Tutorial- How to make fabric flowers

Hello!
Welcome to our first team blog post. To kick off the team blog we are starting with a feature by Ariella from North Carolina who is going to be teaching us how to make fabric flowers with her step by step tutorial. The Interactive Blogging Team is open to anyone who is a member of Etsy; buyers, sellers and browsers but the majority of members are sellers as blogging is a great way to connect with customers and give them an insight into your world and your craft.

Ariella is a law student by day but an avid crafter by night and runs her own Etsy shop called Haus of Ariella which sells a variety of geeky, music and wedding items.

She also runs a really great blog and blogs about just about everything from Etsy finds to recipies and bridal themed posts to hilarious posts about her cats! Really worth a look and a follow :) !

Here is her wonderful tutorial:

How to make a fabric flower  (great for putting on bags, hair clips etc)

One of the ways in which the fabric flower can be used

Materials:
-Fabric - light to medium weight fabrics work best; I used satin for this tutorial
-Needle and matching thread
-Large button for the center
-Hot glue gun
-Scissors
-Paper for the template



Step 1:

Step 1

Decide what size you would like your flower to be. The one I made was about 4 inches across and the inner petals were about 2.5 inches across. Measure two circles - one for the large petals and one for the smaller ones - on a piece of paper with the diameter you'd like your flower to be as the large petal template and about 60% of that size for the diameter of the small petal template. Cut them out.

Step 2:

Step 2

Step 2

Fold one of your templates in half over your fabric and cut around the template so that you end up with a circle of fabric. Cut 5 of the large circles and 4 of the small ones.

Step 3:

Step 3

Step 3

Take one of the circles and fold it in half with the right side of the fabric (the side you want showing) on the outside. Thread your needle and put a knot in one end of the thread. Make a line of fairly small stitches close to the rounded edges of your circle, going through both layers. Pull the thread tight to gather the fabric and tie off the other end of the thread as well. Repeat with all of the circles.

Step 4:

Step 4

Take your 5 large petals and sew them together in a circle with the petals slightly overlapping. Do the same thing for the small petals.

After completing step 4 your flower should look like this

Step 5:

Step 5

Take your circle of small petals and sew it on top of your circle of large petals.

Step 6: 

Step 6- The final finished piece!

Take your button (which should be large enough to cover the hole in the middle of the petals) and put hot glue on the edges, then place it in the middle of the flower.

Congratulations! You now have a cool fabric flower to put on purses, hair clips, or whatever else your heart desires!