Step by step: freesia - 1/4/11

So today I was finishing my freesias, so I've done a little step by step for freesias. Mine aren't perfect yet but I thought I'd try to show how you don't always need to buy expensive cutters etc for each different flower.
This is adapted from the instructions in Sugarcraft Flowers by Claire Webb.

Freesia

You need:
Sugarpaste (fondant icing) or flower paste
Colouring - the colour you want the flowers to be, and green
Small leaf or petal cutter approx 3cm long, 2cm wide
Cocktail stick or wooden kebab skewer
Edible glue
Artificial stamens or thin wire approx. 5cm long
Small knife (a craft knife would be good)
Thicker wire for the stem
Florists tape or ribbon approx 7mm wide
You may also find pliers useful to bend the thick wire, and tweezers to move the petals into place.

Flowers
1. Roll a piece of sugarpaste (either the colour of the flower or white to colour later) and cut out two teardrop shapes with a leaf or petal cutter. Fold two stamens in half and set those aside. It may be easier to handle the flowers later if you add another wire to the folded end of the stamens at this point.
2. Mark on the petal shape to divide it into three smaller petals and cut into the required shape.
3. Using a cocktail stick or a kebab skewer, roll out each small petal more thinly and frill the edges.
4. Spread edible glue a quarter of the way up the petal and wrap the petal around the folded stamens, leaving the fold showing out of the bottom of the petal.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 with the second petal, making sure that the mini petals in the two layers go between each other (so you can see all six.)
6. Use the folded stamens to hang from a wire to dry. be careful handling these flowers as they are quite brittle and delicate.
7. Make as many as you need for one stem of freesia (about 3-4 flowers should be enough). Shape the calyxes from a small cone of green sugarpaste, the broad end hollowed out with a cocktail stick and two cuts in the sides of the cone. Slide these carefully onto the flowers. (Alternatively, you could paint the bottom end of the flowers green with food colouring.)

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Buds
8. Cut a stamen in half (or cut a piece of wire about 1 inch long). Shape a small pea-sized piece of green paste into a teardrop shape and insert the wire into the thin end of the teardrop. You can fold the wire in half and insert both ends into the paste to make it easier to hang up the bud to dry.
9. Make as many buds as you need (2 or 3 for one stem of freesia) and leave to dry. Attach one bud to a thicker wire by making a hook in the end of the thick wire and hanging the bud at the very end. The other buds can be hung freely on the wire for now.

Step 8

Step 9

Step 10

Step 11

Assembly
10. Try out the spacing of the buds and flowers on your wire, then remove them all except the first bud at the far end.
11. Attach the florist tape or ribbon to the end of the wire and wrap along until you come to the place for the next bud. Slide the bud along the wire and continue wrapping. Add all the buds and flowers in this way. It may be easier if you have someone to help you hold the wire or ribbon to make sure the wrapping is neat and flat. Make sure the wrapping is taut so that the flowers don't shift about too much. You can dot edible glue along the wire to hold the ribbon/flowers in place if you want. When you have attached all the flowers, bend the stem wire at a right angle to imitate a freesia stem. Continue wrapping it or tie off the ribbon.

Next: carnations