icelandic poppy centres

Exclusive tutorials on Patreon

As part of FLORA FAN creative club membership on PATREON each month I prepare and share a mini video tutorial with my clubbers. Please note that this is just one of the benefits of being a member of the Club. For the full list visit my Patreon page.
Below you will find an overview of these mini tutorials, so you know what you are getting when you are joining my Patreon Creative Club. These exclusive video tutorials are available immediately upon joining and get added to monthly. These exclusive tutorials are not available anywhere else at the moment, only on Patreon.

 

January 2024

White Egret Orchids 

coming soon…..

 

 

 

 

December 2023

Fabric Tassel Flowers

miniature tassel flowers. Abstract enough, these little flowers can be stylised in many ways. Turn them into mini bluebells, lily of the valley or other type of flower by choosing different materials, colourways and types of arrangement.

NEW this video tutorial can be purchased separately from my Patreon shop here

 

 

 

September 2023

Silk Dandelion Clock Pin

With the help of this video tutorial you will be able to create a VERY REALISTIC LOOKING silk dandelion clock with leaves and turn it into a compact wearable piece of textile jewellery as well as infinite number of other original pieces with this whimsical botanical.

NEW this video tutorial can be purchased separately from my Patreon shop here

 

 

COMPOUND LEAF WITH COLOUR GRADATION tutorial

 

August 2023

Compound Leaf with Colour Gradation

With the help of this video tutorial you will master realistic looking horse chestnut leaf (and similar) in beautiful autumnal colours. This method works great on such palmate leaves as horse chestnut, virginia creeper, buckeye and even little clover.

NEW this video tutorial can be purchased separately from my Patreon shop here

 

 

fabric echinacea tutorial cover

 

July 2023

Fabric Echinacea Purpurea

A member of the large Daisy  family, Echinacea purpurea flowers are instantly recognisable. In this video tutorial I am sharing a new technique of making a 3D centre for this and other similar flowers as well as a realistic way of attaching the petals.

NEW this video tutorial can be purchased separately from my Patreon shop here

 

 

silk stephanotis closeup

 

June 2023

Stephanotis aka Madagascar Jasmine

Summer is not only about races and garden parties. It is also a popular wedding season. Learn to make fabric stephanotis, an iconic wedding flower that can be used in boutonneres, wrist corsages etc. in this 30+ minute video tutorial.

NEW this video tutorial can be purchased separately from my Patreon shop here

 

silk peony bud video tutorial

 

May 2023

Silk Peony Buds

This month is dedicated to one of the flowers in season, or rather its buds. Meet realistic silk peony buds complete with complex calyxes and leaves, all explained and demonstrated in not-so-mini mini video tutorial of 60 minutes.

NEW this video tutorial can be purchased separately from my Patreon shop here

 

 

silk petunia

 

April 2023

Silk Petunia Foliage

 

Following a live demo on Silk Petunia Flower Earrings this month the exclusive mini video tutorial focuses on the petunia foliage. Use it to make petunia corsages, brooches and other pieces wih this popular and recognisable flower.

 

 

stylised fabric feathers

 

March 2023

Stylised Fabric Feathers

This month enjoy an exclusive video tutorial + template on large stylised fabric feathers, which can be used for trimming hats and headpieces.

 

NEW this video tutorial can be purchased separately from my Patreon shop here

 

 

icelandic poppy centres

 

February 2023
Icelandic Poppy Centres

 

This month enjoy a new mini video tutorial on how to create delicate centres suitable for Icelandic (and other) poppies.

Do you use any of these fabric stiffeners?

Choosing and using fabric stiffeners

Introduction to fabric flower making ebook

Some of you know that I have recently worked on an e-book about fabric flowers and what one should know before they start making their own fabric flowers. The book has been released very is available for purchase here. You will find a lot of useful information re making fabric flowers that you did not know before.

Meanwhile I would like to share a chapter from the book with you today. This chapter talks about different ways of stiffening fabric before cutting out parts of flowers from it. I have included a number of recipes to try and test.
It might so happen that for different types of fabric you would have to use different stiffeners as they are made from different ingredients and thus work better or worse depending on a chosen fabric. For example, gelatine is not a good choice for lace as it covers the delicate fabric with a film filling all the little holes and gaps between the threads. I would recommend to try a spray starch for lace fabrics. Anyway, finding the best possible stiffener takes time and experimentation, so I wish you lots of patience and fun!
Here is the extract from my e-book. Please feel free to ask your questions in the comments below.

