Fabric flower tutorial

A few people asked how to make the flower on yesterday's fabric origami box. This is an easy craft project that's a good way to use up scraps. Use these flowers to make hair pins and boutonnieres, top gifts, decorate napkin rings, tote bags, wedding aisles, you name it.


You'll need some stiffened fabric pieces (see this post for the how to), a pencil, paper, scissors, needle, thread, buttons, and an iron.

With a pencil, sketch flower shapes on the back of your fabric pieces. You'll need three sizes of flowers, so make each one progressively larger. If you plan to make zillions of flowers, it might be good to draw yourself some paper templates to make your life easier. Don't worry about making perfect petals. This is a forgiving project.

Cut out each flower piece. Then pinch little creases between the petals, overlapping them very slightly to add dimension.

Press the creases with an iron. While each petal is still warm, roll the edges back to make a pretty petal shape. The fabric is very soft and pliable when it's warm, but after it cools a couple seconds, it's crisp again. If you're unsatisfied with a petal, just iron it again and reshape it.

Layer three flower shapes in graduated sizes, staggering the petals. Stitch them together with a button in the center.

I love how sturdy these are—crisp and flexible, all at the same time. They won't tear like paper, and they have a fabric texture. Nifty!

Fabric origami box tutorial

An origami box seemed like an easy project for testing yesterday's stiffened fabric. The material folded nicely, and pressing the creases with an iron as I went along made even sharper edges. In case elementary school was eons ago and you've forgotten how to make a simple origami box, here's a refresher.

Begin with two squares of stiffened fabric, one for the bottom and one for the lid. (Mine were 6" x 6.")

1. Mark the center of the square by folding the fabric into quarters or measuring. Bring each corner of the fabric to the center point and press the creases.

2. Bring one edge of the resulting square inward until it touches the center point and make a crease. Repeat with the other three sides.

You'll end up with four creases running through the square.

3. Open up the top and bottom triangular flaps, leaving the side flaps folded in. Then pinch the sides of the top flap inward.

4. Bring the point of the top flap over the "wall" you just made and press it down to the bottom of the box.

5. Repeat with the opposite flap. My box stayed folded all by itself, but you could add a couple dots of glue to secure the flaps if needed.

Make a lid for the box using the other piece of fabric. The lid will need to be slightly larger than the bottom, so when you get to step 2, don't fold all the way to the center point. Fold each side to a point a quarter inch short of the center.

Stitch a decoration to the lid if you're feeling fancy.

Modeling rules

We have been getting a lot of inquires from girls wanting to model for sassyNpunk, so i decided I needed to clear a few things up. As stated on the modeling rules page on www.sassyNpunkBoutique.com, we cannot accept photos of you modeling for some other company or any photos from your portfolio. We MUST have photos of you wearing sassyNpunk Boutique merchandise that you have purchased from us. This rule is in place b/c it protects us as a company and it protects our fans too. We cannot just have a hundred girls sending us photos of god knows who and then mail out products to a complete stranger. It is a security risk as well as a financial risk. We must have proof that you are indeed who you say you are and that you are a reliable person who is not just trying to get us to send you free merchandise. You have to buy something with your own money, have yourself professionally photographed, and send us those photos for approval. If we are interested, we will contact you to become a regular model for sassyNpunk. Only after this process is completed will we start sending you products to shoot for us. I hope this clears up any confusion.

XOXO

How to stiffen fabric

I've always wanted to experiment with stiffened fabric, so I picked up a bottle of the aptly named Stiffen Stuff at Michaels.

I sprayed both sides of a piece of quilting weight fabric until it was thoroughly wet. And then, because I'm an impatient girl who gets fed up with air drying, I laid the fabric on a paper towel and microwaved it for 30 seconds. It came out crisp like a sheet of paper! I pressed it for a couple seconds with an iron to smooth out any bumps, and voila.

Stay tuned for projects with stiffened fabric!

Staple-free stapler reviewed

After yesterday's post, I had a few questions from people wondering if the eco staple-free stapler works well. My answer: yes and no.

Here's a blue sheet of paper stapled to a white sheet.

The stapler works by punching out tabs that get folded over and pushed through a tiny slit. The device only works when fastening up to four sheets of paper. Any more and the stack of tabs is too thick for the stapler to push through the slit. That means your papers will have a hole but won't be fastened together—no good! However, when it works properly, those sheets are stuck together very securely and the only way to get them apart is to undo the tab or tear the paper. It took me a few tries to realize you have to push the top of the stapler down hard all the way to get those tabs inserted.

The pros: it's super cute, good for the environment, and you never have to worry about running out of staples. The cons: If you want to staple more than four sheets, you're out of luck. Since it punches a hole, you might punch through a valuable bit of information on your sheet. And the hold isn't quite as secure as a metal staple, since paper can tear and metal won't.

Recent orange gifts

I had to share my little collection of orange Christmas presents with you because I'm giddy with happiness.
1. Staple free stapler, found somewhere by Alex.
2. Spoon and fork chopstick rests, found somewhere in Japan by Megumi.
3. Trim little pencil case... sheepishly, I confess I bought this for myself. Thank you, self.
4. Orange masking tape from West Elm's stocking stuffer section. Thank you, Alex.
5. Lion masking tape, found somewhere in Japan. Domo arigato, Megumi.
6. Felt coaster set, found in a shop in China located just upstairs from Karls Jr. and next to a Krispy Kreme. Xie xie, Heather and Tyler!

Let's see that tape a little more closely. Aw, the cuteness!

Free font: Prima09

Prima09 is an edgy, handwritten font in block capitals from the Brazilian company We. See some usage examples and download the font here, free for personal and commercial use. One little drawback for Americans: Prima09 doesn't seem to have an apostrophe character, so you might need to reposition a comma if you plan to type any contractions.