Thursday, April 14, 2011

fabric kanzashi flowers

A friend of mine has a four year old daughter who has a white plumeria flower barrette that I secretly covet. I imagine what I'd where it with - a tan, a strapless sundress and my pair of orange leather flip-flops. I have searched for ideas to make my very own substitute for this much loved hair accessory.
During my hunt, I discovered Kanzashi flowers. Although the ones I have discovered a far from the traditional Kanzashi worn by Geishas, they are truly awesome!
After showing Liv some of the photos of them online, she and I decided to give our hands a try at this type of art.
Although there are a tonne of tutorials out there, we are adding yet another to the abundant craftiness.....

Materials:
8 squares of fabric (we used 10 cm X 10 cm pieces found in fat quarters)
A needle and thread
Button for the centre
Glue gun
Alligator clip
1. Fold one piece of fabric in half diagonally.
2. Fold it in half yet again.
3. And again.....
4. Bear with me, this part is a bit hard to explain in words....Fold the two sides of the fabric down as if you are folding a paper airplane....
Get it?? It should look like this on the other side.... 5. Push your needle through the side making sure to pierce all pieces of fabric so it will hold together once they are all strung on.
6. Repeat this seven more times and add them to the thread.
**Do NOT knot between each one as you want them to be able to slide along as you position them correctly at the end!!
7. Once they are all on, your thread gently making sure to not snap it and push through the first "petal" once again so that they arrange themselves in a circle.
8. Once secured, put all the points together.
9. Using very sharp scissors, cut the rough ends off.
It should look like this.
10. Rearrange the petals in a circle and ensure their proper spacing.
It should look similar to this.
11. Pick out the button/s you want to decorate the centre of the flower.
12. Using your glue gun, make sure you get glue on each petal nearest the centre. You want to make sure that they are all secured by the glue.
13. Squish the button on. Large buttons work best!
14. You can actually attach the flower to almost anything - a hairband, a hair elastic, a purse, a shirt, etc. But we decided to attach it to the alligator clip. This allows for versatility because once on the alligator clip, you can clip it to any of these things are remove it to attach elsewhere later on.
15. Using plenty of glue, again try to make sure you touch each petal to ensure that it doesn't fall apart later on.
16. Stick the alligator clip to it. **We stuck a piece of cardstock in between the alligator's "mouth" to make sure that any extra glue wouldn't stick it shut.
17. Once it has cooled and hardened, remove the cardstock and VOILA! A little piece of decorative hair heaven!
Although these look quite difficult, they are crazy easy. Liv and her friend really enjoyed making them and have been wearing them since. I would NOT hesitate to make them again. They took about 30 minutes to make with the girls. I am sure an adult who had made them before could bang on off in 15 minutes or so. SO fun!!!!!!!!!

10 comments:

darcie said...

Sell me some done ones??
My girl went nuts went she saw these!

Jill said...

Super cute. I hope you're planning to add these to etsy b/c they'll sell for sure! Loved seeing a glimpse into time spent with your little girl too.

Andrea Renee said...

I love these! You're amazing!

Hallie said...

My girls have just started wearing bows and of course I've just started making some too!! Thankyou so much for sharign this! I can't wait to make them some! They are going to love them. :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, those look great! Nowhere in my body do I possess the arts & crafts gene, so yes, please add these to your Etsy site!!!

PS-Emily is still wearing the two dresses you made for her and they're still 2 of her all time favorite dresses! She gets compliments on them all the time and loves telling people they were made just for her by my friend Jackie! :o)

XOXO,
Kathryn

indybarb said...

I agree, you need to sell us some of these. They would be soooo cute in my two year old nieces hair : ) I am glad you all had so much fun making them!

Angela @ Cottage Magpie said...

These are absolutely adorable! I have an idea for using them in a different way for my daughter's room -- I'm very excited.

I'm going to be doing an inspiration post showing all the project ideas -- would you be okay with me sharing a picture from this post (with a link) so that I can show my readers your brilliant work? I can't wait to incorporate them into my room makeover.

Let me know!

~Angela~

Hallie said...

I just saw some of these listed on etsy! Have you seen the prices they are asking for them!? Insane! But you should go for it!! :)

Anonymous said...

These are SO cute! Thanks for the how-to. :)

Jennifer Howard said...

I love this idea! how clever!! Thanks for sharing<3
Jennifer