Just Another Hang Up: A Freebie Fabric Flower Pattern...

Monday, March 08, 2010

A Freebie Fabric Flower Pattern...

I flew home today after spending ten fun-filled days visiting my mother, sister and son in California. The hills in northern California are kelly green this time of year. It's easy to get into the St. Patrick's Day spirit when you're surrounded by emerald summits. The view to the left is from my mother's patio in her back yard. I'm certain heaven has hills like that.

While in California my mother, sister and I did a little shopping. That may be an understatement. My mom, Mary, will be 87 years old next month, and believe me when I say she is a force of nature. The energy of a hurricane pales in comparison. If they ever name a hurricane "Mary", I have one word of advice. Evacuate. I have to take multi-vitamins when I'm with her just to keep up. Anyway, we did a little shopping. I'll have to show you some of the things I purchased later this week, but first I must show you this adorable clutch...

It's no bigger than a minute and fits right inside the palm of your hand, and although I was tempted to buy it, for some unexplained reason I held off and passed it by. (I'm still kicking myself for that one.) I did, however, take a minute to snap a photo of it so I could lovingly gaze at it occasionally. I found this beauty at White House Black Market. There are five different flowers on the outside of that adorable ebony clutch. Here's a photo of more beautiful flower pins and hair accessories I found in that shop...

I considered buying a couple of these beauties, but my conscience always gets the better of me when I have an inkling that I could make it for so much less than buying it. I went home wanting to try my hand at making another version of the fabric flowers I've been making for pillows and wristlets.

In my previous attempts with fabric flowers I've made a simple flowery fabric version that has graduated rounds that are singed on the edges with a candle. This melts the edge and turns it up to form curved "petals." I love this stunningly simple version.

Still, after seeing several beautiful flowery pins on our shopping spree, I wanted to try my hand at a more complicated version of the above flower with a few more layers and a more elaborate petal. This is what I came up with...

Instead of making graduated sizes of rounds, I made a pattern in graduating sizes...

I used two different synthetic fabrics to give the flower more depth -- one that was heavier with a satiny sheen and the other a gauzy, sparkly, chiffon concoction! And instead of cutting just one piece of fabric for each "petal" round, I cut two from the heavier fabric and two of the gauzy from each pattern piece. This gave the flower a more full, lush feel. It reminds me of the many camellias I saw while I was in California...

I still singed the edges of this flower by holding the fabric edges to a candle flame so they would melt, curve up, and not fray. I also made sure that I rotated the petals so they weren't all pointed in the same direction. This flower is about 4 1/2" across and is perfect to use as a pin or in your hair. So pretty...

This silvery color looks stunning on black...

This pattern can be found in my Etsy shop
for the reasonable price of $5!

By the way, those fabric flowers that I found in the store were $30 each. I would venture to guess that the silvery flowers I made were less than $2 each. Quite a savings.

Have a great day!