My leather rose tutorial for HATalk e-magazine

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Leather Rose Tutorial (intermediate)

intermediate level

Leather English Rose Tutorial (advanvced)

advanced level

Leather Wild Rose Tutorial (beginner)

beginner level

introduction to leather flower making ebook

 

 

Just to let you know...

Our Introduction to Leather Flower Making ebook is out now and available for immediate download after purchase. 
Learn the basics about working with leather to start making exquisite leather flowers of your own to match any project at hand.

 

 

You are well aware that I make flowers not only out of fabric but out of genuine leather too.

In November 2014 I took part in a millinery contest devoted to the First World War Centenary organised by HATalk Social. To express the theme of Remembrance I created a leather button hat with large bright red leather poppies (on the left). The judges were favourable enough to award me the second place out of 100+ contestants from all over the world. Needless to say I was thrilled! Not only have I won some hat blocks but also I have been asked to contribute to their ezine by offering a leather flower tutorial to the subscribers of HATalk monthly e-publication.
This months saw the release of the first part of my exclusive leather rose tutorial that is shown in the picture below.

PresentPerfect

If you have all the necessary equipment for fabric flower making but have never tried making leather flowers I think you should give it a go. Leather flowers require less manipulations but due to the nature of material look as equally (if not more!) impressive as the silk ones. Besides, they are a good robust trimming alternative for those colder months when thin transparent fabrics look a bit out of place.

leather corsage tutorial

If you have not yet invested into a set of tools but would really like to have a go at making flowers why not try leather blooms? The thing is, leather is such a luxurious and beautiful material to work with that often you do not need to do much before you turn it into a lovely flower. Hand shaping combined with the use of a pair of tweezers can create beautiful as well as pretty realistic flowers. 

We are happy to offer a number of leather flower making tutorials that require no millinery tools, on Wild Leather Rose Brooch on Leather Sunflower Headband and on Leather Poppy Choker. They are a good point to start from if you want to explore leather flower making without the need to invest in a set of millinery tools. Moreover, in these tutrorials you will learn how to make 3 different types of accessories (a brooch, a headpiece and a choker).
Flower making kits are available separately. Click on the photos of the tutorials for more information.
 

I have a schedule packed with more forthcoming leather flower tutorials, so if this topic is of interest to you do subscribe to my updates below and be the first to leather poppy flower tutorialknow about new tutorials. As my subscriber you will have a chance to purchase them with an attractive discount too!

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FLOWER MAKERS' UPDATES&OFFERS

You might also like these articles:

NO TOOL flower making tutorials for beginners

Choosing the right glue for making flowers

How I choose leather for making flowers

leather flower tutorial

New leather flower tutorial is out!

by | posted in: handmade gifts, handmade hair accessories, handmade in the uk, handmade jewelry, handmade leather flower, leather accessory, leather brooch, leather corsage, leather flower uk, leather gift, leather jewelry | 0

LEATHER GERBERA TUTORIALNew leather flower tutorial is out now

LEATHER GERBERA TUTORIAL IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD NOW.

As promised yesterday I am sharing a link to the new leather flower tutorial.
To read more about it, see the materials and tools needed and purchase please go to https://presentperfectcreations.com/product/leather-gerbera-brooch-photo-tutorial-pdf/

This new tutorial is more than any previous ones full packed of pictures showing every step of the process, but should you have any questions or would like me to comment of the flower you have created using this tutorial I am here to help. You can always e-mail me at enquiries@presentperfectcreations.com. I would also like to hear if there are any particular flower tutorials you would be interested in. There are so many beautiful blooms in this world and they are all so different that it is virtually impossible to create all of them. But such all time favourites like roses and poppies are already on my list of tutorials to do.

Ah, and the last thing (but not the least)! To purchase your copy of tutorial with a 30% discount simply use gerbera30 discount code on checkout. But do remember that this is a time sensitive offer and it is valid only until midnight Sunday 14 December 2014 GMT.

I am sure that there is still plenty of time to make a couple of gerberas and present them as original and hand crafted Christmas gifts. Good luck to you! ☺

Here are the tools and materials that are required for this tutorial.

