OH THANK HEAVEN FOR BLOGLAND!!
I have been looking for a fabric flower tutorial for several weeks, and while participating in the
Tater Tots & Jello weekend-wrap-up party , I found it!
With this tutorial from THE BIRDS PAPAYA blog , it's going to be easier than I thought!
Whaaaa Hooooo!
Fabric flowers seem to be ALL the rage right now. So (of course) I just had to get "in" on the action. I have seen tons of tutorials all over blogland for different ways to make them, but I decided to go for one using a gathering stitch (say what now?). A gathering stitch is not as intimidating as it sounds. Don't have a sewing machine? ask your mom/grandma/aunt/friend to use hers.
Step-by-step:
(I'm not very good at the wordy instructions, should have taken MORE pictures, so comment me if you get lost)
-Get some fabric. I used plain white cotton, similar to bed sheet material.
-Cut it into long strips (the longer the strip the bigger the flower). My strips were about 24" long and 4" wide, once folded over it's only about 2" wide.
-Fold over (wrong sides together if you are using a print).
-Using the lowest stitch level for stitches per inch (my mom's machines lowest was a 6) run a straight stitch down the fabric strip, about 1/2" away from the bad "frayed" edge.
-Once you've finished the stitch (from end to end) grab the thread from he ends and begin pulling the thread to create a gather. It will look like this:
Once you've done that, you can begin rolling your flower. Start the one end by just gently folding down the top corner of the one end (creating your bud-like flower's center) and roll the fabric around until the end of the roll.
Once it's been completely rolled, put a few stitches through the bottom with a needle & thread to secure your flower!! My first go I had a bit of trial and error with the rolling of the flower, so just get it until you like it and then put the stitches in!
The back (it's ugly, I know, but you'll never see it once you sew or glue it onto something!
All 3 in a cluster (ooooh la la)
This was SUCH an easy project. I made three of them and the first was the hardest and the next two were a breeze.
I'm sew (pun intended) excited to use these around the house. I think these will be going on a project that is still in progress, but I may make more for pillow accents, or even lampshade accents.
The possibilities are endless...
I love the blogisphere, the idea's and creativity like this post from Sara, help inspire me, and that is why!
Thanks Sara!
