Packing Flowers

Today I'm heading over to the NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City for a live interview & some crafty kibitzing on KSL's Studio 5 with hosts, Brooke & Darin. We're making fast, fabulous, fabric flowers. Fashionable too -- and friendly.

The spicy flower above turned out perfectly for the red & olive reverse of my red Marlo Bloom bag (shown on the cover of the Marlo Bloom sewing pattern). It takes my handbag right into Fall, all wooly & frayed, with felted houndstooth leaves and raw silk at the center.

I also played around with some of my favorite vintage buttons & millinery supplies, such as these green ceramic flower stamen. On the show, we're making medium-sized flowers, but as I couldn't stick to one size for the samples, I'm listing measurements for the large purse flower and the small, blue headband flower as well. Of course, make whatever size flower you wish & stitch it where you like.

I say everywhere.

Pop Garden Scrap Flower Tutorial

Medium Flower

1.  Tear a strip of printed cotton fabric 3" high by 20" wide. Pop Garden works.

2.  With wrong sides together, fold fabric strip in half, as shown. Stitch long, gathering stitch along matched torn edges, through both layers. (For a torn-edge flower, stitch along folded edge, through both layers.)

3.  Gently pull stitches as you sew, to gather fabric into a circle. Fasten fabric circle at center with a couple of stitches. Secure & trim thread.

4.  Of felt, cut three tiered circles -- 2" wide, 1.75" wide, and 1.5" wide. Notch edges of large & small circles. Remove all 'hanging chads' of felt -- we'll have none of that. Stack felt circles as shown.

5.  Onto gathered fabric flower, layer stacked felt circles and a decorative button or brooch. Stitch layers together at center several times through button to secure. Conceal gathered edges at back of flower by whip-stitching a circle of scrap felt to the back of the flower. Then, attach a sew-on pin-back, hair clip, ponytail elastic, TT headband, bobbypin or barrette. And that's it. Easy-peasy.

For your reference, the following chart shows the measurements used for the other flowers featured in the photos above. The large flower is made by stacking a folded piece of silk on top of the folded cotton print with folds aligned. Gathering stitches are sewn through all layers, near the fold. And the large flower spirals into several layers, unlike the other two shown.

I'm looking forward to meeting many of you at Friday's Start-up Princess event. If you're interested in last-minute registration, I've got a present for you -- use code STUDIO5 for $10 off the registration fee. Or tune in to the show today, as two viewers will receive free tickets on air, valued at $99 each.

Also, there is an all-new category at The Heather Bailey Store. See if you can spot it. I'm eager to post more, but need to rush off to the station. Let's just say the new category ties in perfectly with this tutorial and with more projects to come. I'll spill the beans in my next post.

Comments

[hoganfe handmade handbag originals]

Super fun - thanks for the tutorial! I posted in my blog:

http://hoganfe.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/super-fun-tutorials-heather-baileys-blog/

Mary
hoganfe handmade
handbag originals

[Nina]

Hmm so yummy! Love the felt, those colours are too beautiful to choose between them!! Will have to think thoroughly before picking some :) Where did you get the houndstooth felt?

[Kathryn]

Good luck on your interview, and awesome flowers...I love them. I also am loving the new product in your store, just awesome. I can't wait for some $$ so I can order, order, order!! Your creativity is so very inspiring!

[brandy]

Wow, have fun!! Those flowers are so fun and cute! My girls would have a ball making them!

[Karin]

Oh, wow! Thank you for sharing this tutorial. I love big, bright fabric flowers and these are beautiful. I'll be making a bunch of these for sure. :)

[Jody]

LOVELY!!!! Thanks so much for sharing a tutorial. Houndstooth felt???? It doesn't get any better than that!!!

[Stacey]

Love the felt! Got me thinking about applique :)

[Char]

My DVR is set...OK, truth is my sister made me set it for her appearance in the fashion segment, but I'll be watching!

[Diana]

H,

I spotted it right away - Designer Felt! How very cool!

Thanks so much for the fun tutorial. My DD started first grade today and I needed something to keep my mind busy from missing her too much. I may try my hand at these lovely ditties this very morning.

[Cassie @ You Go Girl!]

You rock! I'm going to go click some felt in my basket right now. My mind is on overdrive thinking about the way I'm going to use it...doodle stitching, birdie ornaments, apples. Yay!! Thanks Heather.

[Sivje Parish]

Heather, these are beautiful and fun. Thank you for the tute!

[lindsey walker]

AH! Heather I am in love with you blog and your beautiful fabric! I just saw you on Studio 5, I will be ordering your fabric today for my business franco&leks!

lindsey walker
francoandleks.etsy.com

[Kathy]

Hi Heather! Thanks for the tutorial! I'm confused on step 2 -- should this say "wrong" sides together? I haven't made one yet, but am trying to visualize the steps.

Can't wait to snap up some of your new felt! Thanks for making this available!

Kathy

[Heather Bailey]

You've got it, Kathy. It's wrong-sides-together in Step 2.

[Tiffany]

Thanks for the tutorial. Flowers seem to be the thing going around and I absolutely love it! So simple and cute.

[Jen T]

These are so fun! Thanks for inspiring!

[Handmade by Hypatia]

Wow, this is so lovely! And thanks so much for the tutorial.