 

materials

 

This is a choice of flower iron tips you can use in this tutorial. You will require JUST ONE of these, any that you have in your set. I am using the far left wide foot with 3 grooves.

iron tips

And finally, some pleasant news for you as subscribers of my blog. I am going to offer you a special introductory price on this tutorial till the end of this week (midnight on Sunday) so you will have a chance to make your own leather gerbera and pay 30% less for the tutorial.

Tomorrow I will send you a link for the tutorial at my online shop as well as a discount promo code for it.

I hope that you are as excited as I am waiting for the release. I have a lot of other ideas on tutorials on silk and leather flowers but your comments and preferences will be much appreciated, so if you want to ask or suggest something please do so by leaving a comment for me below.

leather gerbera flower shoe clips

Stiffening leather and getting ready!

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beige gerbera knit

Hours are left before the release of the tutorial and I can not keep it a secret any longer! Yes, the tutorial is on creating a leather gerbera flower just like one in the picture to the left. It is easy enough even for a beginner to try and at the same time those of you who can not wait to use their flower irons can have a go at them when making this flower. Although the tutorial shows how to finish the gerbera with a brooch pin, it can be turned into a range of other accessories just like any other flower. In fact, I take pride in my ability to come up with quite unusual and quirky floral accessories. To share one idea with you I can say that a pair of leather  gerberas can make stunning shoe clips which you can jazz up your favourite pair of shoes with. It goes without saying that leather gerbera brooch makes an original and much appreciated gift for those who understand about hand crafted accessories. Provided you have got some suitable leather and a bit of time you can still make one or two flowers before Christmas!
To use time efficiently you can stiffen you leather in advance. I am explaining how to do in in my blog post here.  It is better to use 2 contrasting colours, say, a darker leather for the centre and some pale (or rich!) coloured leather or suede for the petals.

Here is the list of materials and tools you will need for the tutorial. If you have any questions regarding this list please feel free to leave a comment below.

materials

 

This is a choice of flower iron tips you can use in this tutorial. You will require JUST ONE of these, any that you have in your set. I am using the far left wide foot with 3 grooves.

iron tips

And finally, some pleasant news for you as subscribers of my blog. I am going to offer you a special introductory price on this tutorial till the end of this week (midnight on Sunday) so instead of full price  you will have a chance to make your own leather gerbera with a 30% discount.

Tomorrow I will send you a link for the tutorial at my online shop as well as a discount promo code for it.

I hope that you are as excited as I am waiting for the release. I have a lot of other ideas on tutorials on silk and leather flowers but your comments and preferences will be much appreciated, so if you want to ask or suggest something please do so by leaving a comment for me below.

Tools for shaping leather flowers

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millinery tools
SET OF 2 EXTRA NARROW MILLINERY TOOLS

What tools for shaping leather flowers should you choose?

ph-open-leather-rose-close-2-logo1

Now that we have chosen thin and soft leather for creating leather flowers it is time to talk about the right tools which are going to help us turn a flat piece of skin into a 3D floral masterpiece.

Tool number one is (believe me or not) our hands. A lot of shaping can be done with just hands. In fact, some flowers are made without any special tools. Different ways of folding, twisting, stretching and rolling leather give a wide range of special effects that allow us to create beautiful leather flowers.

Tool number two is a floral iron with interchangeable tips used for shaping fabric flowers. This tool can be used to almost the same extent with leather but bear in mind that leather can not withstand high temperatures. It can burn and shrink if the flower iron is too hot for it, so I recommend to always check the temperature of your iron on an off-cut before touching a petal or a leaf. I wrote about my set of tools in this post here, so if you have not seen it you might want to read it now.

tweezers

The third tool I would like to mention is a pair of tweezers like these ones in the picture. Tweezers are heated in the body of the flower iron and used for curling petals for roses, poppies and other flowers.
Leather petals might be quite stiff to the touch but the shape you are giving them will make them look light, airy, breathable and ever so live! I highly recommend to get yourselves a pair of tweezers like those. Humble as they look the role they play is very important and the results will impress you.

 

A PAIR OF SUITABLE TWEEZERS FOR SHAPING FLOWER PETALS CAN BE PURCHASED HERE.

The work on the new leather tutorial is in full swing at the moment. Tomorrow I will reveal what flower can be created with the help of the tutorial, but if you are good at guessing here as a couple of photos for your inquisitive minds:

tools for shaping leather flowers                         tools for shaping leather flowers

If you are interested in learning how to make fabric or leather flowers feel free to subscribe to our YouTube Channel for more flower making videos.

