piece. It would be lovely to hear from you 🙂

A large tea-coloured rose

by | posted in: fabric rose, fleur en tissu, hand made silk rose, hand painted silk rose, interior silk rose, rose, rose artificielle, rose en tissu, silk rose on a stem, silk rose uk, wedding rose | 2
I must say as an artist I am attracted not so much by the colour but more so by the shape in silk flower making. I salivate at the perspective of learning how to make a new type of flower whether it be a humble lilly-of-the-valley, hydrangeas, fuchsias, plumerias, a grape leaf  or a twig of a fur-tree. All of them sound equally attractive. Of course one must not forget roses. Firstly, people seem to be fascinated by this flower which makes it first choice for weddings, birthdays, other important events. Secondly the rose has so many faces, so many different shapes and sizes ranging from a small 5-petal simple flower to a complicated layer-upon-layer-of-petals rosette. This diversity of rose shapes is also very appealing to me.
Here is my latest rose. It is quite a large flower and despite the fact that there are only 40 petals it gives the impression of a dense flower.

Please click here for more hand crafted roses
Large silk rose

The petals are made of silk crepe and for the leaves I used Indian silk called dupioni, which has some natural imperfections as well as some soft shine.

If you are interested in learning how to make silk flowers please feel free to join our mailing list and be the first to know about new tutorials and workshops. To do so please fill out the form below
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Roses, roses, roses

by | posted in: Blume, bridal rose, bridal silk flowers, hand made silk rose, hand painted silk rose, Hochzeit, Naturseide, Old English rose, pink rose, rosa Rose, Seide, silk rose, wedding rose, wedding silk flowers | 0
Rose is the queen of the flower world or so it seems. And although I personally like a lot of rather different flowers it is very difficult to resist the fascination the rose possesses. Especially if it has a nice flower shape. Especially if it has a scent. Especially if it has a historic charm about it. This is all true about the Old English rose as it has it all: great shape, smell, heritage and diversity.
Here is the English rose in silk.
The rose is hand made from scratch of pure silk fabrics (crepe and dupioni) and hand painted using colours for silk.
 The Old English rose with an open flower shape would look beautiful as a hair accessory or a wedding dress embellishment.
 Other colour options are possible as it is hand painted
The rose can be mounted on a hair clip or a comb, made as a brooch etc.
What do you think about it? Does it look an Old English rose to you?

What’s new?

by | posted in: hand made silk rose, hand painted silk flowers, hand painted silk rose, handmade flower, silk flower making books, silk petals, small silk roses | 0
After having received 3 books on silk flower making by world famous Japanese masters in the post I was thinking with what to start. Well, I must admit, the lack of Japanese does not help when I try to understand sophisticated instructions having just a couple of photos at my disposal. So I decided to start from a stem of tiny little roses or even rosebuds. They seem to be OK to make, and besides i have been approached before by my friends who were interested in very small roses.
So far the petals are ready and they are tiny! Here is a photo of a pile of silk petals featuring Fimbriata our new garden rose as well ☺

handmade petals, silk rose petals, hand painted silk rose petals, handmade flowers, silk flowers