How to Make Silk Flower Parts
Flowers delight the senses with their varied colors, shapes and scents. They are used to enhance living and working environments, to commemorate all kinds of occasions, and to adorn hair and clothing. Unfortunately, fresh flowers have a fleeting life, and when they wilt and die, their beauty fades too. But it is possible to fashion attractive, long-lasting flowers using silk. Silk flowers can be used in all the same ways as fresh, and are easy and fun to create. The following guidelines will explain how to make a flower's head, stem and leaves with silk.
Things You'll Need
- Silk fabric
- Scissors
- Needle
- Thread
- 18-gauge floral wire
- Hot glue gun
- Glue sticks
Instructions
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Making Silk Flower Parts
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1
Use scissors to cut a strip of silk fabric that is 3 inches wide and 45 inches long in the color of your choosing. Prepare to make the flower's head.
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2
Cut a scalloped edge along the top of the strip, working lengthwise. The wavy edge will create the petals of the flower.
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3
Push a threaded needle into the bottom edge at one end of the strip and loosely baste along that edge. Pull the thread when you reach the end of the strip to create a gathered effect. Gather the basted, 45-inch strip of silk down to a length of 10 to 20 inches.
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4
Snip the needle from the thread. Tie the thread in a knot.
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5
Roll the gathered strip, working from one end toward the other. Roll as loosely or tightly as you desire to create the size and style of flower head you want.
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6
Adjust the flower as needed, tinkering with petals and pushing in or pulling out the center to achieve your desired look. Sew several stitches at the base of the flower to hold it together.
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7
Cut a strip of green silk fabric about 3 inches wide and 32 inches long. Coat a foot-long piece of floral wire in hot glue. Wrap the green silk around the floral wire until it is completely covered, then repeat, wrapping a second layer of fabric around the stem. Cut away any excess fabric.
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8
Coat the top inch of the wrapped floral wire in hot glue. Push this portion of the wire up into the bottom of the flower head. Hold it there until it is dry.
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9
Cut out three-to-five, 2-inch long leaves from the green silk. Snip a piece of floral wire into 3-inch long fragments. Position a piece of cut floral wire down the center back of each leaf. Stitch it in place, leaving the extra inch of wire to hang down.
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10
Coat the extra inch of leaf wire in hot glue and push it down between the layers of silk wrapped around the stem. Do this with each leaf. When they are dried in place, bend the leaves up or down as you desire.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Make several silk flowers and display them as a bouquet, or give them as a gift.
