Three Shabby Chic Fabric Flowers To Make

I had a little fabric flower obsession this weekend and looked at tons of tutorials and got out my fabric scraps.  Flower accessories are essential for baby girls, but I also like how they look clipped into a messy bun or adorning a pillow or beautifully wrapped gift.  I prefer the soft, loose, frayed, antique-looking kind of flowers. Here are three shabby chic flowers and how to make them.

Flower #1 The Pansy

I made this one for a collage. I used satin and frayed the edges and stitched a couple Swarovski beads in the center. I kind of made it up on my own, based on something I saw on Pinterest. All I could remember from the pin was half circle and running stitch but I gathered the wrong edge and got a totally different flower. I'm glad because the flower in the pin is more structured and "perfect" than I like. Here is the pin (basically a photo tutorial), and then I will show you how I made mine. 

So I started with some half circles, or you just fold a circle in half if you want it fluffier. With a needle and thread do a plain ol' running stitch across the straight edge, and pull the threads to gather into a petal. Tie off. Repeat five more times (make 3 large and 3 small, or however many you like). Arrange the petals and use the needle and thread to secure. Add some embellishment to the center like crystal or pearl beads or a button, etc.  Rough up the edges to fray. 

One more time, the finished flower...

Here's one I made with circles folded in half:

Flower #2  The Peony

I love love LOVE these giant peony looking blooms!  They are from this tutorial by Little Birdie Secrets.  And they are SOOO easy to make!  Here's mine:

Use polyester circles (or ovals or wavy flower shaped pieces) and run a lighter very close to the edges around the perimeter. The edges will melt and shrink up to give you cup shaped petals (that's why it must be polyester fabric).  The tutorials I saw used a candle flame but that singed my fabric but the lighter didn't, see photo, the one on the left is singed and discolored and the one on the right is bright white:

Then layer the petals as you like. Little Birdie suggests just 3-4 petals but I really liked how it looked when I stacked 15-20 together.. Add an embellishment to the center.  Here's mine without any bling in the center.  Try using light sheers and thicker satins to see what kind of effect you get!  In this photo, the left is pink satin and the right is a sheer fabric:

 

Here is the one that has several layers:

Flower #3 The Rosette

Please ignore my unkempt living room in the background.  Nothing to see here...

There are many tutorials out there but some are too twisty for my taste, because it's too obvious that it is just rolled in a spiral. I like my rosettes a little looser with some frayed edges peeking out.  Since roses are kind of a fussy flower, I especially like to make these in bulky, natural fibers like linen or burlap or tweed.

Just take a long strip of fabric around 1-2" wide is good, and at least a foot long, the longer the better. Fold length wise.  Roll one of the ends in about an inch, this is the center. Then hold the center in your left hand and with your right hand flip the strip over so its reversed (even though there's no right/wrong side).  Let some fabric out and start to wrap it around the center a little. Fold the strip over again, and let out more fabric and keep easing around in a spiral.  I like to manipulate the fabric so it opens up and lays flat an doesn't just roll into a cylindrical bud, but it's up to you.  Some people glue it down as you go onto a felt circle or some kind of backing, or you can use a needle and thread to catch all the layers and tie down afterwards.  This is definitely the kind of thing you have to just play with and figure out.  Check out the tutorial at Cherry Street Cottage, she does a great job explaining :)  And here's an example of her beautiful rosettes:

There are SO many other kinds of flowers to make, I pinned lots of tutorials if you want to follow me on Pinterest.

UPDATE!   Here's another flower from Watch Me Daddy that I especially liked, via Pinterest.  I especially like the way she sews a little fold in the bottom of the blossom to give it some shape...  Hers are felt but you can do this with other materials.

I'd love your comments with tips and advice on making these little guys if you have anything to share!