Flower-making Craft

With Crochet Cotton

There are many ways to use this craft skill once you have learned to make these pretty and simply little flowers. You can put them on a poster like this.

Or you can glue them onto greeting cards like these.

You will need:

Any colour of cotton thread. Crochet cotton works great. Choose one or more colours for the flowers and some green for the leaves.

A pair of scissors, and a darning needle, or at least one with a big enough eye.

You will also need a star pattern (or two, for different sizes) cut out of plastic. A spare lid from a plastic food container in the kitchen will do fine. This star pattern is your main tool for making these flowers. After a while you will be able to pop off a flower from the star in a few minutes.

How to make your Star Pattern

Take a scrap of paper, even a used envelop will do, and trace a circle on it. Maybe a roll of tape, or a glass or tumbler from the kitchen? It doesn't have to be coloured.

Now cut out the circle and fold it in half, and then fold in half again, and again

Next, take a scissor and cut out a deep V between the folded sides, while the circle still all folded up.

Spread out your folded paper, and there is your start pattern! But you want it out of firmer material that will bend but will last for many flowers.

So now you must find a spare plastic lid that can be given up in the kitchen. Find a pen that will write on plastic (not all do), and trace your start on the plastic. Then use the scissor to cut it out. If you place your first pattern carefully to one side, you can usually get a second star cut out of the same lid for a friend.

Winding and Knotting Flowers

This is where the more tricky finger work comes in. Be patient with yourself. Don't give up now! Choose the crochet cotton with the colour you want for your flower. Lay the end down across the plastic star pattern. Hold that end in place with your spare thumb.

Using the hand you favour most, wind the cotton thread around behind the point to the right, then down again, and behind the point to the left, then up again. Keep repeating until you have gone around the start several times and the number of layers of seem to look good enough to you.

Continue winding - starting at the top - behind the top point, straight down, behind the point to the left, then straight up again. Repeat.

Your flower should look like this at this stage. The front should only have straight lines criss-crossing at the center. The back should only have threads/strings going across the back of the points. But it is time to start the next step.

Knotting the Flower's Center

With a good length of yellow or gold (or white) crochet cotton in your needle, (and if it is extra long you can know several flowers before you have to bother threading the needle again) - you push the needle up under the center pile-up of crossing threads. Pull it up out at the top, but be careful to leave the tail end over the tail end of the coloured cotton for the flower. Put your spare thumb on those threads to keep them in place.

Now you must go around and repeat this: push the needle up from below, under the pile up of thread in the center, and up through the top. Move over one section to the left, and do it again, move another section over and do it again. After about 2 or 3 of these, the ends will be okay, and you no longer have to hold them down with your thumb.

You'll notice that a small yellow crown is forming around the center area, and all the flowers petals are being held together by this golden center. Continue working your way around until you have gone through all eight sections. If you have pulled the thread tight each time, your knot should be well able to hold your flower together.

With a sicissor snip off the threads closer to that center knot. Do that the yellow thread in the needle, and also the last end of the one used to make the loops for the petals.

There! You have made one daisy or flower for your craft project! Congratulations!

Now we must make some feathery green leaves yet.

Making Green Leaves for the Flowers

Making the greenery for the flowers is a bit different. It takes a bit of practice, but it shouldn't be much harder than tying a shoe lace. Spread out some of the green thread or crochet cotton, of about 6 to 8 or 9 inches long.

It depends a lot on whether you like it to look very loose and feathery like an artist's soft swirls, or more close and like layered green leaves. But don't cut the lengths. Just fold them back and go back and forth a few times.

Three or four, maybe five lengths should do it. Then you must gather them up as one and pretend you are tying a bow in the air. Keeping the first inch or two section under your fingers, bend the next section into a loop and pinch between your thumb and fingers. Now bring the rest of the length around and pull through. (I sometimes have to practice a few times when I've been away from this).

Here's the hardest part - pulling the third loop through. Gently snug the knot tighter so the bow won't fall apart. However, it is not a shoe you are tying so, it can be somewhat loose.

There! We made it! A swirly, artsy-looking triad of leaves that gift a hint of greenery but don't distract from the delicate flowers.

Arranging Our Flowers and Leaves

Our flower is to be glued down over our leaves with a glue stick. That is if it is to go on a paper poster or a greeting card. (This method can be used to make larger flowers and to glue them down with a glue gun or tack them in place with tacks if doing them on a larger scale with materials that can stand other situations.).

In this case we can make two flowers with leaves and glue them on a poster with a Bible verse. Yet another craft might be to make a nice frame for this.

Remember, you can adapt your new knowledge - and if you practice, use your new skill to many other craft projects!