Learn a New Craft—Kanzashi Flowers!

This year’s Twelve Months of On-the-Go Projects, created by members of our PieceWork team, is our way of thanking our All Access subscribers for being such valued members of our community. Each of the upcoming monthly patterns was designed to be quick, fun, and portable. The projects will encompass a variety of crafts, so that you can sample an array of different techniques year-round.

Kanzashi are Japanese hair ornaments that often include tsumami (“pinched”) flowers made from folded fabric. In the West, these charming fabric flowers are often called kanzashi flowers. Use these cloth blooms to decorate more than hairpins. With a little advance preparation, you can make up a kanzashi flower kit for a compact travel project.

Materials

• Decorative fabric, such as quilting cotton, polished cotton, or lightweight canvas: solid or print, 8" x 16" (20.3 x 40.6 cm), 12" x 12" (30.5 x 30.5 cm), or enough to cut eight 4" squares
• Contrasting fabric for button cover: 1" (2.5 cm) square
  
• Batting or felt: 1" (2.5 cm) square
  
• Felt or heavy fulled fabric: 1½" (3.8 cm) square
  
• Button, 7/16"–3/4" (11–19 mm)
  
• Sewing thread, coordinating color
  
• Sewing needle
  
• Cutting mat, quilting ruler, and rotary cutter (optional)
  
• Sewing clips (optional)
  
• Scissors: fabric
  
• Fabric glue
  

Finished size: 4¼" diameter x 1" (10.8 x 2.5 cm).