How to Make Easy Fabric Flowers

Use polyester fabrics to make romantic flower accessories.

Fabric flowers are whimsical accessories that work with everything from flirty summer ensembles to casual, feminine work clothes. A fabric flower brooch can brighten up a tired outfit, and a fabric flower hair tie can give a plain ponytail romantic appeal. You don't have to scour the stores for fabric flower accessories. With a few supplies and an hour or two of effort, you can create one, or several, simple fabric flowers.

Things You'll Need

• Card stock
• Compass with pencil
• Scissors
• Polyester satin or chiffon
• Metal washers
• Dressmaker's chalk
• Lighter
• Candle
• Thread
• Sewing needle
• Felt
• Hot glue gun
• Bar pin or hair elastic
• Button or bauble

Instructions

1. Draw a circle that measures 4 inches in diameter onto a piece of card stock; use a compass to make it as accurate as possible. Draft several smaller circles on the card stock. Each subsequent circle should have a diameter 1/2 an inch smaller than the previous one.

2. Cut the circles from the card stock; you will use these cut-outs as your pattern templates.

3. Place a piece of polyester satin or chiffon on your work surface with the back side facing upward and smooth out any wrinkles and creases. Position the pattern templates on top of the fabric and hold them in place with small heavy objects, such as a stack of metal washers.

4. Trace around the templates with dressmaker's chalk, remove the templates from the fabric and cut the circles just to the inside of the outline.

5. Light a tea light or votive candle and burn the edges or center of each cut-out circle. Rotate the edge of each circle slowly over the flame to create an open flower with crinkly edges. The speed at which you turn your fabric will depend on how long it takes the edges to begin melting and how much you want the edges to melt; the more they melt, the crinklier the edges will become. Hold the center point of the circle over the flame to create a flower that puckers in the center. When burning the centers or edges of your circles, always hold the back side of the fabric toward the flame.

6. Layer the burned circles one on top of the other, with the largest at the bottom and the smallest at the top. Hand sew a few stitches through the center of the flower to hold the layers in place.

7. Cut a felt circle that's 1 inch smaller in diameter than the largest circle. Apply hot glue to the felt, outlining the edge of the circle and then spiraling inward until you get to the center, and then place the back side of your flower on top. Press down to secure it to the felt.

8. Add a small dot of hot glue to the middle of the flower's front and press a button or bauble onto the glue to create a decorative center. Hot glue a bar pin to the back of the flower to create a brooch, or adhere the back of the flower to a hair elastic to make a hair accessory.

Tips & Warnings

• Poly satin will yield a shiny flower, while poly chiffon will yield a delicate-looking flower with sheerer layers.

• You can use as many or as few circles as you'd like. Fewer circles will yield a single bloom flower with a more open center, while more circles will create a fuller, double bloom flower.

• If you want to create a smaller or larger flower, make the diameter of your biggest circle larger or smaller and adjust the smaller circles' diameters accordingly.

• Keep a glass of water nearby as you burn the fabric. If your flowers catch fire, quickly dunk them in the water to put out the flame.

References

• Burda Style: Burned Fabric Flowers: Learning Sewing
• 100 Layer Cake: guest Blogger Lanie from Lovely: DIY Burned Flowers

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish