Method of and means for forming floral puffs

Means for forming a puff for a floral arrangement from a flat sheet of relatively thin flexible fine mesh fabric gathered transversely at its medial portion into fluffy butterfly shape and adapted to be secured by a flexible wire of relatively small gauge looped around the gathered medial portion of the sheet and then twisted upon itself comprising

• means for frictionally confining a flat sheet of thin flexible fine mesh fabric against a flat surface with at least a transverse medial portion thereof exposed so as to permit gathering of the flat sheet at its exposed transverse medial portion by moving opposed margins of said exposed transverse medial sheet portion together,
• the gathered sheet being removable from the confining means to facilitate the looping of a portion of a flexible wire around its gathered transverse medial portion,
• an elongate member slidably mounted for axial reciprocation,
• means for imparting rotation to the elongate slidably mounted member upon relative reciprocation thereof,
• means for maintaining said member in an inward retracted position and biasing said member against outward reciprocation, and
• means at the outer end of said member for detachable connection with said transversely gathered medial sheet portion and the portion of the wire looped therearound, whereby said looped wire portion is twisted upon itself to fasten said wire to said gathered sheet by rotation with said member when the latter is reciprocated outwardly by gripping and pulling said looped wire connected thereto outwardly,
• the detachable connecting means including a flexible hook having sufficient resiliency to permit disconnection of said fastened wire and gathered sheet from the hook means upon continued outward pulling of said wire and sheet after termination of the outward reciprocation of said member.

Means for forming a puff for a floral arrangement from a flat sheet of relatively thin flexible fine mesh fabric gathered transversely at its medial portion into fluffy butterfly shape and adapted to be secured by a flexible wire of relatively small gauge looped around the gathered medial portion of the sheet and then twisted upon itself comprising

• means for frictionally confining a flat sheet of thin flexible fine mesh fabric against a flat surface with at least a transverse medial portion thereof exposed so as to permit gathering of the flat sheet at its exposed transverse medial portion by moving opposed margins of said exposed transverse medial sheet portion together,
• the gathered sheet being removable from the confining means to facilitate the looping of a portion of a flexible wire around its gathered transverse medial portion,
• an elongate member slidably mounted for axial reciprocation,
• means for imparting rotation to the elongate slidably mounted member upon relative reciprocation thereof,
• means for maintaining said member in an inward retracted position and biasing said member against outward reciprocation, and
• means at the outer end of said member for detachable connection with said transversely gathered medial sheet portion and the portion of the wire looped therearound, whereby said looped wire portion is twisted upon itself to fasten said wire to said gathered sheet by rotation with said member when the latter is reciprocated outwardly by gripping and pulling said looped wire connected thereto outwardly,
• said confining means including a clamp pivotally attached to the aforesaid surface for swinging movement into and out of engagement therewith and having a pair of spaced coextensive elements for exposing therebetween at least a transverse medial portion of said gathered sheet when engaged with said surface.