Big Kanzashi Post

[meanjunglist.livejournal.com]

So, I've been studying how to make kanzashi for the past couple of months. I have been using these videos as well as a kanzashi book. Both are in Japanese, so I have to go by the visuals which has left me figuring things out from trial and error. I have hit a few snags with a few things.

1. Getting perfect squares (1 inch by 1 inch) cut out of the silk has been troublesome. Currently I am using scrap silk that I have rescued from thrift store finds. I cut up the garments, iron out the fabric and then go about cutting out the squares with an exacto knife and a ruler. The exacto knife sometimes creates a jagged edge and the fabric sometimes shifts while I am cutting no matter how hard I try to not budge it. The squares that I obtain are usable but not as neat and perfect as the squares made by the kanzashi makers in the video. My question to all of you out there is how do I go about cutting perfect squares out of the silk? Is there a better method to do this than what I am already using? Is there anything I could use such as any quilting tools to make cutting out these squares less troublesome?

2. The rice starch adhesive that I am using doesn't hold my petals onto my bases. The guys in the video seem to be having the easiest time assembling the petals on the bases. The only thing I can think that I am doing wrong is with mixing or setting the adhesive. I am mixing it exactly the way the directions say to mix it. I can't figure out what I am doing wrong with this. Does anyone have any suggestions?


In advance I want to thank you for your responses and for reading all of this. I greatly appreciate any help that I can get. I will end this post with a few pictures of my tiger lily kanzashi (Note: I had a bugger of a time making this. I ended up sewing the pieces together and gluing them to a base with a glue gun. Also, I used cotton fabric instead of silk.)