Double Rose Pearl Brooch

Old craft is old, but unfortunately, I don't have enough free time to catch up with editing all my crafts photos T_T

For her Christmas present, I made Oli, my Lolita mentor, a set of rose brooches/hairclips. It was designed a little bit after some of the headpieces made by Victorian Maiden (roses with trailing pearls, etc) but I wanted it to be versatile, so that it could be worn in many ways, with the roses connected and without. I'm super-happy that they turned out well, and that they fit in so perfectly with Oli's wardrobe <3

Anyways, onwards to my photos/explanation of the brooch set!


Sitting innocuously on my bed... this is with the pearl chain attaching the two roses.


And this is with the unchained rose separated from the one where the chain originates.

To get a better idea of what I'm talking about with the chains and whatever, here's a shot of the back of the "main" rose (ie, the one that the chain is attached to).


One end of the pearl chain is permanently attached to the main rose. The other end has a small lobster claw on it, so you could really hook it wherever strikes your fancy. The chain itself consists of two differently-lengthed strands to create a more interesting look when it's fully draped out.

Some arrangement suggestions for dealing with the chain and roses... (and I'm sure Oli's gotten even more creative with them, she's awesome at this sort of thing)!

Single Rose, Short Loop:




Single Rose, Long Loop:




Two Roses, Clustered:


Two Roses, Spread:


I was pretty pleased myself with how they turned out! I was worried they'd stick up too much from the brooch/clip back, because I couldn't trim the stems on the flowers as close as I wanted. Fortunately, that actually worked out well, in that I could build up a couple layers of craft foam to strengthen the attachment point for the brooch/clip back.

Also... Michael's does not sell stemless/millinery flowers... I had to buy an entire flower and clip off the blossom myself. Good thing I bought that pair of diagonal cutters for cutting cable ties... >_>;;

To finish it off... an artistic view of the pearl chain (which I made by hand, by the way... man that took a really long time, but now I'm awesome at making wire loops...).


<3