Wednesday, March 2, 2011

No-Sew Fabric Flowers Week (#3) - Petals and Layers Flower

OK, so this one requires a little tiny incy wincy bit of hand sewing! 
But you can do it, I know you can! ;)

What you need:
  • Fabric scraps in two coordinating prints
  • One button
  • Hot Glue gun
  • Scissors
  • Needle and thread
  • Optional: Brooch back
What to do:

Cut some petal shapes out of one of your fabrics. 
I'm lazy, so to do this quickly I fold my fabric like you would a paper fan, then fold the ends together (see the first photo). Then I trim the end into a curve and trim the long edges off so each petal is separate.




Next I cut each of the oval shapes in half.

Put a dab of glue in the middle of the flat end of the petal fabric, then press the edges together until the glue holds. This makes a petal shape :) Make lots of these!


Optional - I like to thread the petal shapes together because I find it easier to arrange them when I glue them down. You can just glue them straight down if you want :)

If you want to sew them, thread all of your petals (I used 10) onto a length of cotton thread, then sew the end back through the first petal to make a circle. Knot it off and trim the excess thread.


Because I threaded them together, I glued the centre button on now. If you glue you petals directly onto the main flower, you'll have to wait to glue your button down ;)


OK, let's make the main flower!

Take a long, thick strip of your other fabric then fold it in half.

Stitch a running stitch along the open end of the folded fabric. I used a contrasting thread to show what I'm doing, but you should use one that doesn't show up very much on you fabric (e.g. I should use black here).


Pull the running stitch so that the fabric strip is pulled into a circle, sort of like a yo-yo. Stitch through both ends of the fabric strip to hold them together, knot and trim any excess thread.


Now is when I glued the first part of the flower onto this main piece.
If you didn't stitch the petals together, now is when you'd glue them and the button on.

Slide the scissors inside the "yo-yo" and cut the two layers apart.


Take a few thin strips of the same fabric as you used for your petals. I only ended up needing two of these.


Run some glue in between the two layers of "yo-yo" and press your fabric strips inside, scrunching them up a little as you go to give them some texture.


Optional: Adding a brooch back

If you'd like to add a brooch back, run some glue around the middle back of your flower.


Press a rectangle of the same fabric onto the glued area.
Run some glue down the back of your brooch back and press it onto the fabric rectangle.


Get a second smaller rectangle of the same fabric and glue it to the inside of the brooch, like so:


Now you're done! Congratulations on your petalled and layered fabric flower!
Not completely no-sew, but it doesn't need too much ;)





Tuesday, March 1, 2011

No, you're not imagining it...

... and yes, you are in the right place!

I've updated the look of the blog again (already?!) I loved the Shabby Blogs header image, but really needed a banner that was unique to me. So, I hope you like it! Updated the background to match :)

On a side note, it's this dude's 10th birthday tomorrow!
Happy "Double Figures Day" Benny!

Allan's cooking him a cake and I'm sewing him a new toy, but shh! Don't spoil the surprise!


No-Sew Fabric Flowers Week (#2) - Simple Layered Flower

I hope you enjoyed yesterday's no-sew flower! Today I'll share with you a simple layered flower. I'll apologise in advance - I forgot photos for a couple of steps! Let me know if anything is unclear!

You will need:
  • Scrap fabric
  • Scrap lace ribbon
  • Coordinating fabric covered button
  • Hot glue gun


First, cut a circle of your scrap fabric. You could trace a lid or something, I'm a slacker so I cut a square, fold the square into half and then half again, and cut a curved edge.


If the corners are a bit pointy or uneven when you open it up, just trim them until it looks nice and round.

Put a small dab of hot glue in the centre of your circle, then quickly hold the circle in quarters (I'm bad at explaining this step - see the photo below!) and pinch the centre so the glue holds.


This gives the circle a bit of volume and shape.

Put another dab of glue in the top centre of your fabric circle and add your ribbon. Add it by holding your ribbon strip in a loop, and pressing it down into the glue. Press the ribbon in place until the glue dries enough to hold it.


Add another dab of glue to the centre of the lace and press your fabric covered button in place.
(I love fabric covered buttons!)


Optional: Turn your flower into a brooch!

To do this you will need a coordinating felt (or fabric) circle and small rectangle, and a brooch back.


Run glue around the edge of your felt circle and press it onto the back of your flower until the glue holds it in place. Run glue down the back of the brooch and press it to the centre of the felt circle. Pop some glue on the back of the small felt rectangle and press it onto the brooch back. 

It should now look like the picture below:


Ta-da! You're done! 
Now you have a beautiful layered no-sew fabric flower!




Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...