Tuesday, November 30

Behind the Scenes - Kansashi flower bobby pins


The first thing I have to do for all my fabric flowers is to pick the right fabrics - mostly cotton, but I also use satin or silk fabrics. I like to use patterned fabric, but solid colors are great too. After I decide on the fabric, I have to cut it into identical squares.



Now it's one of the most important parts - folding the petals. There are many different ways of doing it in traditional Japanese Kanzashi style. My personal favorite is the round petal. I usually use 6-8 petals per flower so I have to fold dozens of them before I move to the next step.


Next step - I have to carefully cut ends of each petal and thread it with a needle. When I have 6 petals threaded, I can start forming the flower. I open the petals up and delicately put them in the correct positions. 

After the flower looks OK, I tie the thread. Then, I cut a small circle out of felt fabric in matching color and glue it to the back of the flower. I also glue the bobby pin.


Now it's time for finding buttons! I usually use vintage buttons I buy from Artfire sellers - a great way to get unique and beautiful buttons. I glue the buttons in the center of each flower. 

Voila - the Kanzashi flower pins are ready to wear!

You can see the results in my ArtFire shop

3 comments:

Stitches In Cotton said...

Those are soooo CUTE!

Holli Raymond said...

So cute! Thank you for the wonderful idea!

Ordinary Red said...

Can you tell me how big the squares are when you start? My 9 and 11 yr old daughters are looking for unique hair items to make for their e-club (entrepreneur club) at school. Every year, there are over 80 vendors (4th-6th graders) and nothing sells for more than $5. They are all so creative!