Tutorial Tuesday- Ruffled Fabric Flower

A welcoming to spring with this ruffly little flower!  I created these flowers just playing around with extra strips of fabric & was so thrilled with the results I attached a few to some of my new bags and thought I'd share the instructions with you. They'd be lovely on pillows, dressing up a tired shirt, a little girl's dress, hair clips and maybe a brooch for mum's day?  


They are quick & fairly easy to make...just require a bit of nimble needlework. The beauty is that they sort of come together on their own, you just need to be ready with a needle & thread. Plus, you can vary the widths & lengths to create different sized flowers. 

materials: 

strip of fabric: 1" x 44"

scrap of felt or other fabric for backing

needle & thread

sewing machine

optional: pin backs, hair clips, etc.

Step 1: Fold fabric strip in half. Press with hot iron (the better the pressing, the easier the flower!) 

Step 2:  Stitch along the raw edge of your folded fabric strip. Get as close as you can to edge (this will create less bulk and more ruffle for your flower). NOTE: to create the ruffle, gently pull your top thread with a slight, even resistance - this will 'magically' create a ruffle.  I hold mine at the top of my machine right near the bobbin.  Tighter you hold, tighter the ruffle- tighter the ruffle more 'bunched' the flower....so you can really play around with this technique for different looks. 

Step 3: Your fabric strip will look something like this. Kind of bunched up and twisty. (of course, depends on how tight of a ruffle you made). Trim threads.  

Step 4:  At one end, start to 'untwist' the curls.This end will be the center & you will wrap the ruffled strip around. Notice how it sort of does this on it's own. 

Step 5: This is where the nimble fingers come in. Once you've made a few wraps around the center, grab your needle and thread, with one end knotted start stitching the layers. Basically, start at the inside and with a slip stitch at the very edge, catch a two or three layers.  I have not discovered a clear method for this, but rather, I just make a couple stitches each time around. Wrap a bit more. Sew a few more stitches. 

you can see it a bit more here

Step 6: Your stitches should not be noticeable from the front and your flower will begin to really take shape. Keep winding & stitching until you reach the end of your strip or the desired size of your flower. Tuck end under & stitch in place. Keep thread & needle out to finish the back.

Step 7: Place scrap fabric or felt on back, cover the mess. You may want to add a drop of glue if that seems easier. Be sure you trim your circle so it's not seen from the front. Again, with a slip stitch, sew around the scrap edge attaching it to just the base of the flower. This sort of pulls it all in as well. 

Step 8: Presto! There you have it...a frilly, ruffly, neat little flower. Now just attach to anything you find that needs a little pizazz. A note of warning though- it's hard to stop ;)

Please let me know if you have ANY questions, need clarification, or find an error. I'm happy to help. And if you make one for yourself, do share- I'd love to see!

ps. check out my tutorial page for more projects