Fabric Flowers Flourish

Oh how I love it when a great friend has a great idea! Jocelyn had seen these beauties around boutiques, blogs, and (insert catchy 'b' word here). Well, her great idea was that we should whip some up. My first attempt was better suited as a hat in the New York Easter Bonnet Parade... but after I restrained my natural instinct that bigger is better and saw Jocelyn's gorgeous creation, I came up with these:



Want to whip one or six up for yourself? You need some fat quarters. I got a package of 6 from JoAnns. And you'll need some other layers like burlap and tulle (about a quarter yard of each) along with some snazzy buttons. Simply fold your fat quarter in half, wrong sides together, down the length (so you have a long rectangle) and cut a strip. For the largest layer the strip only needs to be about 1 inch or so. With a needle and thread sew a running stitch down the length of the two layers of fabric near the bottom. No need to be fussy with stitch length or anything like that. Pull the thread so that you have a tight ruffle and attach the two edges together with a couple of stitches. Repeat with other fabrics, cutting each row smaller than the last. With the really tiny middle layer you won't need the whole length of the fat quarter. Just bunch it up as you go and stop when it is long enough to make a circle. Then cut a circle of burlap to size, depending on which layer you want it to be. Same goes for the tulle. Stack them all up. Put a couple of stitches in the middlish area to hold them together, find a cute button for the middle and sew it on and voila!

Now to decide their final destiny.