[andrea]

Thanks for the tutorial-I'm actually in the process of making some fabric flowers too-Your colors are great.
I have a question that has nothing to do with this post...Did you ever make a pattern for the book bags you had on the cover of Mary Engelbreit magazine last year? Just wondering :)

[Debbie]

Your flowers are adorable. Thank you. They make me happy...

[Lindsay Bateman]

AWESOME post....thank you thank you thank you for sharing. :)

[Jessica Flores]

Heather, you never cease to amaze me with keeping all of your projects so fresh and new! I can't wait to try this version of the flower brooch. I've made lots of the others you had on the blog a while back, but I love the gathered look in these and the beautiful vintage pins (making mental note for my next flea market trip). I just ordered a set of bijou fabrics from Etsy, which will be perfect for this project. Thank you!!

[annie valentine]

You did great on the Studio 5 show the other day, I'm so glad I found your website. Seriously, you've got some crazy talent.

[Amy]

Hi Heather! I loved hearing you at Touchpoint! (you were my fave) You are so beautiful and inspiring, and I love how "real" you are. Thanks for being willing to share!

I told you this already, but I really appreciated your "ah ha" moments you shared. It is nice to know that I am not the only one that goes through that.

I hope you've had a nice visit to Utah!

[Martha]

Love these flowers....I've been making a bunch using yo-yos...but these are flatter!

[Rose]

These flowers are truly creative and your comment that they fit 'everywhere' made me smile!!

I can relate to your sentiment...

A while ago I started making paper flowers for my child's school theater. But they did not only go to the school play... we haven't stop producing flowers and .... now they are EVERYWHERE, and in every shape and form!!

Made with recycled papers, newsprint, colored paper, crepe paper, cardboard, and embellished with 'you name what'....

A free tutorial on 'How to make basic tissue paper flowers' is on my site.

Rose
http://www.Twitter.com/Freecraft

[April~Living The Sweet Life]

I watched Studio 5 and had no idea how easy peasy these flowers are to make. I will be making them by the dozen now. I feel lots of Christmas presents topped with these flowers happening this year. Soo sad to miss you at Startup Princess Touchpoint. I heard you did a wonderful presentation. Maybe next time you are in town we can go to lunch.
xo April

[Katherine]

I'm excited to try these!

[Megan]

These are beautiful! Thank you for sharing!

[Kirsten Goff]

Just wanted to thank you for being so gracious at the meet and greet at Material Girls on Saturday! My girls are having fun with their fancy new trash ties do's and I am still blown away to have gotten a peek at your sketch book--thank you for sharing!! I'm so anxious to see your new patterns...

[AmberLee]

just found your blog and shop and learned about trash ties all in one day, what a treat for me! these flowers are beautiful.

[Dusti]

Thank you for the great tutorial Heather!

[Sarah]

You're amazing:) Thanks so much!!!

[Amy]

I'm currently writing a blog post about making different fabric flowers and I'd love to feature these. Do you mind if I use one of your pictures? I'll credit you and give links to your blog! I just love your blog and I buy your fabrics all the time ;)

[Jenny]

thanks for the great tutorial. These are so cute.

[Heather]

Love these! Could you further explain the large flower directions? I'm having trouble understanding this, "...stacking a folded piece of silk on top of the folded cotton print with folds aligned. Gathering stitches are sewn through all layers, near the fold." Thanks

[Jaime]

Love these! I have made the flower part before but never thought to add felt....adorable! I made one last night and posted in on my blog, thanks!
http://sewshesews.wordpress.com

[Alex]

wow! love them...i'm going to have to whip a few up!! thanks :) also love the felt, beautiful colors!

[Lynn]

Interesting color combos! I have to say, this post reminds me of what Lizzy House has been getting into this summer. You would probably love her things:

http://lizzyhouse.typepad.com/lizzyhouse/2009/07/fireworks-.html

[Alana]

So pretty! Can't wait to try this :)

[hifa]

oohh..what an adorable flowers!
great colors.
thanks for delivering this to us!

[Kari @ Ucreate]

What an amazing tutorial!?! The possibilities are endless with these beautiful flowers!!

[RobbieLee at Chickiedee]

Thanks for the great tutorial! I love little embellishments like this!

[Send Flowers to noida]

Want to send flowers to Chennai? Send Flowers to your loved ones in noida through myflowertree.com. MyFlowerTree ensures same day delivery of flowers to noida.

[mary]

THEY ARE LOVELY ! THANK YOU !

[kajsa]

thank you for the inspiration! great for a fabric collector like myself!

[Tina]

oh boy these are lovely!
can't wait to try them out :)

[flower Philippine]

Wonderful tutorial!Thanks for sharing it.

~Ashley~

[pink coffee beans]

Thanks for sharing! I made a few this weekend, posted a few pictures and wrote about it on my blog. Thanks so much!

[willamtiger]

Sweets for my feet
Sugar for my heart...
What can I eat?
You can eat my shoes.
Is it high in calories?
Only if it's got chocolate.
So I won't eat...
my shoes.

[myniftynotions.blogspot.com]

These are lovely! I've been eyeing them for quite some time now and finally made one! I linked this tutorial on my blog http://myniftynotions.blogspot.com/