Topiary is a popular type of needlework that gives unlimited scope for imagination and creativity. But often craftswomen are faced with the problem of a shortage of round blanks that serve as the basis for crafts. A few simple recipes will help you easily solve this problem in a way that does not require a lot of time and money.
Topiary or "tree of happiness" is an exquisite and original decoration of the interior, consisting of a decoratively decorated crown, a trunk and a container in which this tree is fixed.
As a basis for the crown, needlewomen use either ready-made store blanks, most often of a spherical shape, or they make a base from scrap materials.
Making a ball for topiary from foam
Foam balls are very convenient to use: decorative elements are well attached to their surface, it is convenient to paint them, adjust their shape.
You can make such a ball at home using a simple device made from trimming a plumbing pipe or any other durable tube.
The size of the finished ball will directly depend on the diameter of the tube, therefore, for the manufacture of small blanks, you can use plastic tubes from polyurethane foam, and for large balls, make a device from a tube on which rolls of linoleum are stored.
A device for cutting a ball is a plastic tube, from one side of which half is cut to a length that is about a third of the tube. The resulting workpiece should resemble a scoop.
The entire cut off part and the bottom of the workpiece are tightly pasted over with sandpaper - the smallest one, "zero", is best suited. The device is immersed in the foam with the sandpaper edged side and the cylinder is cut out with it.
A foam cylinder is placed on the opposite part of the device, resembling a scoop, and, rotating around its own axis, is ground to a spherical shape.
Making a ball for topiary from a newspaper
An easier way to make a ball involves using old newspapers. The quarter-piece of newspaper is crumpled until it is spherical, after which more newspaper sheets are added layer by layer until the ball reaches the desired size.
The finished ball is placed in an old sock, the fabric is pulled up and, collecting it in folds at the base, tied with threads or sewn with several stitches. Instead of a sock, an old handkerchief, nylon stocking, unnecessary flaps of fabric can be used.
To connect the trunk of the topiary and its crown on the basis of a newspaper ball, it is necessary to make a small hole at the base of the workpiece with scissors, fill it with glue and insert the trunk of the future tree.
Making a ball for topiary from sinetpon
For topiary with light decorative elements - feathers, paper flowers, beads, etc. the basis for the crown can be made from scraps of padding polyester or foam rubber.
A spherical blank is formed from a padding polyester and wrapped with strong threads to fix the shape.
After that, the workpiece is laid on a pad of padding polyester or any fabric cut in the form of a circle, a seam is laid along the edge of the circle, the ends of the thread are pulled together and securely fixed.
