Fabric Flowers

Continuing with my theme of putting precious fabric scraps to good use, I've decided to share my new found love of fabric flowers. They can be as simple or as detailed as you wish, and they always look great! I suggest using fabrics with mostly artificial fibers, especially nylon or polyester. Artificial fibers will melt; the melting eliminates fraying, and gives dimension and body to the petal, as it will subtly pucker.

For this red flower, I used scraps of moleskin fabric. Duchess Satin works really great as well. I cut the graduated petal shapes, along with a small and large circle for the top and the bottom. Burn the edges first, and then stack from largest to smallest, sewing through the center with needle and thread. I like to baste stitch the larger circle on the bottom for added stability. You can then attach a pin or hair clip to the back. You can also use decorative buttons for the top center. These flowers make great accessories and decorations!For this yellow flower, I used this Swish Nylon Fabric. Claudine Hellmuth's Multi-Medium Gloss is great for fabric flowers- it can add a glossy finish, or in this case, allowed me to glue two petals together with a floral wire in the center (floral wire and floral tape available at your local craft store). Depending on how large you wish your flower to be, the weight of the fabric petals might cause your flower to lack the desired structure, so adding wire is a great option! For the center of this flower, I felted some olive and chocolate wool roving. Using floral tape, attach your center to a floral stem and add each petal till you have a beautiful, blooming flower!



These fabric flowers are quick and fun to make and the possibilities are endless! I enjoy finding fun ways to use scraps, and this is definitely my favorite. Just in case you don't have any fabric scraps (gasp!) check out the Florentina Flower Brooches; fabric flowers for everyone!