How to Make Silk Flower Leaves — Chanhua Leaf Tutorial
Making the leaves for a Chinese chanhua jasmine hairpin — real time, no cuts, no speed-up.
This is the part most beginners find hardest: keeping the two strands of silk parallel, wrapping firmly enough, and shaping the leaf at the end. The tutorial goes slowly through every step, from cutting the wire to burning off the fuzzy edges.
You'll need: two cardstock leaf templates, a piece of wire about 18 cm long (0.4 mm is easiest for beginners), and about two meters of silk floss, folded to work with a double strand.
Everything used in this video is in our blue trailing jasmine hairpin kit.
Read the transcript
Chanhua (缠花) is a Chinese folk craft: dyed silk floss is wound, strand by strand, around a shaped copper-wire frame until a flower appears. It is three-dimensional and sculptural — closer to making a tiny silk sculpture than to sewing or embroidery.
In this video we make the leaves for a jasmine hairpin.
Materials. For each leaf you'll need two cardstock templates, cut in advance, and a piece of wire about 18 cm long. Steel or copper wire both work. If you're new to this, use 0.4 mm wire — it's easier to control. For the silk, about two meters of green silk floss, folded in half, wrapped as a double strand. If you run out mid-leaf you can join on more thread.
Starting the wrap. Leave about 3 cm of bare wire at the front. Hold the end of the thread down with your left thumb, and wind clockwise with your right hand, bringing the thread across to the left. Wind about 1 cm like this until it's secure, then lay the first paper template on top. Keep the two strands parallel — don't let them twist around each other. When you need to let go, pinch the wrapped section at the back with your left index finger. Keep your left hand close, and wrap firmly; if the thread is loose, the leaf will come apart later.
The second template. Once that section is wrapped, wind three more turns around the wire, then lay the second template on top and wrap it the same way.
Folding and shaping. When both sides are wrapped, fold the two halves together and wind a few more turns around the wire. Tuck the thread end between the wires, pull it tight, and snip it off. Pinch the top into a point, wrap the leaf around a pen to shape it, slide it off, and stretch it out gently. One leaf done — you'll need five for this hairpin.
Tidying the edges. Run a lighter quickly along the edges to tidy up the fuzzy fibers. Use an ordinary lighter, not a windproof or torch lighter — those burn too hot and will scorch the leaf.
