Alstroemeria - Peruvian Lily

Alstroemeria - Peruvian lily
The Alstroemeria plants are from the same family as the Lilies. They are better known as the Peruvian Lily, or Lily of the Incas and are native to South America. The one that inspired this tutorial is a prized hybrid cultivar called Alstroemeria 'Apollo'. 

MATERIALS
Italian crepe paper 180g - White 600 or Cream 603, Ivy Green 591, Goldenrod 576

Floral wire 20 gauge
Scissors
PVA Glue
Wire cutter
Alcohol markers - Yellow, Brown and/or Dark red, Green
Templates

1. PREPARE - Copy the flower templates and set aside. To make a branch with five flowers, you are going to need four pieces of wire with 20 cm (8 in) long each and one about 35cm (15 in) long. Set those aside and go to the next step.

2. PISTIL-STIGMA - To make the pistil-stigma, cut a thin strip of white crepe paper, stretch a little, apply glue and wrap around the wire for about 5cm (2 in). Make sure it's tightly wrapped and secure. Do that for all five pieces of wire and proceed to the next step. (fig 1)
3. STAMENS - To make the stamens cut a piece of white crepe paper 5cm (2 in) tall and 4cm (1.5 in) long, stretch it a bit till it reaches 5cm (2in). Now you are going to make six equal cuts leaving a little space uncut on the bottom. Twist all the parts and make sure they're very tight. You can use a dot of glue if you feel like it's needed. Cut a thin strip of yellow crepe paper 1,5 cm (0.5 in) tall and 2,5 cm (1 in) long, stretch it till it reaches 5cm (2 in), fold it lengthwise, apply a little bit of glue and glue the tips of the stamens inside it, as shown in the picture. Let it dry before cut. Cut the yellow part to separate rounding each little tip. Now twist all the tips and glue the stamens around the pistil making sure the pistil stands a tiny bit taller than the stamens.(fig 2)

4. PETALS AND SEPALS - Alstroemerias have three petals and three sepals, a total of six. The petals are the ones that usually have tiny dashes or stripes. To make one set of six you are going to cut a piece of white or ivory crepe paper 6,5cm (2.5 in) tall and 10cm (4 in) long. Stretch it till it reaches 15cm (6 in) long and cut the petals and sepals. (fig 3)

Cup the petals and sepals very lightly on the top part, moving towards you. Use your index fingers to cup, not your thumbs. (fig 4)

Now you are going to add color with alcohol markers. Use the yellow marker to color the petals from the bottom almost till the top, brushing the color making a gradient with the white of the paper. Do the same thing with the sepals but apply the color just till the middle of the sepal. Go back to the petals and use the brown or the dark red marker to make little dashes from the bottom to top as shown in the picture. You can add little bits of color on the top of the sepals and petals using the dark red or green marker if you see fit. (fig 5)

5. LEAVES - Cut a variety of leaves sizes out of the Ivy Green crepe paper. Alstroemerias usually have little to none leaves near to the flowers, they are present on the base of the flower stem node. For this branch I suggest you cut two small, four medium and three to four big ones. Before you cut the leaves, stretch the paper a little, so they look more natural when you finish your stem. (fig 6)
 6. ASSEMBLY - Start by applying a little dot of glue on the base of the petals and the sepals. Glue two petals on the base of the pistils, one next to the other. Glue the third one on the opposite side in front of the other two, so they look like a triangle. Glue one sepal right behind the two first petals and the other two sepals on the gaps between the third petal and the two first petals, one at each side. (fig 7) 

Cut thin strips of green crepe paper, stretch a little, apply glue and start wrapping the base of your flowers. You can bulk the base a little wrapping a couple times so they have the right look and keep wrapping around the wire for about 5cm (2in) down. After you finish all the flowers, gather two of them and a little leaf and wrap them together using a thin strip of green crepe paper. You can add a medium leaf to this bundle too. Repeat the process for the last three flowers and add another small leaf and two more medium ones. (fig 8)

Now gather the two bundles and using a thin strip of green crepe paper wrap them together adding the rest of the leaves. Continue to wrap the stem and bulk with paper to thicken it as you see fit. (fig 9)

Congrats, you have made a beautiful Alstroemeria stem! (fig10)

Be creative and make it in other colors. Share your flowers on social media! Tag and mention me so I can see the wonderful blooms made by you and reshare your work.

 Thanks a lot, 

Anna - @annachedid