More Fancy Flowers

Since it seems you enjoyed the silk flowers tutorial, I thought I'd share with you two other flower making methods that are much easier but are still very cute.  I really love making flowers because they're so diverse.  You can put them on a clip or headband and wear them in your hair,  you can pin them to your jacket or purse and look fabulous and you can even sew them on garments for a little extra pizazz!

For these flowers you will need:
-1/8 yard polyester satin (it must be polyester)
-1/8 yard polyester organza (it must be polyester)
-felt
-a candle
-needle and thread
-buttons or other decorative element for centers of flowers
-hair clips, headbands, or pins

The first flower is made by stacking graduated circles on top of one another.  I started with a circle that was roughly 3 1/2" and I cut one circle out of the satin and one circle out of the organza.  I did this for each size.  I started with the largest and cut to the smallest size.  There are 9 layers of circle sizes which means that there are 18 circles, half satin and half organza. There is no need to make these perfect circles because the next step will change their shape.

I then very carefully sealed the raw edges on each circle all the way around.  I did this by very carefully placing the edge of the circle near the flame of the candle.  Make sure not to get the material in the flame, or it will catch on FIRE.  Since the circles are made of polyester this method of finishing melts or seals the edges.  It also turns the edges up slightly creating a nice cupped effect and gives the flowers a more natural edge.  If your circle is too close to the flame, it will turn your fabric black.  You may want to try a couple of practice pieces before you start your flower.

The sealed circles stacked on top of each other.  Notice how the edges are slightly curled.  That's why it doesn't matter if you have perfect circles, they are going to change shape during the sealing stage anyway.

Then sew the flower together by stitching through all the layers in the center.  I sewed several stitches through the center of the flower to make sure it was secure because a 22-month old tornado named Heidi Sage is going to be wearing this:)

Then I added a decorative element to the center to finish it off and give it a little glitz.  Someone gave me a bunch of old rhinestone buttons and jewelry pieces this week so I thought I'd put them to good use.  Once you've gotten here you're almost finished.  All you have to do now is attach your flower to a hairclip, headband or pin.

The next flower also uses the same materials.  You will need the same polyester satin and polyester organza plus a circle of felt.  I couldn't find an exact match on felt so I got the closest one I could find.  I started by cutting a circle of felt to build my flower on.  Then I cut 12 circles from satin and 8 circles from organza.  These do not have to be perfect circles just roughly circles.  Depending on how large you want your flower to be you may need more or less circles.

I then very carefully sealed the raw edges on each circle all the way around.  I did this by very carefully placing the edge of the circle near the flame of the candle.  Make sure not to get the material in the flame, or it will catch on FIRE.  Since the circles are made of polyester this method of finishing melts or seals the edges.  It also turns the edges up slightly creating a nice cupped effect and gives the flowers a more natural edge.  If your circle is too close to the flame, it will turn your fabric black.  You may want to try a couple of practice pieces before you start your flower.

After the circles are sealed, you're ready to start constructing your flower.  Each circle is a petal on your flower.  You want to take each petal and pinch a small pleat in it.  This gives the petal some dimensionality.

Then sew the petal with the pleat to the edge of the felt.  Start on the outside and work toward the center of the felt circle.

You will sew the petals on one by one making sure to overlap each petal with the previous petal.

The first row sewn on.  I used 7 petals but you could use more or less depending on preferred scale and fullness.

I then began sewing on the organza petals.  I sewed them just inside the row of satin petals.  I made sure to pleat each petal and sew it in place and to overlap each petal with the previous petal.

The organza row completed.  I used six petals for this row.

I then sewed another row of satin flowers to the inside.  I used five petals for this row.

I then took my last two organza circles and sewed them together through the center.

I sewed in two directions on the center to give it a little fluff.

The "fluff"

I then sewed this to the center of the flower.

Then for extra decoration I added a rhinestone button.  Now all you need to do is add your hairclip, headband, or pin, and you're finished.  Easy as that!

Winter gardening,


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