The Making of Organza Roses

I recently came across a terrific tutorial by Reese Dixon for making organza flowers. It was posted way back in March but I'm a bit slow in the uptake!

Flowers are used on some of my soft bags and I wanted an alternative to wire ribbon. These organza flowers are so easy, but look much more involved.

While at a recent trip to Joann Fabrics I picked up just a bit of polyester organza for experimentation. One piece only cost 50 cents. I have several flower making books on the shelf and I found a simple five petal pattern in 3 sizes and photocopied it. This I placed under a piece of clear glass.



Placing the single layer of organza on the top of the glass I used a bit of painters tape to hold it in place. Then with a HotMarks tool (really a fancy woodburning tool) I quickly cut along the petal shapes. This also helped to seal the edges against fraying. Personally I don't like the look of frayed flowers.

I cut out 9 petals in all - 3 of each size.

Using a tapered candle in a candleholder I carefully held each petal shape about 2" away from the flame. The heat starts to curl the organza into a more natural floral look. You need to be careful not to get too close to the flame as the organza can melt quickly. It helps to place your thumb in the center of each petal so the fabric curls correctly.

When the petals were all cured, they were stacked largest on bottom to smallest on top, sewn together with a needle and thread with a few seed beads in the center. To add some "fluffiness" I did do a couple of gathering stitches as the layers were sewn together.

The white organza has some AB flecks & surface decoration which makes the flower so pretty.

I haven't decided at this point how I will finish them - sort of leaning toward making some deep green leaves also out of organza and securing the whole flower to crinoline.

These will surely be showing up on some of my creations in the very near future!