Recipes of stiffening solutions to try

All the fabrics must be stiffened before being cut out. This prevents fraying of the edges and allows you to shape the leaves and petals with the flower iron. It also helps the completed flower keep its shape. There are several different sizing options available. Each of them involves different ingredients giving you a choice of options to try and test.

  • One of the most popular options is gelatine sizing. Use powdered gelatine from a reliable manufacturer that you can obtain from your local supermarket. For 200 ml of cold water take 2 level teaspoons of granulated gelatine and place it in a heat resistant glass bowl. Pour the water over it stir and leave to soak for about 1 hour . Generally the concentration depends on the thickness of the fabrics used – the thicker the fabric the less gelatine is needed. This concentration will do for medium-weight fabrics such as satins, crepes, habotai fabrics etc. For organza and chiffon you might want to use a bit more gelatine. Heat the soaked gelatine over a pot of gently boiling water (bain Marie).Constantly stir until all the granules dissolve and take the solution off the heat before it starts boiling. Then dip a piece of fabric into the solution (please be careful and watch your fingers as it will be boiling hot!), take it out and let it drain for a few moments. Then peg in onto a clothes line to dry completely.

1 stiff logo

  • The oldest stiffening solutions used starch, which you can still use today.  Here is a recipe to try. Mix: a tablespoon of cornflour (or cornstarch which is the same) and mix it well with a tablespoon of water. Pour this mixture into 200 ml of boiling water; continue heating and stirring until the mixture has thickened and no lumps appear. Take off the heat and stir in a tablespoon of good quality PVA glue like Sobo. You can apply the stiffening solution by placing a piece of fabric on a flat smooth surface like glass or plastic and using a sponge or a wide flat brush to spread the mixture evenly on the surface of the fabric. If the fabric has a right and a wrong side to it apply the solution onto the wrong side. Then peg in onto a clothes line to dry completely.
  • I successfully use spray starch (the one that is used for starching shirt collars) for stiffening such delicate fabrics like velvet and lace. Just spray the wrong side of your chosen fabric until it is well saturated and let it dry completely on a flat surface before using it.

delicate fabrics tutorial 1

  • Another option is to use wallpaper paste as sizing. Following the manufacturers instructions mix some wallpaper paste with water. Apply to a flat piece of fabric with a brush or a sponge and then hang it up to dry.
  • White PVA glue can also be used for stiffening fabrics. Here is one of the recipes: Mix 200 ml of warm water with 2 tablespoons of good quality thick PVA glue, stir well and then add a tablespoon of vodka or spirit and give a final stir. To stiffen a piece of fabric dip it into the prepared solution, let it drip and then hand up to

stiffy

There are other recipes for stiffening solutions one can prepare. There are also proprietary stiffeners that you can get from craft shops or online.

  • One of them which is readily available and can be bought on Amazon and elsewhere online is Stiffy. It is a water based stiffener which means you can experiment with the strength of the solution. I would recommend to start by mixing 1 part of Stiffy with 5 parts of water. Depending on the thickness of your chosen fabric you can vary the proportions and find the perfect solution which works for you.

To save yourself time and effort you can use industrially stiffened fabrics for making flowers. But even if you do so for most of your designs there will be times when you will need to stiffen unusual fabrics for some of your projects like denim, wild silk, linen etc. This is why I recommend to try a couple of solutions mentioned above and choose one that is easy to use, made of readily available ingredients and has shown  the best results to utilise in future.

 

black silk rose hair comb

Silk roses

Silk roses are here to stay….

Autumn is taking its toll on nature. The trees are showing their bare branches as the last leaves fall onto the cold wet ground. The grass is not as green any more. The days are short, grey and full of drizzly rain. Gardens seem to be hybernating and apart from a lonely pink nerine or a yellow spike of mahonia the eye does not see any bright colours.

Fortunately for us, handmade silk roses are still there where the fresh ones might have gone. They please our eye and lift our spirits. Old English roses continue to flower despite the autumnal darkness.

Old English Rose brooch

I am often asked to do a rose tutorial. To be honest, roses are one of the most complicated flowers to be created out of silk and before  one attempts to try and make a complicated silk rose dozens of less complex flowers have to be made to gain enough experience, get to know the tools and properties of the silk, learn coloration techniques and flower shapes. Obviously a .pdf tutorial will not suffice in this case. Although a one-to-one session is ideal, in the modern world of technology the Skype lesson is next best. And now let’s concentrate on Christmas pieces!

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