Making Christmas balls using the kanzashi technique

Many craftswomen make crafts from tapes in the Japanese kanzashi style. This type of needlework consists in the manufacture of jewelry from satin and silk ribbons. Combs, handbags and photo frames, decorated with silk flowers, look very original. On New Year's holidays needlewomen offer a variety of options for creating balls on the Christmas tree.

When creating a toy from tapes, there are no boundaries of fantasy. Sometimes ideas come during work, so it’s better to immediately prepare all the material for kanzashi.

• Ribbons made of satin, rayon, nylon. Usually on a Christmas tree everything sparkles. Shiny Christmas balls create from satin ribbons with lurex and brocade.
• Multi-colored cords and synthetic yarn.
• One of the tools for burning edges: a soldering iron, thermal cutter, a candle or a lighter.
• Scissors and tweezers.
• Various types of glue (moment, PVA, glue gun).
• Sequins, rhinestones, beads, beads.
• Sewing needle.
• The main blank is a ball (can be purchased in the online store or in the store for creativity).
• Clove pins.
• Ruler or tape measure.

The basis for the fake is a foam ball with a diameter of 4-6 cm. Pins to strengthen the ribbons easily enter into it.

Here are 7 steps to make a sharp petal.

1. Squares are cut (the side is equal to the width of the tape).
2. Fold diagonally to make a triangle.
3. The resulting triangle is folded in the middle.
4. Clamp the lower part with tweezers to 2 mm and trim.
5. The resulting cut is scorched. The thermo knife perfectly copes with this work.It immediately cuts and scorches the edges of synthetic materials.
6. Remove part of the base and scorch the resulting edge.
7. The part is turned out, after which the petal is considered ready.

Multilayer petals are made by superimposing squares on each other and repeating these 7 steps. To create a round shape after the first 2 steps, add a new triangle. On the hypotenuse (long side) find the middle. You can draw a line down to evenly bend the upper corners inward. They singe the base and cut off the excess parts. Turn the product.

Connect the petals into a flower by stitching or glue on the side parts. Hot glue requires a special gun. A solid polymer core with glue is inserted into it. When heated, glue flows out and sticks together instantly. Quickly freezes, securely holding the petals together.

As soon as our petals are ready, you can glue the ball around them. Most often, pins are used for this, but glue can also be dispensed with. If the basis is a finished ball with a rope, then you can immediately hang it on a Christmas tree. If there is no rope, it must be made of thread, and then glued to the ball. The glue can be hidden under another small flower.

The needlewomen spread on the Internet their own workshops on creating flowers with spiral petals, with curls in the middle of the flower and with round shapes with folds. Beautiful Christmas garlands are obtained from several flowers glued together. On the Christmas tree using the kanzashi technique, cones, individual large flowers, snowflakes are created. Interesting fishnet fakes are made on the basis of balloons.

• Simple holiday fake. Ping-pong ball is wrapped with a bright ribbon with a border. At the top and bottom of the tape, overlapping, gradually glued to each other. Separately, flowers are collected in the kanzashi style of a different color. Glue on the largest circumference. Glue a ribbon of shade of flowers on top for hanging on a branch. Add a brush down.

• Openwork Christmas fake. Inflate a small balloon. A thin satin ribbon or cord is lowered into a container with PVA glue. Hands (in latex gloves) randomly wind the tape on the ball, leaving free spaces. Next, the product is dried with a hairdryer. A ball is pierced with a needle, it is blown off, it is freely pulled out. Openwork ball is decorated with sparkles. A cord for pendant is glued to the upper part, and around it are placed petals in the style of a Kazan from lace nylon ribbons.

• The original Christmas tree. Necessary fittings:
  • 2 ribbons of different colors (dark green and gold shades);
  • Scissors, tweezers;
  • Basis - a cardboard cone;
  • Singing candle;
  • Transparent Crystal glue;
  • Bright half beads imitating Christmas balls;
  • Green felt.

Make many double sharp petals. The more of them, the more magnificent the Christmas tree will be. They burn the fabric, smear the bottom row of the cone, and glue the petals. In the next row, the petals are glued a little higher so that they cover the base of the previous ones. The top of the Christmas tree is made up of three petals glued together. Half beads are glued throughout the Christmas tree. The lower part of the tree is covered with green round felt.

• Volume ball made of brocade tape. An iridescent ball in the light stands out against the background of glass and plastic toys. Cut into square billets, singe all the edges. The corners of the square of the fabric are fixed to the top of the base with needles or glue. The squares are folded into a triangle and glued to the square around the entire circumference. Each row is enlarged and shifted to the side. After the middle, they begin to decrease the amount. The top and bottom are rolled with folds of tape.

See how to make a Christmas ball using the kanzashi technique.