Tutorial on how to Create an Organza Flower with a Heat Gun

 

Are you ready to learn something I have never seen before!  I have seen others create beautiful flowers out of organza material and they always use a candle to melt the edges of each petal. Joan (Joan's Gardens) wanted to create one of these flowers in her workshop but didn't want to have lit candles in the workroom so I came up with a "bright" idea.  Why not try using the heat gun to accomplish this task.  I tried it and it worked beautifully.  The way I did it was to melt the edges of the petals  by holding each petal down with tweezers and quickly pushing the heat gun up to the end of the material.  If you hold the tweezers close to the end it will only melt up to the tweezers.

 My first flower heating the edges with the heat gun and using tweezers.  I used red organza.

 My second flower using the same technique using white organza.

  During the workshop, Joan found a quicker way to accomplish melting the edges of the petals using the heat gun and I'll show you the steps below.

To start we used the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die and 8 layers of organza material.  The material tears easily the width you need and it helps make sure the pieces are the same width.  Fold the material over to create 8 layers that fit right above the flower you want to cut out.  I actually tried cutting 16 flowers at once in my Vegabond and it cut them perfectly. 

 I used the largest flower on the die for this flower.  Two flowers were offset.  Joan told me in the workshop that she laid all 8 flowers down, alternating the petals for this step, and it worked great - all eight layers done at once.  I only used two at a time and that is what is in the picture above.

Use a can that is a little smaller than the flower, placing it right in the center.  Some edges of the petals need to be sticking out all the way around.

Next take your heat gun and as soon as it is hot, quickly push it up to the petals and they will shrink up to the can.  You need to be working on your Teflon Craft Sheet because it is heat resistant.  Quickly push the heat gun up to the petals, and pull back as soon as they start to melt, going all the way around.  It just takes a second for the edges of the material to melt.  If the petals stick together, you can easily pull them apart.

Using the same size petals, you can create a smaller flower by using a smaller can.  I used an empty tomato paste can.  I used these petals on top of the petals heated using the pop can.  For the very center, I used some of these smaller petals and put the heat gun down toward the very center, very quickly, and it "crinkled" the flower up even more which added to the fullness in the center of the flower.  The heat gun can get very hot, so you want to make sure you are using a very quick motion when you go toward the organza.  Using the heat gun to melt the edges of the material makes this project go very quickly and you don't have to worry about catching the material on fire if you use a quick motion to melt the edges.

Once all the petals have been "melted", you can create your flower.  Alternate the petals stacking as many layers as you want for fullness.  You can use either a Tim Holtz Tiny Stapler or a Needle and Thread and put a few stitches right in the center.  You can add whatever you want in the middle such as a pretty button or pearl(s).  

In case you are interested, I will now tell you all the info about how I created this card.  It is a 5 1/2" card.  The background is a piece of K&Company design paper.  I created a white organza flower but did not want it white.  Joan sent me some Ranger Perfect Pearls "Cappuccino" Mist.  I love the color so sprayed my flower to see what would happen.  I love the soft color.  The lace trim under the flower is from a package of Websters Pages trim.  Both this trim and the ribbon were white and I sprayed them with the Cappuccino Perfect Pearls.   For the filler behind the flower I used some Marianne dies:  the "Forest Branch" (LR0150) and both the "Decorative Elegance" pieces (LR0 157).  The colors used were pulled from the design paper.

I hope you like this new discovery Joan and I had fun with and enjoy creating your own pretty flowers.  You won't want to miss seeing the workshop projects Joan has posted on her blog.  You will see this flower on the Pop-up Christmas card they completed.  Can you believe she does an all day workshop and it is free.  This month she taught many new techniques she learned at CHA  and used new products she will be posting to her blog this week.   She will have another workshop in October so if you would like to attend, be sure to email her and let her know.  She is now having three workshops - Friday, Saturday, and a shorter workshop on Sunday.  She always has new techniques to teach and allows  you to work many new products out on the market.

As you know, all products I use can be purchased from Joan's Gardens. 

I will have another tutorial for you tomorrow.

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