Flannel "Spiral" Fabric Flower

For Mother's Day this year I made a corsage for a friend...normally I buy one...this year I thought I'd try to make it a bit more "her"...I actually made three different ones...I just got on a roll, I guess. I plan to show how to make all three in different posts so you can reference them a bit more easily. These were made as corsages...you could use them as a lapel pin to dress up an outfit, put it in your hair, sew it onto a bag for something fun, dress up a child's t-shirt...the sky is the limit...it's SO easy you'll be able to make loads!

What supplies will you need?
Flannel fabric, though any fabric would work...mine was an old sheet I got for $.25 at a rummage sale.
Scissors
Ironing board and iron
Needle
Thread
Button to accent
Pin back so that you can easily remove it from something and put it somewhere else


First, measure a piece of fabric about 24" long and 1.5" wide...this is NOT an exact science...it depends on how wide you want your "petals" to be...just keep in mind that you'll have to fold it in half so don't make it too small to start with. You can either cut the piece or, as I did, just snip the beginning, then tear the rest to get a tattered looking edge.

Second, fold the piece in half the "long way"...iron it in place.

Third, using your needle and thread make a long running stitch along the folded side of the fabric, just in from the fold itself.




















Once its all stitched start to create your flower by pulling on the thread so that your strip of fabric starts to bunch up. Create the center of your flower first and then continue to wind the gathered fabric around the backing making sure to make a little stitches here and there as you to keep the fabric in place. Be sure to keep those stitches as close to the thread area as possible to keep things hidden.



















When your flower has either reached it desired size, or you run out of fabric, you can cut the end and stitch it into place.
Add a button to the center of the flower to cover your beginning stitches.
Finally, add the back pin. That night I didn't have any jewerly pins on hand I ended up using a safetypin...stitching it through the top loop and the bottom (spring) loop of the safetypin worked just fine and saved me having to run out and buy something for the project.













We'll see you soon for more ideas on fabric flower making.