how-to of the day – flower transfers

You’ve got lovely flowers growing in your garden – like these pansies perhaps?

And you want to make something that captures their beauty.  How about using the flowers themselves?

Flower transfer or flower pounding, allow you to use the natural pigments in the flower to transfer directly onto paper or fabric.

I’ve taken a flower and laid it face-down on a piece of duppioni silk (cotton broadcloth works beautifully as well):

Cover it with a piece of paper towel and start whacking away with a hammer!  Okay, so you’re not trying to pulverize it… be gentle and tap it

Keep tapping until the paper towel looks like this:

Now carefully peel the paper towel & the squished flower off the fabric… and it should look like this:

Let it dry thoroughly and it’s ready to use.  I’d recommend using a UV protectant spray to keep the color intact – some flowers may fade over time.  Flower pounding generally works best with thin flowers, thick petals may just turn into mush and not give you a clear imprint.

all images: C Findlay-Harder