In my last post, I mentioned my first stitched shibori samples that were less than stellar. So, I decided to chop them up and try some Kanzashi Flowers.

First, the fabric needs to be starched like crazy. I used spray starch about 5 times.

Then the fabric was cut into 2" squares for each petal.

Sorry, I didn't take photos of the actual folding but just show a bit of the assembly. It's neat that there's basically just the one stitch running thru the pointy end that holds the flower together. When you pull the thread it gathers the petals around to form the flower. Neat, huh?

I did find that I needed one stitch on the back of each petal to hold it together when I pressed the petal open.You can see it on the side detail. Not sure if that's kosher with real Kanzashians or just my work-around.

You can see from the group shot that some flowers have double petals, some I opened every other petal and one has added side leaves. The buttons and pin backs are sewn on but, I guess, you could use hot glue if you like.

Anyway, I was happy to take a partial craft-fail and turn it into these tiny bundles of sweetness. It's also a great way to use up any cherished but too-small fabric scraps.

Happy Kanzashi-ing !!