Fabric flower tutorial | How About Orange

January 14, 2011

Fabric flower tutorial

A few people asked how to make the flower on yesterday's fabric origami box. This is an easy craft project that's a good way to use up scraps. Use these flowers to make hair pins and boutonnieres, top gifts, decorate napkin rings, tote bags, wedding aisles, you name it.


You'll need some stiffened fabric pieces (see this post for the how to), a pencil, paper, scissors, needle, thread, buttons, and an iron.

With a pencil, sketch flower shapes on the back of your fabric pieces. You'll need three sizes of flowers, so make each one progressively larger. If you plan to make zillions of flowers, it might be good to draw yourself some paper templates to make your life easier. Don't worry about making perfect petals. This is a forgiving project.

Cut out each flower piece. Then pinch little creases between the petals, overlapping them very slightly to add dimension.

Press the creases with an iron. While each petal is still warm, roll the edges back to make a pretty petal shape. The fabric is very soft and pliable when it's warm, but after it cools a couple seconds, it's crisp again. If you're unsatisfied with a petal, just iron it again and reshape it.

Layer three flower shapes in graduated sizes, staggering the petals. Stitch them together with a button in the center.

I love how sturdy these are—crisp and flexible, all at the same time. They won't tear like paper, and they have a fabric texture. Nifty!

74 comments:

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

These flowers are adorable and I will definitely give them a try! Thanks for the cool tutorial. :o)

Renee said...

That is so cool! I love your flowers, and your craftiness.

Renee

Pam said...

those are too cute! Thanks for sharing! :)

Anonymous said...

Those are awesome!And I love how simple they are to make!

Kate said...

adorable! I'm always so impressed you think of these things

Katie said...

What a great project! I am definitely going to have to try this with my little girls!

Allyson McGuire said...

I am definitely going to use these for something...I don't know what yet, but they are precious!


<3, http://www.cupcakescandycanes.blogspot.com

Candied Fabrics said...

OOOH! So cool! What happens if the fabric gets wet? does the stiffen stuff wash out?

10Yen said...

this is just way to cool now I have to find stiffener.

Jessica Jones said...

CF, yep, the stiffener washes out. So that's good if you want to reuse your fabric later for something. Bad if you plan to wash your flowers.

April said...

These are so cute! I am definitely bookmarking this!

Melissa said...

I am loving these:)

Pallavi Arunika said...

Love your origami box and flowers.I need to find a fabric stiffener soon!

Cathy said...

Is there any fraying or does the stiffener prevent it? I love these but would worry about the edges...

♥ Nia said...

Lovely!! :D
Thanks for sharing :)

Bek said...

Wow. I love those. I know what I'll be doing this weekend!

Maxabella said...

Thank you! x

Christy said...

hummmm, can you cut stiffened fabric on that nifty silhouette machine?

Grabbing My Happy said...

Ummm... you've single-handedly given me about a hundred and one ideas for using that stiffener stuff! Awesome! Oh... and those flowers are A. Dor. Able.

Stacy @ Design Something Better said...

I was wondering what else to do with fabric stiffener - thanks for the great tutorial!

BonAndChi said...

great ideas!! X3
tempting me to get some fabric stiffeners~ ahhh~

tinajo said...

Cute, cute - thanks! :-)

Anonymous said...

So pretty! Thanks for sharing! :)

Meibloempje said...

HI! I follow your blog for a long time now, and I thought it is time to tell you how I love it; Because of How About Orange I remembered that my very first favourite colour (when I was a child) was Orange. And I fell in love with it again.

Our house & livingroom had a lot of red, but I realised how much more sunshine orange brings us.

And then, my husband confessed that HIS favourite color as a child, was orange too! (isn't that wonderful?)

So we started to replace some red things with orange things, and now our livingroom is so much more fun!

By the way, I live in Holland, where the Queen is from the house of...Orange. But except that, orange is not really fashionable. Not since the seventies. But who cares?

So, please, go on with your wonderful blog. I love it.

Kristen said...

Oh gosh, those are spectacular! Thank you so much for the tutorial.

Zima said...

Cute flowers!!! And thank you for the tutorial! Now I have to look for that stiffener. :)

Periwinkle Paisley said...

So fun! And it looks easy too.

PĂ©tra said...

So cute and looks easy. Thank you!

Kelly aka HonestNiceWoman said...

What about fraying? Any suggestions on how to keep them looking so perfect? Very nice tut!

Rachel said...

Love these! They would be so cute as little pins or brooches.

Drade Max said...

can be an inspiration to make gift wrapping for flowers for my wife later.

Jessica said...

Pretty pretty! Thanks for another great idea!

The Creative Peach said...

Oh how adorable. I used to work with fabric stiffner making fabric bows but your flowers are awesome. I'm going to have to give this a try.

And your microwave technique is a time saver. I'm going to try that out too.

Peechee

Dee said...

Love this idea. I wonder how long the flowers will hold up?

EmmaTM said...

Beautiful, I love this project, thank you!

Sarah @ Mum In Bloom said...

These are adorable & would be a great craft for my Girl Scout troop of 9/10 year olds.

Mallie Dein said...

These are really gorgeous. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I love all these great projects with stiff fabric! I have been looking up paper purse patterns and thought that would be a great project to use with the stiff fabric.

Deven said...

