31 Crafty Flowers Day Five- Fabric Flowers

Sakes Alive! It's day five! 

(okay, these are getting corny, I admit, but I wanted to see if I could keep coming up with them- heh-heh)

Even if you think you can't sew, these fabric flowers are super-duper easy!  You just have to try one! 

If you don't have any fabric lying around you could use an old sheet, clothes that the kids have outgrown, little baby things that you love (imagine giving grandma a flower brooch made from pieces of fabric from all her grandkids favorite clothes!), dishcloths that have outlived their usefulness and anything else made from fabric.

Here's what you need to get started:

Fabric
Buttons
Needle & Thread
Circle Template (I used a juice glass)
Fabric Marking Pencil (a regular pencil would probably do the job)
Scissors

Step One

First choose the fabric you'll use for the petals.  I love how different patterns & colors looked mix-matched, but you could use all the same fabric.

Next trace the circle template onto your fabric. 

The larger the circle you use, the large your petals and flower will be.

Step Two

Cut out your circles.

Step Three

Once you've cut your circles, iron, iron, iron! (remember how I feel about ironing?)

Believe me this really effects the look of your project. 

And the fabric is so much easier to work with when crisply ironed. :)

HINT:

Don't "drag" your iron across the fabric, but actually just press and lift, press and lift.  Dragging will cause your fabric to stretch and be misshapen.

See?   So much prettier!

Step Four

Now you'll fold your circle in half and then in half again, *pressing* after each fold.

Step Ten

Once you have all your petals folded and pressed, it's time to stitch!

Start at the bottom corner of the curved side and make long gather stitches across the curve to the other side.

(Normally you would use matching thread, but in this case I used a contrasting thread so you could see a little better.)

Step Five

Now gently pull the the thread to gather your petal.

Step Six

Once your petal is gathered begin the gathering stitches on the next petal without cutting the thread so the petals are connected.

Continue stitching, gathering and connecting until all your petals are complete.

Step Seven

Now that you're finished gathering all your petals you'll need to close the gap by stitching the last petal to the first.

Step Eight

Next choose a button for the center of your flower. 

I went with this vintage button from an old garage sale shirt.

(yes, sometimes I buy clothes at garage sales just for the buttons and tags!)

Hot glue your button to the center of you flower and your flower is complete!

You can attach a pin back for a lovely brooch, add it to a barrette for a little girl, use it on a card, a scrapbook page, a t-shirt, a tote bag, a journal cover.

I think a garland of these strung in a little girl's room would be lovely too!

So that wraps up the first week of  31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days! 

I hope you are having as much fun as I am with this! 

Please send me links & photos if you're participating!

If I get enough I might even start a little gallery here for *your* flowers!

Have a fantastic weekend!

♥ Melissa~
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"Just as parents are kind to their children, the LORD is kind to all who worship Him, because He knows we are made of dust. We humans are like grass or wild flowers..."
-Psalm 103:13-15

Comments

[Rose R]

Ok Melissa! I do believe you have really out done yourself on this one! Of course, I haven't read the older entries, so I'm sure I'm wrong... but WOW!

Your talent amazes me!!! You are true inspiration!!!

Thank you for sharing!

May the Lord continue to bless your hands! =D

*Hugs*

[Crystal]

Love, love, love this one. I will be embellishing all of my purses with these now. How cute!!

[stacey]

one day, i want to make quilts out of the kids clothes. what a wonderful thing to do the with scraps...then maybe give each grandparent/mother a flower!

[Sandra Smart]

this is really cute, thanks for sharing the directions!

[Cathy]

Oh - these are VERY cute, Melissa... I'll be making some for sure!

Love what you've come up with!

[SmilynStef]

So very fun ... love the combination of fabrics ... thanks for the great instructions.

[oh amanda]

Oh. I think I can even do this. I love it!

[Deborah]

These are GREAT! So CUTE! Makes me want to stitch up a bouquet for myself! Yikes! I am up to my elbows in projects that need finishing. I need to make a list and get organized. This one should be at the TOP! Thank you for sharing!

[Jennifer]

Aah! I love love this! And I can't sew but I'm now addicted to fabric! I did one little flower, and now I'm going to make them into napkin rings for the summer, and I'm going to make a wreath for my front door! The ideas are coming to me too fast to write down! I love it!

I put a little picture on my blog of the first one I tried, but I'll put more pictures up when I make the napkin rings and wreaths!

Thank you so much for this! It's wonderful and it's sparking my creativity!!

[Lisa - TheScrapPrincess]

Love this one too!
Your talent really is inspiring and I am so thrilled that there are 31 days of these awesome ideas!
Great pics - most tutorials don't give as much detail as you do!

[Alicia G.]

I LOVA, LOVA, LOVE This!

[Pam]

I LOVE your site. My daughter found it and said, MOM - she is local and does cool stuff that you could show the home school kiddos that you teach. She is correct, and I just adore your site!!!!!!! Do you do local shows?? I would love to come see you at one!!!!! email me personally if you do anything local to Garland, TX area

[Ragtree]

I wandered upon this tutorial and was so impressed! The flowers are so beautiful and it seems like it isn't TOO difficult but I know that anyone that is really good at what they do makes their work SEEM simple. Just lovely :)