Pin-On Wedding Corsage
Combining old-school techniques with modern ones lets today's designer create beautiful flowers to wear - that are mechanically sound and long-lasting. In this Flower School How-To Video Leanne combines multiple handwork techniques as she creates a textural pin-on corsage in Fall colors with one spray rose, one Matsumoto aster, one scabiosa pod, some cottage yarrow and ornamental blackberries. Enjoy!
Video Transcription
Flowers to wear are back in style on trend with textures. Combining old school with new school techniques makes it easy.
When creating a classic pin on corsage I recommend using a 26-gauge wire, then corsage tape. I use dark green. It comes in brown and light green, plus a multitude of other colors. I always include two pins. More about that later. Ribbon I'm going to use is a Pico. Then I chose flowers for texture, some cottage yarrow, scabiosa pod, China aster, spray rose, ornamental blackberries, and a single galax leaf.
I've combined old school and new school. Old school is you wire and tape each bloom. I recommend you do that for all your heavier things and softer little stems. So, the spray rose has been wired and taped using the pierce technique. The China aster, Matsumoto is done with the hair pin technique, and then the blackberries are done as a clutch technique. So, think back to your Basic Floral Design studies. Then new school, leaving the galax natural stem, scabiosa natural stem, and the cottage yarrow also, natural stem. When you do a natural stem, you do want to remove every bit of foliage before you begin.
Having all of the things laid out and ready makes the assembly easy. Start with your larger items. Cluster them in your hand, add in the texture, little more interest. Tuck in the beautiful cottage yarrow for color, maybe bringing in a second piece, and then for the back, just taking the single galax. Nestling it together, and then using your tape, secure it right at the very top. Don't go down, just round and round in one spot, locking it all together.
To finish, clip your stem so they're all about the same length. Then using a bit of the ribbon, wrap it, starting at the top, bringing it around, covering all that tape. You don't want that band to show. Then once you have it wrapped, I go around a little extra just because... And then take the two ends, tie them together in a tight knot. I double knot it to make sure it can't come undone. I give it a little pushup and it's ready to go. All you need to do is add your pins, and yes, one would be enough, but I always add two just in case they lose it. And I put them straight up in not coming back out.
The recipe it's simple. One spray rose, one Matsumoto aster, one scabiosa pod, one cluster of ornamental berries, and then one stem of yarrow broken apart. Lastly, a single galax leaf.
Handwork corsages, boutonnieres, all the flowers to wear takes a lot of practice. It's a skill that starts weak and then gets better. The more you do it, the better you'll get. You'll find more videos on handwork on the website Flower School .com, but now it's your turn. Study up. Make sure you can pierce, clutch, hairpin. Do your taping. Create a beautiful corsage and take a picture, maybe wearing it, post it on social media and hashtag Floral Design Institute. That way I can see, and we all can see what you do as you do something you love.
