Peter Beales: classic English roses

Last Saturday in between the showers we set off to visit Peter Beales nursery, which so happens to be only 20 minutes drive from our place. Peter Beales, sadly deceased earlier this year, was very well known as a rosarian, author and lecturer. Beales was considered one of the leading experts on roses, especially species and classic roses, preserving many old varieties and introducing 70 new cultivars during his lifetime.

Our humble collection has one of Peter Beales' roses and we've got our eyes on another one for next year.

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Summer: sun, fun and flowers

What do you associate summer with?

 Warm weather, bright sun, blue-blue sky. Summer storms. Walks in the woods. Or, perhaps, in the meadows where amongst the sea of bright flowers you definitely spot a clover. Usually it comes in purple pink colour

Pink clover brooch

but sometimes you come across a white, slightly lime green variety. This summer flower, so tiny and humble, is one of the symbols of summer to me.

White clover oval brooch

 Designer white clover brooch is an intricate accessory for those who appreciate unusual understated one of a kind hand made pieces. It will look equally good pinned to a white office shirt (as in the picture) or to a summer linen jacket, light cotton dress or, perhaps, a hat.

The piece is created entirely by hand from scratch  using different types of pure silk fabrics (hand cut, hand painted, hand shaped and assembled). And I have not forgotten to include a lucky four leaf ☺

The brooch is finished with a brooch base.

Has this brooch made you think better of a simple clover flower? :-)

Trooping the colour ceremony and silk flowers

As you have probably heard, last Saturday Britain celebrated the Queen's official birthday with Trooping the Colour, a fabulous military parade.

Although the Queen was born on 21 April, it has long been the tradition to celebrate the Sovereign's birthday publicly on a day in the summer, when good weather is more likely. This military ceremony dates back to the early eighteenth century or earlier, when the colours (flags) of the battalion were carried (or 'trooped') down the ranks so that they could be seen and recognised by the soldiers.

Trooping the Colour is carried out by fully trained and operational troops, watched by members of the Royal Family, invited guests and members of the public. 

Naturally I was drawn to the celebration in order to observe what headwear members of the Royal family have chosen for the event.

A lot of attention has been drawn to the Duchess of Cambridge especially that it was her last  public appearance before the birth of her first child. In this nice picture we can see her pale pink Alexander McQueen coat and matching hat in more detail. 

Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall wore the Philip Treacy designed picture hat in a sparkly oyster coloured straw with a large upturned brim.

But most of all I was pleased when I saw the Duchess of Kent's hat. She wore a white pillbox hat trimmed with purple roses and a white tulle veil.

Interestingly the day before I painted one of my roses in a very similar colour.

For me silk flowers and hats is a marriage made in heaven and it is a pity we did not see many silk flowers on Royal hats at the parade. 

Here is one of my pillbox hats decorated with an open English rose:

Silk rose pillbox

Silk flower fascinators look equally stunning. Sometimes it takes just a flower to make a fascinator, like in this black rose fascinator

Black rose fascinator

or the oversized camellia headband

Oversized blush pink camellia hat

Do you use silk flowers to decorate your hats? If not, with what do you decorate them? Please share your opinions.

New tutorial out! Lace butterfly: a stunning accessory you can make yourself without special tools.

Please be kindly informed that we have moved! To read new blog posts, purchase our floral pieces and learn more about how to make flowers you are welcome to visit out new website.

I think I have not met anyone who did not like butterflies. They are fascinating and delicate creatures full of beauty. No wonder we want to capture it and embody in our designs to enjoy their perfection and elegance as and when we want it.

I love creating butterflies made of delicate lace and pure silk. Such designs look appropriate in wedding themes, they are perfect for special occasions, as little girls’ hair accessories, etc. They make a nice gift too.

I have developed this tutorial in a way that you can make your own stunning lace butterfly accessory without having to use any specialised tools.

By varying the size of the butterfly and by using coloured laces you can create an accessory to match any outfit. This lace butterfly can be attached to a headband, a hair clip, a brooch base or just sewn onto a garment, such as a wedding dress.  It can be used in millinery too to decorate hats and fasciantors. The applications are endless. Once you have mastered the art of making lace butterflies you can easily create different accessories in sizes and colours that are required.

You will learn how to

• make beautifully light feather antennae
• create a stunning body of seed beads
• wire the wings so they hold their shape
• attach the butterfly to a headband / hair clip

For those of you who have a set of millinery tools I am preparing a FREE bonus tutorial on how to shape the velvet butterfly wings using a set of millinery tools for silk flower making as shown in the picture below. For this butterfly I have used a different template which I have included as well! 

To be able to receive the bonus tutorial you will need to be a subscriber to my blog. You can find the subscription form in the top right corner of this blog.

At the moment the lace butterfly tutorial is available for instant download now from my website here http://presentperfectcreations.com/product/lace-silk-butterfly-tutorial-pdf/

Should you have any questions regarding materials or tools prior to purchasing the tutorial please feel free to contact me via this blog (comments) 

Silk and Lace Butterfly tutorial

Mademoiselle and camellias

Please be kindly informed that we have moved! To read new blog posts, purchase our floral pieces and learn more about how to make flowers you are welcome to visit out new website here

I am currently enjoying reading Chanel,  a book by Danielle Bott devoted to this famous fashion house, its founder, Mademoiselle Chanel and those revolutionary changes she brought into the world of fashion. The book covers five central themes  - the signature suit, the camellia, jewellery, fragrances and make-up.

As you may have guessed I was naturally drawn to the chapter which talks about the camellia, the favourite flower of Coco Chanel. Very much inspired by masculine clothes, she borrowed the flower from a new generation of dandies, who casually pinned a camellia on their jackets. She was enchanted by its perfect, almost geometric roundness. Besides, the camellia possessed the added advantage of not competing with her favourite perfume, as camellias are scentless.

Coco Chanel believed that beauty is nearly always born from radical simplicity. The camellia with its minimalist lines, well-defined curves and almost Art Nouveau  design was destined to appeal to her. The camellia became Coco's symbol, her icon, one of the recurring elements of her style, using it as an accessory in its natural form as well as interpreting it in unexpected ways in her designs.

An essential element in Mademoiselle's collections, the camellia is now reworked and reinterpreted by Karl Lagerfeld. The camellia stars in every catwalk show, always present, always surprising. Lagerfeld remodels the camellia in every imaginable way for every season in all sizes and fabrics in every one of his collections. In couture, accessories and fine jewellery, in every material - satin, velvet, leather, canvas, tulle, chiffon and tweed - the camellia is a spirit of fashion. Suffice it to say that every year more than twenty thousand camellias are handcrafted in Lemarie's flower and feather atellier, one of rue Cambon's satellite ateliers.

Camellia was one of the first flowers I created in silk. Since then I have experimented with other fabrics  (denim), genuine leather  as well as patterns, sizes, types of accessories and ways of shaping its petals.

Genuine leather camellias

Its almost perfect form is best shown when dense material like genuine leather or denim are used.

Distressed camellia hair clip

However, silk satin with its noble sheen and smooth surface remains a good choice. How about an oversized camellia made into a bridal fascinator? 

Oversized camellia fascinator in powder colour

For the above shown camellias I used a pattern which is very similar to the one of Chanel - geometrically round and very regular in shape. The other pattern I use is closer to the camellia flower in its natural form like these bridal camellias:

Bridal silk camellias

As I am planning my next collection, I have some new fabrics to experiment with, and camellia will be high on my list of flowers to experiment with, as its simple symmetrical from and clean lines appeal to me a lot. Do they to you?