Oooooo! I can see some really cute barretts on my girlets!

Chloe said...

These are great, I'll definitely be posting a link to this lovely craft project on my blog! (www.lovemakingit.co.uk)

Veneer Suppliers said...

Nice tutorial. Thanks for sharing... :))

Denise said...

I love these. I can think of so many uses! Thanks for sharing.....

Stephanie said...

thanks so much for sharing!

Jessica Jones said...

Hi guys!

To answer a couple questions:
1. The fabric doesn't fray at all. The stiffener soaks into the cloth and sort of glues all the threads together. I tried to get one of the flowers to fray by rubbing the edges, but couldn't do it.

2. Theoretically yes, the Silhouette will cut it, but you shouldn't try it. I found a warning from Silhouette's support team that says you can ruin your blade by cutting fibrous materials like fabric. Oopsie. I won't do that again. :)

Grandma G said...

Sooooo pretty!!

I tried to leave you a comment over the weekend, but the internet connection where I was kept cutting out on me. Oh, well... I had a great weekend! And now Christmas is officially over. ;)

Mum

Jessica Jones said...

Mom, you must have been out in the boonies or something.

Grandma G said...

Yeah... West Des Moines, Iowa! ;)

Lynn said...

I have to try these! Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I've been looking at possibly making paper origami lotus luminaries or a paper version of CB2's lotus candleholders to put on my wall shelves... but this tutorial may have just saved the day - and my sanity! It would work well for the CB2 style one, and the fabric, as you mentioned, would definitely be more durable. If they turn out, I'd be happy to send you a link to my blog post (where I'll be sure to include a link back to your tutorial). Thank you! :)

Katie @ Craft Spotter - Arts and Crafts said...

These flowers are adorable! I know just what I'm going to do with them.

Virginia said...

How fabulous ! I will definitely give these a go - might turn them into a little fabric flower posy... Thanks for sharing.

Kelly aka HonestNiceWoman said...

Jess
Thank you for the feed back about this project NOT fraying. I will definitely be buying some Stiffen Stuff. I love the microwave trick because I am an impatient gal too! I will be linking to your project today at HonestNiceWoman
~Kelly

Three Birds Jewelry said...

Wow, how did I miss this post? LOVE these! My neices b-day is coming up (on valentines day) and what a cute gift these would make.

Grace Ann said...

Just leting you know, you were featured at my blog--Would You Like Yarn With that? I love these flowers, the fabric almost looks like paper! I'll definitly be trying it!
Find my blog here:
wouldyoulikeyarnwiththat.blogspot.com

Farah said...

Beautiful craft... such a unique idea, I never saw anything like this before... your tutorial is great.. I tried some today... Thanks a lot for sharing... I am going you new follower too
Happy New Year
Hope you would like to spare a little bit of your time for me sure you will enjoy
http://craftaworld.blogspot.com/
Love
Farah

Alison @ Oopsey Daisy said...

I featured you yesterday!

http://oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com/2011/01/wowzers-on-thursday.html

Thanks for inspiring!
~Alison

Anonymous said...

These are so cute! I have a friend who'll love to make these! :D Here are some more fabric flowers you might like to try:

http://bakuhatsu-no-subarashii.blogspot.com/2011/01/kanashi-part-1.html

Laura said...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE A great way to use up all of my fabric scraps, I just can't bear to throw them away! I cannot wait to try this! Laura Bird http://www.whimsicalworldoflaurabird.blogspot.com/

Susana said...

Thanks for sharing .....

Kelly said...

Very pretty!

Loris said...

I made several of these and sewed them onto my granddaughter's curtains. So cute!
The fabric stiffener does give off some unpleasant fumes when the fabric is put in the microwave, though.

Unknown said...

I was wondering if there was a way to make flowers from vinyl instead of leather, maybe that fabric stiffener would work.

jeri said...

Adorable! I also downloaded the PDF for the compliment flags. Thanks for the inspiration.
Jeri
etsy.com/shop/mysistersbarn

Anonymous said...

I give these flowers out as presents to my friends on their birthdays,they are the perfect present,so cute!

Melinda said...

Hi...I am your newest follower. Love these flowers. I am learning to make them as well, and looking forward to trying the stiffened flowers. Beautiful!

MomLaur said...

What fabrics are these? They are so bright, beautiful and colorful!

Jessica Jones said...

Hi MomLaur83, the fabrics are from here.

Courtney said...

Great!!! just what i was lookin for. i plan on making wedding pom poms with this idea ;-)

Iniyaal said...

These flowers are cute... It is a cool idea to use stiffened fabircs. Nice idea. Thanks for sharing.

MaitĂȘ Rodrigues said...

Hello!!
I liked so much this tutorial. I will try to make flowers like this ones. So beautiful and easy!! Thank you for sharing with us. God bless you. MaitĂȘ Rodrigues -www.ateliedamaite.blogspot.com

Gislaine said...

oie que bonita suas flores. so nao entendi a parte de passar o ferro...passa aonde?
se puder responder fico agradecida.
meu blog

artesanatodagica.blogspot.com

bjos

Soncie said...

So simple, yet so very beautiful!!
B

Anonymous said...

What is the name of iron

Unknown said...

Hi...love this idea...but would be great if your posts had a printable option that takes out all the surroundings and ads to print only your clever posts �� just a suggestion.