Floral Hair Accessories – a master class

In my post on Tuberose – real flower jewelry, I wrote about how I wanted to learn netting and to make floral hair accessories. I found an excellent tutor, Bhuvana of Bhuvana’s floral venis near my home and after many cancellations and postponements (I am not the easiest student!) I finally attended one of her workshops on January 26th. She was so sweet to customise the workshop for me, as I told her that I already knew some of the techniques she was teaching and wanted to learn other more advanced techniques instead. That was really magnanimous on her part, as it is not easy, to teach different techniques to different, that too in a group setting.
After Flag hoisting at my college ( It was republic day), I came home, took some much needed rest and then went to the workshop around 1PM. It was already in full swing (with the other participants attending a full day workshop) with Side bun clips and Venis being made.
 

Floral Hair Accessories, veni 

 Veni

A Veni is a Hair accessory either like a small garland or semi circular in shape which is worn over/around a plait or a hair bun and is tied at the nape of the neck. Maharashtrian women wear Veni (shaped liek a half moon and usually embellished with stones and pearls) as a separate gold ornament tucked into their hair buns. I learnt to make three kinds of flat venis using Tuberose, Orchid flower petals and gebra daisies (see above and below pictures). You can also make full round venis using real rose petals, jasmine buds or artificial flowers. Though the flat ones can be made only through knotting, the round ones can be made either through stringing, stitching or knotting depending on the flower used.
Floral Hair Accessories, tuberose veni
 orchid veni for weddings

I had tried to make it one before by myself following a Youtube tutorial by K Sripriya Kanigolla 
but I really couldnt get it right. Bhuvana taught me to do it in a slightly different way which was quite easy to follow. It was one of those “Ahah” moments when I realised the value of a personal, face to face masterclass compared to self learning. Still, here is the Youtube video so that you can get an idea of how the tuberose-daisy veni can be made.

How to wear veni?

Venis can be worn by both kids as well as adults with chest length hair (enough to make a ponytail). For long braids or big knots, artificial hair is added. Prior to wearing any flower hair accessories, hair must must combed, tied, knotted, plaited or secured as necessary. Hair oil or hair spray can be used to keep the hair in place. Accessories on the head are added either during this stage or in the process of combing depending on their placement.

Coming to the arrangement of the veni, it must be tied at the nape of the neck using the threads provided at the end of the flowers. The end cords can be tucked into the plait and hidden from view. Then the veni must be secured on the head using “U” pins or bobby pins at equal intervals or stiched on to the hair using needle and thread. Since venis are lightweight, upto three different ones can be worn on the hair at the same time but when wearing more than one, hair dressers recommend using the needle and thread method as too many pins on the hair can be uncomfortable. 

Here is a picture taken during a hair and makeup workshop I organised for my students in late 2015. You can see a student model posing in a simple yet traditional South Indian celebratory hairdo. She is wearing moon beam flower  round veni (sprayed gold) and Jada billai (tear drop embellishments) through the length of her braid apart from a Rakodi on her skull, tikka (netti chutti) at her forehead and kunjalam (tassel) at the end of her braid.  This is a very simple look meant for smaller functions or for bridesmaids. The bridal hairdo is much more elaborate.

This was not the end of my workshop as I learnt how to make floral nets too, come back in a couple of days to read the part two of this post. In the meanwhile do share your thoughts in the comments.
 I hope you found it interesting

 Cheers

Discover more from Sayuri

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

14 responses to “Floral Hair Accessories – a master class”

  1. Little Treasures avatar
    Little Treasures

    Love the looks of veni – the one you made is a floral masterpiece.

  2. Divya N avatar
    Divya N

    Thanks Maya, this was just the first attempt, the real test will come when I have to make one which passes my mom's quality standards, that too without a tutor's supervision 🙂

  3. bairozan avatar
    bairozan

    It is so cool to be able to use the natural beauty of flowers. Beautiful work, Divya! And good point about live learning, I agree!

  4. Michelle L. avatar
    Michelle L.

    That is a beautiful hair ornament, I wish I could wear it out to lunch but people would stare! Can't believe you are new at making them – look quite wonderful!

  5. Divya N avatar
    Divya N

    haaa, even here people would stare if we wear it casually. But why should we be bothered about others think? you can always start a new trend

  6. Cinnamon Jewellery avatar
    Cinnamon Jewellery

    They look lovely Divya! The colour of the tuberose and pinky-purple orchid petals look stunning together.

  7. Pearl Blay avatar
    Pearl Blay

    I always did want to know how those were made! The final result didn`t look simple – simply elegant. Enjoyed this post!

  8. Divya N avatar
    Divya N

    I am glad that you enjoyed reading it, Please check out the part 2 of the post too

  9. Divya N avatar
    Divya N

    I generally do better with self learning, but this time around I was glad that I had access to live learning

  10. Bhuvana's Creative World avatar
    Bhuvana’s Creative World

    Thank you Divya for your appreciations and mention

  11. Poornima avatar
    Poornima

    Hi Divya
    I would really love to join with you and learn this art work ..I am so obsessed with your work..i want to learn …please do let me know if there is any opportunity for me to learn it from you in person.

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar
      jewelsofsayuri

      Thank you for your compliments. I do not however, teach flower jewelry. You can learn Veni making from Bhuvana (link in the post) if interested

  12. Priya avatar
    Priya

    How can I make the flower veni stay in place for a long time

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar
      jewelsofsayuri

      Sewing it to your hair using needle and thread is a good option to keep it place without hurting your head with too may hairpins