I shared a post recently about making crepe paper flowers. You can find it here. In it, I gave quite a few recommendations of designs in the Silhouette Design Store that work for this. But it’s also relatively easy to create your own petals. Today, I thought I’d give you some tips on just how to do that.
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Generic petals
If you have Designer Edition Plus, draw a heart in Flexishapes. Use it as is, or alter it slightly for several different looks.
- To point edit on it, use Convert to Path in the Object drop down or right click menus. In point editing, select the point of the downward peak and change it from a corner to a smooth point.
You can do the same with the bottom peak. Then you have a pretty good petal for many flowers, including a dogwood or peony.
- To make a flat bottom on it, draw a rectangle across the bottom that extends below the heart. Select both, open the Modify panel and select Subtract. That uses the rectangle to cut off the bottom of the heart. Keep this in mind for any petal you want to have a flat bottom.
The Flexishapes also have a teardrop that makes a great petal. Use point editing as described above to make a curve at the top instead of a point.
Also in those Flexishapes, draw the balloon, convert to path and play around with the points.
Daisy petals
Draw a long, thin oval for a daisy petal.
Mum/dahlia/sunflower petals (also works as a simple leaf)
Create a circle and then an exact copy of it to the right with the keyboard shortcut CTRL+→. Use the arrow key on your computer keyboard to move one of the circles over left or right until it’s overlapping the other. Select both, open the Modify panel and select Intersect. That saves only the area where the 2 circles overlap.
This makes a great petal for a mum or dahlia, or a simple leaf. Use ovals instead or adjust the amount of overlap to get different looks.
If you want to make a flat bottom, follow the info on the generic petals.
Daffodil petals
Follow the same instructions as for the mum/dahlia. Then go into point editing and move the left and right side points both upward and outward.
Anemone petals
Start with a heart. Go into point editing mode and select the point that’s at the top peak. Move it upward so that it’s above the top of the heart instead of below it. It’s probably a corner point, so turn it into a smooth.
Or, you can leave it as a corner and move the control points (blue boxes) below the point so that the peak points up instead of down. The amount you move the point and adjust the blue control points. determines how sharp the point is.
Adjust the petal’s width for different looks.
Rose petals
In any software level — Draw a wide oval. Then go into point editing and move the left and right side points both upward and outward. Make the bottom point a corner point and adjust the curves to make a peak.
In Designer Edition Plus or Business Edition — Use the Flexishapes to create a teardrop shape. If you like, you can change the peak to a smooth point to round it more or adjust the control handles.
That should give you a good amount of petal shapes to get started with. If you start with a rounded, symmetrical shape and know some point editing basics, you can make lots of different types. Please feel free to comment below if there’s another petal shape you’d like me to add.
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