Indian Summer has arrived. New line of leather flowers

by | posted in: handmade leather flower, how to make leather flowers, leather brooch, leather flower, leather gift, leather jewelry, third anniversary gift, wedding anniversary gift | 1
It is official, autumn is here. And although the days are still rather warm and even sunny the mornings are chilly and filled with dewy cobwebs.
In colder months I find that silks and other delicate fabrics tend to lose their appeal and give way to more seasonally appropriate fellow material, leather. Lately, I have been working on my new line which I dubbed Indian Summer. Those of you who live in the Southern Hemisphere may not have experienced this natural phenomenon. Indian summer is a bit of summer in autumn, a period of lovely warm and dry weather that occurs between late September and mid November in the Northern Hemisphere .
So what I was trying to achieve here is a line of brightly coloured accessories featuring autumnal blooms in rich and seasonal hues.
I started with chrysanthemums and have created this rusty orange open chrysanthemum corsage made of thin leather.

Click here for more detail on chrysanthemum corsage

The next piece was a red and brown leather gerbera.

Red leather gerbera brooch

Of course I could not possibly forget about roses, so I created two: an open one made of velvety suede in cerise colour

Cerise suede rose brooch. SOLD OUT

 and an English multipetal rose in deep aubergine hue. The latter one was experimental and I am pleased with the result. When I get hold of more very thin gloving leather I will make more of it in other colours.

Click here to read more about the purple rose brooch

One of the most unusual pieces from my Indian Summer line was this one called Summer Reminiscence. Not exactly a wearable hat, but a leather hat brooch, that’s what it is.
To give you a sense of scale I’ll just mention that the diameter of the pink rose is about 1 cm.
The hat and the trimmings are made using genuine leather and suede.

Leather hat brooch

The autumn has just started and I am planning to add more pieces to this bright line of accessories. I must admit, not all the experiments were equally successful, some like cyclamens and anemones need more work done to them which will keep me entertained during shortening autumnal days.
As always I would love to hear your feedback on my work, do it by either commenting below or e-mailing me at svetlana.faulkner@gmail.com

Spring in leather bloom

by | posted in: camelia, camellia, camellia jewelry, gift for Mum, leather brooch, leather camellia, leather corsage, leather jewelry, leather wreath, wild violets | 0
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?

Leather flowers to cater for all tastes this autumn

by | posted in: beige leather, floral brooch, flore cuero, genuine leather brooch, leather brooch, leather flower, leather jewelry, leather rose, suede brooch, suede flower | 0
This week I have been working with leather. With autumn on our doorstep it seems to me to be the right material for flower making as silk flowers are more fragile and in a way more refined for decorating  outerwear.

I finished 2 brooches, both similar in shape but the colour schemes are very different.

The first floral brooch made of genuine beige leather will spice up your trench coat in classic beige shades. This leather flower also perfectly complements natural fabrics such as linen, cotton, raw silk, as well as straw and genuine leather and suede in light colours.
The diameter of the flower is about 9 cm.
Available for purchase from my Etsy shop

 For those of you who find the calmness of beige too boring I am offering this bright alternative: a floral brooch in intense colours to beat the autumn blues.
The flower is made of genuine suede of 2 hues: fuchsia for the petals and emerald green for the leaves. At the moment it is also available for purchase here.
Are you prepared for the coming autumn?

What about a leather flower?

by | posted in: beige leather, flower iron, genuine leather brooch, handmade flower, handmade leather flower, leather accessory, leather brooch, leather corsage, leather flower, leather rose | 0
I purchased some differently coloured leather pieces back in November and could not find time to turn them into flowers. Finally time has been chosen and last week I tried my luck in creating my first real leather flower. It is a cross breed between a rose and a camellia. Well I think it is a rose but my husband said it looked more like a camellia. It is made of greyish beige genuine leather including a pair of leaves. For the leaves to stand out and not to blend with the petals I tinted them lightly with a golden spray. The leather camellia is finished with a brooch pin (see pictures). I must say it is a perfect accessory for the winter period when silk flowers are somewhat fragile and light. The leather corsage would look good not only decorating an outfit, but a belt or a handbag too.
Here are some pictures of the leather camellia flower brooch

You can always order a custom flower from my Etsy shop.
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And a Happy New Year to you! 🙂