Finally finished my DIY Fabric Flowers Bouquet!

[AtteGirl]

You are seriously talented! Great job, its perfect!

[debbiedoyle]

Speechless!  That is really pretty.  Very Talented!

[westxgrly]

Where did you get the idea? Did you just visualize it and then just get the bouquet made?

Great work.

[Barbaracopeland]

Thanks Guys!!! This really makes me feel so happy!!

Erin, I don't mind explaining how to make them at all! I'm actually about to make another flower in a few mins so I'll take some photos to help me explain...stay tuned!

 

As for the idea Westxgrly, I just wasn't into any of the bouquets that I could choose from. They all seemed too pricey for something that would die. I thought about buying a fabric bouquet on Etsy that I saw and LOVED but it was even more pricey, so I decided to make something myself. I sort of made it up as I went along, but I already knew how to make fabric flowers since I've made some to embellish bags and such and I already had a collection of vintage brooches. I just had to buy a few more of them for the bouquet and I got them pretty cheap at an antique shop. I think the total cost for all 3 bouquets (Mine and 2 BMs) and a wrist corsage for my FMIL was $40, but again that's because I already had the brooches and I used Swarovski beads for the center of the BM bouquets which was cheaper.

 

I'll come back soon with instructions!

[Barbaracopeland]

Instructions on fabric flowers:

These are really easy once you get the hang of it. It's a bit time consuming so put a movie on and get crafty!

 

I cut 5 large petals and 4 small ones. It can be rough cuts- no need to be perfect here! Also make sure to use synthetic fabric, nothing natural, and I found that double thickness Satin worked the best and rarely caught fire. I tried thin satin at first and it just kept burning. If it catches fire, just blow it out and if it's not too bad you can cut a bit of the black away and keep going. Also, it's not nearly as shiny as it looks in my pictures.

Step 1

 

Then you take each petal and lightly skim the edges through or just above a candle flame. You have to work fairly quickly here. The goal is to melt the edges of the fabric to seal them from fraying but also to give them the curled edge. Make sure that you melt the entire edge though so there's no fraying later. This was hard to take a photo of! **Oh one thing I learned the hard way- make sure not to have a fan on in the room or any sort of draft. It makes it almost impossible to do this if the flame is bobbing around!

 

I then run the whole petal through the flame to give some texture. This step isn't necessary though, if you want smooth petals just skip it. Also make sure to watch your fingers, when I started I got burned a lot! I made this flower with a bit more texture than I did with the bouquet.

 

Do this to all of your flower petals until they look something like this (or until you're happy with them!):

 

*Again, you don't have to make them this textured though! Then I just fan together the large petals and sew them together like so:

 

 

Once you get the large petals secured, add the smaller petals and sew them on. I take a bit more care here since now is where things can be seen with the naked eye. I then switch to a smaller needle and sew on the brooch or bead or whatever the center is. Sorry- all I have left is a smallish rhinestone button so it looks sort of silly, but you get the idea.

 

That's how I made the large flowers. For the smaller "filler" flowers, I did the exact same process but instead of cutting petal shapes in step 1,  I did circles largest to smallest and piled them on top of each other. Here's a picture of the filler flower:

 

Hope this helps anyone who wants to make them! It doesn't just have to be bouquets though. I usually make these and attach them to clutches or bags to doll them up or sew them onto shirts put them on headbands etc....

Let me know if you have any questions!

[Barbaracopeland]

I tried to post the instructional, but since I'm new here it says it has to be checked by a moderator. It's coming though!

[FutureMrsHolt]

Those are so beautiful. I love the vintage look of it. 

[Dilara]

Thank you for posting the step by step... it's so helpful! 

[roo66]

Im sure the girlies will be getting crafty now.Who would of guessed you would set fire to the fabric.Very clever.Did you have any thought on the handle?

I think some crystal pins will be enough i love what you have done xx

[karyan]

looks great! Fantastic idea